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Walter Jon Williams

Walter Jon Williams is an award-winning author who has been on the best-seller lists of the New York Times and Times of London. He is the author of more than thirty novels and volumes of short fiction. Walter has been a part of the Wild Cards universe from book one. 

His first novel to attract serious public attention was Hardwired (1986), described by Roger Zelazny as “a tough, sleek juggernaut of a story, punctuated by strobe-light movements, coursing to the wail of jets and the twang of steel guitars.” In 2001, he won a Nebula Award for his novelette “Daddy’s World,” and he won again in 2005 for “The Green Leopard Plague.”

Walter’s subject matter has an unusually wide range and includes the glittering surfaces of Hardwired, the opulent tapestries of Aristoi, and the pensive young Mary Shelley of the novella “Wall, Stone, Craft,” which was nominated for a Hugo, Nebula, and a World Fantasy Award. He has written everything from near-future thrillers (This Is Not a Game) to post-cyberpunk epic fantasy (City on Fire, Metropolitan), historical adventure (Privateers and Gentlemen series), Star Wars fiction (The New Jedi Order: Destiny’s Way), and a gothic western science fiction police procedural (Days of Atonement). Among his recent works are The Accidental War and Impersonations, both far-future space opera thrillers set in his popular Praxis universe (first introduced in the Dread Empire’s Fall trilogy). He is at work on the Quillifier fantasy series, the first book of which came out in 2017.

Walter has also written for comics, film, and television and has worked in the gaming field. He was a writer for the alternate reality game Last Call Poker and scripted the mega-hit Electronic Arts game Spore.

Walter’s role in the Wild Cards world goes back to the late ’70s, when he would play RPGs with George R. R. Martin, Melinda Snodgrass, and other science fiction writers. From there, a decades-long collaboration evolved. For a deep dive into the Wild Cards characters he’s created and the plots he’s developed, check out his Q&A with Ti Mikkel. 

Originally from Minnesota, Walter now lives in New Mexico.

Stories by Walter Jon Williams

Prompt. Professional. Pop!

Essays by Walter Jon Williams

Modular Man: Fresh Out of the Box
THE OTHER GAME
THE SCARE
The Sleeper

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