Kage Baker
Kage Baker | |
|---|---|
 Kage Baker in 2009 | |
| Born | June 10, 1952 Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| Died | January 31, 2010 (aged 57) Pismo Beach, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Period | 1997–2010 |
| Genre | Science fiction Fantasy |
Kage Baker (June 10, 1952[1] – January 31, 2010[2]) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer.
Biography
Baker was born in Hollywood, California and lived there and in Pismo Beach most of her life. Before becoming a professional writer she spent many years in theater, including teaching Elizabethan English as a second language.[3] Her unusual first name (pronounced like the word "cage") is a combination of the names of her two grandmothers, Kate and Genevieve.
She is best known for her "Company" series of historical time travel science fiction. Her first stories were published in Asimov's Science Fiction in 1997, and her first novel, In the Garden of Iden, by Hodder & Stoughton in the same year. Other notable works include Mendoza in Hollywood (novel, 2000) and "The Empress of Mars" (novella, 2003), which won the Theodore Sturgeon Award[4] and was nominated for a Hugo Award.
In 2008, she donated her archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.[5]
In 2009, her short story "Caverns of Mystery" and her novel House of the Stag were both nominated for World Fantasy Awards, but neither piece won.[6]
In January 2010, it was reported that Baker was seriously ill with cancer.[7][8] She died from uterine cancer at approximately 1:00 a.m. on January 31, 2010 in Pismo Beach, California.[2]
In 2010, Baker's The Women of Nell Gwynne's was nominated for a Hugo Award and a World Fantasy Award in the Best Novella categories.[9][10] On May 15, 2010, that work was awarded the 2009 Nebula Award in the Best Novella category.[11]
Bibliography
Novels of The Company
- In the Garden of Iden (1997)
- Sky Coyote (1999)
- Mendoza in Hollywood (2000) (Published in the UK as At the Edge of the West)
- The Graveyard Game (2001)
- The Life of the World to Come (2004)
- The Children of the Company (2005)
- The Machine's Child (2006)
- The Sons of Heaven (2007)
- Not Less than Gods (2010) ISBN 978-0765318916
Company story collections
Standalone Company novellas
- The Angel in the Darkness (limited edition chapbook, 2003)
- Rude Mechanicals (2007)
- The Empress of Mars (2009)
- The Women of Nell Gwynne's (limited edition, 2009)
Other works
- The Anvil of the World (2003) - Fantasy novel/setting, featuring a Dark Lord of the Mountain married to a woman called the Living Saint, their brood of semi-demonic semi-divine children, and an ex-assassin named Smith.
- Mother Ægypt and Other Stories (2004) - title story features the Company
- Dark Mondays (2006)
- The House of the Stag (2008) - Prequel to Anvil of the World, showing the history of the Dark Lord and the Living Saint.
- Where the Golden Apples Grow (2006) Novella
- Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key (2008)
- The Hotel Under the Sand (2009) Juvenile
- The Bird of the River (July 2010)
References
- ^ Kage Baker. "Bio". Retrieved 2007-09-26.
- ^ a b "Obituary: Kage Baker," SF Site, 1/31/2010
- ^ "Elizabethan English as a Second Language". Retrieved 2010-01-20.
- ^ "Theodore Sturgeon Award". Retrieved 2010-01-20.
- ^ Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Collection, Northern Illinois University
- ^ "World Fantasy Awards Home Page". Retrieved 2009-11-04.
- ^ "Kage Baker Health Update". Retrieved 2010-01-15.
- ^ "Kage Baker of the GreenMan Inn call for support". Retrieved 2010-01-15.
- ^ "The 2010 Hugo and John W. Campbell Award Nominees". AussieCon 4. April 4, 2010. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
- ^ http://www.locusmag.com/News/2010/08/2009-world-fantasy-awards-nominees/
- ^ Standlee, Kevin (May 15, 2010). "Nebula Awards Results". Science Fiction Awards Watch. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
External links
- Kage Baker's official homepage - main page, with bibliography
- Kage Baker at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Kage Baker, entry at the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, 3rd edition (draft)
- Kage Baker's online fiction at Free Speculative Fiction Online
- Memorial and tribute by David Hartwell
- Review, In the Garden of Iden
- Review, Sky Coyote
- Review, The Anvil of the World
- Kage Baker interviewed by Jeff Vandermeer for Clarkesworld Magazine (March 2007)
- Kathleen, Kage & the Company Kage's sister Kathleen's blog about continuing Kage's legacy