Walter Jon Williams


Walter Jon Williams is an American writer, primarily of science fiction. Previously he wrote nautical adventure fiction under the name Jon Williams, in particular, a series of historical novels set during the age of sail, Privateers and Gentlemen.

Career

As Jon Williams, he designed the game Heart of Oak and Privateers and Gentlemen for Fantasy Games Unlimited. A Cyberpunk RPG sourcebook called was licensed by R. Talsorian Games, based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Williams.
Several of Williams' novels have a distinct cyberpunk feel to them, notably Hardwired, Voice of the Whirlwind and Angel Station. He has, however, explored a number of different styles and genres, including farce, postcyberpunk space opera, military science fiction, alternative history, science fantasy/arcanepunk, disaster thriller, a Star Wars novel, fantasy, and historical adventure, and police procedural, usually in a science fiction context. He has also contributed to some of the Wild Cards cooperative novels.
Williams was born in Duluth, Minnesota and graduated from the University of New Mexico, where he received his BA degree in 1975. He currently lives in Valencia County, south of Albuquerque in New Mexico.
Williams played roleplaying games, and has written both fiction and rulebooks for the games Privateers and Gentlemen from Fantasy Games Unlimited and Cyberpunk from R. Talsorian Games.
In 2006, Williams founded the Taos Toolbox, a two-week writer's workshop for fantasy and science fiction writers.
In 2017, Williams was the Guest of Honor at the 75th World Science Fiction Convention, held in Helsinki.

Publications

Novels