Kate Elliott is the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

of 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 ...

writer Alis A. Rasmussen (born 1958).

Writing

Although Rasmussen's first novels ''The Labyrinth Gate'' (1988) and ''The Highroad'' (1990) (a science fiction trilogy) failed to become bestsellers, additional publishers liked her manuscripts. However, they wanted a fresh name unconnected with the sales figures of the previous books. Starting in 1992 under the new name of Kate Elliott, her sales have flourished. The Crown of Stars series has been featured in the

Science Fiction Book Club Bookspan LLC is a New York–based online bookseller, founded in 2000. Bookspan began as a joint endeavor by Bertelsmann and Time Warner. Bertelsmann took over control in 2007, and a year later, sold its interest to Najafi Companies, an Arizon ...

. Elliott published the first of her ''Jaran'' series in 1992, although she began the first draft in 1980. Heather Massey's review of ''Jaran'' describes it as "a science fiction romance classic", while Todd Richmond in an ''

SF Site ''SF Site'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine edited by Rodger Turner. It is among the oldest of websites dedicated to science fiction and primarily publishes book reviews. It has won the Locus Award and received nominations for ...

'' review calls the series "an epic masterpiece". The ''Highroad'' (as Alis Rasmussen) trilogy is set in the same universe as ''Jaran'' as a prequel. The 1996 collaboration between Elliott,

Melanie Rawn Melanie Rawn (born 1954) is an American author of fantasy literature. She received a BA in history from Scripps College and worked as a teacher and editor before becoming a writer. She has been nominated for a Locus award on three occasions: in ...

, and

Jennifer Roberson Jennifer Mitchell Roberson (born October 26, 1953) is an American author of fantasy and historical literature. Personal life Roberson has lived in Arizona since 1957. Though she grew up in Phoenix, the author lived in Flagstaff for 12 years ...

on ''The Golden Key'' was coordinated primarily via

fax machine Fax (short for facsimile), sometimes called telecopying or telefax (short for telefacsimile), is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other out ...

. In 2020, Elliott published ''Unconquerable Sun'', the first novel in a gender-bending space opera trilogy based on

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

Personal life

A native of

Junction City, Oregon Junction City is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, it has a population of 6,747. The Junction City area is notable for its Nordic and Scandinavian Americans, Scandinavian heritage, with the city's ...

, Rasmussen moved to

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

to attend

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...

. There she became active in the

Society for Creative Anachronism The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) is an international living history group with the aim of studying and recreating mainly Medieval European cultures and their histories before the 17th century. A quip often used within the SCA describes ...

where she pursued

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

sword fighting. Rasmussen, her archaeologist husband Jay Silverstein, and their three children live in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

Bibliography

As Alis A. Rasmussen

*''The Labyrinth Gate'' (1988) fantasy, *''The Highroad Trilogy'' science fiction *#''A Passage of Stars'', Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy (1990), *#''Revolution's Shore'' (1990), *#''The Price of Ransom'' (1990),

As Kate Elliott

*''The Spiritwalker Trilogy'' fantasy series **''Cold Magic'', Orbit, (2010) **''Cold Fire'', Orbit, (September, 2011) **''Cold Steel'', Orbit, (July 2, 2013) **''The Beatriceid'' (novelette, 2015) *''

Crossroads Crossroads is a junction where four roads meet. Crossroads, crossroad, cross road(s) or similar may also refer to: Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a ...

'' fantasy series **''Spirit Gate'', Tor Books, (2007) **''Shadow Gate'', Tor Books, (2008) **''Traitors' Gate'', Tor Books, (2009) *'' Crown of Stars'' fantasy series **''King's Dragon'', DAW, (1997), finalist for 1997

Nebula Award for Best Novel The Nebula Award for Best Novel is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy novels. A work of fiction is considered a novel by the organization if it is 40,000 words or longer; ...

**''Prince of Dogs'', DAW, (1998) **''The Burning Stone'' (1999) **''Child of Flame'' (2000) **''The Gathering Storm'' (2003) **''In the Ruins'' (Aug 2005) **''The Crown of Stars'', DAW, (Feb 2006) *'' The Golden Key ''(1996), a collaboration with

and

;

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

finalist for Best Novel of 1996 *''The Novels of the Jaran'' science fiction series **''Jaran'' (1992) **''An Earthly Crown'' (1993) **''His Conquering Sword'' (1993) **''The Law of Becoming'' (1994) *''Court of Fives'' young adult fantasy series;

Andre Norton Award The Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction (formerly the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy) is an annual award presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) to the ...

nominee for Best Book of 2016 **'' Court of Fives'', Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, (2015) **''Poisoned Blade'' (2016) **''Buried Heart'' (2017) **''Night Flower'' (novella, 2015) **''Bright Thrones'' (novella, 2017) *''Black Wolves'' fantasy series, sequel to

series **''Black Wolves'', Orbit, (2015) **''Dead Empire'' (canceled) **''Demon War'' (canceled) *''Magic the Gathering'' trading card game, fantasy series **''Core Set 2019'' eight-episode short story cycle **''Throne of Eldraine: The Wildered Quest'' (2019) *''The Sun Chronicles'' science fiction adventure series **''Unconquerable Sun'', (2020) **''Furious Heaven'' (2023) **''Lady Chaos'' (2026) *''Servant Mage (novella)'', Tordotcom, (January 2022) *''The Keeper's Six'', Tordotcom, (January 2023)

Short stories

* "My Voice Is In My Sword" in ''Weird Tales from Shakespeare'' (1994), reprinted in ''Apex Magazine'' (2015) * "The Memory of Peace" in ''Enchanted Forests'' (1995) * "A Simple Act of Kindness" in ''The Shimmering Door'' (1996) * "With God to Guard Her" in ''Return to Avalon'' (1996) * "The Gates of Joriun" in ''Tarot Fantastic'' (1997) * "Making the World Live Again" in ''Zodiac Fantastic'' (1997) * "Sunseeker" in ''30th Anniversary DAW Books Science Fiction'' (2002) * "Riding the Shore of the River of Death" in ''A Fantasy Medley'' (2009), reprinted in ''Epic: Legends of Fantasy'' (2012) * "Leaf and Branch and Grass and Vine" in ''Fearsome Journeys'' (2013) * "Everything in the World Wants Something" ''in Book Smugglers'' (2017) * "A Compendium of Architecture and the Science of Building" in ''Lightspeed Magazine'' (2018) * "The Tinder Box" at Tor.com (2021) *''The Very Best of Kate Elliott'' (2015) short story collection (includes the first 9 shorts above plus others)

References

External links

Official Kate Elliott web site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Kate 1958 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American fantasy writers American science fiction writers American women short story writers American women novelists Writers from Oakland, California People from Junction City, Oregon American women science fiction and fantasy writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers Mills College alumni