Michael Cobley

Michael Cobley
Born 9 October 1959 (1959-10-09) (age 52)
Leicester, England, United Kingdom
Occupation Science fiction writer
Nationality British
Alma mater University of Strathclyde
Notable work(s) Shadowking trilogy, Humanity's Fire series


www.michaelcobley.com

Michael Cobley, born on 10 October 1959, is a science fiction and fantasy author born in Leicester, England but living since the age of seven in Glasgow, Scotland.[1][2]

Contents

Life

Michael Cobley was born in Leicester but moved to Glasgow at the age of seven.[2]

While studying engineering at the University of Strathclyde, he used to work as a DJ; at the same time, he wrote rants for the University paper under the pen-name of Phaedrus.[2]

He has published five novels, a collection of short stories and several reviews and essays.[3]

He has a strong interest in politics.[1]

Writing

Cobley, who is a member of the Glasgow Science Fiction Writers Circle,[4] admits to have been influenced by diverse writers such as Frank Herbert, David Brin, Iain Banks, Ken MacLeod and Vernor Vinge, but also by music (Dmitri Shostakovich, Yes, Blue Öyster Cult, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Monster Magnet) and TV shows (Firefly, Babylon 5, the most recent series of Battlestar Galactica).[5]

Cobley published his first novel, Shadowkings, in 2001 for Earthlight, a now-defunct imprint of Simon & Schuster.[6] This was followed by Shadowgod[7] and Shadowmasque,[8] that was nominated by the British Fantasy Society for the best novel of the year award[2] won that year by Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys[9] to complete the so-called "Shadowkings Trilogy". The trilogy was also published in Germany by Heyne (a division of Random House), all its volumes translated by Wolfgang Thon.[10][11][12]

Michael Cobley followed up on the success of his first space opera trilogy planning a second one entitled "Humanity's Fire". The first volume, Seeds of Earth, was published in 2009 by Orbit Books.[13] It was followed in 2010 by The Orphaned Worlds.[14] The third and last volume of the series will be called The Ascendant Stars and has been announced for 2011.[15][16][17] Like the previous trilogy, the first book in the "Humanity's Fire" series has been published in German by Heyne, translated by Norbert Stöbe,[18] while the release of the second has been announced.[19]

His short stories have been collected in a volume, Iron Mosaic, published in 2004 by Immanion Press.[20]

Bibliography

Novels

the Shadowkings trilogy

the Humanity's Fire trilogy

Collections

References

  1. ^ a b "Author Bio". Michael Cobley. http://www.michaelcobley.com/about/. Retrieved 2010-11-12. 
  2. ^ a b c d D.C. Wands & L.E. Dickinson (2010-11-08). "About Michael Cobley". Fantastic Fiction. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/michael-cobley/. Retrieved 2010-11-12. 
  3. ^ "Michael Cobley - Summary Bibliography". Internet Speculative Fiction Database. http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?Michael_Cobley. Retrieved 2010-11-12. 
  4. ^ Neil Williamson (2005-07-30). "An Interview with Michael Cobley, Gary Gibson and Hal Duncan". Infinity Plus. http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfiction/intmchdgg.htm. Retrieved 2010-11-12. 
  5. ^ Dave Bradley (2010-05-31). "Exclusive interview with SF author Michael Cobley". SFX. http://www.sfx.co.uk/2010/05/31/exclusive-interview-with-sf-author-michael-cobley/. Retrieved 2010-11-12. 
  6. ^ Michael Cobley, Shadowkings. London: Earthlight, 2001 (paperback). ISBN 0-7432-0717-3
  7. ^ Michael Cobley, Shadowgod. London: Earthlight, 2003 (paperback). ISBN 0-7434-6114-2
  8. ^ Michael Cobley, Shadowmasque. London: Simon & Schuster, 2005 (paperback). ISBN 0-7432-5682-4
  9. ^ "British Fantasy Society - Best Novel Awards". Fantastic Fiction. 2010. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/awards/british_fantasy_society.htm. Retrieved 2010-11-12. 
  10. ^ Michael Cobley transl. Wolfgang Thon, Schattenkönige. München: Heyne, 2005 (paperback). ISBN 978-3453530560
  11. ^ Michael Cobley transl. Wolfgang Thon, Schattengötter. München: Heyne, 2005 (paperback). ISBN 978-3453530645
  12. ^ Michael Cobley transl. Wolfgang Thon, Schattenkrieger. München: Heyne, 2006 (paperback). ISBN 978-3453521407
  13. ^ Michael Cobley, Seeds Of Earth. London: Orbit Books, 2009 (paperback). ISBN 978-1841496320
  14. ^ Michael Cobley, The Orphaned Worlds. London: Orbit Books, 2010 (paperback). ISBN 978-1841496313
  15. ^ "The Ascendant Stars - pre-order". Amazon. 2010. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ascendant-Stars-Humanitys-Fire/dp/1841496359%3FSubscriptionId%3D0ACM1RC83GP83JK10M02%26tag%3Dauthordatabase%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D1841496359. Retrieved 2010-11-12. 
  16. ^ "Books by Michael Cobley". Michael Cobley. 2010. http://www.michaelcobley.com/books/. Retrieved 2010-11-12. 
  17. ^ Michael Cobley, The Ascendant Stars. London: Orbit Books, 2011 (paperback). ISBN 978-1841496351
  18. ^ Michael Cobley transl. Norbert Stöbe, Die Saat der Erde. München: Heyne, 2010 (paperback). ISBN 978-3453525429
  19. ^ Michael Cobley transl. Norbert Stöbe, Waisen des Alls. München: Heyne, 2011 (paperback). ISBN 978-3453525887
  20. ^ Michael Cobley, Iron Mosaic. Stafford: Immanion Press, 2004. ISBN 1-904853-03-X