Meredith Ann Pierce (born July 5, 1958, in
Seattle, Washington) is a
fantasy writer and
librarian. Her books deal in fantasy worlds with mythic settings and frequently feature young women who first wish only to love and be loved, yet who must face hazard and danger to save their way of life, their world, and so on, usually without being respected for their efforts until the end of the story.
Career
Her first book started a trilogy often referred to as
The Darkangel Trilogy. Published in 1982, ''The Darkangel'' featured a story that Pierce claims came to her all at once while she read the account of a dream recounted to
Carl Jung, one of the fathers of
psychiatry. It was followed in 1984 by ''A Gathering of Gargoyles'', and concluded in 1989 with ''The Pearl of the Soul of the World''. These books told the story of a slave girl who finds herself trying to kill a darkangel to avenge his kidnapping of her mistress. She then finds herself forced to care for the thirteen wraiths who were once his beautiful and unwilling brides, and must also resist the attractions of the vampyre. As she makes her way through the books, she finds more and more responsibility laid on her slender shoulders, with few friends and much danger as well.
Pierce's second and more popular trilogy,
The Firebringer Trilogy, involved a tribe of
unicorns on a different fantasy world. It started with ''Birth of the Firebringer'' in 1985, continued in ''Dark Moon'', published in 1992, and ended with ''The Son of Summer Stars'' in 1996. Jan, the hero of the trilogy, is part messiah, part
King Arthur
King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
-figure. All three books were re-printed by
Firebird Books in 2003.
Pierce has written other fantasy novels, which are frequently published as either Young Adult Fiction or as general Fantasy, and sometimes in each category. Her most recent book, ''Waters Luminous and Deep'', is a book of short stories marketed for adults.
Books
The Darkangel Trilogy
*1982 ''
The Darkangel
''The Darkangel Trilogy'' is a series of novels by American author Meredith Ann Pierce published between 1982 and 1990. It is set in the distant future, when the Moon has long since been terraformed into a lush paradise complete with its own ...
''
**Won
International Reading Association Children's Book Award
**Won
California Young Reader Medal
The California Young Reader Medal is a set of five annual literary awards conferred upon picture books and fiction books selected by vote of California schoolchildren from a ballot prepared by committee. The program was established in 1974 with Int ...
*1985 ''A Gathering of Gargoyles''
*1990 ''The Pearl of the Soul of the World''
The Firebringer Trilogy
*1985 ''Birth of the Firebringer''
*1992 ''Dark Moon''
*1996 ''The Son of Summer Stars''
Other books
*1985 ''The Woman Who Loved Reindeer''
*1988 ''Where the Wild Geese Go'' - a picture book
*2001 ''Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood''
*2004 ''Waters Luminous and Deep'' - a book of short fiction
External links
* , "Moon and Unicorn"
Interview at Sequential Tart*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pierce, Meredith Ann
1958 births
Living people
American children's writers
American fantasy writers
American women short story writers
American women novelists
Writers from Seattle
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
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
Novelists from Washington (state)