Megan Whalen Turner (born November 21, 1965) is an

American writer American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry ...

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 ...

fiction for young adults. She is best known for her novel '' The Thief'' and its five sequels. In 1997, ''The Thief'' was named a

Newbery Honor Newbery is a surname. People *Chantelle Newbery (born 1977), Australian Olympic diver *David Newbery (born 1943), British economist *Eduardo Newbery (1878–1908), Argentine odontologist and aerostat pilot *Francis Newbery (disambiguation), seve ...

book.

Early life

Turner received her BA with honors in English language and literature from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1987. Before becoming an author, she worked as a children's book buyer for bookstores in Chicago and Washington D.C.

Career

Turner began writing a collection of short fantasy stories after moving to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in 1989. She published the stories as '' Instead of Three Wishes: Magical Short Stories'' in 1995. Turner is best known for her series of young adult novels primarily revolving around a character named Eugenides. Turner has no official name for the series herself, sometimes referring to it as "The Geniad", but fans have coined it ''The Queen's Thief''. The first book in the series, '' The Thief'', won a

award. The subsequent books in the series are '' The Queen of Attolia'', '' The King of Attolia'', ''

A Conspiracy of Kings ''A Conspiracy of Kings'' is a young adult fantasy novel by Megan Whalen Turner, published by the Greenwillow Books imprint (trade name), imprint of HarperCollins in 2010. It is the fourth novel in the Queen's Thief series that Turner inaugurate ...

'', '' Thick as Thieves'', and ''Return of the Thief''. Turner was the 2013 Literary Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker at the

Life, the Universe, & Everything ''Life, the Universe, & Everything: The Marion K. "Doc" Smith Symposium on Science Fiction and Fantasy'' is an academic conference held annually since 1983 in Provo, Utah. It is the longest-running science fiction and fantasy convention in Utah, ...

professional science fiction and fantasy arts symposium. In July 2018, Turner announced the March 2019 publication date of ''Return of the Thief''. This was first pushed back to spring 2020 before the book was published on October 6, 2020, concluding the series. Her additional work includes a short story collection titled ''Instead of Three Wishes'', and a short story, "The Baby in the Night Deposit Box", published in a collection called ''

Firebirds Firebird and fire bird may refer to: Mythical birds * Phoenix (mythology), sacred firebird found in the mythologies of many cultures * Bennu, Egyptian firebird * Huma bird, Persian firebird * Firebird (Slavic folklore) Bird species ''Various sp ...

'', edited by

Sharyn November Sharyn November is an American writer and an editor of books for children and teenagers. Until March 2016 she was Senior Editor for Viking Press, Viking Children's Books and Editorial Director of Firebird Books, which is a mainly paperback (repri ...

. "The Baby in the Night Deposit Box" was selected for The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. She has also written six uncollected short stories — "Thief!", "Destruction", "Eddis", "Knife Dance, "Wineshop", and "Alyta's Missing Earring" — which are set in the world of ''The Thief''.

Personal life

Her husband is the cognitive scientist Mark Turner. The couple have three sons.

Bibliography

*1995 '' Instead of Three Wishes: Magical Short Stories'' *2003 ''

'' (contribution)

The Queen's Thief

*1996 '' The Thief'' *2000 '' The Queen of Attolia'' *2006 '' The King of Attolia'' *2010 ''

'' *2017 '' Thick as Thieves'' *2020 ''Return of the Thief''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Megan Whalen 1965 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American children's writers American fantasy writers American women short story writers American women novelists Newbery Honor winners University of Chicago alumni American women children's writers Women science fiction and fantasy writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers People from Fort Sill, Oklahoma Writers from Cleveland Novelists from Oklahoma Novelists from Ohio