Michael Livingston

American medieval literature professor and novelist

Michael Livingston is an American historian, a professor of medieval literature, and a historical fantasy novelist. His 2015 debut novel, The Shards of Heaven, was followed by two sequels.

Early life, education and career

Originally from Colorado,^[1] Livingston has a B.A. in history from Baylor University, an M.A. in medieval studies from Western Michigan University, and both an M.A. and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Rochester.^[2] He has been a professor at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina since 2006.^[1][2][3] In his academic life he wrote numerous articles on the world of J.R.R. Tolkien, Beowulf, Chaucer, James Joyce and Robert Jordan.^[4]

Television

Michael Livingston is the co-star on the Discovery Channel TV show Contact, in which he skeptically examines potential evidence for the existence of extraterrestrial life and its impact on Earth.^[5][6][7]

Writing

Livingston has published multiple academic works.^[1][3] He said in 2015, "one of the key bits of advice I ever received as a young novelist-to-be was to try to cut my teeth on writing short stories ... starting with short stories was vital to the development of my career".^[8] Livingston's debut novel, The Shards of Heaven, was published by Tor Books in November 2015.^{[1][3][9][10]} Two sequels have subsequently appeared.^[1]

Middle English translations

• Livingston, Michael, ed. (2004). Siege of Jerusalem. Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications. ISBN 978-1-58044-090-5.
• Gower, John (2006). Livingston, Michael (ed.). In Praise of Peace. Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications. ISBN 978-1-58044-097-4.
• Livingston, Michael, ed. (2011). Middle English Metrical Paraphrase of the Old Testament. Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications. ISBN 978-1-58044-150-6.

Academia

• Livingston, Michael; Sutton, John William (2006). "Reinventing the Hero: Gardner's Grendel and the Shifting Face of Beowulf in Popular Culture". Studies in Popular Culture. 29 (1): 1–16. JSTOR 23418069.^[1][11]
• Livingston, Michael (2006). "Quantum physics: Dr Williamson and the master speed". Nature. 443 (370). doi:10.1038/443370a.^[1]
• Livingston, Michael, ed. (2011). The Battle of Brunanburh: A Casebook. University of Exeter Press. ISBN 978-0-85989-863-8.^[1]
• Livingston, Michael; Bollard, John K., eds. (2013). Owain Glyndŵr: A Casebook. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-0-85989-884-3.^[1]
• Livingston, Michael; DeVries, Kelly, eds. (2015). The Battle of Crécy: A Casebook. United Kingdom: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-1-78138-264-6.^[1]
• Livingston, Michael (2021). Never Greater Slaughter: Brunanburh and the Birth of England. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing.
• Livingston, Michael (2022). Crécy: Battle of Five Kings. Osprey Publishing.

General nonfiction

• Livingston, Michael (2022). Origins of the Wheel of Time: The Legends and Mythologies that Inspired Robert Jordan. New York, NY: Tor Books. ISBN 9781250860521.^[12]

Fiction

Short stories

• Livingston, Michael (2005). "The Keeper Alone". L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future. 21 (novelette). Galaxy Press. ISBN 978-1-59212-217-2.^[1][13]
• Livingston, Michael (2005). "The Hand that Binds". Black Gate. 9 (short story).^[1]
• Livingston, Michael (2011). "Purging Cocytus". Black Gate. 15 (short story).^[14]
• Livingston, Michael (2015). "At the End of Babel". Tor.com (short story).^[10][15]
• Livingston, Michael (2016). "The Temples of the Ark" (Shards of Heaven). Amazon Kindle (short story).

Livingston's 2011 collection Angels Among Other Things, self-published via e-book, consisted of nine short stories, including "The Keeper Alone" and "At the End of Babel".^[16]

Novels

• Livingston, Michael (2015). The Shards of Heaven. Tor Books. ISBN 978-0-76538-031-9.^{[1][3][9][10]}
• Livingston, Michael (2016). The Gates of Hell. Tor Books. ISBN 978-0-76538-033-3.
• Livingston, Michael (2017). The Realms of God. Tor Books. ISBN 978-0-76538-035-7.

Anthologies edited

• Livingston, Michael; Schoen, Lawrence M., eds. (2007). Prime Codex. Paper Golem. ISBN 978-0-97953-490-4.^[17]
• Rambo, Cat (2009). Livingston, Michael; Schoen, Lawrence M. (eds.). Eyes Like Sky and Coal and Moonlight. Paper Golem. ISBN 978-0-97953-494-2.^[18]

References

1. Weimer, Paul (November 24, 2015). "Interview: Michael Livingston on His Secret Historical Fantasy The Shards of Heaven". SF Signal. Archived from the original on June 28, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
2. "Faculty & Staff: Michael Livingston". The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina. Archived from the original on January 30, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
3. Golomb, Jason (November 18, 2015). "The Shards of Heaven: Successful debut of Roman-Era historical fantasy mash-up". FantasyLiterature.com. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
4. "Michael Livington – About". Retrieved November 13, 2019 – via michaellivingston.com.
5. Nordyke, Kimberly (July 22, 2019). "Discovery Channel Looks for Proof of Alien Contact on Earth in New Series". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
6. Stubby the Rocket (July 22, 2019). "Discovery Channel Sending Authors Myke Cole and Michael Livingston to Analyze Evidence of Alien Contact". Tor.com. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
7. "Profile: Dr. Michael Livingston PhD". Discovery. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
8. Livingston, Michael (November 24, 2015). "Transitioning from Short Story to Novel". Black Gate. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
9. "Review: The Shards of Heaven by Michael Livingston". Kirkus Reviews. September 3, 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
10. "The Shards of Heaven by Michael Livingston". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
11. George, Jodi-Anne (2010). "Notes". Beowulf. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 161. ISBN 978-1-40399-128-7.
12. Tor.com (2022-02-15). "Announcing Origins of The Wheel of Time: The Legends and Mythologies that Inspired Robert Jordan, With a Letter From the Author". Tor.com. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
13. "Writer Winners: Volume 21, 2005". Writers of the Future. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
14. "Black Gate #15 Complete Table of Contents". Black Gate. April 26, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
15. Livingston, Michael (July 1, 2015). "At the End of Babel". Tor.com. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
16. Livingston, Michael (November 20, 2011). "Angels Among Other Things: Story Collection Released on Kindle". MichaelLivingston.com. Archived from the original on March 26, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
17. "The Locus Index to Science Fiction: 2007". Locus. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
18. "Review: Eyes Like Sky and Coal and Moonlight". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved January 30, 2016.

External links

• Official website