Michael Shea (July 3, 1946 – February 16, 2014) was an American fantasy, horror, and science fiction author. His novel ''

Nifft the Lean ''Nifft the Lean'' is a fantasy novel by Michael Shea published in 1982. Plot summary ''Nifft the Lean'' is a collection of four stories involving the master thief Nifft. Reception ''Nifft the Lean'' won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel i ...

'' won the

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 ...

, as did his novella ''Growlimb''.

Life and work

Shea was born to Irish parents in Los Angeles in 1946. There he frequented Venice Beach and the Baldwin Hills for their wildlife. He attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

and

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

and hitch-hiked twice across the US and Canada. At a hotel in

Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...

, Alaska, Shea chanced on a battered book from the lobby shelves, ''

The Eyes of the Overworld ''The Eyes of the Overworld'' is a picaresque fantasy fix-up novel by American writer Jack Vance, published by Ace in 1966, the second book in the Dying Earth series that Vance inaugurated in 1950. Retitled ''Cugel the Clever'' in its Vance Int ...

'' by

Jack Vance John Holbrook Vance (August 28, 1916 – May 26, 2013) was an American mystery, fantasy, and science fiction writer. Though most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance, he also wrote several mystery novels under pen names. ...

(1966). Four years later, after a brief first marriage and one year hitch-hiking through France and Spain, he wrote a novel in homage to Vance, who graciously declined to share the advance offered by DAW Books. It was Shea's first publication, ''

A Quest for Simbilis ''A Quest for Simbilis'' is a novel by Michael Shea published in 1974. Plot summary ''A Quest for Simbilis'' is a novel in which the plot is a sequel to Jack Vance's '' The Eyes of the Overworld'' (a.k.a. ''Cugel the Clever''). Reception Dave L ...

'' (1974), and an authorized sequel to Vance's two

Dying Earth ''Dying Earth'' is a fantasy series by the American author Jack Vance, comprising four books originally published from 1950 to 1984. Some have been called picaresque. They vary from short story collections to a fix-up (novel created from older ...

books then extant.

ISFDB The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) is a database of bibliographic information on genres considered speculative fiction, including science fiction and related genres such as fantasy, alternate history, and horror fiction. The ISFDB ...

notes that it "became non-canonic" in 1983 when Vance "continued ... ''The Eyes'' ... in a different direction." Subsequently, Shea ranged all over the L.A. Basin, painting houses and teaching

English as a second language English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EF ...

to adults by night. In 1978 he met his second wife, artist and author Lynn Cesar. They had two children: Adele and Jacob. Shea moved to the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

where (prior to 1987) he held a variety of occupations, including instructor of languages, construction laborer, and night clerk in a

Mission District The Mission District (Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as The Mission (Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is ...

flophouse A flophouse (American English) or dosshouse (British English) is a place that offers very low-cost lodging, providing space to sleep and minimal amenities. Characteristics Historically, flophouses, or British "doss-houses", have been used for o ...

. In 1979 Shea published the story "The Angel of Death" (''Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', Aug 1979). This was followed in 1980 by "The Autopsy" (''Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', Dec 1980), a story nominated for both the

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

and

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...

. His next published work was the novella "Polyphemus" (''Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', Aug 1981). His story "The Frog" appeared in ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'' (Apr 1982). Shea was quiet for a few years but re-emerged with his second book, a collection of four linked novellas called ''Nifft the Lean'' (1982). ''Nifft'' showed that Shea had developed the exotic style of Vance and

Clark Ashton Smith Clark Ashton Smith (January 13, 1893 – August 14, 1961) was an American writer and artist. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Algernon Charles Swinburne ...

, plus the ingenuity of

Fritz Leiber Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright, and chess expert. With writers such as Robert ...

's Gray Mouser stories, to produce an extravagant quest novel. It won the 1983

as year's best novel. Shea followed up with ''The Color out of Time'' (1984), a work influenced by the

Cthulhu Mythos The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an ...

, and ''

In Yana, the Touch of Undying ''In Yana, the Touch of Undying'' is a novel by Michael Shea published in 1985. Plot summary ''In Yana, the Touch of Undying'' is a novel in which the hero seeks a place where immortality is supposedly available. Reception Dave Langford reviewed ...

'' (1985), about a vain opportunist's search for immortality in a land of fable. ''

Polyphemus Polyphemus (; grc-gre, Πολύφημος, Polyphēmos, ; la, Polyphēmus ) is the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes described in Homer's ''Odyssey''. His name means "abounding in songs and lege ...

'' (1987) is a collection of deft science fiction and horror stories published by

Arkham House Arkham House is an American publishing house specializing in weird fiction. It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft's best works, which had pr ...

. Shea continued the adventures of Nifft in ''The Mines of Behemoth'' (Baen, 1997), serialised one year earlier in the Algis Budrys magazine ''

Tomorrow Speculative Fiction ''Tomorrow Speculative Fiction'' was a science fiction magazine published in the United States from 1993 through 2000. Over this period, it had 24 bi-monthly issues as a print magazine from 1993 to 1997,. then transitioned to become one of the ...

'', and in a novel ''The A'rak'' (2000). The Nifft stories are "

sword-and-sorcery Sword and sorcery (S&S) is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tal ...

" modeled on

, notable for their imaginative depiction of the world of

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ani ...

s and their blend of horror, flowery diction, and occasionally crude humor. Shea's work overlaps the science fiction and fantasy genres, e.g., thematic use of demons and

alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

s that act as

endoparasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...

s. Shea's interest in Lovecraft's

continued throughout his career. ''Copping Squid and Other Mythos Tales'' (2010) is a collection of such tales. Shea died unexpectedly on February 16, 2014.

Reception

In an overview of Shea's work, Chris Gilmore praised Shea's fiction, stating "Shea has a racy line in grue and writes with energy, imagination and precision", and expressed particular admiration for the stories in ''Polyphemus''.Chris Gilmore, "Shea, Michael", in

David Pringle David Pringle (born 1 March 1950) is a Scottish science fiction editor and critic. Pringle served as the editor of ''Foundation'', an academic journal, from 1980 to 1986, during which time he became one of the prime movers of the collective whic ...

, ''St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers''. New York, St. James Press. (p. 521-22). However, Gilmore also took issue with Shea's use of gigantic monsters in books such as ''

'' and ''Nifft the Lean'', arguing that the use of such creatures vitiated Shea's ability to describe scenes in detail. Gilmore also criticised Shea's story "The Pearls of the Vampire Queen" as being excessively violent, arguing that its protagonists kill one person and seriously injure another when the story did not require them to perform such actions. Reviewing ''The Incomplete Nifft'',

Elizabeth Hand Elizabeth Hand (born March 29, 1957) is an American writer. Life and career Hand grew up in Yonkers and Pound Ridge, New York. She studied drama and anthropology at The Catholic University of America. Since 1988, Hand has lived in coastal Maine ...

declared that "not even Bosch could capture the sheer, obsessive teemingness of Shea's world. . . . In their picaresque and unrelenting strangeness, Shea's tales evoke

and

Lord Dunsany Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (; 24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957, usually Lord Dunsany) was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist. Over 90 volumes of fiction, essays, poems and plays appeared in his lifetime.Lanham, M ...

's ''Zothique'' tales, as well as ''

The Worm Ouroboros ''The Worm Ouroboros'' is a heroic high fantasy novel by English writer E. R. Eddison, first published in 1922. The book describes the protracted war between the domineering King Gorice of Witchland and the Lords of Demonland in an imaginary ...

''; but what his work most reminds me of is David Lindsay's ''

A Voyage to Arcturus ''A Voyage to Arcturus'' is a novel by the Scottish writer David Lindsay, first published in 1920. An interstellar voyage is the framework for a narrative of a journey through fantastic landscapes. The story is set at Tormance, an imaginary pl ...

'', a book which had always struck me as being sui generis. Having read and delighted in ''The Incompleat Nifft'', I must create a new category for this beautiful, terrifying work, part sword-and-sorcery, part season in hell. Call it Shea generis.""Books"
Elizabeth Hand, ''

F&SF ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence E. Spivak, Lawrence Spiva ...

'', September 2000. On his list of "The 13 Most Terrifying Horror Stories",

T. E. D. Klein Theodore "Eibon" Donald Klein (born July 15, 1947) is an American horror writer and editor. Klein has published very few works, but they have all achieved positive notice for their meticulous construction and subtle use of horror: critic S. T. ...

placed Shea's story "The Autopsy" at number eleven. On 26th October 2022, a dramatization of “The Autopsy” streamed on Netflix as the third episode of “Guillermo do Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities.”

Bibliography

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

contributing libraries report French editions of ''A Quest for Simbilis'' and ''Nifft the Lean'' and German editions of several books. . Retrieved 2012-06-05.

Dying Earth

Shea's first publication was an authorized contribution to the

Dying Earth series ''Dying Earth'' is a fantasy series by the American author Jack Vance, comprising four books originally published from 1950 to 1984. Some have been called picaresque. They vary from short story collections to a fix-up (novel created from older ...

by Jack Vance''A Quest for Simbilis''
at ISFDB. Retrieved 2012-06-05. * ''A Quest for Simbilis'' (1974, OCLC 2128177)

Nifft

* ''Nifft the Lean'' (DAW, 1982, ) * ''The Mines of Behemoth'' (Baen, 1997, ) * ''The A'rak'' (Baen, 2000, ) Several months before publishing the third book,

Baen Books Baen Books () is an American publishing house for science fiction and fantasy. In science fiction, it emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, and military science fiction. The company was established in 1983 by science fiction publisher an ...

re-issued the first two in one volume, ''The Incompleat Nifft'' (Baen, 2000, ). The three Baen titles used matching cover art by Gary Ruddell with differences in jacket design. In 1994 Darkside Press published a limited edition of ''Nifft the Lean'' with a very long subtitle in "440 signed, numbered copies, bound in 'demon-skin'" ().Title: ''Nifft the lean: being the works, days, and deeds of thief Nifft of Karkmahn-Ra, as collated, prefaced and improved with exegesis & scholia by Shag Margold, geographer, a scholar native, with Nifft, to Pardash in the Ephesion Chain, his learning honored thru the four seas''
• With credited prologue by

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''. ...

, illustration by Alan M. Clark, and map by Linda Cecere.
• Statement of Limitation: "Four-hundred and forty copies of Nifft the lean have been bound in demon-skin and numbered. Four-hundred will be offered for sale."
• Source: WorldCat

Other novels

* ''The Color Out of Time'' (1984) * ''

'' (1985) * ''I, Said the Fly'' ( Silver Salamander Press, 1993) —limited edition of 300 copies * ''The Extra'' (2010) — based on Shea's short story of the same title, intended as the first of a trilogy * ''Assault on Sunrise'' (2013) * ''Mr. Cannyharme'' (2021)

Collections

* ''

'' (1987) * ''The Autopsy and Other Tales'' (

Centipede Press Centipede Press is an American independent book and periodical publisher focusing on horror, weird tales, crime narratives, science fiction, gothic novels, fantasy art, and studies of literature, music and film. Its earliest imprints were Cocytus ...

, 2008) —including the complete Lovecraftian novel ''The Color Out of Time'' * ''Copping Squid and Other Mythos Tales'' (Perilous Press, 2010), series editor S. T. Joshi * ''Demiurge: The Complete Cthulhu Mythos Tales of Michael Shea'' (Dark Regions Press, 2017), editor S. T. Joshi * ''The Autopsy: Best Weird Stories of Michael Shea'' (Hippocampus Press, 2022), editors Linda Shea and S. T. Joshi

Chapterbooks

* ''Fat Face'' (1987)

Short fiction

* "The Angel of Death" (1979) * "The Autopsy" (1980), adapted for ''

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities ''Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities'' (or simply ''Cabinet of Curiosities'') is a horror anthology streaming television series created by Guillermo del Toro for Netflix. It features eight modern horror stories in the traditions of th ...

'' (2022) * "Polyphemus" (1981) * "Nemo Me Impune Lacessit" (1982) * "That Frog" (1982) * "The Horror on the #33" (1982) * "The Fishing of the Demon-Sea" (1982) * "Come Then, Mortal, We Will Seek Her Soul" (1982) * "The Goddess in Glass" (1982) * "The Pearls of the Vampire Queen" (1982) * "Shag Margold's Eulogy of Nifft the Lean, His Dear Friend" (1982) * "Grunt-12 Test Drive" (1983) * "Creative Coverage, Inc." (1983) * "Uncle Tuggs" (1986) * "Fill It With Regular" (1986) * "The Extra" (1987) * "Fat Face" (1987) * "Delivery" (1987) * "I, Said the Fly" (1989) * "Salome" (1994) * "Tollbooth" (1995) * "Johnny Crack" (1995) * "Fast Food" (1995) * "Piece A' Chain" (1996) * "Water of Life" (1999) * "For Every Tatter in Its Mortal Dress" (2000) * "The Rebuke" (2002) * "The Growlimb" (2004) —World Fantasy Award, Best Novella * "The Pool" (2007) * "Tsathoggua" (2008) * "The Battery" * "The Presentation" * "Copping Squid" * "Dagoniad"

Reviews

* "''Reprisal'' by

Mitchell Smith Mitchell Smith (born 1935) is an American author writing crime fiction and science fiction. Biography Mitchell Smith was born in upper New York State, and went to military school on Mississippi's Gulf Coast. He attended Columbia University where ...

" (2005)

Awards

Shea has won major "year's best" awards, both conferred by the

World Fantasy Convention The World Fantasy Convention is an annual science fiction convention, convention of professionals, collectors, and others interested in the field of fantasy. The World Fantasy Awards are presented at the event. Other features include an art sh ...

and selected by open nominations and panel of judges. * 1983 World Fantasy Award, Novel (''Nifft the Lean'') * 2005 World Fantasy Award, Novella (''The Growlimb'') His works have also been highly ranked, or one of a few finalists or nominees, for several other major awards. * 1975

August Derleth Award The August Derleth Award is one of the British Fantasy Awards bestowed annually by the British Fantasy Society. The award is named after the American writer and editor August Derleth. It was inaugurated in 1972 for the best novel of the year, was n ...

(best novel), British Fantasy Society (''A Quest for Simbilis'') * 1980

, Novelette (The Angel of Death) * 1981

, Novelette (The Autopsy) * 1981

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the pl ...

, Novella, fourth place (The Autopsy) * 1981 Nebula Award, Novella (The Autopsy) * 1988 World Fantasy Award, Collection (Polyphemus) * 2005

International Horror Guild Award The International Horror Guild Award (also known as the IHG Award) was an accolade recognizing excellence in the field of Horror fiction, horror/dark fantasy, presented by the International Horror Guild (IHG) from 1995 to 2008. The IHG Awards wer ...

, Mid-Length Fiction (The Growlimb)

Notes

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shea, Michael 1946 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American fantasy writers American male novelists American people of Irish descent American science fiction writers American short story writers Cthulhu Mythos writers World Fantasy Award-winning writers Writers from California American male short story writers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers