(1958-2021) Japanese-born reviewer and author, in USA from an early age, who began publishing sf with "Gamester" for Questar in 1981; his short work appeared in various magazines through the 1980s, and he published occasional fiction in the twenty-first century; as a reviewer, he published more than a hundred columns as regular reviewer of the Reference Library series for Analog, beginning with a guest appearance in the March 2009 issue. Much of his fiction has been contributed to the loose Scattered Worlds sequence, initiated by his first novel, The Leaves of October (August 1983 Analog; much exp 1988; exp vt The Leaves of October: A Novel of the Scattered Worlds 2010 ebook), which competently presents a vision of a Forerunner civilization of Aliens now manifest as sentient trees, who attempt to help humanity through the Evolutionary crisis of the current era. Further instalments include Dance for the Ivory Madonna (2002), a Near Future tale set mostly in a balkanized America after AIs have barred humanity access to Cyberspace, A Voice in Every Wind (coll 2003), Weaving the Web of Days: A Tale of the Scattered Worlds (2004) a Space Opera novella set in a disintegrated Galactic Empire and A Rose from Old Terra: A Novel of the Scattered Worlds (2007) also set in the Long Night of interregnum.
Carmen Miranda's Ghost Is Haunting Space Station Three (anth 1990), which Sakers edited and to which he contributed two stories, is a Shared-World anthology based on a Filk by Leslie Fish, about the eponymous ghost (see Supernatural Creatures) haunting a Space Station; Gaylaxicon Sampler 2006 (anth 2006) and QSpec Sampler 2007 (anth 2007) present an array of tales dealing with various forms of Sex, Gender and Transgender SF issues. Initially with Melissa Scott, Sakers published the vast episodic Space Opera The Rule of Five in ebook magazine format, beginning with The Rule of Five Quarterly #1 (Autumn 2016); each issue contains multiple chapters, the most recent issue being #14 (Spring 2020) by Sakers alone; early episodes are assembled in ebook and paperback form, the latter as Five Planes (2018) [see Checklist below]. [JC]
Don Sakers
born Yokosuka, Japan: 16 June 1958
died Anne Arundel County, Maryland: 17 May 2021
works
series
Scattered Worlds Universe
- The Leaves of October (New York: Baen Books, 1988) [early version first appeared August 1983 Analog: plus additional material: Scattered Worlds: pb/Judith Mitchell]
- Dance for the Ivory Madonna (Linthicum, Maryland: Speed-of-C Productions, 2002) [Scattered Worlds: pb/SHAKALone]
- A Voice in Every Wind (Linthicum, Maryland: Speed-of-C Productions, 2003) [coll: Scattered Worlds: pb/]
- Weaving the Web of Days: A Tale of the Scattered Worlds (Linthicum, Maryland: Speed-of-C Productions, 2004) [novella: Scattered Worlds: pb/]
- A Rose from Old Terra: A Novel of the Scattered Worlds (Linthicum, Maryland: Speed-of-C Productions, 2007) [Scattered Worlds: pb/]
- The Eighth Succession (Linthicum, Maryland: Speed-of-C Productions, 2013) [Scattered Worlds: pb/]
- Children of the Eighth Day (Linthicum, Maryland: Speed-of-C Productions, 2014) [Scattered Worlds: pb/Eric Massaro]
The Rule of Five
- The Rule of Five: Year One (Linthicum, Maryland: Speed-of-C Productions, 2017) with Melissa Scott [ebook: chapters #1-#12, first published in The Rule of Five Quarterly: na/]
- The Rule of Five: Year Two (Linthicum, Maryland: Speed-of-C Productions, 2018) with Melissa Scott [ebook: chapters #13-#24, first published in The Rule of Five Quarterly: na/]
- Five Planes (Linthicum, Maryland: Speed-of-C Productions, 2018) with Melissa Scott [ebook: combines the above two: chapters #1-#24, first published in The Rule of Five Quarterly: pb/]
individual titles (selected)
- Curse of the Zwilling (Linthicum, Maryland: Speed-of-C Productions, 2003) [pb/from Caspar David Friedrich]
collections
- Meat and Machine (Linthicum, Maryland: Speed-of-C Productions, 2014) [coll: pb/Jovi Robert]
nonfiction
works as editor
links
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