Peter Watts (born January 25, 1958 He went on to hold several academic research and teaching positions, and worked as a marine-mammal biologist. He began publishing fiction around the time he finished graduate school.

Career

His first novel Starfish (1999) reintroduced Lenie Clarke from his short story "A Niche" (1990); Clarke is a deep-ocean power station worker physically altered for underwater living and the main character in the sequels: Maelstrom (2001), βehemoth: β-Max (2004) and βehemoth: Seppuku (2005). The last two volumes constitute one novel, but were published separately for commercial reasons. However, due to immigration laws, Watts' felony conviction prevents him from re-entering the United States.

In February 2011, Watts contracted the rare disease necrotizing fasciitis in his leg, which he has blogged about on his website.

He married fellow Canadian author Caitlin Sweet in August 2011. Tachyon Publications, )

Short stories, novelettes, and novellas

Sunflower cycle

The Sunflower series of stories concerns the voyage of a jumpgate-building ship named Eriophora:

  • "Giants" (Clarkesworld Magazine, September 2014)
  • The Freeze-Frame Revolution (2018, Tachyon Publications, )
  • "Hitchhiker" (2018, story fragment, published online. Link was in The Freeze-Frame Revolution)
  • "Strategic Retreat" (2021, story fragment, published online)
  • "Remora" (2022, story fragment, published online. Available through Watt's blog.)
  • "Malak" (Engineering Infinity, edited by Jonathan Strahan, December 2010)
  • "Firebrand" (Twelve Tomorrows, 2013)
  • "The Colonel" (Tor.com, 29 July 2014) (Canonically a part of the Firefall series set after the beginning of Blindsight.)
  • "Collateral" (Upgraded, 2014)
  • "Colony Creature" (2015)
  • "ZeroS" (Infinity Wars, edited by Jonathan Strahan, September 2017)
  • "Incorruptible." (Flight 008, edited by K. Cramer/Xprize Foundation 2018)
  • "Kindred" (Infinity's End, edited by Jonathan Strahan, July 2018)
  • "Gut Feelings" (Toronto 2033, November 2018)
  • "Cyclopterus" (Mission Critical, edited by Jonathan Strahan, July 2019)
  • "The Wisdom of Crowds" (Special 11th edition of Šum, journal for contemporary art criticism and theory, 2019)
  • "The Last of the Redmond Billionaires" (New Decameron Project, edited by J. Walton, 2020)
  • "Test 4 Echo" (Made To Order: Robots and Revolution, edited by Jonathan Strahan, 2021)
  • "Critical Mass" (Lightspeed 146, July 2022)
  • "Contracting Iris" (Lightspeed 154, March 2023)
  • "Defective" (Life Beyond Us: An Original Anthology of SF Stories and Science Essays, edited by J. Nováková, 2023)
  • "Prompt Injection" (World Building: Gaming and Art in the Digital Age, edited by Hans Obrist September 2024)
  • "The Twenty-One Second God" (Lightspeed, June 2025 (Issue 181), part of the Firefall setting). Available on-line.

Awards and critical reception

"A Niche"

  • Winner 1992 Prix Aurora Award (tied with Breaking Ball by Michael Skeet)

Blindsight

  • Nominee 2007 Hugo Award for Best Novel
  • Nominee 2007 Campbell Award
  • Nominee 2007 Locus Award for Best SF Novel
  • Winner 2014 Seiun Award for Best Translated Novel

"The Island"

  • Winner 2010 Hugo Award for Best Novelette
  • Nominee 2010 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award
  • Nominee 2010 Locus Award for Best Novelette

"The Things"

  • Finalist 2010 Parsec Award for Best Speculative Fiction Story (Short Form)
  • Nominee 2010 BSFA Award for Best Short Story
  • Winner 2010 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Short Story
  • Nominee 2011 Hugo Award for Best Short Story
  • 3rd Place 2011 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award
  • Finalist 2011 Locus Award for Best Short Story

References