Alexander Christian Irvine (born March 22, 1969) is an American

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

and

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

author.

Education and early life

Irvine has a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

(1991), an M.A. from the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

(1996), and a Ph.D. from the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

(2003). From 2005-11, he was an

assistant professor Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doct ...

of English at the University of Maine. He worked for a time as a

reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

at ''The Phoenix''.

Career

Irvine has worked on

alternate reality games An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players' ideas or actions. The form is defined by int ...

including ''

The Beast The Beast may refer to: Religion * The Beast (Revelation), one of three beasts described in the New Testament ''Book of Revelation'' Fictional characters * The Beast, imaginary monster in William Golding's novel ''Lord of the Flies'' (1954) * ...

'' (2001) and ''

I Love Bees ''I Love Bees'' (also known as ''ilovebees'' or ''ILB'' for short) was an alternate reality game (ARG) that served as both a real-world experience and viral marketing campaign for the release of developer Bungie's 2004 video game ''Halo 2''. ...

'', and is the writer of the

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

game ''

Marvel Avengers Alliance ''Marvel Avengers Alliance'' was a 2012 turn-based social-network game developed by American studio Offbeat Creations and published by Playdom. It is based on characters and storylines published by Marvel Comics. The game was available as an Adob ...

'' (2012). He first gained notability with his

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine '' Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. Originally a poll ...

–winning 2002 novel ''A Scattering of Jades'' (which also won the

Crawford Award The IAFA William L. Crawford Fantasy Award (short: Crawford Award) is a literary award given to a writer whose first fantasy book was published during the preceding calendar year. It's one of several awards presented by the International Associat ...

in 2003) and the stories that would form the 2003 collection ''Unintended Consequences''. He has also published The Grail Quest novel ''One King, One Soldier'' (2004), and the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

-era historical fantasy ''The Narrows'' (2005). He released a

collection Collection or Collections may refer to: Computing * Collection (abstract data type), the abstract concept of collections in computer science * Collection (linking), the act of linkage editing in computing * Garbage collection (computing), autom ...

of thirteen short stories called ''Pictures from an Expedition'' in 2006. He wrote ''The'' ''Vertigo Encyclopedia''.Alex Irvine talks us through our case of Vertigo

Forbidden Planet ''Forbidden Planet'' is a 1956 American science fiction action film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Nicholas Nayfack and directed by Fred M. Wilcox (director), Fred M. Wilcox from a script by Cyril Hume that was based on a film story by ...

blog, November 14, 2008 As well as writing about comics, he has written a number of comic book series, including one featuring

Daimon Hellstrom Daimon Hellstrom, also known as the Son of Satan and Hellstorm, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Daimon made his live action debut in the television series ''Helstrom (TV series), Helstrom'', ...

for the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

imprint

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

, '' Daredevil Noir'', and '' Iron Man: The Rapture''.

Personal life

He is married with twins, a boy and girl, and two younger children. Irvine appeared on ''

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead g ...

'' in 2015. He was a one day champion, winning $26,000.

Bibliography

Novels

*''A Scattering of Jades'' (2002, ) *''One King, One Soldier'' (2004, ) *''The Narrows'' (2005, ) *''The Life of Riley'' (2005, ) *''Buyout'' (2009, ) * * ;Licensed work *''Have Robot, Will Travel'' (2004, ) *''Batman: Inferno'' (October 2006, ) *''

The Ultimates The Ultimates is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and created by writer Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch, which first started publication from '' The Ultimates'' #1 (cover date March 2002), ...

: Against All Enemies'' (2007, ) *''The

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

Book of Monsters, Spirits, Demons, and Ghouls'' (September 2007, ) *''Supernatural: John Winchester's Journal'' (February 2009, ) *''Iron Man: Virus'' (January 2010) *'' Iron Man 2 - The Novelization'' (April 2010, ) *'' Transformers: Exodus'' (June 2010, ) *'' Transformers: Exiles'' (2011) *''The Seal of Karga Kul: A Dungeons & Dragons Novel'' (December 2010) *'' Star Wars: Mandorla'' (Cancelled) *''The Adventures of Tintin: A Novel (Movie Tie-In)'' (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (November 2011, ) *''The Secret Journal of Ichabod Crane'' (2014, ) *'' Pacific Rim - The Novelization'' (2013) *''Phase One: Captain America: The First Avenger'' (2014, ) *''Phase One: Iron Man'' (2014, ) *'' Batman: Arkham Knight - The Riddler's Gambit'' (''Prequel to Batman: Arkham Knight)'' (June 2015, ) *'' Marvel Superheroes: Secret Wars'' (2015, ) *''Phase One: Marvel's The Avengers'' (2015, ) *''Phase One: The Incredible Hulk'' (2015, ) *''Phase One: Thor'' (2015, ) *''Phase Two: Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy'' (2015, ) *'' Independence Day: Resurgence: The Novelization'' (2016, ) *'' Tom Clancy's The Division: New York Collapse'' (2016, ) *''Phase Two: Marvel's Ant-Man'' (2016, ) *'' Power Rangers: The Official Movie Novelization'' (2017) *'' Pacific Rim: Uprising - The Novelization'' (2018, ) *''Tom Clancy's The Division: Broken Dawn'' (2019, )

Short fiction

;Stories

Comics

*'' Hellstorm: Son of Satan -- Equinox'' #1-5 (art by

Russell Braun Russell Braun (born 19 July 1965) is a Canadian operatic lyric baritone and conductor (music), and Juno Award winner. Much sought-after as a soloist and for opera roles, Russell Braun performs regularly at the Metropolitan Opera, the Salzburg ...

) (

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

MAX Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

, October 2006-February 2007) *'' Daredevil Noir: Liar's Poker'' #1-4 (art by

Tomm Coker Tomm Coker, also known as Thomas L. Coker (born November 3, 1972), is an American comic book artist and film director/writer. Career Coker's career started in the early nineties drawing comic books for Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Marvel Comi ...

) (Marvel, April–July 2009) *''The Murder of King Tut'' #1-5 (adapted from the novel by James Patterson, art by Christopher Mitten and

Ron Randall Ron Randall (born November 22, 1956) is an American comic book artist best known as the creator of the character Trekker. Career A graduate of The Kubert School, Ron Randall's first published comic book work was a two-page backup story titled ...

) (IDW, June–October 2010) *''Iron Man: The Rapture'' #1-4 (art by Lan Medina) (Marvel Knights, November 2010-January 2011) * ''Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Sun'' #1-5 (art by Peter Bergting) (IDW, January 2011-May 2011) **''Dark Sun: Ianto's Tomb'' (August 14, 2012, ) *''Deus Ex: The Children's Crusade'' #1-5 (art by John Aggs) (Titan, February–June 2016) *''Deus Ex Universe: The Dawning Darkness'' (art by John Aggs) (Titan, August 2016)

Non-fiction

* *''The Comic Book Story of Baseball: The Heroes, Hustlers, and History-making Swings (and Misses) of America's National Pastime'' (art by

and C.P. Smith) (Ten-Speed Press, 2019, )

Screenwriting

* '' Transformers: Robots in Disguise'' (2015)

Awards and honors

As listed in ''

Contemporary Authors ''Contemporary Authors'' is a reference work that has been published by Gale since 1962. The work provides short biographies and bibliographies of contemporary and near-contemporary writers and is a major source of information on over 116,000 liv ...

''. *Lennie Isaacs Memorial Award, Clarion Writer's Workshop, 1993 *Steve Grady Poetry Award,

, 1995 *Albert Morton Turner Essay Prize, University of Maine, 1995 *Technology in the First-Year English Classroom Award, University of Denver, 1999 *Travel and dissertation research grant, ColRoMorA Family Foundation, 1999 *Best Web site of the Year, ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'', for ''

'', 2001 *Best Ideas of the Year, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', for ''The Beast'', 2001 *Pushcart Prize nomination for "Snapdragons", 2002 * Best First Novel, ''

Locus Locus (plural loci) is Latin for "place". It may refer to: Mathematics and science * Locus (mathematics), the set of points satisfying a particular condition, often forming a curve * Root locus analysis, a diagram visualizing the position of r ...

'', for ''A Scattering of Jades'', 2003 *Best First Novel, International Horror Guild, for ''A Scattering of Jades'', 2003 *Crawford Award for best first novel, for ''A Scattering of Jades'', 2003 *International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts, for ''A Scattering of Jades'', 2003 *New England Press Award for investigative journalism, 2004 *

International Game Developers Association The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) is a nonprofit professional association whose stated mission is to "support and empower game developers around the world in achieving fulfilling and sustainable careers." The IGDA is incorp ...

award for innovation, for ''

'', 2005 *Critic's choice award, 48-hour Film Project, for "Music Box", 2006 *The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy, for "Wizard's Six", 2007

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Irvine, Alexander C. 1969 births Living people 21st-century American novelists American comics writers American fantasy writers American male novelists Contestants on American game shows The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction people People from Ypsilanti, Michigan Novelists from Maine Novelists from Michigan University of Michigan alumni 21st-century American male writers