Michael Cobley, born on 10 October 1959, is a science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 and fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 born in Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 but living since the age of seven in Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

Life

Michael Cobley was born in Leicester but moved to Glasgow at the age of seven.

While studying engineering

Engineering

Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

 at the University of Strathclyde

University of Strathclyde

The University of Strathclyde , Glasgow, Scotland, is Glasgow's second university by age, founded in 1796, and receiving its Royal Charter in 1964 as the UK's first technological university...

, he used to work as a DJ

Disc jockey

A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...

; at the same time, he wrote rants for the University paper under the pen-name of Phaedrus.

He has published five novels, a collection of short stories and several reviews and essays.

He has a strong interest in politics

Politics

Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...

.

Writing

Cobley, who is a member of the Glasgow Science Fiction Writers Circle

Glasgow Science Fiction Writers Circle

The Glasgow Science Fiction Writers’ Circle is a group of amateur, semi-professional, and professional fiction authors that has met regularly in Glasgow, Scotland since 1987....

, admits to have been influenced by diverse writers such as Frank Herbert

Frank Herbert

Franklin Patrick Herbert, Jr. was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. Although a short story author, he is best known for his novels, most notably Dune and its five sequels...

, David Brin

David Brin

Glen David Brin, Ph.D. is an American scientist and award-winning author of science fiction. He has received the Hugo, Locus, Campbell and Nebula Awards.-Biography:...

, Iain Banks

Iain Banks

Iain Banks is a Scottish writer. He writes mainstream fiction under the name Iain Banks, and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, including the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies...

, Ken MacLeod

Ken MacLeod

Ken MacLeod , is a Scottish science fiction writer.MacLeod was born in Stornoway. He graduated from Glasgow University with a degree in zoology and has worked as a computer programmer and written a masters thesis on biomechanics....

 and Vernor Vinge

Vernor Vinge

Vernor Steffen Vinge is a retired San Diego State University Professor of Mathematics, computer scientist, and science fiction author. He is best known for his Hugo Award-winning novels and novellas A Fire Upon the Deep , A Deepness in the Sky , Rainbows End , Fast Times at Fairmont High ...

, but also by music (Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....

, Yes

Yes (band)

Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...

, Blue Öyster Cult

Blue Öyster Cult

Blue Öyster Cult, often abbreviated BÖC, is an American rock band, most of whose members first came together in Long Island, NY in 1967 as the band Soft White Underbelly...

, Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...

 and Monster Magnet

Monster Magnet

Monster Magnet is an American stoner rock band. Hailing from Red Bank, New Jersey, the group was founded by Dave Wyndorf , John McBain and Tim Cronin...

) and TV shows (Firefly

Firefly (TV series)

Firefly is an American space western television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear....

, Babylon 5

Babylon 5

Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...

, the most recent series of Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)

Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...

).

Cobley published his first novel, Shadowkings, in 2001 for Earthlight, a now-defunct imprint

Imprint

In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...

 of Simon & Schuster

Simon & Schuster

Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...

. This was followed by Shadowgod and Shadowmasque, that was nominated by the British Fantasy Society

British Fantasy Society

The British Fantasy Society began in 1971 as the British Weird Fantasy Society, an offshoot of the British Science Fiction Association. The society is dedicated to promoting the best in the fantasy, science fiction and horror genres....

 for the best novel of the year award won that year by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman

Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...

's Anansi Boys

Anansi Boys

Anansi Boys is a novel by Neil Gaiman, a spin-off of Gaiman's earlier novel American Gods. In Anansi Boys we discover that 'Mr. Nancy' has two sons, and the two sons in turn discover each other...

to complete the so-called "Shadowkings Trilogy". The trilogy was also published in Germany by Heyne (a division of Random House

Random House

Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...

), all its volumes translated by Wolfgang Thon.

Michael Cobley followed up on the success of his first space opera

Space opera

Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...

 trilogy planning a second one entitled "Humanity's Fire". The first volume, Seeds of Earth, was published in 2009 by Orbit Books

Orbit Books

Orbit Books is an international publisher that specialises in science fiction and fantasy books. It was founded in 1974 as part of the Macdonald Futura publishing company...

. It was followed in 2010 by The Orphaned Worlds. The third and last volume of the series will be called The Ascendant Stars and has been announced for 2011. Like the previous trilogy, the first book in the "Humanity's Fire" series has been published in German by Heyne, translated by Norbert Stöbe, while the release of the second has been announced.

His short stories have been collected in a volume, Iron Mosaic, published in 2004 by Immanion Press.

the Shadowkings trilogy

• Shadowkings. London: Earthlight, 2001 (paper). ISBN 0-7432-0717-3
• Shadowgod. London: Earthlight, 2003 (paper). ISBN 0-7434-6114-2
• Shadowmasque. London: Simon & Schuster, 2005 (paper). ISBN 0-7432-5682-4

the Humanity's Fire trilogy

• Seeds Of Earth. London: Orbit Books, 2009 (paper). ISBN 978-1841496320
• The Orphaned Worlds. London: Orbit Books, 2010 (paper). ISBN 978-1841496313
• The Ascendant Stars. London: Orbit Books, 2011 (paper). ISBN 978-184149635