Nathan Lowell was born in Portland, Maine, in 1952. He grew up in an agricultural community in rural Maine and spent time working on fishing boats along the coast. His first literary success came with the publication of a poem while still in elementary school. That early success was followed by forty years of attempt, rejection, failure, and ultimately giving up on the dream of writing science fiction.
In 2007, with the rise of podcast fiction, he started writing again. He completed his first successful novel – Quarter Share – in January, 2007, and podcast it through Podiobooks.com over February and March, 2007. Since then he has written more than twenty novels, several short stories, and a novella. His podcast novels have been finalists in the Parsec Award five times, and he’s won Parsec Awards for Speculative Fiction (long form) twice — 2010 and 2011.
He’s been a full time, self-published author since 2012 and was elected to the board of directors of the Science-Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2018 as Chief Financial Officer.
He holds a BS in Business Administration with a minor in Marketing from SUNY/Buffalo (92), an MA in Educational Technology (98), and a Ph.D. in Educational Technology with specializations in Distance Education, Interactive Media, and Instructional Design (04). He lives in Colorado but travels the world online.
You’d think, being a novelist, he could come up with something more interesting than this, but apparently not.
Not sure how to directly message Nathan Lowell, but wanted to express that I have been truly impressed with his story telling style. In an entire set of genres where every story seems to be “end of the world” focused, or “end of life” focused, these stories are “end of the day” focused. Sufficient unto each day is the drama therein. This perspective, which is not omniscient, where characters muddle through with the information they have and operate as their “best self today”, with the open ended idea that each character’s persona is transitory and cumulative. These concepts are ground breaking to the genre you have brought them to, and were personally edifying as I read these works. Many thanks for these efforts, and the slow calm motion of the stories thus built.
Thanks!
Hear, hear!!
I rarely read books again … always more in the ‘pile’, but I have read Nathan’s a couple of times each. I look most days to see if there is a new book, so was delighted to see Cape Grace and looking forward to book 3. Really disappointed that each of the series ended but enjoyed what was offered. Thank you for all your hard (and brilliant) work, Nathan.
I am a lifetime bookworm. I find your books not only entertains, but immensely satisfying. Rather like a dedicated cook’s well-planned meal, there is flavor and texture and balance, excitement and comfort, challenge and pleasure as well as nourishment. Thank you, Nathan!
Just finished The Wizard’s Butler and I was pleasantly surprised. This is the first book that I have read of yours and I thoroughly enjoyed it, fact is, I finished it in 2 days. (stay-cation reading) Then went looking to see if there was a next and found none, so instead I think I will read a first book in another series of yours, what series would you or your reader’s recommend?
Thanks!
Usually Quarter Share or Ravenwood – depending on whether you’re willing to try my science fiction or my fantasy.
I recently read Wizard’s Butler and was compelled to read more “Nathan Lowell.” I started with Quarter Share & all the rest of Trader Tales, went on to Seeker’s Tales, then Shaman’s Tales, and just started book 3 of Smuggler’s Tales. I love your world and characters.
Looking forward to the next Shaman’s Tale. Perhaps I’ll find out about Sarah Krugg’s life between leaving St Cloud and crossing paths with Ishmael!
Hope you get excited about Ishmael, Pip, Natalya & Zoya. Is Vagrant done with them?
Thank heavens I have more of your books to read for the first time. But not many. Tanyth Fairport comes next.
When I was young I never reread books. Now I’m compelled to revisit my favorite authors pretty much every year. I read a lot. I will be revisiting your books! Thank you so much for creating such an engaging universe with so many memorable characters! What a great place to visit!
I am devouring Trader’s Tales, Smugglers’s Tale, Seeker’s Tale and Shaman Tales and love the overlap- every time I listen I hear something new. My only confusion is geographic. Have you ever thought of producing an astrogation chart for reference?
Like this?
Hi Nathan, nothing seemed to be attached??
“this” is a link to the charts I created back in 2008. 🙂
Sorry. The template made it gray instead of blue.
I LOVE The Wizard’s Butler!!! I hope this series has lots of sequels. I am new to Dr. Lowell’s writing and enjoy his style very much. I am a huge sci-fi fan but not big on aliens and bugs or intergalactic blood and gore. I will be reading, listening to more of his work.
I just finished Quarter Share and have started Half Share. I’ve already cried happy tears 4 times reading your books. Thank you. You’re amazing.
As another Coloradan, I note your weather commentary. Just starting to do my snow dance for the Front Range.
Thank you for writing books that don’t need whiz bangs to enjoy them. Action is a development of the character, not the raison d’etre of the character. looking forward to the continued development of the Solar Clipper and Wizard’s Butler universes (haven’t gotten to Lammas wood yet).
I’m closing in on the end of the Trader series… and I’m sad already.
The magic of mundane ship life is so accurately captured. Having spent years living aboard a vessel in my errant youth, the story that unfolds (for me) evokes a delicate balance of nostalgia and whimsey.
Just…. wow. It’s so good.
(P.S. the papers in the boot… I giggled for more than a few ticks.)
Dear Nathan!
Just binge listened to your Marva Collins trilogy. I regularly listen the rest of the solar clipper series and I absolutely love it, because it is a great story of a struggle without the megadeath that streams through most Science Fiction these days.
You develop wonderful and complex characters that struggle with their lives and make the best of it. Although I have not forgiven you for Article 57 and I find your a-sexual twens a bit unbelievable, but it adds an interesting tension to the story and especially Ishmael is struggling with that a lot.
I love the fact that the whole gang is becoming more and more successful and moving up in society. Your hints about a toeholds academy and especially an opportunity to add a new ship building player. I hope that you will develop this thread soon, as I think Ernst Pankow and Malachai Vagrant will be back in the frame.
After the merger of Phoenix and Nats Freight lines, I can see the Phoenix Investment gang bankrolling the expansion of Phoenix into a major toeholds logistics group and a new ship yard that brings the new player into the market that High Tortuga want to see. The kernel of the ship building enterprise is the Wharf Pip bought in Port Newmar. Pip wheeling and dealing. He finds out that the Toeholds need a new class of ships with very long legs. He manages to bring in High Tortuga as an investor to bringh up a new third player into the market. High Tortuga puts Alison Pitman on the board. She also brings her partner Ernst Pankow into the operation, who liaise with the Phoenix core team to come up with a new ship designs that is much more efficient and just what is needed in the new high growth market.
Nats is running the new Port Newmar Engineering School together with Stevens to produce loads of new and much needed engineers for the fast growing Toe Holds. They continue their research manage to find a way to dump the excess heat of the Mega power plant into hyperspace. This would allow the implementation of jump capable modular stations for resource extraction and processing.
Malachai Vagrant will try to get a piece of the action and try to block Phoenix yard from getting the High Tortuga grant. He tries to wreck Phoenix Yard’s business by excluding them supplying ships into the highline (analogue Boeing trying to sue Bombardier out of the US market).
He might even manage to steal the new secret power generation technology and bankroll Pirate Stations. That needs to be be stopped by the TIC operations in Port Lumenaux.
I think thast should be enough for an entire story arc. Unfortunately, I am not a novelist and the universe belongs to you. So, I pray you will get around to develop a story like this for all your fans to enjoy.
I only wish there would be more science fiction like yours. It is a bright light in the continuous armageddon most of today’s science fiction writes produce.
Thank you and keep up the brilliant work.
Kind Regards