Jack Laurence Chalker (born December 17, 1944) is a science fiction author. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he has a graduate degree in history from the Johns Hopkins University and has taught history at the high school level. He's been a lecturer at the Smithsonian Institution, the National Institutes of Health, and numerous colleges and universities, mostly on science fiction and technology subjects; Chalker married Eva C. Whitley in 1978 and has two sons.

Chalker suffered congestive heart failure on December 7, 2004. He was hospitalized in critical condition, upgraded to stable on December 9, though he didn't regain consciousness until December 15. He is still hospitalized as of December 18. His personal website (http://www.jackchalker.com/news.htm) has some news updates, as does his wife Eva Whitley's blog (http://www.qis.net/~ewhitley/eva). He has had gastric bypass surgery and a tracheotomy which may mean that he has permanently lost his voice. It has been reported that he may also have suffered brain damage due to low blood oxygen levels, though the extent of this damage is not currently known.[1] (http://www2.caringbridge.org/md/jacklchalker/history.htm) His family is accepting emergency donations through links on those pages.

Chalker's awards include the Dedalus Award (1983), The Gold Medal of the West Coast Review of Books (1984), Skylark Award (1985), and Hamilton-Brackett Memorial Award (1979), as well as others of varying prestige, and has been a nominee for the John W. Campbell Award twice and for the Hugo award four times.

He is perhaps best known for his Well World series of novels, but has written many other novels (most, but not all, part of series) and at least nine short stories. Many of his works involve some physical transformation of the main characters. For instance, in the Well World novels, immigrants to the Well World are transformed from their original form to become a member of one of the thousands of sentient species that inhabit that artificial planet. The Wonderland Gambit series resembles traditional Buddhist jataka-type reincarnation stories set in an SF environment.

Chalker is also the coauthor (with Mark Owings) of The Science Fantasy Publishers (1991, upated annually), published by Mirage Press, Ltd. (Nominee, Hugo Award, 1992).

Bibliography

The Well of Souls series

• Mignight at the Well of Souls, Del Rey, 1977
• Exiles at the Well of Souls, Del Rey, 1978
• Quest for the Well of Souls, Del Rey, 1978
• The Return of Nathan Brazil, Del Rey, 1980
• Twilight at the Well of Souls, Del Rey, 1980
• The Sea is Full of Stars, December, 1999
• Ghost of the Well of Souls, 2000

The Watchers of the Well series

• Echoes of the Well of Souls, Del Rey, trade paperback, May, 1993
• Shadow of the Well of Souls, Del Rey Feb. 1994
• Gods of the Well of Souls, Del Rey, 1994

The Four Lords of the Diamond series

• Lilith: A Snake in the Grass, Del Rey, 1981
• Cerberus: A Wolf in the Fold, Del Rey, 1982
• Charon: A Dragon at the Gate, Del Rey, 1982
• Medusa: A Tiger by the Tail, Del Rey, 1983
• The Four Lords of the Diamond, The Science Fiction Book Club (omnibus edition), 1983

The Dancing Gods series

• The River of Dancing Gods, Del Rey, 1984
• Demons of the Dancing Gods, Del Rey, 1984
• Vengeance of the Dancing Gods, Del Rey, July, 1985
• Songs of the Dancing Gods, Del Rey, August, 1990
• Horrors of the Dancing Gods, 1994
• The Dancing Gods: Part One, Del Rey, November, 1995
• The Dancing Gods II, Del Rey, September, 1996

The Soul Rider series

• Spirits of Flux and Anchor, Tor Books, 1984
• Empires of Flux and Anchor, Tor Books, 1984
• Masters of Flux and Anchor, Tor Books, January, 1985
• The Birth of Flux and Anchor, Tor Books, 1985
• Children of Flux and Anchor, Tor Books, September, 1986

The Rings of the Master series

• Lords of the Middle Dark
• Pirates of the Thunder, Del Rey Books, March, 1987
• Warriors of the Storm, Del Rey Books, August, 1987
• Masks of the Martyrs, Del Rey, February, 1988

The G.O.D. Inc series

• The Labyrinth of Dreams. Tor Books, March, 1987
• The Shadow Dancers, Tor Books, July, 1987
• The Maze in the Mirror, Tor Books, January, 1989

The Changewinds series

• When the Changewinds Blow, Ace - Putnams, September, 1987
• Riders of the Winds, Ace Books, May, 1988
• War of the Maelstrom, Ace - Putnams, October, 1988

The Quintara Marathon series

• The Demons at Rainbow Bridge, Ace-Putnam's, hardcover, September, 1989
• The Run to Chaos Keep, Ace - Putnams, May, 1991
• The Ninety Trillion Fausts (a.k.a. 90 Trillion Fausts), Ace - Putnams, October 1991

The Wonderland Gambit series

• The Cybernetic Walrus, Del Rey, trade pb in November, 1995
• The March Hare Network, 1996
• The Hot-Wired Dodo, Del Rey, Feb. 1997

The Three Kings series

• Balshazzar's Serpent, Baen Books 1999
• Melchior's Fire, Baen Books, 2001.
• Kaspar's Box, 2003

Stand-alone novels

• A Jungle of Stars, Ballantine, Del Rey, 1976
• The Web of the Chozen, Del Rey, 1978
• And the Devil Will Drag You Under, Del Rey, 1979
• A War of Shadows, Ace: An Analog Book, 1979
• Dancers in the Afterglow, Del Rey, 1979, 1982
• The Devil's Voyage, Doubleday, 1980
• The Identity Matrix, Timescape: Pocket Books, 1982
• Downtiming the Night Side, Tor Books, May, 1985
• The Messiah Choice, St. Martins - Blue Jay, May, 1985
• The Red Tape War (with Mike Resnick and George Alec Effinger). Tor hardcover, April, 1991
• Priam's Lens, Del Rey 1997
• The Moreau Factor, Del Rey Feb., 2000

Collection and anthology

• Dance Band on the Titanic, Del Rey Books, July, 1988 (short stories)
• Hotel Andromeda [edited by], Ace, 1994

Besides the short stories included in Dance Band on the Titanic, Chalker has written at least one other short story:

• "And Now Falls the Cold, Cold Night". Alternate Presidents, ed. Mike Resnick, Tor 1992.

Omnibus collections of novels

• The Watchers at the Well, Science Fiction Book Club, 1994
• Changewinds, Baen, August, 1996

External links

• Chalker's own website (http://www.jackchalker.com/)