Lucius Shepard


Lucius Shepard was an American writer. Classified as a science fiction and fantasy writer, he often leaned into other genres, such as magical realism.

Career

A native of Lynchburg, Virginia where he was born in 1943, Shepard's first short stories appeared in 1983, and his first novel, Green Eyes, appeared in 1984. At the time, he was considered part of the cyberpunk movement. Shepard came to writing late, having first enjoyed a varied career, including a stint playing rock and roll in the Midwest and extensive travel throughout Europe and Asia. Algis Budrys, reviewing Green Eyes, praised Shepard's "ease of narrative style that comes only from a profound love and respect for the language and the literatures that have graced it."
Lucius Shepard has won several awards for his science fiction: in 1985 he won John W. Campbell Award for best new writer, followed in 1986 with a best novella Nebula Award for his story "R&R", which later became part of his 1987 novel Life During Wartime. This novel won the Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis in 1990. His novella "Barnacle Bill the Spacer" won a Hugo in 1993. His poem "White Trains" won the Rhysling Award in 1988. Two early collections of short stories won the World Fantasy Award for best collection: The Jaguar Hunter in 1988 and The Ends of the Earth Collection in 1992. His novella "Vacancy" won a Shirley Jackson Award in 2008.
Lucius Shepard resided in Portland, Oregon.

Themes and evolution

Shepard embraced many different themes throughout his career. In his early work, he wrote extensively about Central America. This included clearly science-fictional stories about near future high-tech jungle war, as well as stories that seemed more in line with magic realism. Many of these, such as "Black Coral" and "The Jaguar Hunter", explore cultural clashes. Shepard traveled extensively in Central America and lived there for a time.
Shepard stopped writing fiction for much of the 1990s. He returned near the end of that decade, producing such works as the novella Radiant Green Star, which won a Locus Award for Best Novella in 2001. Though he still wrote Central American fiction, Shepard's interest seemed to be moving north: he published two short novels, "A Handbook of American Prayer" and "Viator", both set in North America. On that same note, he published many works where culture and geography were secondary, preferring to focus on wider questions such as the role of justice in society.
Much of Shepard's later work was non-fiction. He researched the Freight Train Riders of America and spent time riding the rails, writing both fiction and non-fiction based on those experiences. He was also a regular movie reviewer for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and electricstory.com. His reviews are marked by general contempt for the current state of American film.
According to fellow author James Patrick Kelly, Shepard was an avid sports fan who has often used dramatic sports moments as inspiration to write.
In the summer of 2008, Shepard moved to Neuchatel, Switzerland in order to work on several screenplays. He served on the jury of the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival with the American director Joe Dante.
He died in March 2014 at the age of 70 of complications from a stroke.

Novels

;Collections
;Stories
TitleYearFirst publishedReprinted/collectedNotes
All the perfumes of Araby1992Novelette
The All-Consuming1990
The Arcevoalo1986Novelette
Aymara1986Novelette
AZTECHS2001Subterranean Press, 2003Novella
Barnacle Bill the Spacer1992
Beast of the heartland1992
The black clay boy1987
Black coral1984
Bound for glory1989
Chango1989
Crocodile rock1999
Dancing it all away at Nadoka1986
Delta Sly Honey1987
The end of life as we know it1985
The ends of the Earth1989
Eternity and afterward2001Novella
The etheric transmitter1984
The exercise of faith1987
The Father of Stones1989Novella/Chapbook
Fire Zone Emerald1986
The fundamental things1985
The glassblower's dragon1987
Halloween Town2009Novella
... How my heart breaks when I sing this song...1985
How the wind spoke at Madaket1985
Human history1995
Jack's decline1988
The jaguar hunter1985
Kalimantan1990Novella/Chapbook
The last time1994Novella/Chapbook
Liar's house2003Novella/Chapbook; The Dragon Griaule
Life of Buddha1988
A little night music1992
Louisiana breakdown2003Novella
The man who painted the Dragon Griaule1984F&SF, December 1984The Dragon Griaule
Mengele1985
The night of White Bhairab1984F&SF, October 1984
Noman's land1988Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Oct 1988
On the border1987Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, August 1987
A personal matter1993Amazing Stories, July 1993Excerpt from The Golden
Pizza man1996
R & R1986Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, April 1986
Radiant green star2000Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, August 2000
Reaper1984Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, December 1984
Romance of the Century2000
Salvador1984F&SF, April 1984
The scalehunter's beautiful daughter1988Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, September 1988Novella/Chapbook
Shades1987Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, December 1987
The skull2012Subterranean PressNovella
Skull City1990Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, July 1990
Solitario's eyes1983F&SF, September 1983
A Spanish lesson1985F&SF, December 1985
Sparring partner2001Playboy, March 2001
Sports in America1991Playboy, July 1991
Stars seen through stone2007F&SF, July 2007Novella
The storming of Annie Kinsdale1984Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, September 1984
The sun spider1987Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, April 1987
Surrender1989Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, August 1989
The Taborin Scale2010Subterranean PressNovella
The Taylorsville reconstruction1983
A traveler's tale1984Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, July 1984
Valentine2002Four Walls Eight WindowsNovella
Victory1992Omni, May 1992
Voyage south from Thousand Willows1986
The way it sometimes happens1988Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, December 1988
A wooden tiger1988F&SF, October 1988
Youthful folly1988Omni, November 1988

Poetry

;Chapbooks
;List of poems
TitleYearFirst publishedReprinted/collected
Cantata of death, weakmind & generation1967
Challenger as viewed from the Westerbrook Bar1986
Pictures made of stones1987
White trains1987

Non-fiction

Comics

;Five autobiographies and a fiction
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