Elliott, Kate

Entry updated 22 May 2023. Tagged: Author.

Pseudonym of US author Alis A Rasmussen (1958-    ), who has written as Kate Elliott since 1992. Under her own name, her first novel, The Labyrinth Gate (1988), is a tale of considerable interest, delineating a believably matrilineal fantasy world. The Highroad Trilogy – comprising A Passage of Stars (1990), Revolution's Shore (1990) and The Price of Ransom (1990) – depicts the interstellar adventures of its young female protagonist, who sets out to search for her kidnapped mentor and to fight evil galactic bureaucrats, and whose involvement in Music is infectiously presented through her interaction with a highly musical Robot companion. Her search for a full life keeps this first volume moving, albeit through markedly familiar venues; the third volume, which carries the maturing crew back from colonized space towards the old worlds, is a marked improvement. All these titles are signed Alis A Rasmussen.

It was at this point in her career that she began to work under a pseudonym, and as Kate Elliott created a new series directly subsequent to the Highroad books. The Novels of Jaran sequence – comprising Jaran (1992), An Earthly Crown (1993), His Conquering Sword (1993) and The Law of Becoming (1994) – complicatedly joins together clans of Alien warriors (the jaran), rite-of-passage subplots featuring younger women, human actors; the action begins on an oppressed Earth, but soon moves to a Planetary Romance venue, a world called Rhui where the heroine and her kith engage in many battles with an end to conquering the planet – all while, back on Earth, something like a Cyberpunk culture is evolving. Elliott's later work has been fantasy, some of it ambitious. Much of Elliott's later work has been fantasy, some of it ambitious, though the Sun Chronicles sequence beginning with Unconquerable Sun (2020), set in a moderately Far Future slough of Galactic Empires shaken by dynastic disputes; local colour is supplied by Military SF sequences. [JC]

Alis A Rasmussen

born Des Moines, Iowa: 27 July 1958

works as Alis A Rasmussen

series

Highroad Trilogy

• The Highroad Trilogy Volume 1: A Passage of Stars (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1990) [Highroad Trilogy: pb/Alan Gutierrez]
• The Highroad Trilogy Volume 2: Revolution's Shore (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1990) [Highroad Trilogy: pb/Chris Moore]
• The Highroad Trilogy Volume 3: The Price of Ransom (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1990) [Highroad Trilogy: pb/Steve Youll]

individual titles

• The Labyrinth Gate (New York: Baen Books, 1988) [pb/Larry Schwinger]
• The Keeper's Six (New York: Tor.com, 2023) [hb/]

works as Kate Elliott

series

Novels of Jaran

• Jaran (New York: DAW Books, 1992) [Novels of Jaran: pb/Jim Burns]
  • Jaran: The First Novel of the Jaran (New York: DAW Books, 2002) [vt of the above: Novels of Jaran: pb/Jim Burns]
• An Earthly Crown (New York: DAW Books, 1993) [Novels of Jaran: pb/Jim Burns]
• His Conquering Sword (New York: DAW Books, 1993) [Novels of Jaran: pb/Jim Burns]
• The Law of Becoming (New York: DAW Books, 1994) [Novels of Jaran: pb/Jim Burns]
  • The Novels of the Jaran (New York: Open Road Integrated Media, 2013) [omni of the above four: ebook: Novels of Jaran: na/]

Crown of Stars

• King's Dragon (New York: DAW Books, 1997) [Crown of Stars: hb/Jody A Lee]
• Prince of Dogs (New York: DAW Books, 1998) [Crown of Stars: hb/Jody A Lee]
• The Burning Stone (New York: DAW Books, 1999) [Crown of Stars: hb/Jody A Lee]
• Child of Flame (London: Orbit, 2000) [Crown of Stars: pb/Melvin Grant]
• The Gathering Storm (New York: DAW Books, 2003) [Crown of Stars: hb/Jody A Lee]
• In the Ruins (New York: DAW Books, 2005) [Crown of Stars: hb/Jody A Lee]
• Crown of Stars (New York: DAW Books, 2006) [Crown of Stars: hb/Jody A Lee]

Spirit Gate

• Spirit Gate (New York: Tor, 2006) [Spirit Gate: hb/Michael W Kaluta]
• Shadow Gate (London: Orbit, 2008) [Spirit Gate: pb/Larry Rostant]
• Traitors' Gate (New York: Tor, 2009) [Spirit Gate: hb/Michael W Kaluta]

Spiritwalker

• Cold Magic (London: Orbit, 2010) [Spiritwalker: pb/Larry Rostant]
• Cold Fire (London: Orbit, 2011) [Spiritwalker: pb/Larry Rostant]
• Cold Steel (London: Orbit, 2013) [Spiritwalker: pb/Larry Rostant]

Black Wolves

• Black Wolves (London: Orbit, 2015) [Black Wolves: pb/Larry Rostant]

Court of Fives

• Court of Fives (Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown, 2015) [Court of Fives: hb/Wes Houssi]
• Poisoned Blade (Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown, 2016) [Court of Fives: hb/Wes Houssi & Samny Yuen]
• Buried Heart (Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown, 2017) [Court of Fives: hb/Samny Yuen]

The Sun Chronicles

• Unconquerable Sun (New York: Tor, 2020) [The Sun Chronicles: hb/]
• Furious Heaven (New York: Tor, 2023) [The Sun Chronicles: hb/]

individual titles

• The Golden Key (New York: DAW Books, 1996) with Melanie Rawn and Jennifer Roberson [for entries on Rawn and Roberson, see The Encyclopedia of Fantasy: hb/Michael Whelan]
• Servant Mage (New York: Tor, 2022) [hb/]

collections and stories

• The Very Best of Kate Elliott (San Francisco, California: Tachyon Publications, 2015) [coll: pb/Julie Dillon]
• Night Flower (New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2015) [story: ebook: na/]

links

• Kate Elliott
• Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• The Encyclopedia of Fantasy: Melanie Rawn; Jennifer Roberson.
• Picture Gallery

previous versions of this entry

• Internet Archive