Gregory Keyes (born April 11, 1963) is an American writer of

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 ...

and

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, ...

who has written both original and media-related novels under both the names J. Gregory Keyes and Greg Keyes.

Early life

Keyes was born in Meridian,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, as John Gregory Keyes. He received degrees in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

from

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

and the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

before becoming a full-time writer.

Writing career

He is famous for his tetralogy '' The Age of Unreason'', a

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and Applied arts, aesthetics inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century Industrial Revolution, industrial steam engine, steam-powered machinery. Steampun ...

/alchemical story featuring

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

and

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...

. He wrote the

Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tel ...

'' Psi Corps'' trilogy, a history of the Psi Corps and a biography of Psi Corps member

Alfred Bester Alfred Bester (December 18, 1913 – September 30, 1987) was an American science fiction author, TV and radio screenwriter, magazine Editing, editor and scriptwriter for comics. He is best remembered for his science fiction, including ''Th ...

. In 2003 he began a fantasy series titled '' The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone'', the first volume of which was '' The Briar King''. The second book in the series '' The Charnel Prince'' was published in 2004 and the third, '' The Blood Knight'', was published in July 2006. His fourth and final book of the quartet, '' The Born Queen'', was released in March 2008. In 2009 it was announced that Keyes would be writing two novels based on the successful computer game '' The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion''. The first of these, '' The Infernal City'', was published by

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

in November 2009. The second, '' Lord of Souls'', went on sale on September 27, 2011.

Style

Greg Keyes builds his stories around multiple main characters who meet only rarely, but allow the reader to follow different threads of the same events. Most of the chapters in his books focus on one of the main characters. Chapters often end in a surprise or a cliffhanger as the story moves to follow another character. Keyes's knowledge of

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

and

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

also figures heavily in his books. For example, Stephen Darige, one of the main characters in '' The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone'', is an adept linguist, and his knowledge and skills play an important role in the development of the story.

Works

Chosen of the Changeling

*''The Waterborn'' (1996), *''The Blackgod'' (1997),

The Age of Unreason

*'' Newton's Cannon'' (1998), *'' A Calculus of Angels'' (1999), *''Empire of Unreason'' (2000), *''The Shadows of God'' (2001),

Babylon 5: The Psi Corps Trilogy

*'' Dark Genesis: The Birth of the Psi Corps'' (1998), *''Deadly Relations: Bester Ascendant'' (1999), *'' Final Reckoning: The Fate of Bester'' (1999),

Star Wars: The New Jedi Order

*'' Edge of Victory I: Conquest'' (2001), *'' Edge of Victory II: Rebirth'' (2001), *"Emissary of the Void" (2002), short story published in ''Star Wars Gamer'', issues 8-10, and ''Star Wars Insider'', issues 62-64 *'' The Final Prophecy'' (2003),

The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone

*'' The Briar King'' (2003), *'' The Charnel Prince'' (2004), *'' The Blood Knight'' (2006), *'' The Born Queen'' (2008),

The Elder Scrolls

*'' The Infernal City'' (2009), - based on ''

The Elder Scrolls ''The Elder Scrolls'' is a series of action role-playing games, action role-playing video games primarily developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The series focuses on Nonlinear gameplay, free-form gameplay in an ...

'' video game series *'' Lord of Souls'' (2011), - based on ''The Elder Scrolls'' video game series

The High and Faraway Series

*''The Reign of the Departed'' (2018), *''Kingdoms of the Cursed'' (2019), * ''The Realm of the Deathless'' (2022)

Other

*'' The Hounds of Ash: and Other Tales of Fool Wolf'' (2008), *'' Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm'' (2014), *'' XCOM 2: Resurrection'' (2015), *'' Interstellar: The Movie Novelization'' (2014), *'' Independence Day: Crucible'' (2016), *'' War for the Planet of the Apes: Revelations'' (2016), *''Planet of the Apes: Caesar's Story (2018), *'' Godzilla: King Of The Monsters - The Movie Novelization'' (2019) *'' Marvel's Avengers: The Extinction Key'' (2020) *'' Godzilla: Dominion'' (2021) *'' Godzilla vs. Kong: The Movie Novelization'' (2021) *'' Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire - The Movie Novelization'' (2024)

External links

*
Official website of Greg Keyes

conducted by Rob Bedford; at the SFF World website
Interview with Greg Keyes
at actusf.com

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keyes, Gregory 1963 births 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American fantasy writers American male novelists American science fiction writers Living people Mississippi State University alumni University of Georgia alumni People from Meridian, Mississippi Writers from Savannah, Georgia 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Georgia (U.S. state)