Michael Joseph Kurland (born March 1, 1938) is an American author, best known for his works 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

detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal investigation, investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around ...

. Kurland lives in

San Luis Obispo, California ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...

Writing career

Kurland's early career was devoted to works of science fiction. His first published novel was ''Ten Years to Doomsday'' (written with

Chester Anderson Chester Valentine John Anderson (August 11, 1932 – April 11, 1991) was an American novelist, poet, and editor in the underground press. Biography Raised in Florida, he attended the University of Miami from 1952 to 1956, before becoming a ...

) in 1964. Other notable works include ''Tomorrow Knight'', ''Pluribus'', ''Perchance'', and '' The Unicorn Girl''. ''The Unicorn Girl'' was the middle volume of the Greenwich Village Trilogy by three different authors, the other two being

and T.A. Waters. (Anderson's book, '' The Butterfly Kid'', was nominated for a

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...

.) Kurland has also written two novels, '' Ten Little Wizards'' and ''

A Study in Sorcery ''A Study in Sorcery'' is an alternate history novel by Michael Kurland featuring Randall Garrett's fictional detective character Lord Darcy (character), Lord Darcy. It was first published in paperback by Ace Books in 1989; a trade paperback edit ...

'', set in the world of

Randall Garrett Gordon Randall Phillip David GarrettGarrett, Randall
in ''

Lord Darcy, prefiguring his later success as a mystery writer. Following the success of ''The Infernal Device'', which was nominated for an

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

(as was his earlier ''A Plague of Spies''), Kurland turned his attention to detective fiction. Several of his subsequent novels have been sequels to ''The Infernal Device'', and feature

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

's nemesis,

Professor Moriarty Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and criminal mastermind created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to be a formidable enemy for the author's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. He was created primarily as a device by which Doyle could ...

. In this series, Professor Moriarty is an antihero (and sometimes a real hero) who resignedly tolerates Holmes's obsessively exaggerated opinion of his criminal empire, and is often brought into reluctant alliance with his nemesis in order to counter menaces ranging from threats to their associates to threats to the nation. He has edited three themed anthologies of

short stories, ''My Sherlock Holmes'' (stories narrated by characters other than Watson or Holmes), ''Sherlock Holmes: The Hidden Years'' (stories set during the period in which Holmes was supposed to be dead) and ''Sherlock Holmes: the American Years'' (stories set in the time between Holmes' graduation from university and his meeting Dr. Watson). He is also the author of numerous non-fiction works, including ''How to Solve a Murder: the Forensic Handbook'' and ''How to Try a Murder: the Handbook for Armchair Lawyers''.

Selected works

Professor Moriarty Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and criminal mastermind created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to be a formidable enemy for the author's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. He was created primarily as a device by which Doyle could ...
series

*''The Infernal Device'' (1978); reprinted in ''The Infernal Device and others'' *''Death by Gaslight'' (1982); reprinted in ''The Infernal Device and others'' *"The Paradol Paradox" (in ''The Infernal Device and others'', 2001; ''Victorian Villainy'', 2011) *''The Great Game'' (2001) *"Years Ago and in a Different Place" (in ''My Sherlock Holmes'', 2003; ''Victorian Villainy'', 2011) *"Reichenbach" (in ''Sherlock Holmes: The Hidden Years'', 2004; ''Victorian Villainy'', 2011) *''The Empress of India'' (2006) *"The Picture of Oscar Wilde" (included in both ''Victorian Villainy'', 2011 and ''My Love of All that is Bizarre'', 2013) *''Who Thinks Evil'' (2014)

Lord Darcy series

*'' Ten Little Wizards'' (1988) *''

'' (1989)

Alexander Brass series

*''Too Soon Dead'' *''The Girls in the High-Heeled Shoes'' *"He Couldn't Fly" (in ''The Mammoth Book of Roaring Twenties Whodunnits'')

War Incorporated series

*''Mission: Third Force'' (1967) *''Mission: Tank War'' (1968) *''A Plague of Spies'' (1969)

Science fiction

*''Ten Years to Doomsday'' (with Chester Anderson) (1964) *'' The Unicorn Girl'' (1969) *''Transmission Error'' (1970) *''Pluribus'' (1975) *''The Whenabouts of Burr'' (1975) *''Tomorrow Knight'' (1976) *''The Princes of Earth'' (Young Adult) (1978) *''The Last President'' (S. W. Barton) (1980) *''Psi Hunt'' (1980) *''First Cycle'' (posthumous editing and expanding of a manuscript by

H. Beam Piper Henry Beam Piper (March 23, 1904 – ) was an American science fiction writer. He wrote many short stories and several novels. He is best known for his extensive Terro-Human Future History series of stories and a shorter series of "Paratime" al ...

) (1982) *''Star Griffin'' (1987) *''Perchance'' (1988) *''Button Bright'' (1990)

Anthologies (as editor)

*''My Sherlock Holmes: Untold Stories of the Great Detective'' (2003) *''Sherlock Holmes: The Hidden Years'' (2004) *''Sherlock Holmes: The American Years'' (2010)

Short stories

*"Elementary" (with Laurence M. Janifer) (1964) *"Bond of Brothers" (1965)
Please State My Business
(1965) *"Fimbulsommer" (with Randall Garrett) (1970) *"Small World" (1973) *"Think Only This of Me" (1973) *"A Brief Dance to the Music of the Spheres" (1983) *"In the Blood" (1995) *"The Rite Stuff" (2004) *"Four Hundred Slaves" (2005)

Nonfiction

*''The Spymaster's Handbook'' (1988) *''A Gallery of Rogues: Portraits in True Crime'' (1994) *''How to Solve a Murder: The Forensic Handbook'' (1995) *''How to Try a Murder: The Handbook for Armchair Lawyers'' (1997) *''Irrefutable Evidence – Adventures in the History of Forensic Science'' (2009)

References

External links

Author's Home Page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kurland, Michael 1938 births Living people 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American mystery writers American science fiction writers Writers from California Writers of Sherlock Holmes pastiches American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers