Pratt, Tim
Entry updated 1 July 2024. Tagged: Author, Editor.
(1976- ) US author and poet, a graduate of Clarion Science Fiction Writers' Workshop (East) who is currently a senior editor of Locus, for which he has written many reviews and obituaries. He also writes as T A Pratt and as by T Aaron Payton. Pratt began to publish fiction of genre interest with "53rd Annual Mantis Homecoming Dance" in Maelstrom Speculative Fiction for Winter 1999 and has since been highly prolific in short fiction, with well over a hundred stories and many poems in a wide range of SF Magazines and anthologies. Several collections have appeared [see Checklist below]. His tale "Impossible Dreams" (July 2006 Asimov's), a variation on the Magic Shop theme whose video-rental store is full of films never actually made in this world, won a Hugo as best short story.
With Heather Shaw, Pratt edited and published all eleven issues of an Amateur Magazine titled Flytrap (which see) from 2003 to 2014. He also edited seven issues of the SF Poetry Association's magazine Star*Line from January/February 2003 to May/June 2004.
Pratt's first novel was The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl (2005), a contemporary Fantasy interestingly blending fantastic and Western tropes, and dealing – like Neil Gaiman's American Gods (2001) though from a rather different angle – with the concept of forgotten US Gods. The Nex (2010 ebook; exp as coll 2013) is a lively Young Adult adventure whose heroine is transported to the titular centre of the Multiverse for adventures involving a Shapeshifter, giant Robots, Cyborgs and revolution against Dystopian rule. Briarpatch (2011) is a contemporary dark fantasy much obsessed by death, whose action shifts through alternate Dimensions.
Further novel-length work includes the Marla Mason series of Urban Fantasy tales [see The Encyclopedia of Fantasy under links below] beginning with Blood Engines (2007) as T A Pratt, and several Ties to Role Playing Game franchises [see Checklist below]. The Constantine Affliction (2012) as by T Aaron Payton opens the projected Pimm & Skye series of Steampunk yarns, and The Stormglass Protocol (2013) with Andy Deemer is the first volume of another projected sequence, the Young-Adult sf Stormglass Chronicles featuring espionage in the Near Future. Heirs of Grace (2014) is a further contemporary fantasy. Of particular sf interest is The Wrong Stars (2017), a light-hearted spacegoing adventure which begins with the salvage of an old human Spaceship and revival of the surviving crew member after centuries of Suspended Animation, and escalates through comic difficulties of Communication with Aliens known as Liars for their compulsive (or strategic) practice of shameless lying and self-contradiction about every subject, however trivial. This opens the Axiom series of Space Operas, the sequels being The Dreaming Stars (2018) and The Forbidden Stars (2019), with The Alien Stars and Other Novellas (coll of linked novellas 2021) focusing on three significant actors in the central tale, one from each volume. The Journals of Zaxony Delatree sequence beginning with Doors of Sleep (2021) traces the experiences of a man who, each time he awakens from slumber, finds himself in a new Parallel World.
Pratt has established himself as a writer of considerable range and inventiveness. [DRL]
see also: Daily Science Fiction; Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show; Rhysling Award; Shadows of Saturn.
Tim Pratt
born Goldsboro, North Carolina: 12 December 1976
works
series
Marla Mason
- Blood Engines (New York: Bantam Spectra, 2007) as T A Pratt [Marla Mason: pb/Daniel Dos Santos]
- Poison Sleep (New York: Bantam Spectra, 2008) as T A Pratt [Marla Mason: pb/Daniel Dos Santos]
- Dead Reign (New York: Bantam Spectra, 2009) as T A Pratt [Marla Mason: pb/Daniel Dos Santos]
- Spell Games (New York: Bantam Spectra, 2009) as T A Pratt [Marla Mason: pb/Daniel Dos Santos]
- Bone Shop (Berkeley, California: Tropism Press, 2010) as T A Pratt [prequel to main series: Marla Mason: pb/]
- Broken Mirrors (West Warwick, Rhode Island: The Merry Blacksmith Press, 2010) as T A Pratt [Marla Mason: pb/]
- Grim Tides (West Warwick, Rhode Island: The Merry Blacksmith Press, 2012) as T A Pratt [Marla Mason: pb/Lindsey Look]
- Bride of Death (West Warwick, Rhode Island: The Merry Blacksmith Press, 2014) as T A Pratt [Marla Mason: pb/Lindsey Look]
- Lady of Misrule (West Warwick, Rhode Island: The Merry Blacksmith Press, 2015) as T A Pratt [Marla Mason: pb/Lindsey Look]
- Queen of Nothing (West Warwick, Rhode Island: The Merry Blacksmith Press, 2015) as T A Pratt [Marla Mason: pb/]
- Closing Doors (West Warwick, Rhode Island: The Merry Blacksmith Press, 2017) as T A Pratt [Marla Mason: pb/Lindsey Look]
Pathfinder Tales
- Pathfinder Tales: City of the Fallen Sky (Redmond, Washington: Paizo, 2012) [tie to the Role Playing Game: Pathfinder Tales: pb/J P Targete]
- Pathfinder Tales: Liar's Blade (Redmond, Washington: Paizo, 2012) [tie to the Role Playing Game: Pathfinder Tales: pb/J P Targete]
- Pathfinder Tales: Reign of Stars (Redmond, Washington: Paizo, 2014) [tie to the Role Playing Game: Pathfinder Tales: pb/Roberto Pitturru]
- Pathfinder Tales: Liar's Island (Redmond, Washington: Paizo, 2015) [tie to the Role Playing Game: Pathfinder Tales: pb/Michal Ivan]
- Pathfinder Tales: Liar's Bargain (Redmond, Washington: Paizo, 2015) [tie to the Role Playing Game: Pathfinder Tales: pb/Michal Ivan]
Pimm & Skye
- The Constantine Affliction (San Francisco, California: Night Shade Books, 2012) as by T Aaron Payton [Pimm & Skye: hb/Mark Belson]
The Stormglass Chronicles
- The Stormglass Protocol (Mendham, New Jersey: Stormglass Ventures, 2013) with Andy Deemer [The Stormglass Chronicles: pb/]
Axiom
- The Wrong Stars (Oxford, Oxfordshire: Angry Robot, 2017) [Axiom: pb/Paul Scott Canavan]
- The Dreaming Stars (Oxford, Oxfordshire: Angry Robot, 2018) [Axiom: pb/Paul Scott Canavan]
- The Forbidden Stars (Oxford, Oxfordshire: Angry Robot, 2019) [Axiom: pb/Paul Scott Canavan]
- The Alien Stars and Other Novellas (London: Watkins Publishing, 2021) [coll of linked novellas: Axiom: pb/grandfailure]
Twilight Imperium
- The Fractured Void (Nottingham, Nottinghamshire: Aconyte, 2020) [Twilight Imperium: pb/Scott Schomburg]
- The Necropolis Empire (Nottingham, Nottinghamshire: Aconyte, 2021) [Twilight Imperium: pb/]
- The Veiled Masters (Nottingham, Nottinghamshire: Aconyte, 2022) [Twilight Imperium: pb/]
Journals of Zaxony Delatree
- Doors of Sleep (New York: Angry Robot, 2021) [Journals of Zaxony Delatree: pb/Kieran Tyler]
- Prison of Sleep (New York: Angry Robot, 2022) [Journals of Zaxony Delatree: pb/]
Arkham Horror
- The Ravening Deep (Ann Arbor, Michigan: Aconyte, 2023) [Arkham Horror: pb/]
- Herald of Ruin (Ann Arbor, Michigan: Aconyte, 2024) [Arkham Horror: pb/]
individual titles
- The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl (New York: Bantam Spectra, 2005) [pb/Michael Koelsch]
- The Nex (Berkeley, California: Tropism Press, 2010) [ebook: na/]
- The Nex (West Warwick, Rhode Island: The Merry Blacksmith Press, 2013) [exp as coll with two related stories: pb/from Pieter Bruegel the Elder]
- Briarpatch (Toronto, Ontario: ChiZine Publications, 2011) [pb/Erik Mohr]
- Venom in Her Veins (Renton, Washington: Wizards of the Coast, 2012) [tie to the Role Playing Game: Forgotten Realms: pb/]
- Heirs of Grace (Las Vegas, Nevada: 47North, 2014) [pb/Galen Dara]
- Doors of Sleep (New York: Angry Robot, 2021) [pb/]
- The Knife and the Serpent (New York: Angry Robot, 2024) [pb/]
collections and stories
- Floodwater (Berkeley, California: Tropism Press, 2002) with Heather Shaw [anth/coll: chap: one story by each author and one collaboration: pb/Richard Doyle]
- Little Gods (Canton, Ohio: Prime Books, 2003) [coll: pb/Daniel Conway]
- Wintering Away (Berkeley, California: Tropism Press, 2003) with Heather Shaw [anth/coll: chap: one story by each author and one collaborative poem: pb/]
- The Christmas Mummy (Berkeley, California: Tropism Press, 2006) with Heather Shaw [story: chap: pb/Greg van Eekhout]
- If There Were Wolves (Canton, Ohio: Prime Books, 2006) [coll: chap: pb/Richard Herman Eschke]
- Silver Linings (New York: Tor.com, 2011) [story: ebook: na/Thom Tenery]
- Hart & Boot & Other Stories (San Francisco, California: Night Shade Books, 2012) [coll: hb/Richard Marchand]
- The Complete Stories of Tim Pratt (So Far) (place not ascertained: for the author, 2013) [coll: ebook: na/]
- Antiquities and Tangibles & Other Stories (West Warwick, Rhode Island: The Merry Blacksmith Press, 2013) [coll: pb/Jenn Reese]
- The Deep Woods (Hornsea, East Yorkshire: PS Publishing, 2015) [novella: hb/Galen Dara]
- The Christmas Mummy and Other Carols (West Warwick, Rhode Island: The Merry Blacksmith Press, 2017) with Heather Shaw [anth/coll: solo and collaborative stories: pb/Jenn Reese]
- The Deep Woods (Hornsea, East Yorkshire: PS Publishing, 2015) [novella: hb/Galen Dara]
- Miracles & Marvels (West Warwick, Rhode Island: The Merry Blacksmith Press, 2019) [coll: pb/]
works as editor
- Sympathy for the Devil (San Francisco, California: Night Shade Books, 2010) [anth: pb/David Palumbo]
- Rags & Bones: New Twists on Timeless Tales (New York: Little, Brown, 2013) with Melissa Marr [anth: hb/Grady McFerrin]
links
- Tim Pratt
- Marla Mason
- Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- The Encyclopedia of Fantasy: Urban Fantasy
- Picture Gallery
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