Kevin J. Anderson | |
|---|---|
 Anderson in June 2023 atOrigins Game Fair | |
| Born | (1962-03-27)March 27, 1962 (age 63) Racine, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Pen name | Gabriel Mesta, K.J. Anderson |
| Occupation | Author |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction,fantasy,horror |
| Spouse | |
| Website | |
| wordfire | |
Kevin James Anderson (born March 27, 1962) is an Americanscience fiction author. He has written spin-off novels forStar Wars,StarCraft,Titan A.E. andThe X-Files, and withBrian Herbert is the co-author of theDune prequel series. His original works include theSaga of Seven Suns series and theNebula Award–nominatedAssemblers of Infinity. He has also written several comic books, including theDark HorseStar Wars seriesTales of the Jedi written in collaboration with Tom Veitch, Dark HorsePredator titles, andThe X-Files titles forTopps. Some of Anderson's superhero novels includeEnemies & Allies, about the first meeting ofBatman andSuperman, andThe Last Days of Krypton, telling the story of how Superman's planetKrypton came to be destroyed.
Anderson has published over 140 books, over 50 of which have been on US and international bestseller lists, and he has more than 23 million books in print worldwide.
Anderson is working as a professor atWestern Colorado University.[1] Anderson has been a Literary Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker at theLife, the Universe, & Everything professional science fiction and fantasy arts symposium, on at least three occasions: 2016, 2006 and 1993.[2] In 2021, Anderson was inducted into theColorado Authors Hall of Fame along withStephen King andJames Michener. He has twice won theScribe Award and in 2012 was elected Grandmaster of the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers.[3]
Kevin J. Anderson was born March 27, 1962, inRacine, Wisconsin, and grew up inOregon, Wisconsin.[4] According to Anderson,The War of the Worlds greatly influenced him. At the age of eight, he wrote his first story, titled "Injection". At ten, he bought a typewriter and has written ever since. In his freshman year in high school, he submitted his first short story to a magazine, but it took two more years before one of his manuscripts was accepted. When it was accepted, they paid him in copies of the magazine. In his senior year, he sold his first story for money for $12.50.[5]
For 12 years Anderson worked at theLawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he met fellow writersRebecca Moesta andDoug Beason. Anderson later married Moesta and frequently coauthors novels with both her and Beason.[5]
Anderson's first novel,Resurrection, Inc., was published in 1988 and nominated for aBram Stoker Award for Best First Novel.[6] His 1993 collaboration with Beason,Assemblers of Infinity, was nominated for both aNebula andLocus Award.[7][8][9] Anderson wroteThe X-Files novelsGround Zero (1995),Ruins (1996) andAntibodies (1997).Ground Zero reached #1 on theLondon Sunday Times Best Seller List andRuins made theNew York Times Best Seller list. Contracted to write novels in theStar Wars expanded universe, Anderson published theJedi Academy trilogy in 1994, followed by the 1996 novelDarksaber. He and Moesta also wrote the 14-volumeYoung Jedi Knights series from 1995 to 1998.[7][10][11] As a notedStar Wars novelist, Anderson was a participant in the FidoNetStar Wars Echo, a 1990sbulletin board system forum cited as one of the earliest influential forms ofStar Wars on-linefandom.[12][13]
In 1997, Anderson andBrian Herbert signed a $3 million deal withBantam Books to coauthor aprequeltrilogy to the 1965 novelDune and itsfive sequels (1969–1985) by Herbert's deceased father,Frank Herbert.[14] Starting with 1999'sDune: House Atreides, the ongoingDune prequel series has expanded to ten novels to date. In 2011Publishers Weekly called the series "a sprawling edifice that Frank Herbert's son and Anderson have built on the foundation of the originalDune novels."[15] Anderson and Brian Herbert have also publishedHunters of Dune (2006) andSandworms of Dune (2007),sequels to Frank Herbert's final novelChapterhouse: Dune (1985) which complete the chronological progression of his original series and wrap up storylines that began with hisHeretics of Dune (1984).[16] Between 2011 and 2014, Anderson and Herbert also released theirHellhole trilogy of novels unrelated toDune.[11]
In 2002, Anderson released thesteampunk/adventure novelCaptain Nemo: The Fantastic History of a Dark Genius and was subsequently asked to writeThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), anovelization of thefilm of the same name.[17][18] The following year he also wrote the novelization for the 2004 filmSky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. In 2005, Anderson co-wrote, along withDean Koontz, the first book in the Frankenstein series calledFrankenstein, Prodigal Son.
Between 2002 and 2008, Anderson published a seven-novel originalspace opera series calledThe Saga of Seven Suns.[7][11][19] In 2014 he began publishing a sequel trilogy calledThe Saga of Shadows.[11][20] Anderson published four novels and two short stories in hisDan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series between 2012 and 2014.[11][21] In 2012, Anderson coauthored a novelization ofClockwork Angels, an album by the Canadian rock bandRush, with Rush's drummer,Neil Peart. Anderson and Peart reunited in 2015 for a sequel,Clockwork Lives.[21][22] The original novelisation would win a Scribe Award for Best Adapted Novel[3]
In 2011, Anderson and Moesta founded their own publishing imprint, WordFire Press, to reissue some of theirout-of-print books in paperback and/ore-book formats. They have subsequently published and reprinted works in various genres, including several out-of-print or previously unpublished novels by Frank Herbert.[11][21]
In 2013, WordFire acquired the reprint rights to the works ofAllen Drury, including his 1959Pulitzer Prize-winningpolitical novelAdvise and Consent.[21][23][24][25] That novel, out of print for nearly 15 years, ranked #27 on the 2013BookFinder.com list of the Top 100 Most Searched for Out of Print Books before WordFire reissued it in February 2014.[23][26] The company also reprintedAdvise and Consent's fivesequels —A Shade of Difference (1962),Capable of Honor (1966),Preserve and Protect (1968),Come Nineveh, Come Tyre (1973), andThe Promise of Joy (1975) — as well as Drury's later novelsMark Coffin, U.S.S. (1979) andDecision (1983).[21][23][24]
WordFire released four previously unpublished novels by Frank Herbert, who died in 1986:High-Opp (2012),Angels' Fall (2013),A Game of Authors (2013), andA Thorn in the Bush (2014). Anderson announced these in hisblog.[27][28][29][30] WordFire also reissued several of Herbert's unavailable titles:Destination: Void (1966),The Heaven Makers (1968),Soul Catcher (1972),The Godmakers (1972), andDirect Descent (1980) — as well asMan of Two Worlds (1986), an out-of-print novel cowritten by Herbert and his son Brian.[21] WordFire also possesses non-US/Canadian e-book rights to some of Anderson's own collaborations with Brian Herbert, thePrelude to Dune trilogy (1999–2001), as well as Anderson'sDan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series of novels.[21]
Anderson has published over 120 books, over 50 of which have been on US and international bestseller lists, and he has more than 23 million books in print worldwide.[7][11]
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