Meredith Ann Pierce (born July 5, 1958, in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

) 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, ...

writer and

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

. Her books deal in fantasy worlds with mythic settings and frequently feature young women who first wish only to love and be loved, yet who must face hazard and danger to save their way of life, their world, and so on, usually without being respected for their efforts until the end of the story.

Career

Her first book started a trilogy often referred to as '' The Darkangel Trilogy''. Published in 1982, ''The Darkangel'' featured a story that Pierce claims came to her all at once while she read the account of a dream recounted to

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of Carl Jung publications, over 20 books, illustrator, and corr ...

, one of the fathers of

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of deleterious mental disorder, mental conditions. These include matters related to cognition, perceptions, Mood (psychology), mood, emotion, and behavior. ...

. It was followed in 1984 by ''A Gathering of Gargoyles'', and concluded in 1989 with ''The Pearl of the Soul of the World''. These books told the story of a slave girl who finds herself trying to kill a darkangel to avenge his kidnapping of her mistress. She then finds herself forced to care for the thirteen wraiths who were once his beautiful and unwilling brides, and must also resist the attractions of the vampyre. As she makes her way through the books, she finds more and more responsibility laid on her slender shoulders, with few friends and much danger as well. Pierce's second and more popular trilogy, '' The Firebringer Trilogy'', involved a tribe of

unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unico ...

s on a different fantasy world. It started with ''Birth of the Firebringer'' in 1985, continued in ''Dark Moon'', published in 1992, and ended with ''The Son of Summer Stars'' in 1996. Jan, the hero of the trilogy, is part messiah, part

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

-figure. All three books were re-printed by

Firebird Books Firebird Books (launched January 2002) is an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., publishing mainly paperback reprint editions of science fiction and fantasy for teenagers and adults. It was created by Sharyn November, one of the few children's ...

in 2003. Pierce has written other fantasy novels, which are frequently published as either Young Adult Fiction or as general Fantasy, and sometimes in each category. Her most recent book, ''Waters Luminous and Deep'', is a book of short stories marketed for adults.

Books

The Darkangel Trilogy

*1982 '' The Darkangel'' **Won

International Reading Association The International Literacy Association (ILA), formerly the International Reading Association (IRA), is an international global advocacy and member professional organization that was created in 1956 to improve reading instruction, facilitate dial ...

Children's Book Award **Won

California Young Reader Medal The California Young Reader Medal is a set of five annual literary awards conferred upon picture books A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily ...

*1985 ''A Gathering of Gargoyles'' *1990 ''The Pearl of the Soul of the World''

The Firebringer Trilogy

*1985 ''Birth of the Firebringer'' *1992 ''Dark Moon'' *1996 ''The Son of Summer Stars''

Other books

*1985 ''The Woman Who Loved Reindeer'' *1988 ''Where the Wild Geese Go'' - a picture book *2001 ''Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood'' *2004 ''Waters Luminous and Deep'' - a book of short fiction

External links

* , "Moon and Unicorn"
Interview at Sequential Tart
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pierce, Meredith Ann 1958 births Living people American children's writers American fantasy writers American women short story writers American women novelists Writers from Seattle 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American women children's writers 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 Novelists from Washington (state)