Stirling, S.M. 1953–

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Stirling, S.M. 1953–

(Stephen Michael Stirling)

PERSONAL:

Born September 30, 1953, in Metz, France; naturalized American citizen; son of Alfred Bruce (wing commander in the Royal Canadian Air Force) and Marjorie Stirling; married Janet Cathryn Moore (a homemaker), in April 1988. Education: Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, B.A. (with honors); Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Toronto, Canada, LL.B. Politics: "Conservative/feminist." Religion: "Anglican (agnostic)." Hobbies and other interests: History, literature, anthropology, karate.

ADDRESSES:

Home—NM.

CAREER:

Writer. Full-time writer, 1988—. Worked variously as a farm hand, secretary, and bouncer in a recreational establishment.

MEMBER:

Science Fiction Writers of America.

WRITINGS:

"DRAKA" SERIES

Marching through Georgia, Baen (New York, NY), 1988.

Under the Yoke, Baen (New York, NY), 1989.

The Stone Dogs, Baen (New York, NY), 1990.

Drakon, Baen (New York, NY), 1995.

"FIFTH MILLENNIUM" SERIES; FOR BAEN BOOKS (NEW YORK, NY)

(With Shirley Meier) The Cage, Baen (New York, NY), 1989.

(With Shirley Meier and Karen Wehrstein) Shadow's Son, Baen (New York, NY), 1990.

Snowbrother, Baen (New York, NY), 1992.

(With Shirley Meier) Saber and Shadow, Baen (New York, NY), 1992.

"GENERAL" SERIES

(With David Drake) The Forge, Baen (New York, NY), 1991.

(With David Drake) The Hammer, Baen (New York, NY), 1992.

(With David Drake) The Anvil, Baen (New York, NY), 1993.

(With David Drake) Steel, Baen (New York, NY), 1993.

(With David Drake) Sword, Baen (New York, NY), 1995.

(With David Drake) Chosen, Baen (New York, NY), 1996.

(With David Drake) Reformer, Baen (New York, NY), 1999.

"SPARTAN" SERIES

(With Jerry Pournelle) Go Tell The Spartans, Baen (New York, NY), 1991.

(With Jerry Pournelle) Prince of Sparta, Baen (New York, NY), 1993.

"DIES THE FIRE" TRILOGY

Dies the Fire, New American Library (New York, NY), 2004.

The Protector's War, ROC (New York, NY), 2005.

A Meeting at Corvallis, ROC (New York, NY), 2006.

"ISLANDER" SERIES

Island in the Sea of Time, ROC (New York, NY), 1998.

Against the Tide of Years, ROC (New York, NY), 1999.

On the Oceans of Eternity, ROC (New York, NY), 2000.

"TERMINATOR" SERIES

T2: Infiltrator, HarperEntertainment (New York, NY), 2001.

T2: Rising Storm, HarperEntertainment (New York, NY), 2002.

T2: The Future War, HarperEntertainment (New York, NY), 2003.

OTHER

(With Shirley Meier) The Sharpest Edge, New American Library (New York, NY), 1986.

(Editor) Power, Baen Books (Riverdale, NY), 1991.

(With Jerry Pournelle) The Children's Hour, Baen Books (New York, NY), 1991.

(With Anne McCaffrey) The City Who Fought, Baen Books (New York, NY), 1993.

(With Susan Shwartz, Judith Tarr, and Harry Turtledove) Blood Feuds, Baen Books (New York, NY), 1993.

(With James Doohan) The Rising, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1996.

The Ship Avenged, Baen (Riverdale, NY), 1997.

The Domination, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1999.

The Privateer, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1999.

(With James Doohan) The Independent Command, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2000.

(Editor) Drakas!, Baen (Riverdale, NY), 2000.

The Peshawar Lancers, ROC (New York, NY), 2001.

(With Jerry Pournelle) Prince, Baen (Riverdale, NY), 2002.

(With Jerry Pournelle and Dean Ing) The Houses of the Kzinti, Baen (Riverdale, NY), 2002.

(With David Drake) Warlord, Baen (Riverdale, NY), 2002.

(With David Drake) Conqueror, Baen (Riverdale, NY), 2003.

Conquistador, Roc (New York, NY), 2003.

(With Anne McCaffrey) The City and the Ship, Baen (Riverdale, NY), 2004.

The Sky People, Tor Books (New York, NY), 2006.

The Sunrise Lands, ROC (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to books, including The Fantastic Civil War, The Fantastic World War Two, Larry Niven's "Man-Kzin Wars" series, War World I, and War World III.

SIDELIGHTS:

S.M. Stirling is a prolific science fiction writer who writes both stand-alone novels and several science fiction series. Among his series is the "Draka" series, which includes Drakon. In this story, Draka warrior Gwendolyn Ingolfsson is hurled through time by an experimental "stardrive" and finds herself in modern-day New York. Gwendolyn is pursued by secret agent Kenneth Lafarge, who looks for all those who flee Draka, which ultimately intends to raise an army to conquer Earth. Roland Green, writing in Booklist, noted the author's "usual wealth of technical detail, wry wit, and superlatively drawn female characters."

Stirling is also well known for his "Islander" series of books. In the debut book of the series, Island in the Sea of Time, the island of Nantucket and all of its inhabitants are transported back in time over three thousand years due to some cosmic disturbance. Not only do the modern inhabitants of Nantucket have to learn how to survive and cope with their traumas, they soon encounter stone-age tribes. Roland Green, writing in Booklist, called the novel an "imaginative foray into time travel."

Conquistador is a stand-alone novel in which John Rolfe VI adjusts his radio and finds himself transferred from 1946 to California prior to the arrival of the white man. Rolfe discovers a gate that allows him to easily switch between worlds and soon, along with his army pals, starts his own kingdom in the alternative world, which leads him to garner a huge fortune and enemies in both worlds. A Publishers Weekly contributor commented that the author has created a "luscious alternative universe."

In his "Dies the Fire" trilogy, Stirling presents a sci-fi alternate history in which American society falls apart because electronics and explosives no longer work. In the title novel, Fires of Change, much of the U.S. population has died from famine, plague, and other problems. Before long, a medieval history professor, Norman Arminger, makes plans to create a new empire using street thugs. They are opposed by ex-Marine Mike Havel, a horse wrangler, and a teenager obsessed with "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. A Publishers Weekly contributor commented that the author "shows that while our technology influences the means by which we live, it is the myths we believe in that determine how we live."

The second book in the "Dies the Fire" trilogy, The Protector's War, takes up the story eight years later in Oregon's Weillamette Valley, where clans are surviving on the rich farmland and living in a tenuous peace lorded over by Arminger, the Protector of Portland. However, Arminger is contemplating war to secure his hold over the farmlands and the arrival of British survivors raise tensions. Regina Schroeder wrote in Booklist that the author "produces a strange, hybrid civilization, in which the confrontation between warlord and mystic is viscerally satisfying."

A Meeting at Corvallis, the last book in the trilogy, focuses on the final confrontation between the evil Arminger and former Marine Havel's Bearkillers clan and others. A Publishers Weekly contributor noted that "the real interest lies in watching the different cultures exploring ways to solve problems." Roland Green, writing in Booklist, called the trilogy "a major work by an authentic master of alternate history."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 15, 1995, Roland Green, review of Sword, p. 1313; February 1, 1996, Roland Green, review of Drakon, p. 920; April 1, 2000, Roland Green, review of On the Oceans of Eternity, p. 1440; December 1, 2001, Roland Green, review of The Peshawar Lancers, p. 636; July, 2002, Roland Green, review of T2: Rising Storm, p. 1833; January 1, 2003, Roland Green, review of Conquistador, p. 862; August, 2003, Roland Green, review of T2: The Future War, p. 1969; August, 2004, Regina Schroeder, review of Dies the Fire, p. 1914; September 15, 2005, Regina Schroeder, review of The Protector's War, p. 38; August 1, 2006, Roland Green, review of Meeting at Corvallis, p. 58; November 15, 2006, Roland Green, review of The Sky People, p. 38.

California Bookwatch, December, 2006, review of A Meeting at Corvallis.

Entertainment Weekly, November 24, 2006, Noah Robischon and Will Boisvert, review of The Sky People, p. 112.

Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2006, review of The Sky People, p. 934.

Kliatt, March, 2002, Liz LaValley, review of The Independent Command, p. 22; May, 2003, Sherry S. Hoy, review of The Peshawar Lancers, p. 28.

Library Journal, February 15, 1998, Jackie Cassada, review of Island in the Sea of Time, p. 174; January, 2002, Jackie Cassada, review of The Peshawar Lancers, p. 158; June 15, 2003, Jackie Cassada, review of T2: The Future War, p. 104; July, 2004, Jackie Cassada, review of Dies the Fire, p. 75; September 15, 2005, Jackie Cassada, review of The Protector's War, p. 59; September 15, 2006, Jackie Cassada, review of A Meeting at Corvallis, p. 55; November 15, 2006, Jackie Cassada, review of The Sky People, p. 63.

Publishers Weekly, January 18, 1991, Penny Kaganoff, review of The Forge, p. 55; March 1, 1993, review of The City Who Fought, p. 44; January 27, 1997, review of The Ship Avenged, p. 82; March 29, 1999, review of The Reformer, p. 97; September 27, 1999, review of The Privateer, p. 78; April 16, 2001, review of T2: Infiltrator, p. 49; November 12, 2001, review of The Peshawar Lancers, p. 41; July 1, 2002, review of T2: The Rising Storm, p. 59; January 20, 2003, review of Conquistador, p. 62; May 26, 2003, review of T2: The Future War, p. 54; July 5, 2004, review of Dies the Fire, p. 42; July 10, 2006, review of A Meeting at Corvallis, p. 58; September 18, 2006, review of The Sky People, p. 40.