Walter Jon Williams (born October 28, 1953) is an American writer, primarily of science fiction. Previously he wrote nautical adventure fiction under the name Jon Williams, in particular, Privateers and Gentlemen (1981–1984), a series of historical novels set during the Age of Sail.
Career
Writing as Jon Williams, he designed the wargame Tradition of Victory and role-playing game Promotions and Prizes, which were republished by Fantasy Games Unlimited as Heart of Oak (1982) and Privateers and Gentlemen (1983). A role-playing game sourcebook for Cyberpunk called Hardwired (1989) was licensed by R. Talsorian Games, based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Williams.
Williams was born in Duluth, Minnesota and graduated from the University of New Mexico, where he received his BA degree in 1975. He currently lives in Valencia County, south of Albuquerque in New Mexico.
In 2006, Williams founded the Taos Toolbox, a two-week writer's workshop for fantasy and science fiction writers.
In 2017, Williams was the Guest of Honor at the 75th World Science Fiction Convention, held in Helsinki.
Publications
Novels
Hardwired series
Hardwired (1986) Solip:System (1989), novelette released as a standalone book Voice of the Whirlwind (1987) "Wolf Time" (1987), novelette
Drake Maijstral seriesAn SF comedy of manners series about the aristocratic burglar Drake Maijstral. Collected as an omnibus, Ten Points for Style (1995) The Crown Jewels (1987) House of Shards (1988) Rock of Ages (1995)
Metropolitan series
Metropolitan (1995), Nebula Award nominee
City on Fire (1997), Hugo Award nominee; Nebula Award nominee
Dread Empire's Fall seriesA military science fiction/space opera series. The Praxis (2002) The Sundering (2003) Conventions of War (2005) Investments (2008), novella Impersonations (2016) The Accidental War (2018) Fleet Elements (2020) Imperium Restored (2022)
Privateers and Gentlemen series, as Jon Williams
To Glory Arise, originally The Privateer (1981) The Tern Schooner, originally The Yankee (1981) Brig of War, originally The Raider (1981) The Macedonian (1981) Cat Island (1981)
Dagmar Shaw seriesA sci-fi thriller series involving crowdsourcing and alternate reality games. This Is Not a Game (2009) Deep State (2011) The Fourth Wall (2012) "Diamonds from Tequila" (2014), short story published in Rogues
Quillifer series
Quillifer (2017) Quillifer The Knight (2019) Lord Quillifer (2022)
Other novels
Ambassador of Progress (1984) Knight Moves (1985), Philip K. Dick Award nominee Angel Station (1989) Elegy for Angels and Dogs (1990) Days of Atonement (1991) Aristoi (1992) The Rift (1999), as by Walter J. Williams The New Jedi Order: Destiny's Way (2002) Implied Spaces (2008)
Short fiction collections
Facets (1990) Frankensteins and Foreign Devils (1998) The Green Leopard Plague and Other Stories (Trade Hardcover: Night Shade Books, 2010, )
Notable short fiction
"Dinosaurs" (1987), Hugo Award nominee
"Witness" (1987), Nebula Award nominee
"Surfacing" (1988), Hugo Award and Nebula Award nominee
"Prayers on the Wind" (1991), Nebula Award nominee
"Wall, Stone, Craft" (1993), Hugo Award and Nebula Award nominee
"Red Elvis" (1994) (collected in Mike Resnick's alternate history anthology Alternate Outlaws) "Foreign Devils" in War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches (1996), Sidewise Award for Alternate History winner "Lethe" (1999), Nebula Award nominee "Daddy's World" (2000), Nebula Award winner "Argonautica" (2001), Nebula Award nominee "The Last Ride of German Freddie", in Worlds That Weren't (2002), Sidewise Award for Alternate History nominee "The Green Leopard Plague" (2004), Nebula Award winner, Hugo Award nominee
References
External links
with blog
Critical profile and bibliography in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
Walter Jon Williams discussion at theforce.net Message Boards
Interview on Bibliophile Stalker
Practice for Something Else: Walter Jon Williams, Interview by Jeremy L. C. Jones, Clarkesworld Magazine, January 2011 Interview With a Writer: Science Fiction Writer Walter Jon Williams, Interview by Tom Chandler, Writer Underground blog, April 2011
Jon Williams at LC Authorities – undifferentiated name; 6 of 7 catalog records belong to this Jon Williams Jon Williams at WorldCat (Privateers and Gentlemen, among works by other Jon Williams)