Misplaced Pages

Barbara Hambly: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 00:39, 2 August 2006 editCactus Wren (talk | contribs)1,324 edits It is fiction← Previous edit Latest revision as of 17:37, 21 December 2024 edit undoGreenC bot (talk | contribs)Bots2,547,815 edits Rescued 1 archive link; reformat 1 link. Wayback Medic 2.5 per WP:USURPURL and JUDI batch #20 
(335 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|American novelist and screenwriter (born 1951)}}
'''Barbara Hambly''' (], ] – ) is an ] ] author.
{{about|the American author|the British field hockey player|Barbara Hambly (field hockey)}}
{{Primary sources|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see ] -->
| image = <!-- only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people - see ] -->
| imagesize =
| name = Barbara Hambly
| caption =
| pseudonym = Barbara Hamilton
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1951|8|28|mf=y}}
| birth_place = ], California, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = {{flatlist|
* Novelist
* short story author
* screenwriter
}}
| alma_mater = ]
| genre = ], ], ], ], ]
| movement =
| notableworks =
| website = {{URL|barbarahambly.com}}
|awards=] (1996)
}}


'''Barbara Hambly''' (born August 28, 1951) is an American ] and ] within the genres of ], ], ], and ].
==Biography==


She is the author of the bestselling ] mystery series featuring a ], a musician and physician, in New Orleans in the antebellum years. She also wrote a novel about ].
She was born in ] and grew up in ], ] and has an older sister Mary and younger brother Ed. She went to the ], earning a Masters degree in ] in ]. She spent a year in ] as part of her studies. Her first novel to be published was ''Time of the Dark'' by ] in ].


Her science fiction novels occur within an explicit ], as well as within previously existing settings (notably as established by '']'' and '']'').
She has been, at various times, a high-school teacher, a model, a waitress, a technical editor, an all-night liquor store clerk, and a karate instructor.


==Early life and education==
Her interests include dancing, painting, historical and fantasy costuming, and carpentry. She holds a black belt in ].
Hambly was born in ] and grew up in ], ]. Her parents, Everett Edward Hambly Jr. and Florence Elizabeth (Moraski) Hambly, are from Fall River, Massachusetts; and Scranton, Pennsylvania (respectively). She has an older sister, Mary Ann Sanders, and a younger brother, Everett Edward Hambly, III. In her early teens, after reading ]'s '']'', she affixed images of dragons to her bedroom door. She became interested in costumery from an early age, and has been a long-time participant in ] activities. In the mid-1960s, the Hambly family spent a year in Australia.


Hambly has a Master's in ] from the ]. She completed her degree in 1975 and spent a year in ] as part of her studies.
She was married to ] in the last years of his life.

==Career==
She chose work that allowed her time to write;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.barbarahambly.com/hambio.htm |title=Biography of Barbara Hambly |publisher=Barbarahambly.com |date=1999-09-17 |access-date=2013-02-07 |archive-date=2008-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080930213705/http://www.barbarahambly.com/hambio.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> all of her novels contain a biography paragraph with a litany of jobs: high school ], ], waitress, technical editor, all-night liquor store clerk, and Shotokan ] instructor. Her first published novel was '']'' (1982).

Hambly served as President of the ] from 1994 to 1996. Her works have been nominated for many awards in the ] and ] categories, winning a ] for Best Horror Novel '']'' (1989) (released in the UK as ''Immortal Blood'') and the ] for fiction for its sequel, '']'' (1996).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.barbarahambly.com/hambooks.htm |title=Books and awards |publisher=Barbarahambly.com |access-date=2013-02-07 |archive-date=2013-12-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206235948/http://www.barbarahambly.com/hambooks.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Marriage and personal life==
Hambly was married for some years to ], a science fiction writer. He died in 2002. She lives in Los Angeles. Hambly speaks freely of suffering from ], which was undiagnosed for some time.

==Themes within fantasy==
Hambly's work has several themes. She has a penchant for unusual characters within the fantasy genre, such as the menopausal witch and reluctant scholar-lord in the ''Winterlands'' trilogy, or the ] secret service agent in the vampire novels.<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114031303/http://www.strangehorizons.com/2000/20000911/Article_Hambly_Pellegrino.shtml |date=2006-11-14 }}, ''Strange Horizons''</ref>

Her writing is filled with rich descriptions and characters whose actions bear consequences for both their lives and relationships, suffusing her series with a sense of loss and regret.<ref name="AS">{{cite web|author=yGen User |url=http://www.andromedaspaceways.com/inter_0002.htm |title=Interview with Andromeda Spaceways |publisher=Andromedaspaceways.com |date=2005-12-25 |access-date=2013-02-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211165838/http://www.andromedaspaceways.com/inter_0002.htm |archive-date=2012-02-11 }}</ref> Hambly's characters suffer the pain of frustrated aspirations to a degree that is uncommon in most fantasy novels.<ref name="clute">Clute, J. & Grant, J. (1999). ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy''. Orbit: London (UK)</ref>

Though using many standard clichés and plot devices of the fantasy genre, her works explore the ethical implications of the consequences of these devices, and what their effect is for the characters, were they real people. In avoiding the "...easy consolatory self-identification of genre fantasy"<ref name="clute"/> (p.&nbsp;449) and refusing to let her work be guided more explicitly by conventions and the desires of her audience, Hambly may have missed out on more remunerative success and acclaim.<ref name="clute"/>

Although magic exists in many of her settings, it is not used as an easy solution but follows rules and takes energy from the wizards. The unusual settings are generally rationalized as alternative universes.

Hambly heavily researches her settings, either in person or through books, frequently drawing upon her degree in medieval history for background and depth.<ref name="futurefiction"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060614185931/http://futurefiction.com/barbara_hambly.htm |date=2006-06-14 }}, Future Fiction website</ref>


==Bibliography== ==Bibliography==


===] mysteries===
===The Darwath series ===
This ] series begins with ''A Free Man of Color'' (1997) and features ], a brilliant, classically educated, free colored surgeon and musician living in ] during the ] years of the 1830s. At the time, New Orleans had a large and prosperous population of free people of color. Born a slave, as his mother was enslaved, January was freed as a young child by his mother's lover, under the ] system. Provided with an excellent education, he gained fluency in several classical and modern languages, and was thoroughly versed in the whole of classical Western learning and arts. He studied medicine in Paris, where he trained as a surgeon. He returned to Louisiana to escape the memory of his late wife, a woman from North Africa. As a free black in Louisiana, he cannot find work as a surgeon. He earns a modest living by his exceptional talent as a musician.


# ''The Time of the Dark'' (1982) # ''A Free Man of Color'' (1997)
# ''The Walls of Air'' (1983) # ''Fever Season'' (1998)
# ''The Armies of Daylight'' (1983) # ''Graveyard Dust'' (1999)
# ''Sold Down the River'' (2000)
# ''Die upon a Kiss'' (2001)
# ''Wet Grave'' (2002)
# ''Days of the Dead'' (2003)
# ''Dead Water'' (2004)
# ''Dead and Buried'' (2010)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.severnhouse.com/book/Dead+and+Buried/7168|title=Severn House|website=www.severnhouse.com|access-date=21 January 2018|archive-date=23 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623055853/http://www.severnhouse.com/book/Dead%2Band%2BBuried/7168|url-status=dead}}</ref>
# ''The Shirt on His Back'' (2011)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.severnhouse.com/book/The+Shirt+on+His+Back/7169|title=Severn House|website=www.severnhouse.com|access-date=21 January 2018|archive-date=23 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623055906/http://www.severnhouse.com/book/The%2BShirt%2Bon%2BHis%2BBack/7169|url-status=dead}}</ref>
# ''Ran Away'' (2011)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.severnhouse.com/book/Ran+Away/7838|title=Severn House|website=www.severnhouse.com|access-date=21 January 2018|archive-date=23 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623055853/http://www.severnhouse.com/book/Ran%2BAway/7838|url-status=dead}}</ref>
# ''Good Man Friday'' (2013)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.severnhouse.com/book/Good+Man+Friday/8113|title=Severn House|website=www.severnhouse.com|access-date=21 January 2018|archive-date=23 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623055909/http://www.severnhouse.com/book/Good%2BMan%2BFriday/8113|url-status=dead}}</ref>
# ''Crimson Angel'' (2014)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.severnhouse.com/book/Crimson+Angel/8410|title=Severn House|website=www.severnhouse.com|access-date=21 January 2018|archive-date=23 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623130028/http://www.severnhouse.com/book/Crimson%2BAngel/8410|url-status=dead}}</ref>
# ''Drinking Gourd'' (2016)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.severnhouse.com/book/Drinking+Gourd/8649|title=Severn House|website=www.severnhouse.com|access-date=21 January 2018|archive-date=23 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623055856/http://www.severnhouse.com/book/Drinking%2BGourd/8649|url-status=dead}}</ref>
# ''Murder in July'' (2017)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.severnhouse.com/book/Murder+in+July/8789|title=Severn House|website=www.severnhouse.com|access-date=13 August 2018|archive-date=23 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623055853/http://www.severnhouse.com/book/Murder%2Bin%2BJuly/8789|url-status=dead}}</ref>
# ''Cold Bayou'' (2018)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.severnhouse.com/book/Cold+Bayou/8875|title=Severn House|website=www.severnhouse.com|access-date=13 August 2018|archive-date=23 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623055853/http://www.severnhouse.com/book/Cold%2BBayou/8875|url-status=dead}}</ref>
# ''Lady of Perdition'' (2019)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://severnhouse.com/book/Lady+of+Perdition/9017|title=Severn House|website=severnhouse.com}}</ref>
# ''House of the Patriarch'' (2020)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://severnhouse.com/book/House+of+the+Patriarch/9116|title=Severn House|website=severnhouse.com|access-date=25 November 2020}}</ref>
# ''Death and Hard Cider'' (Hardcover – June 7, 2022)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://severnhouse.com/books/death-and-hard-cider/ | title=Death and Hard Cider }}</ref>


====Short stories====
* ''Mother of Winter'' (1996)
* "Libre" (2006, short story in ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'', November 2006, Salute to New Orleans issue. Available on Hambly's website.)
* ''Icefalcon's Quest'' (1998)
* "There Shall Your Heart Be Also" (2007, short story in ''New Orleans Noir'', ed. Julie Smith. Available on Hambly's website.)
* "A Time to Every Purpose Under Heaven" (2010, short story starring Rose and Dominique, and taking place while Benjamin is away (plot of ''The Shirt on His Back''). Available on Hambly's website.)


===Sun Wolf and Starhawk=== ===Historical fiction===
* ''Search the Seven Hills'' (1983)
* ''The Emancipator's Wife'' (2005; finalist for the Michael Shaara Prize for Excellence in a Civil War Novel, 2006)
* ''Patriot Hearts'' (2007)
* ''Homeland: A Novel'' (2009)


===Abigail Adams Mysteries (written as Barbara Hamilton)===
# ''The Ladies of Mandrigyn'' (1984)
# ''The Witches of Wenshar'' (1987) # ''The Ninth Daughter'' (2009)
# ''A Marked Man'' (2010)
# ''Sup with the Devil '' (2011)

===Sherlock Holmes short story pastiches===
# "The Adventure of the Antiquarian’s Niece" (2003, ''Shadows Over Baker Street'', ed. Michael Reaves & John Pelan, narrated by Dr. Watson)
# "The Dollmaker of Marigold Walk" (2003, ''My Sherlock Holmes'', ed. Michael Kurland, narrated by Mrs. Mary Watson)
# "The Lost Boy" (2008, ''Gaslight Grimoire'', ed. J. R. Campbell and Charles Prepolec, narrated by Mrs. Mary Watson)
# "The Adventure of the Sinister Chinaman" (2010, ''Sherlock Holmes: Crossovers Casebook'', ed. Howard Hopkins, narrated by Dr. Watson)

===Anne Steelyard: The Garden of Emptiness===
# ''An Honorary Man'' (2008, graphic novel)
# ''The Gate of Dreams and Starlight'' (2009, graphic novel)
# ''A Thousand Waters'' (2011, graphic novel)

===Darwath===

====The Darwath Trilogy====
#'']'' (1982)
#'']'' (1983)
#'']'' (1983)

====Darwath novels====
# ''Mother of Winter'' (1996; Locus Award nominee 1997)
# ''Icefalcon's Quest'' (1998)
# "Pretty Polly" (2010, original short story available on Hambly's website.)

===Sun Wolf and Starhawk===
# '']'' (1984; Locus Award nominee, 1985)
# '']'' (1987; Locus Award nominee, 1988)
# ''The Unschooled Wizard'' (''The Ladies of Mandrigyn'' & ''The Witches of Wenshar'' omnibus; 1987)
# ''The Dark Hand of Magic'' (1990) # ''The Dark Hand of Magic'' (1990)
# "A Night with the Girls" (2010, an original short story available on Hambly's website)
# "Fairest in ihe Land" (2011, an original short story available on Hambly's website)
# "Nanya of the Butterflies" (2015)
# "Hazard" (2017)
# "Gwenael" (2018)


===Winterlands=== ===Winterlands===
# '']'' (1985; Locus Award nominee, 1986 and 1987)

# ''Dragonshadow'' (1999; Locus Award nominee, 2000)
# ''Dragonsbane'' (1985)
# ''Knight of the Demon Queen'' (2000; Locus Award nominee, 2001)
# ''Dragonshadow'' (1999)
# ''Knight of the Demon Queen'' (2000)
# ''Dragonstar'' (2002) # ''Dragonstar'' (2002)
# ''Princess'' (2010, novella starring John Aversin. Now available on Hambly's website.)


===The Windrose Chronicles=== ===The Windrose Chronicles===

# ''The Silent Tower'' (1986) # ''The Silent Tower'' (1986)
# ''The Silicon Mage'' (1988) # ''The Silicon Mage'' (1988)
# ''Darkmage'' (1988, omnibus of ''The Silent Tower'' and ''The Silicon Mage'')
# ''Dog Wizard'' (1993)
# '']'' (1993; Locus Award nominee, 1994)
# ''Stranger at the Wedding'' (also published as ''Sorcerer's Ward''; 1994)—not the same main characters, but set in the same universe


Windrose novellas/novelettes:
* ''Stranger at the Wedding''/''Sorcerer's Ward '' (1994) -


# "Firemaggot" (2010, an original short story available on Smashwords)
===Star Trek===
# "Corridor" (2011, an original short story available on Smashwords)
# "Plus-One" (2012, an original short story available on Smashwords)
# "Personal Paradise" (2014, an original short story available on Smashwords)
# "Zénobie" (July 2015, an original short story available on Smashwords)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BarbaraHambly1821|title=Smashwords – About Barbara Hambly|access-date=December 14, 2015}}</ref>
# "...Pretty Maids All in a Row" (October 2015)
# "Karate Masters vs the Invaders from Outer Space" (December 2017)


===Star Trek Universe===
* ''Ishmael'' (1985)
# '']'' (1985)
* ''Ghostwalker'' (1991)
* ''Crossroad'' (1994) # ''Ghost-Walker'' (1991)
# ''Crossroad'' (1994)


===Vampire Novels=== === James Asher, Vampire novels ===
# '']'', AKA ''Immortal Blood'' (UK title) (1988; Locus Award winner for Best Horror Novel in 1989)
# '']'' (1995; Locus Award nominee, 1996, winner of the ], 1996)
# ''Blood Maidens'' (2010)
# ''Magistrates of Hell'' (2012)
# ''The Kindred of Darkness'' (U.K. 2013, U.S. 2014)
# ''Darkness on His Bones'' (2015)
# ''Pale Guardian'' (U.K. 2016, U.S. 2017)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://severnhouse.com/book/Pale+Guardian/8737|title=Severn House|website=severnhouse.com|access-date=21 January 2018|archive-date=23 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623055856/http://severnhouse.com/book/Pale%2BGuardian/8737|url-status=dead}}</ref>
# ''Prisoner of Midnight'' (U.S. 2019)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://severnhouse.com/book/Prisoner+of+Midnight/8948|title=Severn House|website=severnhouse.com|access-date=3 March 2019|archive-date=23 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623055856/http://severnhouse.com/book/Prisoner%2Bof%2BMidnight/8948|url-status=dead}}</ref>


The short story "Sunrise on Running Water" (2007, published in the anthology ''Dark Delicacies II: Fear'') is set in the world of the James Asher novels but does not feature Asher himself.
# ''Those Who Hunt The Night'' (1988)
# ''Traveling With The Dead'' (1995)


===Beauty and the Beast=== ===Beauty and the Beast===
# '']'' novelization (1989)

# ''Song of Orpheus'' (1990)
* '']'' novelisation (1989)
* ''Song of Orpheus'' (1990)


===Sun-Cross=== ===Sun-Cross===
# ''The Rainbow Abyss'' (1991; Locus Award nominee, 1992)
# ''The Magicians of Night'' (1992; Locus Award nominee, 1993)


===Star Wars Universe===
# ''The Rainbow Abyss'' (1991)
#'' The Magicians of Night'' (1992) * '']'' (1995)
* "Nightlily: The Lovers' Tale" (1995, short story in the anthology '']'')

* "Taster's Choice: The Tale of Jabba's Chef" (1996, short story from the anthology '']'')
===Star Wars===
* "Murder in Slushtime" (1997, short story published in ''Star Wars Adventure Journal'' 14)

* ''Children of the Jedi'' (1995) * '']'' (1997)
* ''Planet of Twilight'' (1997)

===The Benjamin January Mysteries===

# ''A Free Man of Color'' (1997)
# ''Fever Season'' (1998)
# ''Graveyard Dust'' (1999)
# ''Sold Down the River'' (2000)
# ''Die upon a Kiss'' (2001)
# ''Wet Grave'' (2002)
# ''Days of the Dead'' (2003)
# ''Dead Water'' (2004)


===Raven Sisters === ===Raven Sisters ===
* ''Sisters of the Raven'' (2002)
* ''Circle of the Moon'' (2005)


===Silver Screen Historical Mystery Series===
# ''Sisters of the Raven'' (2002)
* ''Scandal in Babylon'' (2021). Not exactly a sequel to ''Bride of the Rat God'', which was a supernatural fantasy. Hambly decided that the same characters, with the same names and mostly the same backstories, would work well in a mystery, eventually a series, without supernatural elements.
# ''Circle of the Moon'' (2005)
* ''One Extra Corpse'' (2023)
* ''Saving Susy Sweetchild'' (2024)


===Other Fiction=== ===Standalone works===
* ''Bride of the Rat God'' (1994; Locus Award nominee, 1995) and (sequel) ''Castle of Horror'' (April 2016, Amazon/Kindle)<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hambly |first1=Barbara |title=(Untitled journal post) |url=https://barbara-hambly.livejournal.com/169546.html |website=LiveJournal |access-date=6 October 2022}}</ref>
* ''Magic Time'' (2002) (with Marc Zicree. The first of a trilogy. The other two volumes are by other authors: ''Angelfire'' by Marc Scott Zicree and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, and ''Ghostlands'' by Marc Scott Zicree and Robert Charles Wilson.)
* ''Renfield: Slave of Dracula'' (2006)
* "Someone Else's Shadow" (short story in the ''Night's Edge'' anthology)
*''The Iron Princess'' (2023)


==Television credits==
* ''Search the Seven Hills''/''Quirinal Hill Affair'' (1983)
* ''Bride of the Rat God'' (1994) * '']'' (1985)
* ''Stranger at the Wedding'' (1994) * '']'' (1985)
* '']'' (1986)
* ''Magic Time'' (2002) (with Marc Zicree)
* '']'' (1986)
* ''Renfield'' (Due September 2006)
* '']'' (1987)


==References==
===Historical Fiction===
{{Reflist|25em}}

* ''The Emancipator's Wife'' (2005)


==External links== ==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{Official website|https://www.barbarahambly.com/}}
* at SciFan
* {{ISFDB name}}
* {{IMDb name|id=1628287|name=Barbara Hambly }}
* {{usurped|1=}}
* {{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (pseudonym) at LC Authorities, with 3 records
* at the ]


{{Locus Award Best Horror Novel}}
*
{{Authority control}}
* at ]
* {{isfdb name|id=Barbara_Hambly |name=Barbara Hambly }}
* {{imdb name|id=1628287|name=Barbara Hambly }}

]
]
]
]
]


{{DEFAULTSORT:Hambly, Barbara}}
]
] ]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]

Latest revision as of 17:37, 21 December 2024

American novelist and screenwriter (born 1951) This article is about the American author. For the British field hockey player, see Barbara Hambly (field hockey).
This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources.
Find sources: "Barbara Hambly" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Barbara Hambly
Born (1951-08-28) August 28, 1951 (age 73)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Pen nameBarbara Hamilton
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • short story author
  • screenwriter
Alma materUniversity of California, Riverside
GenreScience fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, historical fiction
Notable awardsLord Ruthven Award (1996)
Website
barbarahambly.com

Barbara Hambly (born August 28, 1951) is an American novelist and screenwriter within the genres of fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and historical fiction.

She is the author of the bestselling Benjamin January mystery series featuring a free man of color, a musician and physician, in New Orleans in the antebellum years. She also wrote a novel about Mary Todd Lincoln.

Her science fiction novels occur within an explicit multiverse, as well as within previously existing settings (notably as established by Star Trek and Star Wars).

Early life and education

Hambly was born in San Diego, California and grew up in Montclair, California. Her parents, Everett Edward Hambly Jr. and Florence Elizabeth (Moraski) Hambly, are from Fall River, Massachusetts; and Scranton, Pennsylvania (respectively). She has an older sister, Mary Ann Sanders, and a younger brother, Everett Edward Hambly, III. In her early teens, after reading J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, she affixed images of dragons to her bedroom door. She became interested in costumery from an early age, and has been a long-time participant in Society for Creative Anachronism activities. In the mid-1960s, the Hambly family spent a year in Australia.

Hambly has a Master's in Medieval History from the University of California, Riverside. She completed her degree in 1975 and spent a year in Bordeaux as part of her studies.

Career

She chose work that allowed her time to write; all of her novels contain a biography paragraph with a litany of jobs: high school teacher, model, waitress, technical editor, all-night liquor store clerk, and Shotokan karate instructor. Her first published novel was The Time of the Dark (1982).

Hambly served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America from 1994 to 1996. Her works have been nominated for many awards in the fantasy and horror fiction categories, winning a Locus Award for Best Horror Novel Those Who Hunt the Night (1989) (released in the UK as Immortal Blood) and the Lord Ruthven Award for fiction for its sequel, Traveling with the Dead (1996).

Marriage and personal life

Hambly was married for some years to George Alec Effinger, a science fiction writer. He died in 2002. She lives in Los Angeles. Hambly speaks freely of suffering from seasonal affective disorder, which was undiagnosed for some time.

Themes within fantasy

Hambly's work has several themes. She has a penchant for unusual characters within the fantasy genre, such as the menopausal witch and reluctant scholar-lord in the Winterlands trilogy, or the philologist secret service agent in the vampire novels.

Her writing is filled with rich descriptions and characters whose actions bear consequences for both their lives and relationships, suffusing her series with a sense of loss and regret. Hambly's characters suffer the pain of frustrated aspirations to a degree that is uncommon in most fantasy novels.

Though using many standard clichés and plot devices of the fantasy genre, her works explore the ethical implications of the consequences of these devices, and what their effect is for the characters, were they real people. In avoiding the "...easy consolatory self-identification of genre fantasy" (p. 449) and refusing to let her work be guided more explicitly by conventions and the desires of her audience, Hambly may have missed out on more remunerative success and acclaim.

Although magic exists in many of her settings, it is not used as an easy solution but follows rules and takes energy from the wizards. The unusual settings are generally rationalized as alternative universes.

Hambly heavily researches her settings, either in person or through books, frequently drawing upon her degree in medieval history for background and depth.

Bibliography

Benjamin January mysteries

This historical mystery series begins with A Free Man of Color (1997) and features Benjamin January, a brilliant, classically educated, free colored surgeon and musician living in New Orleans during the antebellum years of the 1830s. At the time, New Orleans had a large and prosperous population of free people of color. Born a slave, as his mother was enslaved, January was freed as a young child by his mother's lover, under the plaçage system. Provided with an excellent education, he gained fluency in several classical and modern languages, and was thoroughly versed in the whole of classical Western learning and arts. He studied medicine in Paris, where he trained as a surgeon. He returned to Louisiana to escape the memory of his late wife, a woman from North Africa. As a free black in Louisiana, he cannot find work as a surgeon. He earns a modest living by his exceptional talent as a musician.

  1. A Free Man of Color (1997)
  2. Fever Season (1998)
  3. Graveyard Dust (1999)
  4. Sold Down the River (2000)
  5. Die upon a Kiss (2001)
  6. Wet Grave (2002)
  7. Days of the Dead (2003)
  8. Dead Water (2004)
  9. Dead and Buried (2010)
  10. The Shirt on His Back (2011)
  11. Ran Away (2011)
  12. Good Man Friday (2013)
  13. Crimson Angel (2014)
  14. Drinking Gourd (2016)
  15. Murder in July (2017)
  16. Cold Bayou (2018)
  17. Lady of Perdition (2019)
  18. House of the Patriarch (2020)
  19. Death and Hard Cider (Hardcover – June 7, 2022)

Short stories

  • "Libre" (2006, short story in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, November 2006, Salute to New Orleans issue. Available on Hambly's website.)
  • "There Shall Your Heart Be Also" (2007, short story in New Orleans Noir, ed. Julie Smith. Available on Hambly's website.)
  • "A Time to Every Purpose Under Heaven" (2010, short story starring Rose and Dominique, and taking place while Benjamin is away (plot of The Shirt on His Back). Available on Hambly's website.)

Historical fiction

  • Search the Seven Hills (1983)
  • The Emancipator's Wife (2005; finalist for the Michael Shaara Prize for Excellence in a Civil War Novel, 2006)
  • Patriot Hearts (2007)
  • Homeland: A Novel (2009)

Abigail Adams Mysteries (written as Barbara Hamilton)

  1. The Ninth Daughter (2009)
  2. A Marked Man (2010)
  3. Sup with the Devil (2011)

Sherlock Holmes short story pastiches

  1. "The Adventure of the Antiquarian’s Niece" (2003, Shadows Over Baker Street, ed. Michael Reaves & John Pelan, narrated by Dr. Watson)
  2. "The Dollmaker of Marigold Walk" (2003, My Sherlock Holmes, ed. Michael Kurland, narrated by Mrs. Mary Watson)
  3. "The Lost Boy" (2008, Gaslight Grimoire, ed. J. R. Campbell and Charles Prepolec, narrated by Mrs. Mary Watson)
  4. "The Adventure of the Sinister Chinaman" (2010, Sherlock Holmes: Crossovers Casebook, ed. Howard Hopkins, narrated by Dr. Watson)

Anne Steelyard: The Garden of Emptiness

  1. An Honorary Man (2008, graphic novel)
  2. The Gate of Dreams and Starlight (2009, graphic novel)
  3. A Thousand Waters (2011, graphic novel)

Darwath

The Darwath Trilogy

  1. The Time of the Dark (1982)
  2. The Walls of Air (1983)
  3. The Armies of Daylight (1983)

Darwath novels

  1. Mother of Winter (1996; Locus Award nominee 1997)
  2. Icefalcon's Quest (1998)
  3. "Pretty Polly" (2010, original short story available on Hambly's website.)

Sun Wolf and Starhawk

  1. The Ladies of Mandrigyn (1984; Locus Award nominee, 1985)
  2. The Witches of Wenshar (1987; Locus Award nominee, 1988)
  3. The Unschooled Wizard (The Ladies of Mandrigyn & The Witches of Wenshar omnibus; 1987)
  4. The Dark Hand of Magic (1990)
  5. "A Night with the Girls" (2010, an original short story available on Hambly's website)
  6. "Fairest in ihe Land" (2011, an original short story available on Hambly's website)
  7. "Nanya of the Butterflies" (2015)
  8. "Hazard" (2017)
  9. "Gwenael" (2018)

Winterlands

  1. Dragonsbane (1985; Locus Award nominee, 1986 and 1987)
  2. Dragonshadow (1999; Locus Award nominee, 2000)
  3. Knight of the Demon Queen (2000; Locus Award nominee, 2001)
  4. Dragonstar (2002)
  5. Princess (2010, novella starring John Aversin. Now available on Hambly's website.)

The Windrose Chronicles

  1. The Silent Tower (1986)
  2. The Silicon Mage (1988)
  3. Darkmage (1988, omnibus of The Silent Tower and The Silicon Mage)
  4. Dog Wizard (1993; Locus Award nominee, 1994)
  5. Stranger at the Wedding (also published as Sorcerer's Ward; 1994)—not the same main characters, but set in the same universe

Windrose novellas/novelettes:

  1. "Firemaggot" (2010, an original short story available on Smashwords)
  2. "Corridor" (2011, an original short story available on Smashwords)
  3. "Plus-One" (2012, an original short story available on Smashwords)
  4. "Personal Paradise" (2014, an original short story available on Smashwords)
  5. "Zénobie" (July 2015, an original short story available on Smashwords)
  6. "...Pretty Maids All in a Row" (October 2015)
  7. "Karate Masters vs the Invaders from Outer Space" (December 2017)

Star Trek Universe

  1. Ishmael (1985)
  2. Ghost-Walker (1991)
  3. Crossroad (1994)

James Asher, Vampire novels

  1. Those Who Hunt the Night, AKA Immortal Blood (UK title) (1988; Locus Award winner for Best Horror Novel in 1989)
  2. Traveling with the Dead (1995; Locus Award nominee, 1996, winner of the Lord Ruthven Award, 1996)
  3. Blood Maidens (2010)
  4. Magistrates of Hell (2012)
  5. The Kindred of Darkness (U.K. 2013, U.S. 2014)
  6. Darkness on His Bones (2015)
  7. Pale Guardian (U.K. 2016, U.S. 2017)
  8. Prisoner of Midnight (U.S. 2019)

The short story "Sunrise on Running Water" (2007, published in the anthology Dark Delicacies II: Fear) is set in the world of the James Asher novels but does not feature Asher himself.

Beauty and the Beast

  1. Beauty and the Beast novelization (1989)
  2. Song of Orpheus (1990)

Sun-Cross

  1. The Rainbow Abyss (1991; Locus Award nominee, 1992)
  2. The Magicians of Night (1992; Locus Award nominee, 1993)

Star Wars Universe

Raven Sisters

  • Sisters of the Raven (2002)
  • Circle of the Moon (2005)

Silver Screen Historical Mystery Series

  • Scandal in Babylon (2021). Not exactly a sequel to Bride of the Rat God, which was a supernatural fantasy. Hambly decided that the same characters, with the same names and mostly the same backstories, would work well in a mystery, eventually a series, without supernatural elements.
  • One Extra Corpse (2023)
  • Saving Susy Sweetchild (2024)

Standalone works

  • Bride of the Rat God (1994; Locus Award nominee, 1995) and (sequel) Castle of Horror (April 2016, Amazon/Kindle)
  • Magic Time (2002) (with Marc Zicree. The first of a trilogy. The other two volumes are by other authors: Angelfire by Marc Scott Zicree and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, and Ghostlands by Marc Scott Zicree and Robert Charles Wilson.)
  • Renfield: Slave of Dracula (2006)
  • "Someone Else's Shadow" (short story in the Night's Edge anthology)
  • The Iron Princess (2023)

Television credits

References

  1. "Biography of Barbara Hambly". Barbarahambly.com. 1999-09-17. Archived from the original on 2008-09-30. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
  2. "Books and awards". Barbarahambly.com. Archived from the original on 2013-12-06. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
  3. "Review of female characters in Barbara Hambly novels" Archived 2006-11-14 at the Wayback Machine, Strange Horizons
  4. yGen User (2005-12-25). "Interview with Andromeda Spaceways". Andromedaspaceways.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-11. Retrieved 2013-02-07. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  5. ^ Clute, J. & Grant, J. (1999). The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. Orbit: London (UK)
  6. Review of Barbara Hambly as an author Archived 2006-06-14 at the Wayback Machine, Future Fiction website
  7. "Severn House". www.severnhouse.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  8. "Severn House". www.severnhouse.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  9. "Severn House". www.severnhouse.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  10. "Severn House". www.severnhouse.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  11. "Severn House". www.severnhouse.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  12. "Severn House". www.severnhouse.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  13. "Severn House". www.severnhouse.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  14. "Severn House". www.severnhouse.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  15. "Severn House". severnhouse.com.
  16. "Severn House". severnhouse.com. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  17. "Death and Hard Cider".
  18. "Smashwords – About Barbara Hambly". Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  19. "Severn House". severnhouse.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  20. "Severn House". severnhouse.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  21. Hambly, Barbara. "(Untitled journal post)". LiveJournal. Retrieved 6 October 2022.

External links

Locus Award for Best Horror Novel
1989–1999
2017–present
Categories: