John Maddox Roberts (June 25, 1947 – May 23, 2024) was an American author of science fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction including the SPQR series and Hannibal's Children.

John Maddox Roberts
Born(1947-06-25)June 25, 1947
Ohio, U.S.
DiedMay 23, 2024(2024-05-23) (aged 76)
Estancia, New Mexico[1]
Pen nameMark Ramsay
Occupation
  • Novelist
Period1975–2011
GenreScience fiction, fantasy, historical fiction

Personal life

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John Maddox Roberts was born in Ohio and was raised in Texas, California, and New Mexico.[2] He lived in various places in the United States as well as in Scotland, England and Mexico.[3] He was kicked out of college in 1967 and joined the Army.[2] He was in the US Army 1967–70, and did a tour in Vietnam. After he returned, he became a Green Beret.[3]

He lived in Estancia, New Mexico with his wife Beth, who survived him.[4][1]

Career

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Upon his return to civilian life, Roberts decided to be a writer and sold his first book to Doubleday in 1975;[2] his book was published in 1977 as The Strayed Sheep of Charum.[5] His earlier books were in the science fiction, fantasy and historical genres.[2]

In 1989, Roberts published his first historical mystery, The King's Gambit, set in ancient Rome. The book was nominated for the Edgar Award as best mystery of the year.[5] The book was first in Maddox's SPQR series of mysteries.[2]

Roberts also wrote a series of contemporary detective novels about a private eye named Gabe Treloar. The first book, A Typical American Town, is set in a fictionalized version of that Ohio town where he was born. The second, The Ghosts of Saigon, used his experiences in Vietnam. The third, Desperate Highways, is a road novel.[2]

When asked by TSR to do a Dragonlance mystery, he wrote Murder in Tarsis.[2] Roberts wrote an unpublished science fiction book called The Line, a police procedural set in a near-future Los Angeles where the biggest racket is illegal traffic in fetal pineal glands.[2]

Bibliography

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Cingulum series

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  • The Cingulum (1985)
  • Cloak of Illusion (1985)
  • The Sword, The Jewel, and The Mirror (1988)

Island Worlds series

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  • Act of God (1985) (with Eric Kotani)
  • The Island Worlds (1987) (with Eric Kotani)
  • Between The Stars (1988) (with Eric Kotani)
  • Delta Pavonis (1990) (with Eric Kotani)

Conan series

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Dragonlance series

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Falcon Series

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An action series telling the story of a Crusader returning to Europe to seek vengeance on his father's killers (each written under the pen name of Mark Ramsay)

  • The Falcon Strikes
  • The Black Pope
  • The Bloody Cross (1982)
  • The King's Treasure (1983)

Gabe Treloar series

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  • A Typical American Town (1994)
  • Ghosts of Saigon (1996)
  • Desperate Highways (1997)

Space Angel series

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  • Space Angel (1979)
  • Spacer: Window of the Mind (1988)

Mystery series set in Ancient Rome

  • SPQR (1990) (also SPQR I: The King's Gambit)
  • The Catiline Conspiracy (1991)
  • The Sacrilege (1992)
  • The Temple of the Muses (1999)
  • Saturnalia (1999)
  • Nobody Loves A Centurion (2001)
  • The Tribune's Curse (2003)
  • The River God's Vengeance (2004)
  • The Princess and the Pirates (2005)
  • A Point of Law (2006)
  • Under Vesuvius (2007)
  • Oracle of the Dead (December 9, 2008)
  • The Year of Confusion (February 16, 2010)

Stormlands series

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  • The Islander (1990)
  • The Black Shields (1991)
  • The Poisoned Lands (1992)
  • The Steel Kings (1993)
  • Queens of Land and Sea (1994)

Hannibal series

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Individual novels

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  • The Strayed Sheep of Charun (1977), expanded into Cestus Dei (1983)
  • King of the Wood (1983)
  • The Enigma Variations (1989)
  • Legacy of Prometheus (2000)
  • Total Recall 2070: Machine Dreams (2000)

Short stories

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References

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  1. ^ a b "John Maddox Roberts (1947-2024)," obituary in Locus Magazine, June 4, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "John Maddox Roberts". Archived from the original on February 24, 2009.
  3. ^ a b "John Maddox Roberts online Forum". Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  4. ^ www.facebook.com https://www.facebook.com/people/John-Maddox-Roberts/751083136#!/profile.php?id=751083136. Retrieved August 31, 2010. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)[title missing]
  5. ^ a b "Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park". www.swvamuseum.org.
  6. ^ "Roman Mysteries in Anthologies (English)". histmyst.org.
  7. ^ "Roman Mysteries in Anthologies (English)". histmyst.org.
  8. ^ "The Etruscan House by John Maddox Roberts". www.fictiondb.com.
  9. ^ "The Detective and the Toga: Roman Mystery Short Stories in English". histmyst.org.
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