James Paul Blaylock (born September 20, 1950) is an American
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
author. He is noted for a distinctive, humorous style, as well as being one of the pioneers of the
steampunk
Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or ...
genre of science fiction. Blaylock has cited
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...
,
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...
and
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 ...
as his inspirations.
He was born in
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
; studied English at
California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...
, receiving an M.A. in 1974; and lives in
Orange, California
Orange is a city located in North Orange County, California. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before ...
, teaching creative writing at
Chapman University
Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scie ...
. He taught at the Orange County School of the arts until 2013. Many of his books are set in
Orange County, California
Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...
, and can more specifically be termed " fabulism"that is, fantastic things happen in our present-day world, rather than in
high fantasy
High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot.Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Press, Pl ...
, where the setting is often some other world. His works have also been categorized as magic realism.
He and his friends
Tim Powers
Timothy Thomas Powers (born February 29, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy fiction, fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels ''Last Call (novel), Last Call'' and ''Declare''. ...
and
K. W. Jeter
Kevin Wayne Jeter (born March 26, 1950) is an American science fiction and horror author known for his literary writing style, dark themes, and paranoid, unsympathetic characters. He has written novels set in the '' Star Trek'' and '' Star Wa ...
were mentored by Philip K. Dick. Along with Powers, Blaylock invented the poet
William Ashbless
__notoc__
William Ashbless is a fictional poet, invented by fantasy writers James Blaylock and Tim Powers.
Invention
Ashbless was invented by Powers and Blaylock when they were students at Cal State Fullerton in the early 1970s, originally as a r ...
. Blaylock and Powers have often collaborated with each other on writing stories, including "The Better Boy", "On Pirates", and "The William Ashbless Memorial Cookbook".
Blaylock previously served as director of the Creative Writing Conservatory at the
Orange County High School of the Arts
Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA, ), is a 7th–12th grade public charter school located in downtown Santa Ana, California. The school caters to middle and high school students with talents in the performing, visual, literary arts, cul ...
until 2013, where Powers has also been Writer in Residence.
He has been married to his wife, Viki Blaylock, for more than 40 years. They have two sons, John and Danny.
Awards
Blaylock's short story "Thirteen Phantasms" won the 1997
World Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy literature, fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year a ...
for best Short Fiction. "Paper Dragons" won the award in 1986. ''Homunculus'' won the Philip K. Dick award in 1987.
Novels
The "Balumnia" Trilogy
Whimsical fantasy inspired, according to the author, by ''
Wind in the Willows
''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and gets ...
'' and ''
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 Elfin Ship
''The Elfin Ship'' (1982) is a fantasy novel by American writer James Blaylock, his first published book. It is the first of three fantasies by Blaylock about a world peopled by elves, dwarves, goblins, and humans, as well as a smattering of wiz ...
'' (1982)
* ''
The Disappearing Dwarf
''The Disappearing Dwarf'' (1983) is a fantasy novel by American writer James Blaylock, his second published book and the second of the trilogy that started with '' The Elfin Ship''. The characters are mostly drawn from the first book, while the p ...
The Man in the Moon
''The Man in the Moon'' is a 1991 American coming of age drama film. It was the final film directed by Robert Mulligan, from a screenplay written by Jenny Wingfield. It stars Reese Witherspoon in her film debut, Sam Waterston, Tess Harper, Em ...
'' (2002)The original manuscript, initially rejected, from which ''The Elfin Ship'' was reworked, with commentary and an additional short story.
The "Narbondo" Series
Novels
Sharing the character of villain Ignacio Narbondo; ''The Digging Leviathan'' and its sequel ''Zeuglodon'' are contemporary fantasies set in 1960s California, while the remainder are
steampunk
Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or ...
novels set in
Victorian England
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
Homunculus
A homunculus ( , , ; "little person") is a representation of a small human being, originally depicted as small statues made out of clay. Popularized in sixteenth-century alchemy and nineteenth-century fiction, it has historically referred to the ...
'' (1986)
* ''
Lord Kelvin's Machine
''Lord Kelvin's Machine'' is a science fiction novel by American writer James P. Blaylock. It was released in 1992 by Arkham House in an edition of 4,015 copies. The author's first book published by Arkham House, the novel is the third in Blayl ...
* "The Ape-Box Affair" (1978)
* "The Idol's Eye" (1984)
* "Lord Kelvin's Machine" (1985) Expanded into a novel in 1992.
* "Two Views of a Cave Painting" (1987)
* "The Hole in Space" (2002)
* ''The Ebb Tide'' (2009; a Langdon St. Ives novella)
* ''The Affair of the Chalk Cliffs'' (2011; a Langdon St. Ives novella)
* '' The Adventure of the Ring of Stones'' (2014; a Langdon St. Ives novella)
* "The Here-and-Thereians" (2016)
* "Earthbound Things" (2016)
* ''River's Edge'' (2017; a Langdon St. Ives novella)
* ''The Gobblin’ Society'' (2020; a Langdon St. Ives novella) ()
Collections
All short fiction (except for the novelette ''Lord Kelvin's Machine'') and two novels have appeared in two collections by
Subterranean Press
Subterranean Press is a small press publisher in Burton, Michigan. Subterranean is best known for publishing genre fiction, primarily horror, suspense and dark mystery, fantasy, and science fiction. In addition to publishing novels, short stor ...
:
* ''The Adventures of Langdon St. Ives'' (2008) Omnibus of ''Homunculus'', ''Lord Kelvin's Machine'', and the stories "The Ape-Box Affair", "The Idol's Eye", "Two Views of a Cave Painting", "The Hole in Space".
* ''The Further Adventures of Langdon St. Ives'' (2016) Omnibus of ''The Ebb Tide'', ''The Affair of the Chalk Cliffs'', ''The Adventure of the Ring of Stones'', and the new stories "The Here-and Thereians'' and "Earthbound Things".
The "Christian" Trilogy
Present-day fantasy using
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
elements, such as the
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracul ...
and the silver coins paid to
Judas
Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betraye ...
.
* ''The Last Coin'' (1988)
* ''The Paper Grail'' (1991)
* ''All the Bells on Earth'' (1995)
* ''The Complete Twelve Hours of the Night'' (1986)Joke pamphlet co-written by Tim Powers and published by Cheap Street Press.
* ''Land of Dreams'' (1987)
* ''The Magic Spectacles'' (1991)Young adult book.
* ''13 Phantasms'' (2000)Short story collection.
* ''On Pirates'' (2001)Short story collection with Tim Powers.
* ''The Devils in the Details'' (2003)Short story collection with Tim Powers.
* ''In for a Penny'' (2003)Short story collection.
* ''The Knights of the Cornerstone'' (2008)
* ''The Shadow on the Doorstep'' (2009)Short story collection.
* ''Home Sweet Home'' and ''Postscript to Home Sweet Home'' (2012)Nonfiction essays included in ''A Comprehensive Dual Bibliography of James P. Blaylock & Tim Powers'' .