Martha Wells (born September 1, 1964)[1] is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has published a number of science fiction and fantasy novels, young adult novels, media tie-ins, short stories, and nonfiction essays on SF/F subjects; her novels have been translated into twelve languages.[2] Wells credits her academic background in anthropology for her interest in designing complex, realistically detailed societies within her novels.[3][4]
As an aspiring writer Wells attended many local writing workshops and conventions, including the Turkey City Writer's Workshop taught by Bruce Sterling.[9]
Her first published novel, The Element of Fire (1993), is also the first volume in the Ile-Rien series. It was a finalist for that year's Compton Crook Award, and a runner-up for the 1994 Crawford Award. Her second novel, City of Bones (1995), is a stand-alone SF/F novel that received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, a black diamond review from Kirkus Reviews[citation needed], and was on the 1995 Locus Recommended Reading List for fantasy. Her third novel and second volume in the Ile-Rien books, The Death of the Necromancer (1998), was nominated for a Nebula Award.[10]The Element of Fire and The Death of the Necromancer are stand-alone novels that take place in the fictional country of Ile-Rien, which is the same universe for the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy: The Wizard Hunters (2003), The Ships of Air (2004), and The Gate of Gods (2005). Her fourth novel was a stand-alone fantasy, Wheel of the Infinite (2000). In 2006, she released a revised edition of The Element of Fire.[11]
Her fantasy short stories include "The Potter's Daughter" in the anthology Elemental (2006), which was selected to appear in The Year's Best Fantasy #7 (2007).[12] This story features one of the main characters from The Element of Fire. Three prequel short stories to the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy were published in Black Gate Magazine in 2007[13][14] and 2008.[15]
She has written media tie-ins for the Stargate franchise, including:
Reliquary (2006) and Entanglement (2007) set in the Stargate Atlantis universe
"Archaeology 101", a short story based on Stargate SG-1 for issue No. 8 (Jan/Feb 2006) of the official Stargate Magazine[16]
2010s–Present
Wells' longest-running fantasy series is The Books of the Raksura, which included five novels and two short fiction collections published by Night Shade Books: The Cloud Roads (2011), The Serpent Sea (2012), The Siren Depths (2012), Stories of the Raksura Vol 1: The Falling World & The Tale of Indigo and Cloud (2014), Stories of the Raksura Vol 2: The Dead City & The Dark Earth Below (2015), The Edge of Worlds (2016), and The Harbors of the Sun (2017). The series was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Series in 2018,[17] and The Edge of Worlds was reviewed in The New York Times.[18]
Wells has written two young adult fantasy novels, Emilie and the Hollow World and Emilie and the Sky World, published by Angry Robot/Strange Chemistry in 2013 and 2014.[19] She has also written two Star Wars tie-ins, Empire and Rebellion: Razor's Edge (2013) and "Bespin Escape" The Empire Strikes Back: From a Certain Point of View (2020).[16]
Wells was toastmaster of the World Fantasy Convention in 2017,[20] where she delivered a speech called "Unbury the Future"[21] about marginalized creators in the history of science fiction and fantasy, movies, and other media, and the deliberate suppression of the existence of those creators.
In 2017, Wells published All Systems Red, the first novella in her Murderbot Diaries series. The novella was number 8 on The New York Times Bestseller List for Audio in May 2018.[25] It was followed by the sequel novellas Artificial Condition (2018), Rogue Protocol (2018), and Exit Strategy (2018);[26] a short story, "Compulsory" (2018);[27] and a full novel sequel, Network Effect (2020), which made The New York Times Bestseller List for Novel.[28] On April 26, 2021, Tor.com publishing announced that they had signed a deal with Wells for six books, including three more in The Murderbot Diaries.[29][30]
In September 2022, Tor Books shared the cover of Witch King, the latest novel by Wells that was released on May 30, 2023.[31] Tor describes the book as a story "of power and friendship, of trust and betrayal, and of the families we choose."[32] Its sequel, Queen Demon, was released on October 7, 2025.[33]
Locus Recommended List in 1994 for The Element of Fire
Locus Recommended List in 1995 for City of Bones
Martha Wells declined a Nebula finalist slot in the Novella category for Fugitive Telemetry in the 2021 Nebula Awards,[54] giving the reason that The Murderbot Diaries had already won two Nebulas (for Novella and Novel) and that the spot would be of more benefit to another writer. Due to a three-way tie for sixth place, declining allowed two additional novellas a spot on the 2021 ballot.[55] Wells also declined a Hugo Nomination for Fugitive Telemetry that year.[56]
Martha Wells declined a Nebula finalist slot and a Hugo finalist slot in the Novel category for System Collapse in 2024[57][58]
On October 19, 2022, she was made a member of the Texas Literary Hall of Fame[59]
Between Worlds: the Collected Cineth and Ile-Rien Stories (2015, ISBN0-520-20600-2):
"The Potter’s Daughter" - a prequel to the novel The Element of Fire (2006 short story, Elemental: the Tsunami Relief AnthologyISBN0-7653-1562-9, The Year's Best Fantasy #7ISBN978-1-892391-50-6)
"Reflections" - the Giliead and Ilias stories, prequels to the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy (2007, Black Gate Magazine)
"Night at the Opera" - a Nicholas and Reynard story original to this collection, set before The Death of the Necromancer (also in PodCastle Episode 400)
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