A former anthropologist and folklorist who shamelessly pillages her academic fields for material, the acclaimed Marie Brennan is the creator of the Hugo nominated Memoirs of Lady Trent [A Natural History of Dragons (2013), The Tropic of Serpents (2014), Voyage of the Basilisk (2015), In the Labyrinth of Drakes (2016), Within the Sanctuary of Wings (2017)], Onyx Court [Midnight Never Come (2008), In Ashes Lie (2009), A Star Shall Fall (2010), With Fate Conspire (2011)], Wilders [Lies and Prophecy (2012), Chains and Memory (2016)] and Doppelganger duology [Doppelganger (2006; also as Warrior) and Warrior and Witch (2006; also as Witch)]. She also wrote the Legends of the Five Rings tie in novel The Night Parade of 100 Demons (2021) and it’s sequel The Game of 100 Candles (2023). produced a series of Varekai novellas [(Cold-Forged Flame (2016), Lightning in the Blood (2017)]. In 2020, DRIFTWOOD, a novel set in the realities of her popular series of short stories, garnered Brennan both Kirkus Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2020 and Library Journal Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2020.

Along side Michael R. Underwood, Malka Older, and Cassandra Khaw, she crafted the serialized novel Born to the Blade: The Complete Season 1 (2018). Brennan and Alyc Helms make up pseudonym of M. A. Carrick who is responsible for Rook & Rose [(The Mask of Mirrors (2021), The Liar’s Knot (2021), Labyrinth’s Heart (2023)].

Her short fiction has appeared in numerous venues including Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Tor.com, On Spec, Intergalactic Medicine Show, Apex Magazine, Uncanny Magazine, and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Many of these tales were collected in Monstrous Beauty (2014), Maps to Nowhere (2017), Ars Historica (2017), Never After: Thirteen Twists on Familiar Tales (2019), The Nine Lands (2019), and Down a Street That Wasn’t There (2020). Brennan has written several books on writing: Writing Fight Scenes (2013), New Worlds, Year One: A Writer’s Guide to the Art of Worldbuilding (2018), New Worlds, Year Two: More Essays on the Art of Worldbuilding (2019), and New Worlds, Year Three: More Essays on the Art of Worldbuilding (2020). An avid gamer, she shared her thoughts in Dice Tales: Essays on Roleplaying Games and Storytelling (2017).

All of us at Tachyon wish the incredible Marie an amazing birthday. May you continue to dream up existences that us mere mortals can scant imagine.