Martha Wells (born September 1, 1964)[1] is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has published a number of fantasy novels, young adult novels, media tie-ins, short stories, and nonfiction essays on fantasy and science fiction subjects. Her novels have been translated into twelve languages.[2] Wells has won four Hugo Awards, two Nebula Awards and three Locus Awards for her science fiction series The Murderbot Diaries. She is also known for her fantasy series Ile-Rien and The Books of the Raksura. Wells is praised for the complex, realistically detailed societies she creates; this is often credited to her academic background in anthropology.[3][4]
As an aspiring writer Wells attended many local writing workshops and conventions, including the Turkey City Writer's Workshop taught by Bruce Sterling.[7] She has also taught writing workshops at ArmadilloCon, WorldCon, ApolloCon, and Writespace Houston,[8] and was the Special Workshop Guest at FenCon in 2018.[9]
Her first published novel, The Element of Fire (1993), was a finalist for that year's Compton Crook Award, and a runner-up for the 1994 William Crawford Award. Her second novel, City of Bones (1995), received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and a black diamond review from Kirkus Reviews, and was on the 1995 Locus Recommended Reading List for fantasy. Her third novel, The Death of the Necromancer (1998), was nominated for a Nebula Award.[10]The Element of Fire and The Death of the Necromancer are stand-alone novels which take place in the country of Ile-Rien, which is also the setting for the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy: The Wizard Hunters (2003), The Ships of Air (2004), and The Gate of Gods (2005). Her fourth novel was a stand-alone fantasy, Wheel of the Infinite. In 2006, she released a revised edition of The Element of Fire.[11]
"Archaeology 101", a short story based on Stargate SG-1 for issue No. 8 (Jan/Feb 2006) of the official Stargate Magazine
Star Wars novel, Empire and Rebellion: Razor's Edge.[12]
Her fantasy short stories include "The Potter's Daughter" in the anthology Elemental (2006), which was selected to appear in The Year's Best Fantasy #7 (2007).[13] This story features one of the main characters from The Element of Fire. Three prequel short stories to the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy were published in Black Gate Magazine in 2007[14][15] and 2008.[16]
Wells' longest-running fantasy series is The Books of the Raksura, which included five novels and two short fiction collections published by Night Shade Books: The Cloud Roads (2011), The Serpent Sea (2012), The Siren Depths (2012), Stories of the Raksura Vol 1: The Falling World & The Tale of Indigo and Cloud (2014), Stories of the Raksura Vol 2: The Dead City & The Dark Earth Below (2015), The Edge of Worlds (2016), and The Harbors of the Sun (2017). The series was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Series in 2018,[17] and The Edge of Worlds was reviewed in The New York Times.[18]
Wells has written two young adult fantasy novels, Emilie and the Hollow World and Emilie and the Sky World, published by Angry Robot/Strange Chemistry in 2013 and 2014.[19]
Wells was toastmaster of the World Fantasy Convention in 2017,[20] where she delivered a speech called "Unbury the Future"[21] about marginalized creators in the history of science fiction and fantasy, movies, and other media, and the deliberate suppression of the existence of those creators. The speech was well-received and generated a great deal of discussion.[22]
During 2018, Wells was the leader of the story team and lead writer for the new Dominaria expansion of the card game Magic: The Gathering.[23]
In September 2022, Tor Book shared the cover of Witch King, the latest novel by Wells that was released on May 30, 2023.[35] Tor describes the book as a story "of power and friendship, of trust and betrayal, and of the families we choose."[36]
Nomination for Journal d’un AssaSynth, tomes 1 à 4 (translated by Mathilde Montier) in the 2020 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire awards in the Nouvelle étrangère category[52]
Nominations for Tagebuch eines Killerbots (The Murderbot Diaries Omnibus) for Best Foreign Novel published in German and for translator Frank Böhmert for Best Translation in the 2020 Kurd Laßwitz Preis[53]
Finalist for The Murderbot Diaries, Books 1–4 (translated by Naoya Nakahara) in the Seiun Award in the Best Translated Novel category[54]
Winner for Sistemas críticos (translated by Carla Bataller Estruch) in the Ignotus Award in the Best Foreign Short Story category[55]
Winner for Journal d’un AssaSynth, tomes 1 à 4 (translated by Mathilde Montier) in the 2020 Prix Bob Morane in the Romans étrangers category[56]
Locus Recommended List in 1994 for The Element of Fire
Locus Recommended List in 1995 for City of Bones
Martha Wells declined a Nebula finalist slot in the Best Novella category for Fugitive Telemetry in the 2021 Nebula Awards,[57] giving the reason that The Murderbot Diaries had already won two Nebulas (for Best Novella and Best Novel) and that the spot would be of more benefit to another writer. Due to a three-way tie for sixth place, declining allowed two additional novellas a spot on the 2021 ballot.[58] Wells also declined a Hugo Nomination for Fugitive Telemetry that year. [59]
Network Effect (translated by Frank Böhmert) was a finalist for the Kurd Laßwitz Preis 2022 for Best SF in German translation.[60]
Finalist for Network Effect (translated by Naoya Nakahara) for the Seiun Award in the international longform category[61]
On October 19, 2022, she was made a member of the Texas Literary Hall of Fame[62]
Martha Wells declined a Nebula finalist slot and a Hugo finalist slot in the Best Novel category for System Collapse in 2024 [63][64]
Between Worlds: the Collected Cineth and Ile-Rien Stories (2015, ISBN0-520-20600-2):
"The Potter’s Daughter" - a prequel to the novel The Element of Fire (2006 short story, Elemental: the Tsunami Relief AnthologyISBN0-7653-1562-9, The Year's Best Fantasy #7ISBN978-1-892391-50-6)
"Reflections" - the Giliead and Ilias stories, prequels to the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy (2007, Black Gate Magazine)
"Night at the Opera" - a Nicholas and Reynard story original to this collection, set before The Death of the Necromancer (also in PodCastle Episode 400)
