Adam Charles Roberts (born 30 June 1965) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

science fiction and fantasy novelist. In 2018 he was elected vice-president of the H.G. Wells Society.

Career

He has a

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

from the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

and a PhD from

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings ...

and the Classics. He teaches

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

and

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

. Adam Roberts has been nominated three times for the

Arthur C. Clarke Award The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. It is named after British author Arthur C. Clarke, who gave a grant to establish the award i ...

: in 2001 for his

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

, ''

Salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

'', in 2007 for '' Gradisil'' and in 2010 for '' Yellow Blue Tibia''. He won both the 2012

BSFA Award for Best Novel The BSFA Awards are given every year by the British Science Fiction Association. The Best Novel award is open to any novel-length work of science fiction or fantasy that has been published in the UK for the first time in the previous year. Serial ...

, and the

John W. Campbell Memorial Award The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, or Campbell Memorial Award, is an annual award presented by the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas to the author of the best science fiction no ...

, for ''Jack Glass''. It was further shortlisted for

The Kitschies The Kitschies are British literary prizes presented annually for "the year's most progressive, intelligent and entertaining works that contain elements of the speculative or fantastic" published in the United Kingdom. Awards and criteria The Ki ...

Red Tentacle award. His short story "Tollund" was nominated for the 2014

Sidewise Award The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best alternate history stories and novels of the year. Overview The awards take their name from the 1934 short story " Sidewise in Time" by Murray Leinster, in ...

. On his website, Roberts states that an ongoing project of his is to write a short story in every science fiction sub-genre. Roberts' science fiction has been compared to

Lionel Fanthorpe Robert Lionel Fanthorpe, FCollP, FRSA, FCMI (born 9 February 1935) is a retired British priest and entertainer. Fanthorpe also worked as a dental technician, journalist, teacher, television presenter, author and lecturer. Born in Dereham in Norfol ...

. In May 2014, Roberts gave the second annual

Tolkien Lecture The J.R.R. Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature is a free public lecture delivered annually at Pembroke College, Oxford University. The series was founded by Pembroke postgraduate students Will Badger and Gabriel Schenk in memory of J.R.R. Tol ...

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...

, speaking on the topic of Tolkien and Women.

Published works

Novels

* ''

'' (2000, ) * '' On'' (2001, ) * ''

Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

'' (2002, ) * ''Polystom'' (2003, ) * '' The Snow'' (2004) * '' Gradisil'' (2006) * ''

Land of the Headless ''Land of the Headless'' is a science fiction novel by the British writer Adam Roberts, published in 2007. Plot summary The story focuses upon the experiences of Jon Cavala, a poet on the religiously fundamentalist planet of Pluse. He is behea ...

'' (2007) * ''

Splinter A splinter (also known as a sliver) is a fragment of a larger object, or a foreign body that penetrates or is purposely injected into a body. The foreign body must be lodged inside tissue to be considered a splinter. Splinters may cause initia ...

'' (2007) * ''Swiftly: A Novel'' (2008) * ''Yellow Blue Tibia: A Novel'' (2009, ) * ''

New Model Army The New Model Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Th ...

'' (2010) * ''By Light Alone'' (2011) * ''Jack Glass'' (2012, ) * ''Twenty Trillion Leagues Under the Sea'' (2014) * ''Bête'' (2014, ) * ''The Thing Itself'' (2015) * ''The Real-Town Murders'' (2017) * ''By the Pricking of Her Thumb'' (2018) * ''Haven'' (2018) * ''The Black Prince'' (2018) * ''Purgatory Mount'' (2021) * ''The This'' (2022)

Novellas and short story collections

* ''Park Polar'' (2002) * ''Jupiter Magnified'' (2003) * ''Swiftly: Stories'' (2004) * ''"S-Bomb" in Riffing on Strings: Creative Writing Inspired by String Theory'' (2008, ) * ''Anticopernicus'' (2011) * ''Adam Robots'' (2013) * "Trademark Bugs: A Legal History", ''

Reach for Infinity ''Reach for Infinity'' is a 2014 science fiction anthology edited by Jonathan Strahan. In 2015, it was nominated for a Locus Award for Best Anthology, an Aurealis Award for Best Anthology and the Philip K. Dick Award. Contents * "Introduction" ...

'' (2014) * ''Saint Rebor'' (2015) * ''Bethany'' (2016) * ''The Lake Boy'' (2018) * ''The Man Who Would Be Kling'' (2019) * ''The Compelled'' (2020)

Parodies

* ''

The Soddit ''The Soddit'' ''or Let's Cash in Again'' is a 2003 parody of J.R.R. Tolkien's 1937 novel ''The Hobbit'', written by A.R.R.R. Roberts. The book jacket states: "Following on (inevitably, some might say) from the frankly unlikely success of ''Bo ...

'' (2003, ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the '' ...

'') * ''The McAtrix Derided'' (2004, ''

The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantolia ...

'') * ''The Sellamillion'' (2004, ''

The Silmarillion ''The Silmarillion'' () is a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, assisted by the fantasy author Guy Gavriel ...

'') * '' Star Warped'' (2005, ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'') * '' The Va Dinci Cod'' (2005, ''

The Da Vinci Code ''The Da Vinci Code'' is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It is Brown's second novel to include the character Robert Langdon: the first was his 2000 novel ''Angels & Demons''. ''The Da Vinci Code'' follows symbologist Robert Langdon ...

'') * '' Doctor Whom: E.T. Shoots and Leaves'' (2006, ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'') * ''I am Scrooge: A Zombie Story for Christmas '' (2009,

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...

). * ''The Dragon with the Girl Tattoo'' (2010, ''

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ''The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'' (original title in sv, Män som hatar kvinnor , lit=''Men Who Hate Women'') is a psychological thriller novel by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson (1954–2004). It was published posthumously in 2 ...

'') * '' I, Soddit: The Autobiography'' (2013, ''

'')

Criticism

* ''Silk and Potatoes: Contemporary Arthurian Fantasy'' (1998) * ''Science Fiction: the New Critical Idiom'' (2000, second edition 2005) * '' Tolkien: A Look Behind "The Lord of the Rings"'' (with

Lin Carter Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. L ...

) (updated edition 2003) * ''The History of Science Fiction (Palgrave Histories of Literature)'' (2006, second edition 2016) * ''The Riddles of The Hobbit'' (Palgrave Macmillan) (2013) * ''Sibilant Fricative: Essays and Reviews'' (2014) * ''Rave and Let Die: The SF and Fantasy of 2014'' (2015) (Won the BSFA Award for Best Non-Fiction.) * ''It's the End of the World: But What Are We Really Afraid Of'' (2020) (Won the BSFA Award for Best Non-Fiction.)

Career

Published works

Novels

Novellas and short story collections

Parodies

Criticism

Poetry

Other non-fiction

References

External links