Zahn, Timothy
Entry updated 9 December 2024. Tagged: Author.
(1951- ) US author with a master's degree in physics who began publishing sf with "Ernie" in Analog for September 1979, and early proved himself an adept and productive creator of the problem-oriented Hard SF characteristic of that magazine. Some better examples of his work are assembled as Cascade Point (coll 1986), Time Bomb and Zahndry Others (coll 1988), Distant Friends and Others (coll 1992) and Star Song and Other Stories (coll 2002); the first's title story "Cascade Point" (December 1983 Analog) won a Hugo for its original magazine release, and was also published as Cascade Point (1988 chap dos). The title of the story, which fascinatingly reveals the outward-looking bent of this early work, refers to a point in space where ships flicker from one star system to the next; at the point of transition, Alternate-History versions of the humans on board ship manifest themselves hauntingly. An experiment designed to elicit more knowledge about humankind from this convergence of differing versions of lives turns out in the event most usefully to reveal methods for making the transition itself more efficient. In work like this, Zahn proved himself an exemplary member of the Analog stable.
Zahn's early fiction may have been genuinely competent, but he became suddenly more prominent around 1983, when he began to publish adventure sequences, beginning with the first volume of the Blackcollar series, The Blackcollar (1983), which continued with Blackcollar: The Backlash Mission (1986), both assembled as Blackcollar (omni 2005), plus the much later Blackcollar: The Judas Solution (2006), tales which embedded his scientific training within the arousing storylines typical of Military SF. The sequence begins with Earth suffering from an Alien Invasion, and describes the eponymous guerrillas' supernormal feats of resistance against the monolithic enemy, who seem to be defeated at the end, despite their use of a Clone "Judas" to infiltrate the brave Blackcollar team. The Cobra novel sequence, which begins with Cobra (1985) – though preceded by "When Jonny Comes Marching Home" (January 1982 Analog) – locates similar military/commando heroes in a galactic venue, where they win through with the use of special Weapons. Given this track record, it seems almost inevitable that – after several years without any prospect of a new Star Wars movie – Zahn would be commissioned to keep the franchise active by writing the Star Wars: Thrawn trilogy, comprising Heir to the Empire (1991), Dark Force Rising (1992) and The Last Command (1993); the sequence carries on from Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983), starting five years after the end of that film, and made Zahn as famous as an author of Ties could expect to be. A second sequence, the Star Wars: The Hand of Thrawn books comprising Specter of the Past (1997) and Vision of the Future (1998) was also successful. Some later titles, like Scoundrels (2013), which features Han Solo, are set at the heart of the Star Wars universe. Zahn's lengthiest later sequence, the Dragonback books, beginning with Dragon and Thief (2003) and ending with Dragon and Liberator (2008), is a Young Adult Space Opera whose hero, in union with a dragon-like symbiont, must save his planet and his people from foes.
Some individual novels are of sharper interest than the series. A Coming of Age (1985) is set on a colony planet where a Mutation has given children Telekinetic powers, until puberty yanks them back into normality; the plotting is complex and swift, and Zahn showed creative awareness as well of the profound issues he was exposing to the light – for any novel in which puberty marks a passing of glory is a novel about the human condition as well as, more prosaically, a novel about why children entering puberty begin to read sf. Other early novels of interest are Spinneret (1985), Triplet (1987) and Deadman Switch (1988), another tale of considerable underlying complexity, set in a galactic civilization which exploits its retention of the death penalty by using the condemned as pilots to penetrate an area of space that only corpses can navigate. The eponymous Black Hole featured in Angelmass (2001) emits particles that render humans both extremely calm, and dangerously unable to dissemble; this alarms the distant Galactic Empire known as the Pax, but peace is gained in the end. Zahn's venues, especially for his Military SF, have been at times conventional, and even silly; but again and again he has transformed routine adventure-sf conventions into moral puzzles, without sacrificing a jot of momentum. In 2016 he received the Grandmaster Scribe Award for career achievement in media Ties. [JC]
see also: Rays; Shared Worlds; Sociology; Superman.
Timothy Zahn
born Chicago, Illinois: 1 September 1951
works
series
Blackcollar
- The Blackcollar (New York: DAW Books, 1983) [Blackcollar: pb/Vincent Di Fate]
- Blackcollar: The Backlash Mission (New York: DAW Books, 1986) [Blackcollar: pb/Vincent Di Fate]
- Blackcollar (New York: Baen Books, 2005) [omni of the above two: Blackcollar: hb/David Mattingly]
- Blackcollar: The Judas Solution (New York: Baen Books, 2006) [Blackcollar: hb/David Mattingly]
Cobra
- Cobra (New York: Baen Books, 1985) [Cobra: pb/Vincent Di Fate]
- Cobra Strike (New York: Baen Books, 1986) [Cobra: pb/Vincent Di Fate]
- Cobras Two (New York: Baen Books, 1992) [omni of the above two: Cobra: pb/Stephen Hickman]
- Cobra Bargain (New York: Baen Books, 1988) [Cobra: pb/Vincent Di Fate]
- The Cobra Trilogy (New York: Baen Books, 2004) [omni of the above three: Cobra: hb/Kurt Miller]
Cobra: Cobra War
- Cobra Alliance: Cobra War: Book One (New York: Baen Books, 2009) [Cobra: Cobra War: hb/David Mattingly]
- Cobra Guardian: Cobra War: Book Two (New York: Baen Books, 2011) [Cobra: Cobra War: hb/David Mattingly]
- Cobra Gamble: Cobra War: Book Three (New York: Baen Books, 2012) [Cobra: Cobra War: hb/David Mattingly]
- The Cobra War Trilogy (New York: Baen Books, 2016) [omni of the above three: Cobra: Cobra War: hb/Dave Seeley]
Cobra Rebellion
- Cobra Slave (New York: Baen Books, 2013) [Cobra Rebellion: pb/Dave Seeley]
- Cobra Outlaw (New York: Baen Books, 2015) [Cobra Rebellion: pb/Dave Seeley]
- Cobra Traitor (New York: Baen Books, 2018) [Cobra Rebellion: pb/Dave Seeley]
Star Wars: Thrawn
- Heir to the Empire (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1991) [tie to the Star Wars universe: Star Wars: Thrawn: hb/Tom Jung]
- Heir to the Empire: 20th Anniversary Edition (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 2011) [tie to Star Wars: exp vt of the above as coll: adding "Crisis of Faith: An Original Star Wars Novella": Star Wars: Thrawn: hb/Scott Biel]
- Dark Force Rising (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1992) [tie to the Star Wars universe: Star Wars: Thrawn: hb/Tom Jung]
- The Last Command (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1993) [tie to the Star Wars universe: Star Wars: Thrawn: hb/Tom Jung]
- Thrawn (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 2017) [tie to the Star Wars universe: Star Wars: Thrawn: hb/Two Dots]
- Thrawn: Alliances (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 2017) [tie to the Star Wars universe: Star Wars: Thrawn: hb/Larry Rostant]
- Thrawn: Treason (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 2017) [tie to the Star Wars universe: Star Wars: Thrawn: hb/]
Star Wars: The Hand of Thrawn
- Specter of the Past (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1997) [tie to the Star Wars universe: Star Wars: The Hand of Thrawn: hb/Drew Struzan]
- Vision of the Future (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1998) [tie to the Star Wars universe: Star Wars: The Hand of Thrawn: hb/Drew Struzan]
Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy
- Chaos Rising (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 2020) [tie to the Star Wars universe: Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy: hb/]
- Greater Good (New York: Del Rey, 2021) [tie to the Star Wars universe: Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy: hb/]
- Lesser Evil (New York: Del Rey, 2021) [tie to the Star Wars universe: Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy: hb/]
Star Wars Universe
- Survivors' Quest (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 2004) [tie to the Star Wars universe: Star Wars Universe: hb/Steven D Anderson]
- Outbound Flight (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 2006) [tie to the Star Wars universe: Star Wars Universe: hb/Dave Seeley]
- Allegiance (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 2007) [tie to the Star Wars universe: Star Wars Universe: hb/John Van Fleet]
- Choices of One (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 2011) [tie to the Star Wars universe: Star Wars Universe: hb/John van Fleet]
- Scoundrels (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 2013) [tie to the Star Wars universe: Star Wars Universe: hb/Paul Youll]
Conquerors
- Conquerors' Pride (New York: Bantam Spectra/Science Fiction Book Club, 1994) [Conquerors: pb/Paul Youll]
- Conquerors' Heritage (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1995) [Conquerors: pb/Paul Youll]
- Conquerors' Legacy (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1996) [Conquerors: pb/Paul Youll]
Icarus
- The Icarus Hunt (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1999) [Icarus: hb/Paul Youll]
- The Icarus Plot (New York: Baen Books, 2022) [Icarus: hb/Dave Seeley]
- The Icarus Twin (New York: Baen Books, 2023) [Icarus: hb/Dave Seeley]
- The Icarus Job (New York: Baen Books, 2024) [Icarus: hb/Dave Seeley]
- The Icarus Changeling (New York: Baen Books, 2024) [Icarus: hb/Dave Seeley]
- The Icarus Needle (New York: Baen Books, 2024) [Icarus: hb/Dave Seeley]
Dragonback
- Dragon and Thief (New York: Tor, 2003) [Dragonback: hb/Jon Foster]
- Dragon and Soldier: The Second Dragonback Adventure (New York: Tor/Starscape, 2004) [Dragonback: hb/Jon Foster]
- Dragon and Slave: The Third Dragonback Adventure (New York: Tor/Starscape, 2005) [Dragonback: hb/Jon Foster]
- Dragonback Bargain (New York: Science Fiction Book Club, 2005) [omni of the above three: Dragonback: hb/A C Farley]
- Dragon and Herdsman Dragon and Slave (New York: Tor/Starscape, 2006) [Dragonback: hb/Jon Foster]
- Dragon and Judge (New York: Tor/Starscape, 2007) [Dragonback: hb/Jon Foster]
- Dragon and Liberator (New York: Tor/Starscape, 2008) [Dragonback: hb/Jon Foster]
Quadrail
- Night Train to Rigel (New York: Tor, 2005) [Quadrail: hb/Jim Burns]
- The Third Lynx (New York: Tor, 2006) [Quadrail: hb/Mark Zug]
- Odd Girl Out (New York: Tor, 2008) [Quadrail: hb/Stephen Youll]
- The Domino Pattern (New York: Tor, 2010) [Quadrail: hb/Paul Youll]
- Judgment at Proteus (New York: Tor, 2012) [Quadrail: hb/Paul Youll]
Terminator Salvation
- Terminator Salvation: From the Ashes (London: Titan Books, 2009) [tie to the Terminator universe: Terminator Salvation: pb/]
- Terminator Salvation: Trial by Fire (London: Titan Books, 2010) [tie to the Terminator universe: Terminator Salvation: pb/]
Honor Harrington: Manticore Ascendant
- A Call to Duty (New York: Baen Books, 2014) with David Weber [Honor Harrington: Manticore Ascendant: hb/David Mattingly]
- A Call to Arms (New York: Baen Books, 2015) with Thomas Pope and David Weber [Honor Harrington: Manticore Ascendant: hb/David Mattingly]
- A Call to Vengeance (New York: Baen Books, 2018) with Thomas Pope and David Weber [Honor Harrington: Manticore Ascendant: hb/Dave Seeley]
- A Call to Insurrection (New York: Baen Books, 2022) with Thomas Pope and David Weber [Honor Harrington: Manticore Ascendant: hb/Dave Seeley]
StarCraft
- StarCraft: Evolution (New York: Del Rey, 2016) [tie to the Shared World Videogame series Starcraft: StarCraft: hb/Mike Bryan]
Sibyl's War
- Pawn (New York: Tor, 2017) [Sibyl's War: hb/Stephen Youll]
- Knight (New York: Tor, 2019) [Sibyl's War: hb/Stephen Youll]
- Queen (New York: Tor, 2020) [Sibyl's War: hb/Stephen Youll]
individual titles
- A Coming of Age (New York: Bluejay Books, 1985) [hb/Doug Beekman]
- Spinneret (New York: Bluejay Books, 1985) [first appeared July-October 1985 Analog: hb/Doug Beekman]
- Triplet (New York: Baen Books, 1987) [pb/Alan Gutierrez]
- Deadman Switch (New York: Baen Books, 1988) [pb/David Mattingly]
- Warhorse (New York: Baen Books, 1990) [fixup: pb/David Mattingly]
- Angelmass (New York: Tor, 2001) [hb/Paul Youll]
- Manta's Gift (New York: Tor, 2002) [hb/Stephan Martinière]
- The Green and the Gray (New York: Tor, 2004) [hb/Jim Burns]
- Soulminder (New York: Open Road Integrated Media, 2014) [pb/Amanda DeRosa]
collections and stories
- Cascade Point and Other Stories (New York: Bluejay Books, 1986) [coll: hb/Doug Beekman]
- Cascade Point (New York: Tor, 1988) [novella: dos: cut version of the above, containing title story only: first appeared December 1983 Analog: pb/Tim White]
- Time Bomb and Zahndry Others (New York: Baen Books, 1988) [coll: pb/Steve Youll]
- Distant Friends and Others (New York: Baen Books, 1992) [coll: pb/David Mattingly]
- Star Song and Other Stories (Waterville, Maine: Five Star, 2002) [coll: hb/Mark Stijnman]
- Pawn's Gambit and Other Stratagems (New York: Open Road Integrated Media, 2016) [coll: pb/]
links
previous versions of this entry