John Brunner Books In Order

Publication Order of Empire Books

Publication Order of Max Curfew Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Publication Order of Chapbooks

Publication Order of Thieves' World Books

Publication Order of Isaac Asimov's Anthology Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

John Brunner was a renowned British novelist of science fiction, thriller, and fantasy novels. He has written a number of successful standalone novels in the science fiction/fantasy genre. Brunner has also written several spy fiction stories, short story collections, poetry, non-genre, pornography, and translation works. Some of the notable works of author Brunner include The Sheep Look Up, Stand on Zanzibar, The Jagged Orbit, The Shockwave Rider, etc. He is the winner of the 1969 Hugo Award for his 1968 book called Stand on Zanzibar. Brunner also won the BSFA award for the same book in the same year. His novel, The Jagged Orbit, also won the 1970 BSFA award. Brunner was born as John Kilian Houston Brunner on September 24, 1934, in Preston Crowmarch, Wallingford Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. He did his schooling from St. Andrew’s Prep School in Pangbourne and completed his college studies from Cheltenham College.

Brunner penned his first book at the age of 17 and named it Galactic Storm. This book was published under the pseudonym of Gill Hunt. Brunner did not attempt to write on a full-time basis until 1958, a few years after leaving the military service. For two years between 1953 and 1955, he was employed in the RAF. Brunner married Marjorie R. Sauer in 1958. During the earlier days of his career, Brunner did not have an easy relationship with the new wave writers of the UK. He was often considered too American by them due to his themes and settings. Brunner tried to shift his readership to a more mainstream medium during the early 80s, but did not achieve any success in it. Before Brunner’s death in 1995, a lot of his books had gone out of print. He claimed that it was a conspiracy of the publishers against him. However, this accusation was not taken seriously as most of the people who knew him well were aware that he was a difficult man to deal with. Brunner’s wife, Marjorie Brunner, used to handle his publishing relations until her death.

In the 1980s, Brunner’s health started to deteriorate and worsened after the death of Marjorie in 1986. In 1991, Brunner married for the second time and took Li Yi Tan as his second wife. Brunner’s death occurred on August 25, 1995, in Glasgow, Scotland due to a heart attack. He has gone there to attend the WSFC. He had initially started his career by writing conventional stories of space opera. Later, he started experimenting with full-length novels. The Zanzibar novel is written in the fragmented organizational writing style that was created by an American writer named John Dos Passos. Brunner went a step ahead and updated the style with the theory of media that was popularized by Marshall McLuhan, a reputed Canadian academic and major cultural figure. Author Brunner is given the credit of coming up with the term ‘worm’ and for also giving the correct prediction of computer viruses’ emergence.

In his 1975 book called The Shockwave Rider, Brunner has used the term ‘worm’ for describing software that reproduces themselves across a network. His work in this novel is also credited for giving insights about several modern developments like online encyclopedias, cannabis legalization, genetic engineering, viagra development, same-sex marriage, etc. Throughout the course of his writing career, Brunner used multiple pen names for publishing his books. Some of the prominent ones include John Loxmith, Ellis Quick, K.H. Brunner, Keith Woodcott, Gill Hunt, Trevor Staines, Kilian Houston Brunner, and Henry Crosstrees Jr. Other than writing fiction, he wrote poetry. His numerous unpaid articles have been published in various magazines. He was a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament organization. Brunner was a translator, linguist, and the Chief Guest at the debut European Convention of Science Fiction called Eurocoon-1, held in 1972 in Trieste. Amicus Productions had hired him for writing the screenplay of their 1967 science fiction movie called The Terrornauts. A couple of short stories penned by Brunner have been adapted into TV plays and broadcast on BBC.

A successful book written by author John Brunner is the 1965 Hugo Award-nominated novel entitled ‘The Whole Man’. It was released in 1964 by Collier Books. This book revolves around the life of the central character named Gerald Howson. Initially, it is depicted that Gerald Howson didn’t appear to be a normal man. He had a birth deformity that had left him with an ugly face and crippled legs. People hated his presence and did not like to look at his face. However, Gerald possessed the rare gift of being able to receive and send powerful thoughts. At first, he thought that the unique ability was quite odd and decided to use it to earn some money with its use. Later, when his ability was discovered by others, Gerald became so much powerful that he could heal people suffering from terrible psychological or emotional trauma. Gerald was also able to move into a phantasmagoric world filled with psychic imagining and return to the world of normal humans as per his own wish. Whatever decision Gerald Howson would make, the lives of numerous people around him and his own would get changed forever.

Another exciting book of Brunner’s career is called ‘The Jagged Orbit’. It was originally published in 1969 and re-released in 2000 by Victor Gollancz publication. The primary character of this novel is Matthew Flamen. Initially, Matthew is introduced as the last spoolpigeon of his network. He is desperately looking for a big story that would help him to keep his job and his audience. Matthew does not have any shortage of expected possibilities. He learns that the Gottschalk cartel is looking to sell their armaments. This makes it sure that the X Patriots are brewing something big. Also, a deadly revolutionary from Britain is about to get the permit to enter the United States. Another story that comes to Matthew Flamen’s attention is that of a New York-based Mental Hospital’s Director being a charlatan. This novel provides a scathing and brilliant vision of a society set on the path of disintegration under the influence of drugs, corruption, and violence. It went on to achieve a lot of success in many parts of the world. The novel was also nominated for the prestigious Nebula Award in 1969 and a BSFA in 1970.