Gareth L. Powell

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Gareth Lyn Powell (born 1970) is a British author of science fiction. His works include the Embers of War trilogy, the Continuance series, the Ack-Ack Macaque trilogy, Light Chaser (co-written with Peter F. Hamilton), and About Writing, a guide for aspiring authors. He has also co-written stories with authors Peter F. Hamilton and Aliette de Bodard. [1]

Contents

He has twice won the BSFA Award for Best Novel, for Ack-Ack Macaque in 2013 and Embers of War in 2019. Ack-Ack Macaque also became a finalist of the 2016 Seiun Award for Best Translated Long Work. [2] He has also been shortlisted for the Locus Award, the British Fantasy Award, and the Canopus Award. [3]

Powell's short stories have appeared in a host of magazines and anthologies, including Interzone , Solaris Rising 3, and The Year's Best Science Fiction , and his story "Ride The Blue Horse" made the shortlist for the 2015 BSFA Award. Many of his shorter works have been brought together in the collections, The Last Reef (2008) and Entropic Angel (2017). His work has been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese, Russian, Czech, Catalan, and Croatian. [4]

Born and brought up in the West Country, Powell started writing sci-fi stories at an early age. [5] He studied humanities and creative writing at the University of Glamorgan (now the University of South Wales), where he cites Diana Wynne Jones and Helen Dunmore as early mentors. He has given guest lectures on creative writing at Bath Spa University, Aberystwyth University and Buckingham New University and has written a series of non-fiction articles on science fiction for The Irish Times .

His first four novels were favourably reviewed in The Guardian by Eric Brown. His Embers of War series is currently being adapted into a television series, which will be directed by Breck Eisner. [6]

Professional works

Powell's first book was a collection, The Last Reef and Other Stories . It compiles much of his short fiction from before 2008, including the Interzone reader's choice poll winner "Ack-Ack Macaque".

Silversands was Powell's debut novel. It was initially produced in a run of three hundred hardcover copies and an ebook edition, featuring the additional short story "Memory Dust", was made available by Anarchy Books. The reception was mostly favourable, including reviews from Interzone and Eric Brown in The Guardian . Brown regarded the novel as a "fine hi-tech romp" but was critical of what he called "a rushed and melodramatic dénouement." [7]

The Recollection is the second novel by Powell. The novel received mostly favourable reviews, including reviews from Locus [8] and Powell's second review from Eric Brown in his column in The Guardian . Brown said that the novel's set-pieces were "brilliantly realised" and that the book balanced its high concepts with the human story. He ended his review with "If you read only one space opera this year, it's got to be The Recollection". [9]

In 2012, Powell released his third novel via Solaris Books, Ack-Ack Macaque , based on the short story of the same name. A sequel, Hive Monkey, followed in 2014. The third volume of the trilogy, Macaque Attack, was released in January 2015.

Titan Books published his sixth novel Embers of War in 2018. A sequel, Fleet of Knives, followed in 2019; the trilogy was concluded with Light of Impossible Stars in 2020. A news series, Also from Titan Books, began in 2022 with Stars and Bones and continued in 2023 with Descendant Machine. All five of these novels were finalists for the British Science Fiction Association Award for Best novel, and Embers of War and Fleet of Knives were both finalists for the Locus Award.

Personal Life

Powell is married to the American SFF author Jendia Gammon, [10] who also writes under the name J. Dianne Dotson.

Achievements

Bibliography

The Last Reef and Other Stories
AuthorGareth L. Powell
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre Science fiction
Publisher Elastic Press
Publication date
August 2008
Media typePrint (Paperback)
ISBN 978-0-9553181-7-7
Silversands
AuthorGareth L. Powell
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre Science fiction
Publisher Pendragon Press
Publication date
10 April 2008
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages160
ISBN 978-1906864064
The Recollection
AuthorGareth L. Powell
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre Science fiction
Publisher Solaris Books
Publication date
September 2011
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages400
ISBN 978-1907519994
Ack-Ack Macaque
AuthorGareth L. Powell
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre Science fiction
Publisher Solaris Books
Publication date
December 2012
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages405
ISBN 978-1781080603
Followed byHive Monkey 
Hive Monkey
AuthorGareth L. Powell
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre Science fiction
Publisher Solaris Books
Publication date
January 2014
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages384
ISBN 978-1-78108-165-5
Preceded byAck-Ack Macaque 
Followed byMacaque Attack 
Macaque Attack
AuthorGareth L. Powell
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre Science fiction
Publisher Solaris Books
Publication date
January 2015
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages347
ISBN 978-1-78108-285-0
Preceded byHive Monkey 

Novels

Novellas

Short story collections

Non-fiction

Short stories


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References

  1. ↑ "Chronological Bibliography: Gareth L. Powell". isfdb.org. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  2. ↑ "2016 Seiun Awards Winners". Locus Online. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  3. ↑ "An Interview with Gareth L. Powell". IZ Digital. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  4. ↑ "About | Gareth L. Powell". 9 September 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  5. ↑ Reader, Civilian (11 March 2021). "Interview with GARETH L. POWELL". Civilian Reader. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  6. ↑ Otterson, Joe (21 January 2021). "'Embers of War' Series Adaptation in Development at Stampede Ventures, Wiip (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  7. ↑ Eric Brown (10 April 2011). "Science fiction review roundup". The Guardian . Retrieved 15 July 2012.
  8. ↑ Russell Letson (December 2011). "Reviews - The Recollection". Locus . p. 21.
  9. ↑ Eric Brown (2 September 2011). "Science fiction review roundup". The Guardian . Retrieved 15 July 2012.
  10. ↑ "Gareth L. Powell - The Society of Authors". 16 November 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  11. ↑ "J. Dianne Dotson". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
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