Mayhar, Ardath
Entry updated 9 January 2023. Tagged: Author.
(1930-2012) US author who began publishing poetry in the 1940s and who wrote historicals and Westerns as Frank Cannon and other non-sf/fantasy books as John Killdeer and Sarah MacWilliams. She began publishing sf/fantasy with "The Cat with the Sapphire Eyes" for Weirdbook #8 in 1973; she integrated this tale into the second volume of her Kyrannon Shar-Nuhn sequence, which comprises her first novel, How the Gods Wove in Kyrannon (1979), and The Seekers of Shar-Nuhn (1980). Like much of her work, this sequence makes use of the instruments of Science Fantasy – specifically, magical devices and powers which are justified by recourse to "scientific" explanations, generally rooted in the past (see Science and Sorcery) – to heighten tales whose protagonists, often adolescent girls, exhibit a goodness which is sometimes shining. In the Tales of the Triple Moon sequence, folk of transparent decency must resist a tyrant whose disruptive influence threatens to sour the harmony between human beings and Nature. The Macaque Cycle, both with Ron Fortier and comprising Trail of the Seahawks (1987) and Monkey Station (1989), features Uplifted monkeys (see Apes as Human) who must work out how to coinhabit our planet with us; it is not certain if a projected Game was ever released.
The most sf-like of Mayhar's individual novels were Khi to Freedom (1983), Golden Dream (1983), Exile on Vlahil (1984), an elaborate and effective Planetary Romance, The World Ends in Hickory Hollow (1985), a Post-Holocaust tale set in Texas, where a small family fends off raiders in terms evocative of Survivalist Fiction, and A Place of Silver Silence (1988), a First Contact tale for a younger audience. Mayhar's work has been compared to that of Andre Norton, with which it shared the qualities of transparent story-telling and a sense of moral certainty. In 2008 she was named as SFWA Author Emeritus (see SFWA Grand Master Award). [JC]
Ardath Frances Hurst Mayhar
born Timpson, Texas: 20 February 1930
died Nacogdoches, Texas: 1 February 2012
works
series
Tales of the Triple Moon
- How the Gods Wove in Kyrannon (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1979) [Tales of the Triple Moon: hb/Kathy Canzanin]
- The Seekers of Shar-Nuhn (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1980) [Tales of the Triple Moon: hb/Bruce Schluter]
- Warlock's Gift (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1982) [Tales of the Triple Moon: hb/Bruce Schluter]
- Lords of the Triple Moons (New York: Atheneum/Argo, 1983) [Tales of the Triple Moon: hb/Michael Mariano]
Tyrnos
- Soul-Singer of Tyrnos (New York: Atheneum/Argo, 1981) [Tyrnos: hb/Yoshi Miyake]
- The Runes of the Lyre (New York: Atheneum/Argo, 1982) [Tyrnos: hb/]
Macaque Cycle
- Trail of the Seahawks (Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, TSR/Windwalker, 1987) with Ron Fortier [Apes as Human: Macaque Cycle: pb/Jeff Easley]
- Monkey Station (Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, TSR, 1989) with Ron Fortier [Apes as Human: Macaque Cycle: pb/Lindy Giacomini]
Human-Knacker War
- Slaughterhouse World: A Tale of the Human-Knacker War (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/Borgo Press, 2010) [dos: with Knack' Attack: A Tale of the Human-Knacker War by Robert Reginald: Human-Knacker War: pb/Algol and Innovari]
individual titles
- Golden Dream: A Fuzzy Odyssey (New York: Ace Books, 1982) [tie to the Shared World: continuing the H Beam Piper series: Fuzzy: pb/Michael Whelan]
- Khi to Freedom (New York: Ace Books, 1983) [pb/Steve Hickam]
- Exile on Vlahil (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1984) [hb/Margo Herr]
- The World Ends in Hickory Hollow (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1985) [hb/Frederick Porter]
- The Saga of Grittel Sundotha (New York: Atheneum/Argo, 1985) [hb/Neil Feigeles]
- Makra Choria (New York: Atheneum/Argo, 1987) [hb/]
- BattleTech: The Sword and the Dagger (Chicago, Illinois: FASA Corporation, 1987) [tie to the Wargame: BattleTech: pb/David R Dietrick]
- The Wall (New York: Space and Time, 1987) [pb/Mary Salvante]
- A Place of Silver Silence (New York: Walker and Co, 1988) [in the Millennium series: hb/Pat Ortega]
- People of the Mesa: A Novel of Native America (New York: Diamond/Charter, 1992) [pb/Morgan Weistling]
- Hunters of the Plains (New York: Berkley Books, 1995) [pb/]
- The Exiles of Damaria Book 1: Riddles and Dreams (New York: Images Publishing, 2003) [pb/]
- The Exiles of Damaria: A Novel of Fantasy (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/The Borgo Press, 2010) [exp vt of the above: pb/]
- Witchfire (Metairie, Louisiana: Michael Poll Publishing, 2007) with Ron Fortier [pb/Rob Davis]
- The Tulpa (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/The Borgo Press, 2009) [pb/Tatiana Morozova]
- A Planet Called Heaven (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/The Borgo Press, 2009) [pb/Catmando/Fotolia]
- The Door in the Hill: A Tale of the Turnipins (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/The Borgo Press, 2009) [pb/Katherine Boeva/Fotolia]
- Messengers in White (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/The Borgo Press, 2009) [pb/Robert Fori]
- A Road of Stars: A Fantasy of Life, Death, Love, and Art (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/The Borgo Press, 2009) [pb/]
- The Fugitives: A Tale of Prehistoric Times (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/The Borgo Press, 2009) [pb/]
- The Clarrington Heritage (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/The Borgo Press, 2009) [pb/]
- Shock Treatment: An Account of Granary's War (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/The Borgo Press, 2009) [pb/Innovari]
collections
- Mean Little Old Lady at Work: The Selected Works of Ardath Mayhar (Concord, California: Dark Regions Press, 1994) [coll: chap: illus/pb/Don Schank]
- Slewfoot Sally and the Flying Mule and Other Tales from the Cotton County (Kingwood, Texas: Blue Lantern Books, 1995) [coll: pb/Ardath Mayhar]
- Reflections; &, Journey to an Ending: Collected Poems (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/The Borgo Press, 2009) [poetry: coll: pb/]
- Crazy Quilt: The Best Short Stories of Ardath Mayhar (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/The Borgo Press, 2009) [coll: pb/]
- A World of Weirdities: Tales to Shiver By (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/The Borgo Press, 2009) [coll: pb/Frenta/Fotolia]
- Strange Doin's in the Pine Hills: Stories of Fantasy and Mystery in East Texas (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/The Borgo Press, 2009) [coll: pb/]
- The Loquat Eyes: More Tall Tales from Cotton County, Texas (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/The Borgo Press, 2010) [coll: pb/Alien Cat]
- The Methodist Bobcat and Other Tales (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/The Borgo Press, 2010) [coll: pb/]
nonfiction
- Through a Stone Wall: A Writer's Handbook and Literary Autobiography (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/The Borgo Press, 1992) [nonfiction: pb/]
- Through a Stone Wall: Lessons from Thirty Years of Writing, Second Edition (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/The Borgo Press, 2009) [nonfiction: exp vt of the above: pb/]
- Strange View from a Skewed Orbit: An Oddball Memoir (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/The Borgo Press, 2009) [nonfiction: pb/]
links
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