Stephen Baxter (born 13 November 1957) is an English
hard science fiction
Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell's ''Islands of Space'' in the Novemb ...
author. He has degrees in
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
and
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
H. G. Wells Society since 2006. His fiction falls into three main categories of original work plus a fourth category, extending other authors' writing; each has a different basis, style, and tone.
Baxter's "
Future History
A future history is a postulated history of the future and is used by authors of science fiction and other speculative fiction to construct a common background for fiction. Sometimes the author publishes a timeline of events in the history, whil ...
" mode is based on research into
hard science
Hard science and soft science are colloquial terms used to compare scientific fields on the basis of perceived methodological rigor, exactitude, and objectivity. Roughly speaking, the formal sciences & natural sciences are considered "hard", wher ...
. It encompasses the
Xeelee Sequence
The Xeelee Sequence (; ) is a series of hard science fiction space opera novels, novellas, and short stories written by British science fiction author Stephen Baxter. The series spans billions of years of fictional history, centering on humanit ...
, which consists of nine novels (including the ''
Destiny's Children
''Destiny's Children'' is a science-fiction series by Stephen Baxter. It takes place within his larger series, the ''Xeelee Sequence''. Like his previous '' Manifold Trilogy'', the books are not direct sequels to one another, but are instead them ...
'' trilogy and Vengeance/Redemption duology that is set in alternate timeline), plus three volumes collecting the 52 short pieces (short stories and novellas) in the series, all of which fit into a single timeline stretching from
the Big Bang
The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...
singularity of the past to his ''
Timelike Infinity
''Timelike Infinity'' is a 1992 science fiction book by British author Stephen Baxter. The second book in the Xeelee Sequence, ''Timelike Infinity'' introduces a universe of powerful alien species and technologies that manages to maintain a re ...
'' singularity of the future. These stories begin in the present day and end when the
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...
galaxy collides with Andromeda five billion years in the future. The central narrative is that of humanity rising and evolving to become the second most powerful race in the universe, next to the god-like
Xeelee
The Xeelee Sequence (; ) is a series of hard science fiction space opera novels, novellas, and short stories written by British science fiction author Stephen Baxter. The series spans billions of years of fictional history, centering on humanit ...
. Character development tends to be secondary to the depiction of advanced theories and ideas, such as the true nature of the
Great Attractor
The Great Attractor is a gravitational anomaly in intergalactic space and the apparent central gravitational point of the Laniakea Supercluster. The observed anomalies suggest a localized concentration of mass millions of times more massive than ...
,
naked singularities
In general relativity, a naked singularity is a hypothetical gravitational singularity without an event horizon. In a black hole, the singularity is completely enclosed by a boundary known as the event horizon, inside which the curvature of space ...
and the great battle between
baryon
In particle physics, a baryon is a type of composite subatomic particle which contains an odd number of valence quarks (at least 3). Baryons belong to the hadron family of particles; hadrons are composed of quarks. Baryons are also classified ...
ic and
dark matter
Dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe. Dark matter is called "dark" because it does not appear to interact with the electromagnetic field, which means it does not a ...
lifeforms. The ''
Manifold Trilogy
The ''Manifold Trilogy'' is a series of science fiction books by British author Stephen Baxter. The series was published from 1999 to 2003. It consists of three novels and an anthology of short stories relating to the three. The three novels in t ...
'' is another example of Baxter's future history mode, even more conceptual than the Xeelee sequence. Each novel is focused on a potential explanation of the
Fermi paradox
The Fermi paradox is the discrepancy between the lack of conclusive evidence of advanced extraterrestrial life and the apparently high a priori likelihood of its existence, and by extension of obtaining such evidence. As a 2015 article put it, ...
. The two-part disaster series ''
Flood
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
'' and ''
Ark
Ark or ARK may refer to:
Biblical narratives and religion Hebrew word ''teva''
* Noah's Ark, a massive vessel said to have been built to save the world's animals from a flood
* Ark of bulrushes, the boat of the infant Moses
Hebrew ''aron''
* ...
'' (followed by three additional stories, "Earth III," "Earth II," and "Earth I") which also fits into this category, where catastrophic events unfold in the near future and humanity must adapt to survive in three radically different planetary environments. In 2013, Baxter released his short story collection ''Universes'' which featured stories set in Flood/Ark, Jones & Bennet and Anti-Ice universes. Baxter signed a contract for two new books, ''Proxima'' and ''Ultima'', both of which are names of planets, and they were released in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
A second category in Baxter's work is based on readings in evolutionary biology and human/animal behaviour. Elements of this appear in his future histories (especially later works like the ''Destiny's Children'' series and ''Flood''/''Ark''), but here it is the focus. The major work in this category is ''
Evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
'', which imagines the evolution of humanity in the Earth's past and future. ''
The Mammoth Trilogy
''The Mammoth Trilogy'' is a series of books by hard science fiction author Stephen Baxter. The books in it were published between 1999 and 2001. It contains the novels ''Silverhair'', ''Longtusk'' and ''Icebones''.
An omnibus volume containing ...
'', written for young adults, shares similar themes and concerns as it explores the present, past, and future of a small herd of
mammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and, ...
s found surviving on an island in the
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...
.
A third category of Baxter's fiction is
alternate history
Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...
, based on research into history. These stories are more human, with characters portrayed with greater depth and care. This includes his ''
NASA Trilogy
The ''NASA Trilogy'' consists of three hard science fiction novels written by British science fiction author Stephen Baxter. They were published from 1996 to 1998. These books explore the possibilities of the American space program if the circumst ...
'', which incorporates research into
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
and its history; and the ''Time's Tapestry'' series, which features science-fictional interventions into our past from an alternate-history future. The novel ''
Anti-Ice
This is the complete bibliography of British science fiction author Stephen Baxter.
Xeelee Sequence
Destiny's Children
The Destiny's Children series is part of the Xeelee Sequence
The Xeelee Sequence (; ) is a series of hard science f ...
'' is an earlier example of Baxter's blending of alternate history with science fiction. A more recent work in this direction is the '' Northland Trilogy'', an alternate prehistory that begins with ''
Stone Spring
''Stone Spring'' is a 2010 science fiction novel by British writer Stephen Baxter. It is set in prehistoric Doggerland (renamed "Northland" in the novel) and focuses on the attempts of Northland's inhabitants to adapt to the rising sea level ...
'', set ten thousand years ago in the
Stone Age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
and the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
. In 2009, Baxter became a judge for the
Sidewise Award for Alternate History
The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best alternate history stories and novels of the year.
Overview
The awards take their name from the 1934 short story " Sidewise in Time" by Murray Leinster, in ...
, the first former winner among the panel.
Another category, outside of the main body of Baxter's independent work, is sequels and installments of science-fiction classics. His first novel to achieve wide recognition (winning three literary awards) was ''
The Time Ships
''The Time Ships'' is a 1995 hard science fiction novel by Stephen Baxter. A canonical sequel to the 1895 novella ''The Time Machine'' by H. G. Wells, it was officially authorized by the Wells estate to mark the centenary of the original's pub ...
'', an authorised sequel to H.G. Wells' ''
The Time Machine
''The Time Machine'' is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895. The work is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle or device to travel purposely and selectively for ...
Space Odyssey
The ''Space Odyssey'' series is a series of science fiction novels by the writer Arthur C. Clarke. Two of the novels have been made into feature films, released in 1968 and 1984 respectively. Two of Clarke's early short stories may also be co ...
novels. The trilogy consists of ''Time's Eye'', ''Sunstorm'', and ''Firstborn''. Another novel is based on a synopsis written by Clarke, '' The Light of Other Days''. Baxter has also published a
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
novel, ''
The Wheel of Ice
''The Wheel of Ice'' is a 2012 original novel written by Stephen Baxter (author), Stephen Baxter and based on the long-running British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It features the Second Doctor ...
''. His most recent sequel is ''
The Massacre of Mankind
''The Massacre of Mankind'' (2017) is a science fiction novel by British writer Stephen Baxter, a sequel to H. G. Wells' 1898 classic ''The War of the Worlds'', authorised by the Wells estate. It is set in 1920, 13 years after the events of the ...
'', an authorised sequel to H.G. Wells' ''
The War of the Worlds
''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...
''.
In 2010, Baxter began working on a new series with
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his ''Discworld'' series of 41 novels.
Pratchett's first nov ...
. This collaboration produced five books, ''
The Long Earth
''The Long Earth'' is the first novel in a collaborative science fiction series by British authors Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter.
Plot summary
The "Long Earth" is a (possibly infinite) series of parallel worlds that are similar to Earth, ...
The Long Mars
''The Long Mars'' is a science fiction novel by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter.
It is the third in a five-book series of the parallel-Earth sequence ''The Long Earth''. Originally entitled ''The Long Childhood'', it was changed to ''The L ...
'', ''
The Long Utopia
''The Long Utopia'' is a science fiction novel by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter published on 23 June 2015.
It is the fourth in the five-book series of the sequence ''The Long Earth''.
Plot
''The Long Utopia'' further follows the adventu ...
'' and ''
The Long Cosmos
''The Long Cosmos'' is a science fiction novel by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter published on 30 June 2016. It is the final installment in the award-winning five-book parallel-Earth series ''The Long Earth''.
It is the fifth book in the ...
''.
Baxter has written non-fiction essays and columns for such publications as ''
Critical Wave
''Critical Wave'', later subtitled "The European Science Fiction & Fantasy Review", was a British small-press magazine, initially published and co-edited by Steve Green and Martin Tudor during the period 1987-96. There was also a short-lived US ...
'' and the British SF Association's ''Matrix''.
Literary awards
Baxter's story "
Last Contact
"Last Contact" is a 4347-word science fiction short story published in 2007 by Stephen Baxter. It was nominated for the 2008 Hugo Award for Best Short Story.
" was nominated for the 2008
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 ...
for best short story.
Personal life
Baxter was born 13 November 1957 in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, England and studied at
St Edward's College
St Edward's College, England is a co-educational Catholic school with academy status in the UK located in the Liverpool suburb of West Derby. Founded in 1853 as the Catholic Institute, the college was formerly a boys grammar school run by the ...
, a Catholic grammar school. He then read mathematics at
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, and obtained a doctorate in engineering at
Southampton University
, mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour
, type = Public research university
, established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...
, and received an MBA from
Henley Management College
Henley Business School is a business school which now forms part of the University of Reading. It was formed by merging the previously independent Henley Management College (formerly the Administrative Staff College) with the existing business ...
. Baxter taught maths, physics, and information technology before becoming a full-time author in 1995. He is also a chartered engineer and fellow of the
British Interplanetary Society
The British Interplanetary Society (BIS), founded in Liverpool in 1933 by Philip E. Cleator, is the oldest existing space advocacy organisation in the world. Its aim is exclusively to support and promote astronautics and space exploration.
Str ...