Editing Michael Shea (American author)

{{short description|American writer}}
{{about|the American author||Michael Shea (disambiguation){{!}}Michael Shea}}
{{Infobox writer
| name        = Michael Shea
| image       = Michael Shea.jpg
| imagesize   =
| caption     = 
| pseudonym   =
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1946|7|3}}
| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|2014|2|16|1946|7|3}} 
| death_place =
| occupation  = Author
| alma_mater  = [[University of California, Los Angeles]]<br>[[University of California, Berkeley]]
| period      =
| genre       = [[Science fiction]], [[Fantasy literature|fantasy]], [[Horror fiction|horror]]
| subject     =
| movement    =
| magnum_opus =
| website     = {{URL|michaelsheaauthor.com}}
| footnotes   =
}}

'''Michael Shea''' (July 3, 1946 – February 16, 2014) was an American fantasy, horror, and science fiction author. His novel ''[[Nifft the Lean]]'' won the [[World Fantasy Award]], as did his novella ''Growlimb''.<ref name=SFawards-shea/>

==Life and work==

Shea was born to Irish parents in Los Angeles in 1946.  There he frequented Venice Beach and the Baldwin Hills for their wildlife. He attended [[UCLA]] and [[University of California, Berkeley|Berkeley]] and hitch-hiked twice across the US and Canada.  At a hotel in [[Juneau]], Alaska, Shea chanced on a battered book from the lobby shelves, ''[[The Eyes of the Overworld]]'' by [[Jack Vance]] (1966). Four years later, after a brief first marriage and one year hitch-hiking through France and Spain, he wrote a novel in homage to Vance, who graciously declined to share the advance offered by [[DAW Books]]. It was Shea's first publication, ''[[A Quest for Simbilis]]'' (1974), and an authorized sequel to Vance's two [[Dying Earth]] books then extant. [[ISFDB]] notes that it "became non-canonic" in 1983 when Vance "continued ... ''The Eyes'' ... in a different direction."<ref name=isfdb-quest/>

Subsequently, Shea ranged all over the L.A. Basin, painting houses and teaching [[English_as_a_second_or_foreign_language|English as a second language]] to adults by night. In 1978 he met his second wife, artist and author Lynn Cesar. They had two children: Adele and Jacob.  Shea moved to the [[Bay Area]] where (prior to 1987) he held a variety of occupations, including instructor of languages, construction laborer, and night clerk in a [[Mission District]] [[flophouse]].

In 1979 Shea published the story "The Angel of Death" (''Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', Aug 1979). This was followed in 1980 by "The Autopsy" (''Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', Dec 1980), a story nominated for both the [[Hugo Award]] and [[Nebula Award]].

His next published work was the novella "Polyphemus" (''Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', Aug 1981). His story "The Frog" appeared in ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'' (Apr 1982).  Shea was quiet for a few years but re-emerged with his second book, a collection of four linked novellas called ''Nifft the Lean'' (1982).<ref name=isfdb-nifft/> ''Nifft'' showed that Shea had developed the exotic style of Vance and [[Clark Ashton Smith]], plus the ingenuity of [[Fritz Leiber]]'s Gray Mouser stories, to produce an extravagant quest novel. It won the 1983 [[World Fantasy Award]] as year's best novel.<ref name=SFawards-shea/>

Shea followed up with ''The Color out of Time'' (1984), a work influenced by the [[Cthulhu Mythos]], and ''[[In Yana, the Touch of Undying]]'' (1985), about a vain opportunist's search for immortality in a land of fable.  ''[[Polyphemus (book)|Polyphemus]]'' (1987) is a collection of deft science fiction and horror stories published by [[Arkham House]].

Shea continued the adventures of Nifft in ''The Mines of Behemoth'' (Baen, 1997), serialised one year earlier in the Algis Budrys magazine ''[[Tomorrow Speculative Fiction]]'', and in a novel ''The A'rak'' (2000). The Nifft stories are "[[sword-and-sorcery]]" modeled on [[Jack Vance]], notable for their imaginative depiction of the world of [[demon]]s and their blend of [[horror fiction|horror]], flowery diction, and occasionally crude humor.

Shea's work overlaps the science fiction and fantasy genres, e.g., thematic use of demons and [[Extraterrestrial life|alien]]s that act as [[endoparasite]]s.  Shea's interest in Lovecraft's [[Cthulhu Mythos]] continued throughout his career. ''Copping Squid and Other Mythos Tales'' (2010) is a collection of such tales.<ref>[http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/54079/exclusive-read-copping-squid-short-story-black-wings-cthulhu "Exclusive: Read the Copping Squid Short Story from ''Black Wings of Cthulhu''!"], Mr. Dark, Dread Central, March 27, 2012.</ref>

Shea died unexpectedly on February 16, 2014.<ref>[http://www.locusmag.com/News/2014/03/michael-shea-1946-2014 Michael Shea (1946–2014)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311102046/http://www.locusmag.com/News/2014/03/michael-shea-1946-2014 |date=2014-03-11 }} Locus Online News, March 3, 2014.</ref>

==Reception==
In an overview of Shea's work, Chris Gilmore praised Shea's fiction, stating "Shea has a racy line in grue and writes with energy, imagination and precision", and expressed particular admiration for the stories in ''Polyphemus''.<ref name="cg">Chris Gilmore, "Shea, Michael", in [[David Pringle]], ''St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers''. New York, St. James Press. {{ISBN|1558622055}} (p. 521-22).</ref> However, Gilmore also took issue with Shea's use of gigantic monsters in books such as ''[[A Quest for Simbilis]]'' and ''Nifft the Lean'', arguing that the use of such creatures vitiated Shea's ability to describe scenes in detail.<ref name="cg" /> Gilmore also criticised Shea's story "The Pearls of the Vampire Queen" as being excessively violent, arguing that its protagonists kill one person and seriously injure another when the story did not require them to perform such actions.<ref name="cg" />

Reviewing ''The Incomplete Nifft'', [[Elizabeth Hand]] declared that "not even [[Hieronymous Bosch|Bosch]] could capture the sheer, obsessive teemingness of Shea's world. . . . In their picaresque and unrelenting strangeness, Shea's tales evoke [[Jack Vance]] and [[Lord Dunsany]], [[Clark Ashton Smith]]'s ''Zothique'' tales, as well as ''[[The Worm Ouroboros]]''; but what his work most reminds me of is [[David Lindsay (novelist)|David Lindsay]]'s ''[[A Voyage to Arcturus]]'', a book which had always struck me as being sui generis. Having read and delighted in ''The Incompleat Nifft'', I must create a new category for this beautiful, terrifying work, part sword-and-sorcery, part season in hell. Call it Shea generis."<ref name=hand>[http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2000/eh0009.htm "Books"], Elizabeth Hand, ''[[F&SF]]'', September 2000.</ref>

On his list of "The 13 Most Terrifying Horror Stories", [[T. E. D. Klein]] placed Shea's story "The Autopsy" at number eleven.<ref>T. E. D. Klein, "The 13 Most Terrifying Horror Stories" in  ''[[Twilight Zone literature|Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine]]'', July–August 1983, (p. 63).</ref>

==Adaptations==
On 26th October 2022, a dramatization of “The Autopsy” streamed on Netflix as the third episode of “Guillermo do Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities.”<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14920160/?ref_=ttep_ep3 | title=The Autopsy | website=[[IMDb]] }}</ref>

==Bibliography==

[[WorldCat]] contributing libraries report French editions of ''A Quest for Simbilis'' and ''Nifft the Lean'' and German editions of several books.<ref name=worldcat>
{{Worldcat |id=lccn-n85-156935}}. Retrieved 2012-06-05.</ref>

===Dying Earth===

Shea's first publication was an authorized contribution to the [[Dying Earth series]] by Jack Vance<ref name=isfdb-quest>[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?433 ''A Quest for Simbilis''] at ISFDB. Retrieved 2012-06-05.</ref>
* ''A Quest for Simbilis'' (1974, OCLC 2128177)

===Nifft===

* ''Nifft the Lean'' (DAW, 1982, {{ISBN|0-87997-783-3}})
* ''The Mines of Behemoth'' (Baen, 1997, {{ISBN|0-671-87847-6}})
* ''The A'rak'' (Baen, 2000, {{ISBN|0-671-31947-7}})

Several months before publishing the third book, [[Baen Books]] re-issued the first two in one volume, ''The Incompleat Nifft'' (Baen, 2000, {{ISBN|0-671-57869-3}}). The three Baen titles used matching cover art by [[Gary Ruddell]] with differences in jacket design.<ref name=isfdb-nifft/>

In 1994 [[John Pelan|Darkside Press]] published a limited edition of ''Nifft the Lean'' with a very long subtitle in "440 signed, numbered copies, bound in 'demon-skin'" ({{ISBN|0-940841-39-8}}).<ref name=isfdb-nifft/><ref>
[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/060655142 ''Nifft the Lean: ...''] special edition at WorldCat. Retrieved 2012-06-05.</ref><ref group=lower-alpha>Title: ''Nifft the lean: being the works, days, and deeds of thief Nifft of Karkmahn-Ra, as collated, prefaced and improved with exegesis & scholia by Shag Margold, geographer, a scholar native, with Nifft, to Pardash in the Ephesion Chain, his learning honored thru the four seas''<br/>
• With credited prologue by [[Tim Powers]], illustration by [[Alan M. Clark]], and map by Linda Cecere.<br/>
• Statement of Limitation: "Four-hundred and forty copies of Nifft the lean have been bound in demon-skin and numbered. Four-hundred will be offered for sale."<br/>
• Source: WorldCat</ref>

===Other novels===

* ''The Color Out of Time'' (1984)
* ''[[In Yana, the Touch of Undying]]'' (1985)
* ''I, Said the Fly'' ([[John Pelan|Silver Salamander Press]], 1993) —limited edition of 300 copies{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
* ''The Extra'' (2010) — based on Shea's short story of the same title, intended as the first of a trilogy
* ''Assault on Sunrise'' (2013)
* ''Mr. Cannyharme'' (2021)

===Collections===

* ''[[Polyphemus (book)|Polyphemus]]'' (1987)
* ''The Autopsy and Other Tales'' ([[Centipede Press]], 2008) —including the complete Lovecraftian novel ''The Color Out of Time''
* ''Copping Squid and Other Mythos Tales'' (Perilous Press, 2010), series editor [[S. T. Joshi]]
* ''Demiurge: The Complete Cthulhu Mythos Tales of Michael Shea'' (Dark Regions Press, 2017), editor [[S. T. Joshi]]
* ''The Autopsy: Best Weird Stories of Michael Shea'' (Hippocampus Press, 2022), editors Linda Shea and [[S. T. Joshi]]

===Chapterbooks===

* ''Fat Face'' (1987)

===Short fiction===

* "The Angel of Death" (1979)
* "The Autopsy" (1980), adapted for ''[[Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities]]'' (2022)
* "Polyphemus" (1981)
* "Nemo Me Impune Lacessit" (1982)
* "That Frog" (1982)
* "The Horror on the #33" (1982)
* "The Fishing of the Demon-Sea" (1982)
* "Come Then, Mortal, We Will Seek Her Soul" (1982)
* "The Goddess in Glass" (1982)
* "The Pearls of the Vampire Queen" (1982)
* "Shag Margold's Eulogy of Nifft the Lean, His Dear Friend" (1982)
* "Grunt-12 Test Drive" (1983)
* "Creative Coverage, Inc." (1983)
* "Uncle Tuggs" (1986)
* "Fill It With Regular" (1986)
* "The Extra" (1987)
* "Fat Face" (1987)
* "Delivery" (1987)
* "I, Said the Fly" (1989)
* "Salome" (1994)
* "Tollbooth" (1995)
* "Johnny Crack" (1995)
* "Fast Food" (1995)
* "Piece A' Chain" (1996)
* "Water of Life" (1999)
* "For Every Tatter in Its Mortal Dress" (2000)
* "The Rebuke" (2002)
* "The Growlimb" (2004) —World Fantasy Award, Best Novella<ref name=SFawards-shea/>
* "The Pool" (2007)
* "Tsathoggua" (2008)
* "The Battery"
* "The Presentation"
* "Copping Squid"
* "Dagoniad"

===Reviews===
* "''Reprisal'' by [[Mitchell Smith]]" (2005)

==Awards==

Shea has won major "year's best" awards, both conferred by the [[World Fantasy Convention]] and selected by open nominations and panel of judges.<ref name=SFawards-shea/><!-- 
  source for the last is our article -->
* 1983 [[World Fantasy Award for Best Novel|World Fantasy Award, Novel]] (''Nifft the Lean'')
* 2005 [[World Fantasy Award for Best Novella|World Fantasy Award, Novella]] (''The Growlimb'')<ref>{{cite web|author=World Fantasy Convention |year=2010 |title=Award Winners and Nominees |url=http://www.worldfantasy.org/awards/awardslist.html/ |access-date=2011-02-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201074405/http://worldfantasy.org/awards/awardslist.html |archive-date=2010-12-01 }}</ref>

His works have also been highly ranked, or one of a few finalists or nominees, for several other major awards.<ref name=SFawards-shea/><!--
  criterion for Locus Awards, at least fifth place; the index lists five more top tens -->
* 1975 [[August Derleth Award]] (best novel), British Fantasy Society (''A Quest for Simbilis'')
* 1980 [[Nebula Award]], Novelette (The Angel of Death)
* 1981 [[Hugo Award]], Novelette (The Autopsy)
* 1981 [[Locus Award]], Novella, fourth place (The Autopsy)
* 1981 Nebula Award, Novella (The Autopsy)
* 1988 World Fantasy Award, Collection (Polyphemus)
* 2005 [[International Horror Guild Award]], Mid-Length Fiction (The Growlimb)

==Notes==
{{reflist |group=lower-alpha}}

==References==
{{Reflist |refs=
<ref name=SFawards-shea>
[http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/NomLit118.html#4714 "Michael Shea"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606151507/http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/NomLit118.html |date=2012-06-06 }}. ''The Locus Index to SF Awards: Index to Literary Nominees''. [[Locus Publications]]. Retrieved 2012-06-05.</ref>
<ref name=isfdb-nifft>
{{isfdb series |722 |Nifft}} (ISFDB). Retrieved 2012-06-05</ref>
}}

==Further reading ==

*Cox, Arthur Jean. "The Grim Imperative of Michael Shea" in Darrell Schweitzer (ed), ''Discovering Modern Horror Fiction II''. Mercer Island, WA: Starmont House, 1988, pp.&nbsp;115–20.

==External links==
{{Wikiquote|Michael Shea}}

* [http://www.michaelsheaauthor.com/ Official website]
*{{isfdb name|id=52|name=Michael Shea}}
* {{IBList|type=author|id=2018|name=Michael Shea}}
{{World Fantasy Award Best Novel}}{{World Fantasy Award Best Novella 2000–2009}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shea, Michael}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]
[[Category:American fantasy writers]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:American people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:American science fiction writers]]
[[Category:American short story writers]]
[[Category:Cthulhu Mythos writers]]
[[Category:World Fantasy Award–winning writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:American male short story writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]