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Robert E. Vardeman
--- Introduction
--- Fantasy
--- The Accursed
--- Cenotaph Road
--- The Demon Crown Trilogy
--- The Jade Demons Quartet
--- The Keys to Paradise
--- Swords of Raemllyn
--- The War of Powers
--- Science Fiction
--- Biowarriors
--- Masters of Space
--- Star Frontier Trilogy
--- Tom Swift
--- The Weapons of Chaos
--- Thrillers and Mysteries
--- Nick Carter: Killmaster
--- Peter Thorne, Psychic
--- eXtraordinary Bureau
--- Other Works
--- Other Novels and Collections
--- Lady Death
--- Westerns
--- Short Fiction

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A Brief Biography of Robert E. Vardeman
Robert E. VardemanRobert Edward Vardeman is an author, primarily of fantasy, science fiction and westerns, with more than 300 novels and several well-known series to his credit including The War of Powers (co-authored with Victor Milán), Swords of Raemlynn (co-authored with Geo. W. Proctor) and Cenotaph Road.

As well as publishing under his own name, Vardeman has also written under house names such as Jake Logan (Slocum), Nick Carter (Killmaster) and Victor Appleton (Tom Swift), and several pseudonyms including Karl Lassiter and Jackson Lowry in the western genre, and F.J. Hale (fantasy) and Edward S. Hudson (science fiction).

"Using Karl Lassiter keeps SF fans from being startled if they’d pick up, say Sword and Drum or First Cherokee Rifles. . . . My F/SF pen names were used for a different reason. When I was turning out a lot of SF, there would be times where I had two or three titles coming out in the same month from different publishers. I put the Star Frontier series under a pen name for this reason (ditto with the fantasy series After the Spell Wars). This difference in pen names soothed publishing feathers that I wouldn't be competing with myself. ("I'll buy one Vardeman book this month, but two? Never! I'll buy that Edward Hudson book instead. Maybe the F.J. Hale book, too.") I have no idea if this is reality, but the publishers liked the notion."
Robert E. Vardeman, from an interview with M-BRANE SF, 2009

Vardeman was born on 6 January 1947 "down the street from the Crazy Water Hotel" in Mineral Wells, a city in Palo Pinto County, Texas. He first encountered science fiction as an eight-year-old when he read the first three Tom Swift Jr. novels as part of a Cub Scout project and was soon hooked. "I read the Hardy Boys, of course, but SF was the drug of choice."

Robert Heinlein’s earlier books were a strong influence on Vardeman’s tastes – up to and including The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress – and he was also a fan of Arthur C. Clarke, Poul Anderson and Isaac Asimov. Later Robert Silverberg and John Brunner were the must-read SF authors along with fantasists such Fritz Leiber and Thomas Burnett Swann. Nowadays he reads mysteries for fun, as well as the older Tom Swift books and nonfiction on modern physics.

"I never wanted to write short stories. For that matter, I never wanted to be a writer. I am a product of the Cold War, growing up in the '50s amid bomb shelters and On the Beach and Khruschev pounding on a desk at the UN promising to bury us. I can remember exactly the moment of Kennedy's assassination (high school chemistry class), I can also remember the precise instant I learned of Sputnik (standing in the cafeteria line at Jonathan Wainwright Elementary School, 5th grade). This decided me to be a nuclear physicist."
Robert E. Vardeman, from the introduction to Stories from Desert Bob's Reptile Ranch, 2008

Sandworm #17Vardeman relocated to Albuquerque in 1963 and it was there that he met book and magazine collector Roy Tackett when they both tried to buy a copy of a September 1956 issue of Astounding in a secondhand bookstore. They became friends and soon after held the inaugural meeting of the Albuquerque Science Fiction Society. The club flourished and in 1969 held its first SF convention called "NewMexiCon" – later christened "Bubonicon" by Vardeman who had noted that Egypt had banned people from New Mexico from travelling there because of the bubonic plague cases that sometimes occurred in the state.

As well as becoming involved in the social aspects of fandom, Vardeman also made a name for himself as a fan writer, contributing letters and articles to a number of fanzines of the time in addition to starting SLANapa, a monthly amateur press association, and Sandworm, his own bi-monthly fanzine. His writing earned him a nomination for the 1972 Hugo award for Best Fan Writer.

"My very first short story appearance was in a Spanish language magazine, Nueva Dimension. I never got paid, not one thin peseta. But I was published."
Robert E. Vardeman on the publication of Automatización: 1984
in Nueva Dimensión #18, December 1970

Vardeman graduated from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque with a bachelor’s degree in Physics and went on to work for Sandia National Laboratories in the Solid-State Physics Research Department where he spent five years working on technology relating to nuclear weapons and a radioisotope thermoelectric generator to power spacecraft such as the Viking Lander, as well as earning a master’s degree in Materials Engineering.

"It is all Geo. W. Proctor's fault. He was a reporter for a Dallas newspaper at the time and had published several short stories. "It's easy," he said. "It's fun." I was unconvinced. "We can make a few bucks." We co-authored a story and voila! it sold. Payment on publication. The magazine folded before it was printed. The story sold again. And again and again, all payment on publication, all dying before we saw print or long green. The story title? A Killing in the Market."
Robert E. Vardeman, from his FAQ on CenotaphRoad.com

Nueva Dimension #18Proctor and Vardeman had already worked together on an erotic SF novel for Carlyle Communications (Pleasure Planet, 1974). Vardeman also co-authored The Jackals Below, a short story with Richard J. Patten (The Second Void, November 1975, ed. Paul Collins) and The Biological Revolution with Jeff Slaten (2076: The American Tricentennial, Pyramid Books, 1977).

Vardeman had been accepted into Berkley to work on a PhD in ceramic engineering but after deferring his studies for six months opted instead for a career as a full-time writer when he sold a fantasy novel to Dell Publishing on the basis of a synopsis and sample chapters. Later, an editor change at Dell led to it being dropped and condemned to publishing oblivion. A similar fate awaited Quicktime Death, an action-adventure spy book in the Baroness series that was accepted for publication by Pocket Books, but did not make it into print before the series was cancelled. After these false starts, Vardeman's science fiction novel The Sandcats of Rhyl eventually appeared in bookstores in 1978.

1978 also brought the publication of The Mating Web in Andrew J. Offutt's anthology Swords Against Darkness III. This short story was the first appearance of Krek, the arachnid hero of the Cenotaph Road series. Krek made another short story appearance in The Opal Egg in 1982 (Sorcerer's Apprentice #15, ed. Liz Danforth) before Cenotaph Road itself was publushed in 1983.

Vardeman's output increased markedly in the 1980s when he began to write multiple series of novels across a range of genres. Working with Victor Milán, a fellow resident of Albuquerque, he co-wrote The War of Powers fantasy series (Playboy Paperbacks, 1980-82) as well as his Cenotaph Road series published by Ace Books between 1983 and 84. Writing as Nick Carter, he also contributed eight novels to the Killmaster spy adventure series (Ace Charter Books, 1980-84) and his first Tom Swift volume under the Victor Appleton house name (Wanderer Books, 1983).

The Klingon Gambit
"When Simon & Schuster got the [Star Trek] franchise, David Hartwell looked around for writers.
I loved
TOS [The Original Series], proposed two novels, he bought one -- the first one bought for the series, by the way. Roddenberry’s novelization of the first movie and Vonda McIntyre’s novel killing off Kirk were both published before mine for obvious reasons.
A year or two later, Hartwell told me he wanted the second proposal I’d done. This was a real surprise, but I jumped at the chance. Over the last 25-plus years, these two books --
The Klingon Gambit [1981] and Mutiny on the Enterprise [1983] -- have sold steadily and well and both are still available as e-books. . . .
I changed agents between the first and second book and my career moved in a different direction. In 1984 I began writing westerns and let the chance to do more
Star Trek books slip away."
Robert E. Vardeman, from an interview with M-BRANE SF, 2009
Swords of Raemllyn Book 1

Beginning in 1984, Vardeman wrote for the western-themed Slocum series published by Berkley Paperbacks under the house name of Jake Logan. By the time that the series ended in 2014, he had authored 114 books featuring the hero, John Slocum.

As the decade progressed, Vardeman continued to be prolific in the fantasy realm with The Jade Demons Quartet (Avon, 1985-86), The Keys to Paradise (Tor, 1986-87) and The Demon Crown Trilogy (Tor, 1989-90), along with three science fiction series: The Weapons of Chaos (Berkley/Ace Books, 1986-88), The Masters of Space (Avon Books, 1987) and Biowarriors (Ace Books, 1989-90).

New English Library published an omnibus edition of the first three volumes of The War of Powers series in 1984. I found this and the second omnibus on the shelves of Hudson's Books in Birmingham in 1985 or 86. The excellent cover artwork by Chris Achilleos first drew me in, but the adventures of Fost Longstrider and Moriana and their nemeses Prince Rann and Synalon only whetted my appetite for more. New English Library duly obliged by reprinting much of Vardeman's back catalogue including The Keys to Paradise (1986), The Jade Demons Quartet (1987) and Weapons of Chaos (1989). The cover art by Paul Bryn Davies on the later books was never quite up to the level of Chris Achilleos, but NEL and REV already had me hooked.

To Demons Bound
"I was doing the Cenotaph Road series for Ace when the first three Swords of Raemllyn books with Geo. Proctor were sold there.
Geo and I talked over where we wanted to go, I did the synopsis, we rewrote it, I did the first draft since I wrote faster, Geo did a rewrite and then I did a final rewrite with him doing the page proofs. The process went quite well and we were able to talk endlessly about it. Geo lived in Texas, I was in NM. . . .
The first three Raemllyn books did so well, we sold three more. Ace balked at a final three, but those sold to New English Library and never saw American dead tree publication. . . .
Working with Geo was trying, especially when our ideas diverged, but the books came out a great fusion of his characters and my plots. And somehow we remained best friends throughout and after."

Robert E. Vardeman on the publication of Swords of Raemllyn
(Ace Books and NEL, 1985-95)
Swords of Raemllyn Book 1

Back in the States, Vardeman was writing much less fantasy and science fiction during the 1990s and 2000s -- most notably Biowarriors (Ace Books 1989-90), The Accursed (NEL, 1994) and a selection of standalone novels and media tie-ins -- but he tried his hand at murder mysteries with the Peter Thorne, Psychic Investigator series (Avon Books, 1990-92). He also continued to be a very active author of westerns, not only writing as Jake Logan in the Slocum series, but also on his own behalf, under the pen names of Karl Lassiter and Jackson Lowry, and under various house names including Jon Sharpe and Ford Fargo.

Vardeman was an early convert to e-publishing. In the mid-1990s some of his short stories were published on WayfarerOnline and while in 2004 others appeared in anthologies edited by Jean Rabe and published on CD-ROM. However, it was not until 2008, when he began to sell his work via his own online bookstore as well as at itunes and Amazon, that he would pursue a new way to reach his readers.

"Vertically Integrated Publishing (VIPub) is a term I concocted to describe what authors need to do to survive the rigors of e‑publishing. We need to create the work, edit it, find ways of publishing it and then even more ways of advertising and selling it. That we would have control of the entire process is both a benefit and a huge weight crushing us down. Most of us would prefer to sit in a room lit only by the glow from our monitors and . . . write. Nothing else."
Robert E. Vardeman on being an author in the brave new world of e‑publishing

Many of Robert E. Vardeman's novels and short stories are available in a variety of ebook formats at the Cenotaph Road Store.

 
An illustrated bibliography of novels by Robert E. Vardeman is available here.
 

References
- Robert E. Vardeman - Stories from Desert Bob's Reptile Ranch
- Robert E. Vardeman - Cenotaph Road Store
- Robert E. Vardeman - Facebook
- Robert E. Vardeman - Twitter
- Robert E. Vardeman - Wordpress
- Robert E. Vardeman - Robert E. Vardeman - Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Robert E. Vardeman - Jackson Lowry - Westerns
- Robert E. Vardeman - FAQ - retrieved 27 November 2016
- Amazon - Robert E. Vardeman - retrieved 27 November 2016
- Wikipedia - Robert E. Vardeman - retrieved 27 November 2016
- Fantastic Fiction - Robert E. Vardeman - retrieved 27 November 2016
- The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction - Robert E. Vardeman - retrieved 27 November 2016
- The Internet Speculative Fiction Database - Robert E. Vardeman - Summary Bibliography - retrieved 27 November 2016
- Albuquerque Journal - Prolific Bubonicon Pioneer Weighs In on Science Fiction Writing - retrieved 28 February 2018
- Lachesis Publishing - Q&A with Robert E. Vardeman - retrieved 27 November 2016
- M-BRANE SF - Q&A with Robert E. Vardeman - retrieved 28 February 2018
- Tom Rizzo - Storyteller's 7: Robert Vardeman and Crossing Genres - retrieved 27 November 2016
- Western Fictioneers - Western Fictioneers Members - Vardeman, Robert - retrieved 28 February 2018
 

A list of the first publications of Robert E. Vardeman's science fiction, fantasy, thriller and mystery novels appears below.
Titles in black are novels, while those in blue are collections and omnibuses.
Listings of westerns and short fiction are in preparation.

Fantasy Science Fiction Thrillers and Mysteries
The Accursed Biowarriors Nick Carter: Killmaster
After the Spell Wars Masters of Space Peter Thorne, Psychic Investigator
Cenotaph Road Star Frontier Trilogy eXtraordinary Bureau Casefiles
The Demon Crown Trilogy Tom Swift  
The Jade Demons Quartet The Weapons of Chaos  
The Keys to Paradise    
Swords of Raemllyn Other Works Coming Soon
The War of Powers Other Novels and Collections Westerns
  Lady Death Short Fiction

 

The War of Powers   (writing with Victor Milán)
Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes
1980 The Sundered Realm Playboy 0872167321  
1980 The City in the Glacier Playboy 0872167542  
1980 The Destiny Stone Playboy 0872167631  
1982 The Fallen Ones Playboy 0872169863  
1982 In the Shadow of Omizantrim Playboy 0872169995  
1982 Demon of the Dark Ones Playboy 0867210125  
1984 The War of Powers New English Library 0450056619 Omnibus edition containing the first three novels
1985 The War of Powers:
Part II: Istu Awakened
New English Library 0450057887 Omnibus edition containing the final three novels
 
Killmaster   (writing as Nick Carter)
Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes
1980 Eighth Card Stud Charter Books 0872167321 Volume 139 in the Killmaster series
1981 Solar Menace Ace Charter Books 0872167542 Volume 150 in the Killmaster series
1982 Earth Shaker Ace Charter Books 0872167631 Volume 160 in the Killmaster series
1982 Norwegian Typhoon Ace Charter Books 0872169863 Volume 164 in the Killmaster series
1982 Doctor DNA Ace Charter Books 0872169995 Volume 171 in the Killmaster series
1983 The Outback Ghosts Ace Charter Books 0867210125 Volume 174 in the Killmaster series
1983 The Kali Death Cult Ace Charter Books 0450056619 Volume 176 in the Killmaster series
1983 The Yukon Target Ace Charter Books 0450057887 Volume 178 in the Killmaster series
 
Cenotaph Road
Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes
1983 Cenotaph Road Ace Books 0441098452  
1983 The Sorcerer's Skull Ace Books 0441775411  
1983 World of Mazes Ace Books 0441910300  
1984 Iron Tongue Ace Books 0441373666  
1984 Fire and Fog Ace Books 0441238246  
1984 Pillar of Night Ace Books 0441663974  
 
Tom Swift   (writing as Victor Appleton)
Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes
1983 Gateway to Doom Wanderer Books 0671439561 Volume 9 in Tom Swift series III
1992 The Microbots Archway / Pocket 0671756516 Volume 8 in Tom Swift series IV
1992 Mutant Beach Archway / Pocket 0671756575 Volume 11 in Tom Swift series IV
 
The Jade Demons Quartet
Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes
1985 The Quaking Lands Avon Books 0380895188  
1985 The Frozen Waves Avon Books 0380897997  
1985 The Crystal Clouds Avon Books 0380898004  
1986 The White Fire Avon Books 0380898012  
1987 The Jade Demons Quartet New English Library 0450413519 Omnibus edition containing all four novels
 
Swords of Raemllyn   (writing with Geo. W. Proctor)
Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes
1985 To Demons Bound Ace Books 0441814646  
1985 A Yoke of Magic Ace Books 0441948405  
1985 Blood Fountain Ace Books 0441067786  
1986 Death's Acolyte Ace Books 0441142125  
1986 The Beasts of the Mist Ace Books 0441051731  
1987 For Crown and Kingdom Ace Books 044124565X  
1992 Swords of Raemllyn: Book 1 New English Library 0450563146 Omnibus edition containing the first three novels
1992 Swords of Raemllyn: Book 2 New English Library 0450563154 Omnibus edition containing the second three novels
1995 Swords of Raemllyn: Book 3 New English Library 0340617748 Omnibus edition containing the final three novels
2010 Blade of the Conqueror The Cenotaph Press ISBN: None eBook only
2011 The Tombs of Abr'e The Cenotaph Press ISBN: None eBook only
2011 The Jewels of Life The Cenotaph Press ISBN: None eBook only
 
The Keys to Paradise
Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes
1986 The Keys to Paradise New English Library 0450390012 Omnibus edition containing all three novels
1987 The Flame Key Tor / Tom Doherty 0812546008 writing as Daniel Moran
1987 The Skeleton Lord's Key Tor / Tom Doherty 0812546024 writing as Daniel Moran
1987 Key of Ice and Steel Tor / Tom Doherty 0812546067 writing as Daniel Moran
 
The Weapons of Chaos
Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes
1986 Echoes of Chaos Berkley Books 042509295X  
1987 Equations of Chaos Ace Books 0441876315  
1988 Colors of Chaos Ace Books 0441113842  
1989 Weapons of Chaos New English Library 0450428540 Omnibus edition containing all three novels
 
Masters of Space
Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes
1987 The Stellar Death Plan Avon Books 038075004X  
1987 The Alien Web Avon Books 0380750058  
1987 A Plague in Paradise Avon Books 0380750066  
1990 Masters of Space New English Library 0450520927 Omnibus edition containing all three novels
 
After the Spell Wars   (writing as F.J. Hale)
Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes
1988 Ogre Castle Pageant Books 0517006480  
1989 In the Sea Nymph's Lair Pageant Books 0517009358  
n/a The Wizard's Spell Mirror n/a n/a Unpublished
 
The Demon Crown Trilogy
Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes
1989 The Glass Warrior Tor / Tom Doherty 0812557042  
1989 Phantoms on the Wind Tor / Tom Doherty 0812557166  
1990 A Symphony of Storms Tor / Tom Doherty 0812500849  
1990 The Demon Crown Trilogy New English Library 0450531708 Omnibus edition containing all three novels
 
Biowarriors
Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes
1989 The Infinity Plague Ace Books 0441062660  
1990 Crisis at Starlight Ace Books 0441062679  
1990 Space Vectors Ace Books 044106227X  
 
Star Frontier Trilogy
Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes
1989 Alien Death Fleet Pageant Books 051700688X writing as Edward S Hudson
2010 The Genetic Menace Zumaya Otherworlds 9781934841365  
2015 Black Nebula Zumaya Otherworlds 9781934841945  
 
Peter Thorne, Psychic Investigator
Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes
1990 The Screaming Knife Avon Books 0380758563  
1992 The Resonance of Blood Avon Books 0380758571  
1992 Death Channels Avon Books 0380767252  
 
The Accursed
Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes
1994 The Accursed New English Library 0450588408  
2012 Lord of Death and Life The Cenotaph Press ISBN: None eBook only
2012 Legion of the Air The Cenotaph Press ISBN: None eBook only
2012 The Flame Specter The Cenotaph Press ISBN: None eBook only
 
eXtraordinary Bureau Casefiles
Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes
2015 The Burning Man Anomaly The Cenotaph Corporation ISBN: None eBook only. Casefile #1
2014 Four Lives The Cenotaph Corporation 9781499693331 Precursor to both The Great West Detective Agency and CaseFile 2
2014 The Great West Detective Agency Berkley Books 9780425272435 Precursor to CaseFile 2
2015 The Aztec Automaton Anomaly The Cenotaph Corporation ISBN: None eBook only. Casefile #2
 
Other Novels and Collections
Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes
1978 The Sandcats of Rhyl Major Books 089041209X  
1981 The Klingon Gambit Timescape / Pocket 067183276X A Star Trek novel
1983 Mutiny on the Enterprise Timescape / Pocket 0671465414 A Star Trek novel
1988 Road to the Stars Harper & Row 0060262885  
1989 Ancient Heavens Avon Books 0380754398  
1991 Deathfall Onyx / NAL 0451402421  
1996 Dark Legacy HarperPrism 0061056979 A Magic: The Gathering novel
2000 Hell Heart Aspect / Warner 0446604925 A Vor: The Maelstrom novel
2001 Sea Fire Signet / NAL 0451202074 A TALON Force novel
2003 The Ruins of Power Roc Books 0451459288 A Battletech: MechWarrior: Dark Age novel
2005 The Stink of Flesh RevPub / Exhilarated Despair Productions 0976943409 Film novelization
2006 Moonlight in the Meg The Cenotaph Press ISBN: None eBook only
2008 Stories From Desert Bob's Reptile Ranch Walkabout Publishing 9780980208689 Short fiction collection
2010 God of War Del Rey / Ballantine 9780345508676 Videogame novelization.
Writing with Matthew Stover
2010 Hammer & Fangs The Cenotaph Press ISBN: None eBook only
2011 Hot Rail to Hell The Cenotaph Press ISBN: None eBook only
2012 Gateway to Rust and Ruin Cenotaph Corporation 9781499690750  
2013 God of War II Del Rey / Ballantine 9780345508683 Videogame novelization
2013 Fate of the Kinunir Far Future Enterprises 9781558780293  
2016 The Adventures of
Don Juan and Miguel
Lysander Press 9780973709070 Renaissance Festival show media tie-in
2017 Darklight Pirates The Cenotaph Corporation ISBN: None eBook only
 
Pleasure Planet   (writing with Geo. W. Proctor)
Year Title Publisher Publisher's Code Notes
1974 Pleasure Planet Beeline / Carlyle OB 1063-T writing as Edward George
1978 Outer Space Embrace Beeline / Carlyle BL 5500-R writing as Monica Mounds
1980 Janet's Sex Planet Beeline / Carlyle DN 6410-C writing as Carrie Onn
1983 Intergalactic Orgy Beeline / Carlyle LL 0621-M writing as Obie Khan
1984 Burning Desires Beeline / Carlyle DN 6828-B writing as Fred Sparkrock
1985 Sexual Coquette Beeline / Carlyle DN 6959-B Not confirmed - writing as Marv Elous
1986 Playing with Desire Beeline / Carlyle DN 7175-B writing as Fred Sparkrock
 

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