William H. Keith (born August 8, 1950) is an

American 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, pe ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

mainly contributing to military science fiction and military fiction and related game design, who writes also under several pen names, such as Ian Douglas, Robert Cain and H. Jay Riker. His newer original works are written under the name of Ian Douglas.

Early life

William H. Keith grew up with his brother

J. Andrew Keith John Andrew Keith (August 31, 1958 – August 7, 1999) was an American author and games developer. Career J. Andrew Keith, and his brother William H. Keith Jr., responded to ads in ''Journal of the Travellers Aid Society'' for authors to wri ...

. William H. Keith served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

as a hospital corpsman from 1969 to 1972 during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

era.

Career

William H. Keith Jr. and his brother

had seen ads in ''

Journal of the Travellers Aid Society ''Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society'' is a role-playing game magazine devoted to Traveller (rpg), Traveller, commonly abbreviated JTAS. History In 1979 Loren K. Wiseman created a magazine to support ''Traveller (role-playing game), Travel ...

'' that stated that Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) was seeking authors;

Loren Wiseman Loren Keith Wiseman (March 7, 1951 – February 14, 2017) was an American wargame and role-playing game designer, game developer and editor. Career Game Designers' Workshop After graduating from Illinois State University, Loren Wiseman co ...

brought them on to begin freelancing for GDW in 1978 or 1979, and together the three of them set up a lot of the early tone for the ''

Traveller Traveler(s), traveller(s), The Traveler(s), or The Traveller(s) may refer to: People Generic terms *One engaged in travel *Explorer, one who searches for the purpose of discovery of information or resources *Nomad, a member of a community withou ...

'' universe. William Keith also helped to define the graphical vision of that era of ''Traveller'' books. The Keith brothers were making enough money that they were able to freelance full-time starting around 1979. The Keith brothers began working for FASA by the end of 1980, with William Keith providing art for the magazine ''High Passage'' beginning in 1981. FASA began getting into publishing adventures for ''Traveller'' beginning with ''

Ordeal by Eshaar ''Ordeal by Eshaar'' is a 1981 role-playing game adventure for '' Traveller'' published by FASA. Plot summary ''Ordeal by Eshaar'' is the first published ''Traveller'' adventure by FASA, and concerns diplomacy and intrigue on an alien planet mer ...

'' (1981) by the Keith brothers, who then wrote FASA's "Sky Raiders" trilogy (1981-1982). William Keith designed the role-playing game '' Behind Enemy Lines'' (1982), the first RPG set in the 1940s. When FASA ended its support of ''Traveller'', the Keith brothers moved their ''Traveller'' writing to a new company called Gamelords, but continued working for FASA in other capacities. The Keith brothers wrote seven supplements for Gamelords, including ''

The Mountain Environment ''The Mountain Environment'' is a 1983 tabletop role-playing game supplement, written by J. Andrew Keith, with a cover by William H. Keith, for '' Traveller'' published by Gamelords. ''The Mountain Environment'' is a book that details using moun ...

'' (1983), ''

The Undersea Environment ''The Undersea Environment'' is a 1983 role-playing game supplement, written by J. Andrew Keith for ''Traveller'', and published by Gamelords. ''The Undersea Environment'' is a book that details alien oceans, including factors such as pressure, ...

'' (1983), and ''

The Desert Environment ''The Desert Environment'' was written by J. Andrew Keith and William H. Keith Jr. for Game Designers Workshop's ''Traveller'' role-playing game, and published under license by Gamelords in 1984. The book provides ''Traveller'' gamemasters with i ...

'' (1984). The Keith brothers did some work on the ''

Chivalry & Sorcery ''Chivalry & Sorcery'' is a fantasy role-playing game first published in 1977 by Fantasy Games Unlimited. Created by Edward E. Simbalist and Wilf K. Backhaus in 1977, ''Chivalry & Sorcery'' (''C&S'') was an early competitor to ''Dungeons & Dr ...

'' line in 1984, and in 1985 they expanded into

Fantasy Games Unlimited Fantasy Games Unlimited (FGU) is a publishing house for tabletop and role-playing games. The company has no in-house design teams and relies on submitted material from outside talent. History Founded in the summer of 1975 in Jericho, New York b ...

's other lines including ''

Aftermath! ''Aftermath!'' ("Sunset on humanity, or dawn of a brave new world?") is a role-playing game created by Paul Hume and Robert Charette and published in 1981 by Fantasy Games Unlimited. It is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which the characte ...

'', '' Daredevils'', ''

Flashing Blades ''Flashing Blades'' is a role-playing game published by Fantasy Games Unlimited in 1984. Description ''Flashing Blades'' is a 17th-century swashbuckling system. PCs choose a character class (soldier, gentleman, rogue. etc.) and assign skill po ...

'', and '' Psi World''. The Keith brothers also designed '' Freedom Fighters'' (1986), one of the last role-playing games published by FGU. William Keith authored '' Delta Force: America Strikes Back!'' (1986), the first role-playing game from

Task Force Games Task Force Games was a game company started in 1979 by Allen Eldridge and Stephen V. Cole. TFG published many games, most notably including both ''Star Fleet Battles'' (currently published by the original designers, Amarillo Design Bureau) and ...

. In 1986, FASA began publishing fiction, starting with William Keith's ''Decision at Thunder Rift'' (1986).

Digest Group Publications Digest Group Publications was an American game company that produced role-playing games and game supplements. History Editors Gary L. Thomas and Joe D. Fugate, Sr. founded Digest Group Publications (DGP) in 1986 as a business that they ran par ...

' final publication, ''The MegaTraveller Journal'' #4 (1993), featured a huge campaign for ''MegaTraveller'' set in the Gateway sector, authored by William Keith. William Keith became a professional artist and writer, working in the game industry with his brother Andrew, particularly for Game Designers' Workshop and FASA before becoming a full-time author. Much of his early work, including the ''Warstrider'' series, the ''Freedom's Rangers'' series, the ''Cybernarc'' series, and the ''Invaders of Charon'' series, is currently

out of print __NOTOC__ An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a book ...

; 'Warstrider' will be re-released in 2014. He was also an early author for BattleTech, writing the saga of the Gray Death Legion. Keith also writes under various pseudonyms and "house names", including Ian Douglas and H. Jay Riker, and is a shadow author of several books "by" celebrities. He has written extensively in

Keith Laumer John Keith Laumer ( – ) was an American science fiction author. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, he was an officer in the United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United State ...

's ''

Bolo Bolo may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Bolo, a fictional tribe in ''bolo'bolo'' by P.M. * Bolo, a character in the ''Shantae'' series * ''Bolo'' universe, a science fiction universe created by Keith Laumer * Prin ...

'' series, contributing several short stories to the Bolo anthologies, as well as three full-length books, ''Bolo Brigade'', ''Bolo Strike'', and ''Bolo Rising''. As Ian Douglas, he writes military science fiction: the ''Galactic Marines'' series (composed of the ''

Heritage Trilogy ''Heritage Trilogy'' is a series of military science fiction books written by Ian Douglas that focus on the United States Marine Corps. It is followed by the '' Legacy Trilogy'' and the '' Inheritance Trilogy''. Novels * '' Semper Mars'' (1998) ...

'', the '' Legacy Trilogy'', and the '' Inheritance Trilogy''), and the newer ''Star Carrier'' series. As H. Jay Riker he writes military fiction: a series about the

United States Navy SEALs The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting sma ...

progression from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

through the

Desert Storm The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

, and Iraqi Freedom, and another series, ''The Silent Service'', about the United States submarine service. Other novels include ''

Diplomatic Act ''Diplomatic Act'' is a comedy science fiction novel written by Peter Jurasik and William H. Keith, Jr., published in August 1998. The novel focuses on Richard Faraday, an actor who plays an extraterrestrial diplomat on a science fiction televisi ...

'' with Peter Jurasik, and ''Two of Minds'', nominated for a

Newbery Award The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

. He also continued

's Retief series with ''Retief's Peace''. His first non-fiction book, ''The Science of the Craft'', was published in 2005; it is about the link between witchcraft and science. Keith's recent work includes three books in

Stephen Coonts Stephen Coonts (born July 19, 1946) is an American spy thriller and suspense novelist. Early life, education, and military career Stephen Coonts grew up in Buckhannon, West Virginia, a small coal mining town. Following high school graduation, h ...

' ''Deep Black'' series; a police procedural/detective novel in the Android universe; and a new series about Navy Hospital Corpsmen in the future. Keith, a

Wicca Wicca () is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religion categorise it as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and was ...

n and a Reiki master, is also a member of Western Pennsylvania Mensa.

Bibliography

;Significant works Writing as William H. Keith Jr.: BattleTech series * ''Decision at Thunder Rift'' (1986) ; reprinted as , , , and * ''Mercenary's Star'' (1987) ; reprinted as and * ''The Price of Glory'' (1987) ; reprinted as , , and * ''Blood of Heroes'' (with J. Andrew Keith) (1993) * ''Tactics of Duty'' (1995) , reprinted as * ''Operation Excalibur'' (1996) , reprinted as Writing as Ian Douglas:

* '' Semper Mars'' (1998) * ''Luna Marine'' (1999) * ''Europa Strike'' (2000) Legacy Trilogy * ''Star Corps'' (2003) * ''Battlespace'' (2006) * ''Star Marines'' (2007) Inheritance Trilogy * ''Star Strike'' (2008) * ''Galactic Corps'' (2008) * ''Semper Human'' (2009) Star Corpsman Series * ''Bloodstar'' (2012) * ''Abyss Deep'' (2013) Star Carrier series # ''Earth Strike'' (2010) # ''Center of Gravity'' (2011) # ''Singularity'' (2012) # ''Deep Space'' (2013) # ''Dark Matter'' (2014) # ''Deep Time'' (2015) # ''Dark Mind'' (4-25-2017) # ''Bright Light'' (11-27-2018) # ''Stargods'' (11-26-2020) Andromedan Dark * ''Altered Starscape'' (2016) * ''Darkness Falling'' (2017) Writing as Robert Cain: Cybernarc series * ''Cybernarc'' (1991) * ''Gold Dragon'' (1991) * ''Island Kill'' (1992) * ''Capo's Revenge'' (1992) * ''Shark Bait'' (1992) * ''End Game'' (1993) Writing as H. Jay Riker *SEALS The Warrior Breed series: ** ''Silver Star (1993)'' ** ''Purple Heart (1994)'' ** ''Bronze Star (1995)'' ** ''Navy Cross (1996)'' ** ''Medal of Honor (1997)'' ** ''Marks of Valor (1998)'' ** ''In Harm's Way (1999)'' ** ''Duty's Call (2000)'' ** ''Casualties of War (2003)'' ** ''Enduring Freedom (2005)'' ** ''Iraqi Freedom (2007)'' *Silent Service Series: ** ''Grayback Class'' (2000) ** ''Los Angeles Class'' (2001) ** ''Seawolf Class'' (2002) ** ''Virginia Class'' (2004) ** ''Ohio Class'' (2006)

References

External links

Author's Homepage
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keith, William H. Jr. 1950 births Living people 20th-century American male artists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century American essayists 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male artists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers American conceptual artists American contemporary artists American game designers 20th-century American historians American illustrators American male essayists American male non-fiction writers American male novelists American male short story writers American military personnel of the Vietnam War American multimedia artists American occult writers American science fiction writers American speculative fiction artists American speculative fiction critics American speculative fiction writers American video game designers American Wiccans Artists from Pennsylvania Artists from Pittsburgh Board game designers Mensans Military science fiction writers Novelists from Pennsylvania Place of birth missing (living people) Reiki practitioners Role-playing game artists Role-playing game designers Science fiction critics Science fiction fans United States Navy corpsmen Wiccan novelists Wiccan writers Writers from Pittsburgh