Jack L. Chalker

Jack Laurence Chalker (born December 17, 1944) is a science fiction author. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he has a graduate degree in history from the Johns Hopkins University and has taught history at the high school level. He's been a lecturer at the Smithsonian Institution, the National Institutes of Health, and numerous colleges and universities, mostly on science fiction and technology subjects; Chalker married Eva C. Whitley in 1978 and has two sons.

Chalker's awards include the Dedalus Award (1983), The Gold Medal of the West Coast Review of Books (1984), Skylark Award (1985), and Hamilton-Brackett Memorial Award (1979), as well as others of varying prestige, and has been a nominee for the John W. Campbell Award twice and for the Hugo award four times.

He is perhaps best known for his Well World series of novels, but has written many other novels (most, but not all, part of series) and at least nine short stories. Many of his works involve some physical transformation of the main characters. For instance, in the Well World novels, immigrants to the Well World are transformed from their original form to become a member of one of the thousands of sentient species that inhabit that artificial planet. The Wonderland Gambit series resembles traditional Buddhist jataka-type reincarnation stories set in an SF environment.

Chalker is also the coauthor (with Mark Owings) of The Science Fantasy Publishers (1991, upated annually), published by Mirage Press, Ltd. (Nominee, Hugo Award, 1992).

Bibliography

(till 2001)

• A Jungle of Stars, Ballantine - Del Rey, 1976
• Mignight at the Well of Souls, Del Rey, 1977
• The Web of the Chozen, Del Rey, 1978
• Exiles at the Well of Souls, Del Rey, 1978
• Quest for the Well of Souls, Del Rey, 1978
• And the Devil Will Drag You Under, Del Rey, 1979
• A War of Shadows, Ace: An Analog Book, 1979
• Dancers in the Afterglow, Del Rey, 1979, 1982
• The Return of Nathan Brazil, Del Rey, 1980
• The Devil's Voyage, Doubleday, 1980
• Twilight at the Well of Souls, Del Rey, 1980
• Lilith: A Snake in the Grass, Del Rey, 1981
• Cerberus: A Wolf in the Fold, Del Rey, 1982
• The Identity Matrix, Timescape: Pocket Books, 1982
• Charon: A Dragon at the Gate, Del Rey, 1982
• The Four Lords of the Diamond, The Science Fiction Book Club, 1983
• Medusa: A Tiger by the Tail, Del Rey, 1983
• The River of Dancing Gods, Del Rey, 1984
• Demons of the Dancing Gods, Del Rey, 1984
• Spirits of Flux and Anchor, Tor Books, 1984
• Empires of Flux and Anchor, Tor Books, 1984
• Downtiming the Night Side, Tor Books, May, 1985
• Masters of Flux and Anchor, Tor Books, January, 1985
• Vengeance of the Dancing Gods, Del Rey, July, 1985
• The Messiah Choice, St. Martins - Blue Jay, May, 1985
• The Birth of Flux and Anchor, Tor Books, 1985
• Children of Flux and Anchor. Tor Books, September, 1986
• Lords of the Middle Dark
• Pirates of the Thunder. Del Rey Books, March, 1987
• The Labyrinth of Dreams. Tor Books, March, 1987
• The Shadow Dancers, Tor Books, July, 1987
• Warriors of the Storm. Del Rey Books, August, 1987
• When the Changewinds Blow. Ace - Putnams, September, 1987
• Masks of the Martyrs, Del Rey, February, 1988
• Riders of the Winds. Ace Books, May, 1988
• Dance Band on the Titanic. Del Rey Books, July, 1988 (short stories)
• War of the Maelstrom. Ace - Putnams, October, 1988
• The Maze in the Mirror. Tor Books, January, 1989
• The Demons at Rainbow Bridge. Ace-Putnam's, hardcover, September, 1989
• Songs of the Dancing Gods. Del Rey, August, 1990
• The Red Tape War (with Mike Resnick and George Alec Effinger). Tor hardcover, April, 1991
• The Run to Chaos Keep. Ace - Putnams, May, 1991
• The Ninety Trillion Fausts (a.k.a. 90 Trillion Fausts). Ace - Putnams, October 1991
• Echoes of the Well of Souls, Del Rey, trade paperback, May, 1993
• Shadow of the Well of Souls. Del Rey Feb. 1994
• Gods of the Well of Souls. Del Rey, 1994
• Hotel Andromeda [edited by], Ace, 1994
• The Watchers at the Well. Science Fiction Book Club, 1994
• Horrors of the Dancing Gods. 1994
• The Cybernetic Walrus. Del Rey, trade pb in November, 1995
• The Dancing Gods: Part One. Del Rey, November, 1995
• The March Hare Network. 1996
• Changewinds. Baen, August, 1996
• The Hot-Wired Dodo. Del Rey, Feb. 1997
• The Dancing Gods II. Del Rey, September, 1996
• Priam's Lens. Del Rey 1997
• The Sea is Full of Stars, December, 1999
• The Moreau Factor, Del Rey Feb., 2000
• Ghost of the Well of Souls, 2000
• Balshazzar's Serpent, Baen Books 1999
• Melchior's Fire. Baen Books, 2001.

Besides the short stories included in Dance Band on the Titanic, Chalker has written at least one other short story:

• "And Now Falls the Cold, Cold Night". Alternate Presidents, ed. Mike Resnick, Tor 1992.