Edghill, Rosemary
Entry updated 20 April 2026. Tagged: Author.
(1956-2026) US author whose birth name may have been Eluki Besshahar but who initially inscribed her working name as eluki bes shahar, though publishers often ignored her all-lower-case preference; she increasingly wrote under the name Rosemary Edghill (Edghill being her mother's maiden name), which she adopted legally in 2004. She began publishing work of genre interest as bes shahar with "Casablanca" for Hydrospanner Zero in 1981; the tale became part of her first novel, Hellflower (fixup 1991), which begins the Butterfly St Cyr Space Opera sequence about a female space pilot whose smuggling activities embroil her in an interstellar plot involving dynasties and a young prince; the story continues with Darktraders (1992), which is less energetic, though complicated, and Archangel Blues (1993), in which some Virtual Reality riffs are explored, and the enormously complicated plot is wrapped up; all three were assembled as Butterfly & Hellflower (omni 1993).
Works as Rosemary Edghill include The Bell, Book, and Murder sequence, beginning with Speak Daggers to Her (1994), which comprises mysteries with borderline sf elements. The Twelve Treasures sequence, beginning with The Sword of Maiden's Tears (1994), concerns elves and librarians. Most of her remaining work, including collaborations with Marion Zimmer Bradley (Edghill initially uncredited) and Andre Norton, was fantasy. Dead Reckoning (2012) with Mercedes Lackey is Young Adult sf with Steampunk and Western elements, not to mention zombies. [JC]
eluki bes shahar/Rosemary Edghill
born June 1956
died 7 April 2026
works
series
Butterfly St Cyr
- Hellflower (New York: DAW Books, 1991) as eluki bes shahar [Butterfly St Cyr: pb/Nicholas Jainschigg]
- Darktraders (New York: DAW Books, 1992) as eluki bes shahar [Butterfly St Cyr: pb/Nicholas Jainschigg]
- Archangel Blues (New York: DAW Books, 1993) as eluki bes shahar [Butterfly St Cyr: pb/Nicholas Jainschigg]
- Butterfly & Hellflower (New York: GuildAmerica, 1993) as eluki bes shahar [omni of the above three: Butterfly St Cyr: hb/Peter Scanlan]
X-Men
- X-Men and Spiderman: Time's Arrow: The Future (New York: Berkley, 1998) as eluki bes shahar with Tom DeFalco [tie to the Comic universe: X-Men and Spiderman: Time's Arrow: pb/Jim Burns]
- X-Men: Smoke and Mirrors (New York: Boulevard, 1999) as eluki bes shahar [tie to the Comic universe: X-Men: pb/Greg and Tim Hildebrandt]
series
Twelve Treasures
- The Sword of Maiden's Tears (New York: DAW Books, 1994) [Twelve Treasures: pb/John Howe]
- The Cup of Morning Shadows (New York: DAW Books, 1995) [Twelve Treasures: pb/John Howe]
- The Cloak of Night and Daggers (New York: DAW Books, 1997) [Twelve Treasures: pb/John Howe]
- The Empty Crown (New York: GuildAmerica Books, 1997) [omni of the above three: Twelve Treasures: pb/Gary A Lippincott]
Bell, Book, and Murder
- Speak Daggers to Her (New York: Tor/Forge Books, 1994) [Bell, Book, and Murder: hb/Peter Scanlan]
- Book of Moons: A Bast Mystery (New York: Tor/Forge Books, 1995) [Bell, Book, and Murder: hb/Deirdre Snowdon-Romer]
- The Bowl of Night: A Bast Mystery (New York: Tor/Forge Books, 1996) [Bell, Book, and Murder: hb/]
- Bell, Book, and Murder: The Bast Mysteries (New York: Tor/Forge Books, 1998) [omni of the above three: Bell, Book, and Murder: pb/]
Shadow's Gate
- Ghostlight (New York: Tor, 1995) with Marion Zimmer Bradley, Edghill anonymously [Edghill credited in a later reissue: Shadow's Gate: hb/Mark Hess]
- Witchlight (New York: Tor, 1996) with Marion Zimmer Bradley, Edghill anonymously [Edghill credited in a later reissue: Shadow's Gate: hb/Mark Hess]
- Gravelight (New York: Tor, 1997) with Marion Zimmer Bradley, Edghill anonymously [Edghill credited in a later reissue: Shadow's Gate: hb/Mark Hess]
- Heartlight (New York: Tor, 1998) with Marion Zimmer Bradley, Edghill anonymously [Edghill credited in a later reissue: Shadow's Gate: hb/photograph by FPG]
Carolus Rex
- The Shadow of Albion (New York: Tor, 1999) with Andre Norton [Carolus Rex: hb/Thomas Canty]
- Leopard in Exile (New York: Tor, 2001) with Andre Norton [Carolus Rex: hb/Thomas Canty]
individual titles
- Met by Moonlight (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1998) [pb/]
- The Warslayer; An Incredibly True Adventure of Vixen the Slayer, the Beginning (New York: Baen Books, 2002) [hb/Carol Heyer]
- Paying the Piper at the Gates of Dawn (Waterville, Maine: Five Star Books, 2003) [coll: hb/Stephanie Law]
- Vengeance of Masks (Holicong, Pennsylvania: Wildside Press, 2003) [pb/Kelly Freas]
- Dead Reckoning (New York: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books, 2012) with Mercedes Lackey [hb/Blake Morrow]
works as editor
- Murder by Magic: Twenty Tales of Crime and the Supernatural (New York: Warner Books, 2004) [anth: pb/]
links
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