Walter Jon Williams
American fiction writer (born 1953)
Walter Jon Williams (born October 28, 1953) is an American writer, primarily of science fiction. Previously he wrote nautical adventure fiction under the name Jon Williams, in particular, Privateers and Gentlemen (1981–1984), a series of historical novels set during the Age of Sail.
Career
Writing as Jon Williams, he designed the war game Tradition of Victory and role-playing game Promotions and Prizes, which were republished by Fantasy Games Unlimited as Heart of Oak (1982) and Privateers and Gentlemen (1983). A role-playing game sourcebook for Cyberpunk called Hardwired (1989) was licensed by R. Talsorian Games, based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Williams.
Bibliography
Novels
Hardwired series
Hardwired (1986)
Solip:System (1989), novelette released as a standalone book
Voice of the Whirlwind (1987)
"Wolf Time" (1987), novelette
Drake Maijstral seriesAn SF comedy of manners series about the aristocratic burglar Drake Maijstral. Collected as an omnibus, Ten Points for Style (1995)
The Crown Jewels (1987)
House of Shards (1988)
Rock of Ages (1995)
Metropolitan series
Metropolitan (1995), Nebula Award nominee
City on Fire (1997), Hugo Award nominee; Nebula Award nominee
Dread Empire's Fall seriesA military science fiction/space opera series.
The Praxis (2002)
The Sundering (2003)
Conventions of War (2005)
Investments (2008), novella
Impersonations (2016)
The Accidental War (2018)
Fleet Elements (2020)
Imperium Restored (2022)
Privateers and Gentlemen series, as Jon Williams
To Glory Arise, originally The Privateer (1981)
The Tern Schooner, originally The Yankee (1981)
Brig of War, originally The Raider (1981)
The Macedonian (1981)
Cat Island (1981)
Dagmar Shaw seriesA sci-fi thriller series involving crowdsourcing and alternate reality games.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Walter Jon Williams” is american fiction writer (born 1953). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Walter, Williams and American, not as a finished interpretation.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q714485. VIAF identifies the subject as 88044540. The Library of Congress control number is n86064319. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1953, 1981, 1984 and 1982.
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