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James Blaylock

James Paul Blaylock (born September 20, 1950) is an American fantasy author.[1] He is noted for a distinctive, humorous style, as well as being one of the pioneers of the steampunk genre of science fiction. Blaylock has cited Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle and Charles Dickens as his inspirations.[2]

James Blaylock
BornJames Paul Blaylock
(1950-09-20) September 20, 1950 (age 74)
Long Beach, California, U.S.
OccupationWriter
EducationCalifornia State University, Fullerton (MA)
GenreFantasy, Science fiction
Literary movementSteampunk
Website
sybertooth.com/blaylock

He was born in Long Beach, California; studied English at California State University, Fullerton, receiving an M.A. in 1974; and lives in Orange, California, teaching creative writing at Chapman University. He taught at the Orange County School of the arts until 2013. Many of his books are set in Orange County, California, and can more specifically be termed "fabulism" – that is, fantastic things happen in our present-day world, rather than in high fantasy, where the setting is often some other world. His works have also been categorized as magic realism.

He and his friends Tim Powers and K. W. Jeter were mentored by Philip K. Dick. Along with Powers, Blaylock invented the poet William Ashbless. Blaylock and Powers have often collaborated with each other on writing stories, including "The Better Boy", "On Pirates", and "The William Ashbless Memorial Cookbook".

Blaylock previously served as director of the Creative Writing Conservatory at the Orange County High School of the Arts until 2013, where Powers has also been Writer in Residence.[2][3]

He has been married to his wife, Viki Blaylock, for more than 40 years. They have two sons.

Awards

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Blaylock's short story "Thirteen Phantasms" won the 1997 World Fantasy Award for best Short Fiction.[4] "Paper Dragons" won the award in 1986.[5] Homunculus won the Philip K. Dick award in 1987.[6]

Bibliography

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The "Balumnia" Trilogy

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Whimsical fantasy inspired, according to the author, by The Wind in the Willows and The Hobbit.

  1. The Elfin Ship (1982)
    • The Man in the Moon (2002) – The original manuscript, initially rejected, from which The Elfin Ship was reworked, with commentary and an additional short story.
  2. The Disappearing Dwarf (1983)
  3. The Stone Giant (1989)

The "Narbondo / St. Ives Universe" Series

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Novels

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Sharing the character of villain Ignacio Narbondo; The Digging Leviathan and its sequel Zeuglodon are contemporary fantasies set in 1960s California, while the remainder are steampunk novels set in Victorian England.

  • Ignacio Narbondo
  • Langdon St. Ives
    1. Homunculus (1986)
    2. Lord Kelvin's Machine (1992)  – Expansion of the eponymous 1985 novelette.
      • "Lord Kelvin's Machine" (1985, novellete)  – Expanded into a novel in 1992.
    3. The Ebb Tide (2009)
    4. The Affair of the Chalk Cliffs (2011)
    5. The Aylesford Skull (2013)
    6. Beneath London (2015)
    7. River's Edge (2017, novella)
    8. The Gobblin' Society (2020, novella) (ISBN 978-1-59606-948-0)

Short fiction and novellas

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  • "The Ape-Box Affair" (1978)
  • "The Idol's Eye" (1984)
  • "Two Views of a Cave Painting" (1987)
  • "The Hole in Space" (2002)
  • The Adventure of the Ring of Stones (2014, novella)
  • "Earthbound Things" (2016)
  • "The Here-and-Thereians" (2016)

Collections

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All short fiction (except for the novelette Lord Kelvin's Machine) and two novels have appeared in two collections by Subterranean Press:

  • The Adventures of Langdon St. Ives (2008)  – Omnibus of Homunculus, Lord Kelvin's Machine, and the stories "The Ape-Box Affair", "The Idol's Eye", "Two Views of a Cave Painting", "The Hole in Space".
  • The Further Adventures of Langdon St. Ives (2016)  – Omnibus of The Ebb Tide, The Affair of the Chalk Cliffs, The Adventure of the Ring of Stones, and the new stories "The Here-and-Thereians" and "Earthbound Things".

The Land of Dreams Series

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The "Christian" Trilogy

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Present-day fantasy using Christian elements, such as the Holy Grail and the thirty pieces of silver paid to Judas.

The "Ghosts" Trilogy

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Present-day Californian ghost stories.

Other Novels

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Collections

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Other Publications

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Critical studies and reviews of Blaylock's work

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  • "Review: The Ring of Stones" – Heck, Peter (February 2015). "On Books". Asimov's Science Fiction. 39 (2): 108.

References

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  1. ^ Mark Wingenfeld, "James P. Blaylock" in Bleiler, Richard, Ed. Supernatural Fiction Writers: Contemporary Fantasy and Horror. New York: Thomson/Gale, 2003. (pp. 89-98) ISBN 9780684312507
  2. ^ a b "Interview with Steampunk Legend Author James P. Blaylock". The Geek Girl Project. May 23, 2013.
  3. ^ "CW Alumni Mixer & Farewell to Jim Blaylock", OCSA Calendar, August 2, 2013, archived from the original on September 11, 2016, retrieved August 24, 2016
  4. ^ World Fantasy Convention (2010). "Award Winners and Nominees". Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
  5. ^ "1986 World Fantasy Award Winners and Nominees". Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  6. ^ "1987 Philip K. Dick Award". Locus. Archived from the original on April 14, 2009.
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