King, T Jackson
Entry updated 13 January 2025. Tagged: Author.
(1948-2024) US archaeologist, journalist and author, formerly married to Paula E Downing. He began publishing sf with his first novel, Retread Shop (1988), a somewhat congested but pleasingly vivid tale of the upbringing of a young human in the Space Habitat of the title, and of his complicated dealings with Alien merchants and crises of various sorts. He then focused on short stories for much of the 1990s, many of them extrapolating the concerns of Anthropology into various venues, assembling a representative sample as Judgment Day and Other Dreams (coll 2009). He had earlier contributed a volume to A C Crispin's Starbridge sequence, Starbridge: Ancestor's World (1996) with Crispin. His second solo novel, Little Brother's World (2010), is a Young Adult tale concerning two rogue adolescents on a colony world rigidly controlled according to the codes which emblazon everyone's genetic nature (see Genetic Engineering).
King's Matt and Mata Hari sequence beginning with Star Vigilante (2012) features Matt, a Cyborg agent for hire who finds himself pitted against a combination of interstellar corporations who together operate a Galactic Empire; Mata Hari, an AI-powered ship, is fortunately at his service, as is a range of super Weapons. Less fortunately, he is related to Clone slaves. The series continued for several volumes, followed by the Aliens sequence beginning with Earth vs. Aliens (2014), the Escape from Aliens sequence beginning with Escape from Aliens (2015), StarFight sequence beginning with Battlestar (2016), and the Empire sequence beginning with Star Glory (2017), all these latter series being Space Operas, some of them identifiable as Military SF. A final sequence, the Girl Magic series beginning with Girl Magic (2020), is fantasy. [JC]
Thomas Jackson King Jr
born Houston, Texas: 24 May 1948
died Santa Fe, New Mexico: 3 December 2024
works
series
Little Brother's World
- Little Brother's World (Blacksburg, Virginia: Fantastic Books, 2010) [Little Brother's World: pb/Ian Randall Strock]
- Genocide Illegal (Radford, Virginia: Wilder Publications, 2015) [Little Brother's World: pb/]
- Mother Warm (place not given: for the author, 2017) [Little Brother's World: pb/Aleksandar Kamasi]
Matt and Mata Hari
- Star Vigilante (Radford, Virginia: Wilder Publications, 2012) [Matt and Mata Hari: pb/]
- Nebula Vigilante (Radford, Virginia: Wilder Publications, 2013) [Matt and Mata Hari: pb/]
- Galactic Vigilante (Radford, Virginia: Wilder Publications, 2013) [Matt and Mata Hari: pb/]
- Anarchate Vigilante (Radford, Virginia: Wilder Publications, 2014) [Matt and Mata Hari: pb/]
Aliens
- Earth vs. Aliens (Radford, Virginia: Wilder Publications, 2014) [Aliens: pb/]
- Humans vs. Aliens (Radford, Virginia: Wilder Publications, 2015) [Aliens: pb/]
- Freedom vs. Aliens (Radford, Virginia: Wilder Publications, 2015) [Aliens: pb/]
- Aliens vs. Humans (Radford, Virginia: Wilder Publications, 2015) [Aliens: pb/]
Escape from Aliens
- Escape from Aliens (Radford, Virginia: Wilder Publications, 2015) [Escape from Aliens: pb/]
- Fight the Aliens (Radford, Virginia: Wilder Publications, 2015) [Escape from Aliens: pb/]
- Defeat the Aliens (Radford, Virginia: Wilder Publications, 2015) [Escape from Aliens: pb/]
StarFight
- Battlestar (place not given: for the author, 2016) [Empire: pb/Luca Oleastri]
- Battlegroup (place not given: for the author, 2016) [Empire: pb/Luca Oleastri]
- Battlecry (place not given: for the author, 2017) [Empire: pb/Luca Oleastri]
Empire
- Star Glory (place not given: for the author, 2017) [Empire: pb/Luca Oleastri]
- Star Threat (place not given: for the author, 2017) [Empire: pb/Luca Oleastri]
- Star Fight (place not given: for the author, 2018) [Empire: pb/Luca Oleastri]
Girl Magic
- Girl Magic (place not given: for the author, 2020) [Girl Magic: pb/]
- Hard Magic (place not given: for the author, 2020) [Girl Magic: pb/]
- Crazy Magic (place not given: for the author, 2021) [Girl Magic: pb/]
- Divine Magic (place not given: for the author, 2021) [Girl Magic: pb/]
- Demigod Magic (place not given: for the author, 2022) [Girl Magic: pb/]
individual titles
- Retread Shop (New York: Popular Library/Questar, 1988) [pb/Tom Kidd]
- Starbridge: Ancestor's World (New York: Ace Books, 1996) with A C Crispin [Starbridge: pb/Duane O Myers]
- The Gaean Enchantment (Blacksburg, Virginia: Fantastic Books, 2012) [pb/T Jackson King]
- Galactic Avatar (Radford, Virginia: Wilder Publications, 2013) [pb/]
- Star of Islam (Radford, Virginia: Wilder Publications, 2013) [pb/]
- The Memory Singer (New York: Fantastic Books, 2014) [pb/Philcold/Dreamstime.com]
- Star Thief (place not given: for the author, 2018) [pb/]
collections
- Judgment Day and Other Dreams (Blacksburg, Virginia: Fantastic Books, 2009) [coll: hb/]
- Mother Earth's Stretch Marks (Silver City, New Mexico: Motherbird Books, 2009) [poetry: coll: chap: pb/]
links
previous versions of this entry