Stephen Baxter was born in Liverpool in 1957. Author of over 20 science fiction novels, he has been active in the science fiction field for over 15 years. Although he took science-based degrees at the University of Cambridge (Mathematics) and the University of Southampton (PhD, Engineering), Baxter had developed an interest in writing science fiction in his school days, after picking up a collection of Isaac Asimov's short stories. However his writing career did not take off until the publication in 1987 of his first short story The Xeelee Flower in Interzone, and in the interim he worked as a maths and physics teacher, and in the field of information technology.
Since the publication of The Xeelee Flower Baxter has remained a popular author, both as a short story writer and as a full-length novelist. This perhaps accounts for the prolific output of his science fiction: as well as publishing 22 novels by the end of 2004, he has also published 4 anthologies of short fiction. In both his fiction and non-fiction he uses his scientific background to good effect, and he is most well-known as a "hard SF" writer, placing an emphasis on technological detail and scientific application. Certainly in his earliest works such as the Xeelee sequence of novels (e.g. Raft , Timelike Infinity ), scientific themes such as the far future and deep space take precedence over a character-driven storyline. However some of his later works are much closer to home, exploring alternative histories with a particular emphasis on NASA's space programme. His later novels also show an interest in animal history, with the Mammoth trilogy and Evolution centring on the lives of animals and perhaps displaying a more fantastic element to his writing.
Despite this, Baxter is still best known and appreciated as a hard SF writer, and this is reinforced by his working relationship with Sir Arthur C. Clarke , one of the most influential scientists and science fiction authors of all time. Baxter has thus far collaborated twice with Clarke; firstly on the time-travel novel The Light of Other Days , and secondly on the A Time Odyssey series, the first book of which, Time's Eye , has already been published, and the second, Sunstorm , is due for publication in 2005. Although proclaimed as Clarke's natural successor, Baxter is also noted as the author of The Time Ships , the official sequel to H. G. Wells' The Time Machine . He has been nominated for several awards, including the Arthur C. Clarke award for best novel for Coalescent and the Hugo Award for best short story of 2001 for The Ghost Pit . He is a two-time winner of the Philip K. Dick Award and three-time winner of the British Science Fiction Award.
Although renowned as a writer of science fiction, Baxter's interest in the genre extends into the academic field, and he has contributed articles to such science fiction journals as Foundation , Vector and Focus magazine. Many of these articles have been collated into two anthologies: Deep Future and Omegatropic . He is also the author of a biography of 18th century geologist James Hutton, who is credited with the first acknowledgement of the actual age of the Earth. Baxter has also written articles on information technology and physics. His passion for space travel led him to the final stages in a competition to go as a cosmonaut to Mir space station, although the place was eventually won by Helen Sharman. Currently Baxter is the vice-president of the British Science Fiction Association.
The biographical history was written using fan websites called the Baxterium and The Manifold , and the entry on Stephen Baxter on the Wikipedia website.
The collection contains typescripts of the published and unpublished works of Stephen Baxter, including novel outlines, series notes, and correspondence with editors and collaborators. Many of the typescripts etc. include hand-written annotations by Baxter. The papers reflect Baxter's career both as a novellist and as a writer of non-fiction. The collection ranges from Baxter's earliest professional writing to work published recently, and also includes projects that never went beyond the planning stage. The entirety of the collection relates to science fiction, and reflects Baxter's interest in space exploration and his hard SF style of writing.
The papers have been arranged to reflect the original filing system where possible. Within each section the papers have been sorted into order of publication, or chronological order where appropriate.
Received from Stephen Baxter, 1994 .
Previously in the possession of Stephen Baxter.
The material has been appraised.
It is anticipated that Stephen Baxter will continue to deposit material.
Access is open to bona fide researchers.
Reproduction and licensing rules available on request.
Contains material relating to the published fiction and non-fiction works of Stephen Baxter. This includes draft typescripts, novel/book outlines and notes, and some correspondence.
Contains material relating to the published novels of Stephen Baxter.
Contains a photocopied printout of the third draft of Raft , dated August 1990 and labelled "Post-Brin" by Baxter. This refers to incorporated comments suggested by David Brin. Included within the draft are several reworked sections, hence the various page numbers. The cover letter with the draft is addressed to Malcolm Edwards. The novel outlines, dated 8/8/1989 and 17/9/89, include details of the plot, story background, and characters.
Contains 9 pages of annotated outlines dated 6/6/91, a photocopied printout of the novel's second draft dated June 1992, and the US proof of the Penguin-ROC edition of Timelike Infinity .
Contains 4 annotated outlines, two of which are titled A Journey to King Planet , the short story which inspired the novel (collected in Traces ). The draft typescript has separately paginated chapters, and the galley proof is for the UK edition of the novel.
Includes an essay entitled Building New Worlds , which later appeared in Omegatropic (see SB/1/4/2 ). The outlines are titled Tyranny of Heaven , and a story of the same title appears in Vacuum Diagrams . Some of the outlines reflect an earlier, shorter version of the novel. Also included are outlines of the Xeelee Sequence . The galley proofs are for both the UK and the US editions of Flux , the latter containing a cover letter to Stephen Baxter from Caitlin Deinard Blasdell at Harper Paperbacks.
One outline (9p., dated 27/3/93), is titled War in Heaven , the working title for Ring . The second outline (4p., dated 30/3/93) has been annotated by Baxter, and is printed on the reverse of a Tyranny of Heaven draft (see SB/1/1/4 ). Draft one of the manuscript has been marked "earliest draft" by Baxter and is dated September 1993, although Baxter has written that it was printed on 28/2/99 after printing it off an updated computer system.
Contains 2 essays, titled Rebuilding the Time Machine: The Science of H. G. Wells dated 22/2/95, and Lighting the Future (published in Vector magazine), dated 16/10/94. The former has attached to it a short item titled The Science of the Time Ships (see also the items in Omegatropic , SB/1/5/2 ). The outlines, written between April 1993 and May 1994, contain early plot summaries and details, as well as some annotations by Baxter. Of the two drafts, one has been marked as the "earliest draft" by Baxter, dated March-May 1994, but printed 28/2/99. The second draft contains annotations by Baxter.
The novel outlines show that for a long time during Voyage 's creation, the novel was actually titled Ares , although this title was rejected by HarperCollins American over fears that the title might be inappropriately misread. Two of the outlines are titled 'Ares: the making of the book', and 'Ares: what might have been', and are dated 16/4/96 and 6/6/95 respectively. These were written for the benefit of the HarperCollins marketing staff. The letter is a cover letter to Malcolm Edwards and Joy Chamberlain at HarperCollins publishers, advertising Voyage as Baxter's latest work, and is dated 13/1/95. Of the draft typescripts, the first draft is dated 5/5/95 and includes several different versions of chapters etc. The final draft, "revised after editorial comments", is dated 28/1/96. The collection of chapters is heavily annotated.
Contains three draft typescripts of Gulliver Zone , the first and third dated 12/8/96 and 15/11/96 respectively (the second draft is undated). The first draft contains annotations, and the second draft includes notes by Simon Spanton. The third draft has been marked "copy editor changes" by Baxter.
The outlines are quite substantial, the longest of which at 10p. is a proposal for further post- novels Ares . The first two draft typescripts have varying page numbers, the first being about 1500 sheets in length. The second draft also includes notes by Eric Brown.
Contained within the outlines are also short outlines for works titled Moonset (which later became Moonseed ), Luna (which developed into Irina ), Nova , and Solar Max . One outline, dated 20/6/96 is titled Imbrium , and contains annotations by Baxter. Outline 4, dated 17/2/97, also has some annotations. The second draft typescript, dated 15/6/97 contains comments by Eric Brown. The edit-trace has been heavily annotated, and shows corrections to be made to the typescript. See also screenplay drafts of the novel, SB/1/5/4 .
The final draft of Webcrash , dated 6/3/98.
The 10 outlines and concepts include 2 outlines for the first Mammoth book and one outline for the second and third, as well as 3 concepts for the Mammoth series. Also included are three outlines for a story titled Mammod , and these date between 1994-1995. The 5 draft typescripts show that throughout the draft process the novel was titled Greyhair ; this was changed to Silverhair by editor Simon Spanton over fears that Greyhair sounded too elderly.
The drafts date between 29/8/98 and 23/2/99. The second draft, by far the shortest at 395p., contains notes made by Eric Brown. The fourth draft has been annotated by Baxter, and the sixth draft, edited by HarperCollins, also contains annotations. The preliminary draft, 44p. dated 8/9/97, is titled Bootstrap , a title now belonging to one of the sections within Manifold: Time . However this draft, written with Kent Joosten (a NASA scientist), is marked "SQUID 00".
Material from this story was later incorporated into Sheena 5 ( SB/1/2/3 ).
The outlines date between 1997 and 1998, and contain summaries and outlines for Mammoth books 1 and 3. The longest outline at 10p. outlines each individual chapter. The draft typescripts include annotations. The third draft was edited by Simon Spanton.
Contains 3 novel outlines, as well as handwritten plot notes and a spider diagram. One of the typescripts includes comments by Eric Brown. The Light of Other Days is the first collaborative novel between Stephen Baxter and Sir Arthur C. Clarke .
Correspondence
Printed correspondence between Sir Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter: Contains 23 printed emails sent between Sir Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter, dated between 22/6/98 and 16/2/99, discussing their collaboration on The Light of Other Days . They also discuss plot details and possible scientific issues. Attached to an email from Clarke dated 4/1/99 is a copy of his essay The Gay Warlords . Also included is a 7p. fax from Clarke to Baxter, dated 1/4/98, which includes preliminary novel ideas and notes.
Other correspondence: 3 printed letters from Baxter to Jane Johnson at HarperCollins, dated between 1/4/98 and 11/3/99. 1 printed email from Andy Sawyer to Baxter, 1p. dated 20/11/98. 1 printed email from Roger Norton to Baxter, 2p., 31/12/98. 1 printed letter from Eric Brown, 21/2/99, annotated with suggested corrections to the novel. 1 printed email from Edward James, 8/3/99.
The outlines, dated between January 1996 and August 1999, show the relationship between the novel and the Saddle Point stories. The Saddle Point short stories were published separately in SF Age magazine: see SB/1/3/1 for more information. The second draft typescript contains notes by Eric Brown. The Harper Collins edit-trace, based on the third draft, contains annotations and corrections.
The series concepts and outlines, though similar to those found in SB/1/1/12 , contain outlines created post- Silverhair and - Longtusk . The drafts date from between 16/3/00 and 16/10/00, and the third draft was edited by Simon Spanton. The map, drawn in pencil by Baxter, is of "the Skye Steppes" (Mars).
The typescripts were drafted between 30/8/00 and 21/3/01. The first two drafts contain annotations by Baxter, and the third draft contains notes by Eric Brown. The outlines, which themselves contain some annotations, show that the novel had various titles before becoming Origin . In the early stages the novel was called Red Moon , then Worlds , and finally Human , before becoming Origin .
The novel was originally intended for children, however Malcolm Edward and Simon Spanton at Orion encouraged Baxter to rework it as an adult novel.
The outlines show that Evolution originally had different titles, and these were Hotbloods , Purga , and Primate . The earliest item to show the title Evolution is the first draft typescript, which at 1252p. contains a full draft of all three books within the novel. This draft is dated 3/10/01. The second typescript, drafted 22/11/01, contains comments made by Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart. The piece of notepaper, titled 'Kids Story', contains handwritten notes by Baxter about Hotbloods , and is dated 27/12/97.
The outlines show the various titles of the Destiny's Children trilogy, of which Coalescent is the first book. The various titles include Puhl (which became Exultant ), Uchronia (Better Time) , Yolku , and Homo Superior . Uchronia eventually became Transcendent (not yet published). The outlines date from 17/4/00, although in many instances the outlines show a printed date, with a different dated annotated by Baxter. The outlines also contain notes on the Xeelee sequence, which shows the relationship between the trilogy and the Xeelee sequence of stories (see Vacuum Diagrams ). The draft typescripts date from 14/10/02, and contain annotations by Baxter. The third draft also contains notes by Simon Spanton. The timeline, handwritten by Baxter and dated 14/4/03, is titled Vacuum Diagrams timeline/Xeelee sequence timeline .
Contains two sets of outlines for the novel series A Time Odyssey . One wallet, containing outlines dated between 10/6/01 and 15/12/02, has annotations by Baxter. Also contained within this set is a printout of an email from Arthur C. Clarke to Baxter - this has also been annotated. The second set, although containing very similar notes and outlines, does not have any annotations, but show the final versions of outlines before the writing of the novel started. The outlines, as well outlining the novel Time's Eye , also outline the novel Nova , which later became Sunstorm , and contain brief outlines for further novels in the series.
The first draft typescript, dated 4/3/02, contains annotations by Baxter. The second draft, dated 20/3/03, includes notes by Simon Spanton.
Each of the draft typescripts contain annotations by Baxter.
Contains the draft typescripts of collected works of short fiction, as well as the drafts and outlines of individual stories.
The MS of the stories shows the stories in their original form, before they were to be collected in Vacuum Diagrams . The MS is titled Xeelee Sequence . The stories included within it (and consequently in Vacuum Diagrams ) are listed below. For the main part they are simply draft typescripts, but some include second drafts, photocopies, or galley proofs. This has been indicated where appropriate. The draft typescript of the anthology is dated 9/11/95 and is marked "final draft". The US proof, dated 5/5/98, also includes editorial notes, and a cover letter from Rich Miller.
One typescript is titled Inseparability , and is marked "More than Time or Distance early draft". The photocopy is of the story as it appeared in Opus Quarterly magazine, no. 4.
The photocopy is of the story as it appeared in Edge magazine, no. 2.
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