Marko Kloos is a German author of

military science fiction Military science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction that features the use of science fiction technology, mainly weapons, for military purposes and usually principal characters who are members of a military organization involved in military a ...

and

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 ...

. Born in Germany, Kloos lives and works in the United States.

Work

Kloos is best known for his ''Frontlines'' series of military science fiction novels. Featuring the protagonist Andrew Grayson, they are set in a future in which a Western and an Eastern power bloc are at war with each other and with an alien threat. Reviewing the first novel, ''Terms of Enlistment'', ''

io9 ''io9'' is part of Gizmodo media since 2015, and it began as blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The site initially focused on the subjects of science fiction, fantasy, futurism, science, technology and related areas but over the years has ...

'' described it as sticking close to the conventions of the genre, focusing on "guns, acronyms, hard-ass drill sergeants, explosions and battles on alien worlds". The reviewer considered the second novel, ''Lines of Departure'', to be an improvement in that it reflected a critical outlook towards powerful, centralized government that was often absent in leading works of the genre such as

Robert Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...

's ''

Starship Troopers ''Starship Troopers'' is a military science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. Written in a few weeks in reaction to the US suspending nuclear tests, the story was first published as a two-part serial in ''The Magazine of F ...

''. ''Lines of Departure'' was nominated for the 2015

Hugo Award for Best Novel The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published in, or translated to, English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is available for works of fiction of 40,00 ...

on a slate organized by the "

Sad Puppies Sad Puppies was an unsuccessful right-wing anti-diversity voting campaign run from 2013 to 2017 and intended to influence the outcome of the annual Hugo Awards, the longest-running prize (since 1953) for science fiction or fantasy works. It was ...

", a group of "right-leaning science fiction writers." In reaction to this, Kloos withdrew the novel from consideration for the award. He was subsequently honored by

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...

for this decision.Who Won Science Fiction’s Hugo Awards, and Why It Matters
by Amy Wallace, in ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

''; published August 23, 2015; retrieved August 23, 2015 In 2019, his short stories, ''Lucky Thirteen'' and ''On The Use Of Shape-Shifters In Warfare'', were adapted as part of the Netflix anthology series

Love, Death & Robots ''Love, Death & Robots'' (stylized as ''LOVE DEATH + R⬮BOTS'', and represented in emoji form as ❤️❌🤖) is an adult animated anthology streaming television series created by Tim Miller and streaming on Netflix. Produced by Blur Studio ...

. ''Aftershocks,'' the first book in a new series, "The Palladium Wars," was released in July 2019.

Personal life

Kloos served in the West German military as a junior NCO in 1989. He drew upon these experiences in his military science fiction. Kloos lives in

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

with his family and has been employed as "a soldier, a bookseller, a freight dock worker, a tech support drone, and a corporate IT administrator". He is a graduate of the

Viable Paradise Viable Paradise is an annual one-week residential writing workshop held each autumn on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts and is focused on speculative fiction. The workshop began in 1997, as part of a science fiction convention pre ...

writers' workshop.

Bibliography

''Frontlines'' series

;Novels #''Terms of Enlistment'' (2013), , 47North #''Lines of Departure'' (2014), , 47North #''Angles of Attack'' (2015), , 47North #''Chains of Command'' (2016), , 47North #''Fields of Fire'' (2017), , 47North #''Points of Impact'' (2018), , 47North #''Orders of Battle'' (2020), , 47North #''Centers of Gravity'' (2022), 47North ;

Chapbook A chapbook is a small publication of up to about 40 pages, sometimes bound with a saddle stitch. In early modern Europe a chapbook was a type of printed street literature. Produced cheaply, chapbooks were commonly small, paper-covered bookle ...

s *''Lucky Thirteen'' (2013) *''Measures of Absolution'' (2013) ;Comics With

Ivan Brandon Ivan Brandon (born 1976) is a comic book writer known for his work on titles such as DC Comics' ''Final Crisis, Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape'' and ''Men of War (comics), Men of War'' as well as creator-owned series ''Viking (comics), Viking'', ' ...

: *''Frontlines: Requiem'' (four issues,

Jet City Comics Amazon Publishing (simply APub) is Amazon's book publishing unit launched in 2009. It is composed of 15 imprints including AmazonEncore, AmazonCrossing, Montlake Romance, Thomas & Mercer, 47North, and TOPPLE Books. Amazon publishes e-books via ...

, 2016)

''The Palladium Wars'' series

Novels # ''Aftershocks'' (July 1, 2019), , 47North # ''Ballistic'' (May 26, 2020), , 47North # ''Citadel'' (August 10, 2021), , 47North

Other work

;Short fiction *''Ink and Blood'' (2011) *''Cake Whores of Mars'' (2012) *''Berlin Is Never Berlin (2020)''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kloos, Marko Military science fiction writers American science fiction writers German science fiction writers Writers from New Hampshire Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American male novelists