David Zindell

{{short description|American writer (born 1952)}} {{Infobox writer | name = David Zindell | image =  | alt = | caption = | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1952|11|28}} | birth_place = Toledo, Ohio, U.S. | death_date =  | death_place = | education = University of Colorado Boulder (BA) | occupation = Fiction writer | period = | genre = Speculative fiction

| website = {{URL|davidzindell.com}} }} '''David Zindell''' (born November 28, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer.

==Writing career== Zindell's first published story was "The Dreamer's Sleep" in ''Fantasy Book'' in 1984. His novelette "Shanidar" won the Writers of the Future contest in 1985 and gave rise to his first novel, ''Neverness'' (1988), a science fiction epic. It was followed by a sequel trilogy called ''A Requiem for Homo Sapiens'' (1992–1998). In 2023 he added a new book to the Neverness universe called ''The Remembrancer's Tale''.

The Neverness universe has been hailed as Dune for the 1990s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Read online «Neverness», David Zindell – LitRes |url=https://litres.com/book/david-zindell/neverness-39793417/read/ |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=Литрес |language=en}}</ref> Human civilization has explored and settled the galaxy using ships that interface a pilot's mind to the mathematical underpinnings of the physical universe. Artificial intelligences live as super-intelligent gods running on clusters of moon-sized computer brains. Humans have modified themselves to create a tapestry of religions and philosophies that interweave with alien cultures to amplify human potential and seek transcendence. The books often employ anthropological and ecological perspectives to examine the nature of consciousness, memory and evolution.

Zindell's fantasy epic ''The Ea Cycle'' (2001–2007) examines the evolution of consciousness through the struggle between good and evil, exploring themes of empathy, morality, war and fate. The plot concerns a prince named Valashu Elahad searching for a relic called the Lightstone to stop the immortal Morjin, Lord of Lies, who seeks to create a world filled with madness.

In 2015 he published ''Splendor'', a memoir. In 2017 he published ''The Idiot Gods'', a novel told from the point of view of killer whales, which are sapient. It is the first of the Xanayan series, followed by ''If I Am God'' in 2024 and ''The Woman and the Whale'' in 2025.

Zindell's work has been translated into German, Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Russian and Italian.

==Reception and themes== John Clute wrote that Zindell was a "romantic, ambitious, and skilled" writer.<ref name="Clute, John 1368">Clute, John: ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'', page 1368. Orbit, 1993</ref>

''New Scientist'' wrote that: ‘David Zindell writes of interstellar mathematics in poetic prose that is a joy to read’<ref>{{Cite web |title=Review: Space opera for the 1990s |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13618425-300-review-space-opera-for-the-1990s/ |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=New Scientist |language=en-US}}</ref> and that he presents ‘A disturbing vision of the impending collapse of a transgalactic society…the ideas are hard SF with philosophical undertones, and the story is compelling. Zindell makes you think’.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Collected works |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg14920135-200-collected-works/ |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=New Scientist |language=en-US}}</ref>

Zindell has described his style as an attempt to communicate the connectedness of things, the connection between mysticism and evolution, and the possibilities of life,<ref>{{cite web |title=Storms of Numbers, Chalices of Light: an interview with David Zindell |url=http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfiction/intdz.htm |access-date=17 November 2021 |website=infinityplus.co.uk}}</ref> and his fiction as an attempt to heal false dichotomies such as materialism and spirituality.<ref>{{cite web |title=David Zindell: Back to Roots |url=http://www.locusmag.com/2000/Issues/06/Zindell.html |access-date=17 November 2021 |website=Locus.com}}</ref>

==Personal life== Zindell was born in Toledo, Ohio, and resides today in Boulder, Colorado, where he works as a test coach;<ref name="David Zindell Coaching">{{cite web |url=https://davidzindellcoaching.com/ |title=Colorado Test Prep for SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. |website=davidzindellcoaching.com |access-date=2017-06-17}}{{title missing|date=May 2022}}</ref> he received a BA in mathematics and minored in anthropology at the University of Colorado Boulder.<ref>Charles N. Brown. [http://www.locusmag.com/2000/Issues/06/Zindell.html "David Zindell: Back to Roots"] (excerpt), ''Locus'' 44:6, No. 473 (June 2000). Retrieved 2000-09-07.</ref>

==Publications==  ===Fiction===

====Neverness universe==== *"Shanidar", ''Writers of the Future'' (March 1985); [http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/shanidar.htm online reprint] at infinity plus *''Neverness'' (New York: D. I. Fine, 1988) *''A Requiem for Homo Sapiens'' (trilogy): **''The Broken God'' (HarperCollins, 1992); United States ed., Bantam, 1994 **''The Wild'' (Harper Voyager, 1995); United States ed., Bantam, 1996 **''War in Heaven'' (Voyager, Bantam, 1998) *''The Remembrancer's Tale'' (Harper Voyager, 2023)

====Ea Cycle==== *''The Lightstone'' (London: Harper Voyager, August 2001), (Tor Books, June 2006), also published as two volumes, ''The Ninth Kingdom'' (June 2006) and ''The Silver Sword'' (Voyager, 2002, Tor, 2887) and again together as ''The Lightstone: The Complete Novel'' (2022) *''Lord of Lies'' (Voyager, 2003); United States ed., Tor, 2008 *''Black Jade'' (Voyager, 2005); released in U.S. only as e-book *''The Diamond Warriors'' (Voyager, 2007); released in U.S. only as e-book

====Xanayan Novels==== *''The Orca's Song'' (originally published as ''The Idiot Gods'', Harper Voyager, July 2017) *''If I am God'' (Harper Voyager, 2024) *''The Woman and the Whale'' (forthcoming)

====Collections==== *''Shanidar and Other Stories'' (Bhodi Books, 2020)

====Short fiction==== *"The Dreamer's Sleep", ''Fantasy Book'', December 1984 *"Shanidar", ''L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future'', 1985 *"Caverns", ''Interzone'' (UK), Winter 1985/86 *"When the Rose Is Dead", ''Full Spectrum'' 3, June 1991 *"Martian Compassion", ''The War of the Worlds: Fresh Perspectives'', 2005 *"The Tiger", ''Shanidar and Other Stories'', 2020

===Nonfiction=== *''Read This'' (1994) *''Splendor – A Memoir'' (Bhodi Books, 2015)

==References== {{reflist |25em }}

==External links== {{wikiquote}} *{{official website}} *[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/399921.David_Zindell David Zindell] on Goodreads *[https://talesfromthebridge.buzzsprout.com/1795352/episodes/8871061-a-chat-with-david-zindell-part-1-of-2 A Chat with David Zindell (Part 1 of 2)] and [https://talesfromthebridge.buzzsprout.com/1795352/episodes/8871093-a-chat-with-david-zindell-part-2-of-2 A Chat with David Zindell (Part 2 of 2)], an interview on [https://talesfromthebridge.buzzsprout.com/ Tales From The Bridge] *[https://thescienceinthefiction.buzzsprout.com/2201157/episodes/13461605-david-zindell-on-mathematics-in-neverness David Zindell on Mathematics in 'Neverness'], an interview on [https://thescienceinthefiction.buzzsprout.com/ The Science in The Fiction] *[https://thescienceinthefiction.buzzsprout.com/2201157/episodes/13627919-marty-and-holly-on-books-by-david-zindell-sue-burke-and-cory-doctorow Marty and Holly on Books by David Zindell, Sue Burke and Cory Doctorow] on [https://thescienceinthefiction.buzzsprout.com/ The Science in The Fiction] *[http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfiction/intdz.htm Storm of Numbers, Chalice of Light], an interview on Infinity Plus *{{ISFDB name|355}} *{{LCAuth|n86008184|David Zindell|7|}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zindell, David}} Category:1952 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American male writers Category:21st-century American male writers Category:20th-century American essayists Category:21st-century American essayists Category:20th-century American novelists Category:21st-century American novelists Category:20th-century American short story writers Category:21st-century American short story writers Category:American fantasy writers Category:American science fiction writers Category:University of Colorado Boulder alumni Category:Writers from Boulder, Colorado Category:Writers from Toledo, Ohio Category:American male essayists Category:American male novelists Category:American male short story writers Category:Novelists from Ohio Category:Novelists from Colorado