Lavie Tidhar Books In Order

Publication Order of Anti-Matter of Britain Quartet Books

Publication Order of The Bookman Histories Books

Publication Order of Central Station Books

Publication Order of Gorel of Goliris Books

Publication Order of Judge Dee Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Graphic Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of The Apex Book of World SF Books

Publication Order of Zion's Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Lavie Tidhar is a bestselling science fiction and fantasy author best known for combining all manner of genres. He has combined genres ranging from autobiographies, historical detective, science fiction, poetry and thriller fiction.

“The Financial Times” and “The Guardian” have compared his writing to that of Philip K. Dick, while Locus compared it to that of Kurt Vonnegut. He has won several awards over the years including the World Fantasy Award, the Neuko Prize, the Campbell Award, and the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize among others.
Apart from the more than twenty one novels he has written, he is also the author of several collections, anthologies, novellas, and has also contributed to several series. Given his profile, he has appeared in several media including on “BBC Radio London,” and “Channel 4 News.”

He has also made live speaking appearances at the Singapore Writers Festival, the Ministry of Defense, English PEN, and Cambridge University. Tidhar has also worked as a “Washington Post” book columnist and his work has appeared in “The Vanuatu Daily Post,” the “Washington Post,” “SFX i09,” “Nature” and “The Independent.”

He currently makes his home in London, where he is a visiting writer in residence and professor at the American International University.

Growing up on a kibbutz in Israel, Lavie Tidhar read a lot of American science fiction translated into Hebrew.
He found something very liberating in science fiction as he felt it was very rebellious and counter cultural. He believes that it was this that held the greatest appeal as he was never one to follow societal conventions.

Even as a child reading science fiction, Lavie knew that he wanted to grow up and become an author. He always thought that writing was an amazing thing to do. He figured out quite early that he needed to have a lot of experience if he was going to have something to write about.

As Tidhar embarked on a traveling spree, he went on to live in many places across the world, many of which inform the characters and settings in his novels.. Tidhar has been very lucky to live in some remote places from where he has written his novels.

He penned “Osama” his breakout bestseller and winner of the World Fantasy award while he was resident in Laos in Cambodia. He started writing in 2002 but it would take about three years before he published the novella “An Occupation of Angels” in 2005

As for his biggest influences, Lavie Tidhar cites Philip K. Dick as the most influential.
Over the years, he absorbed the obscure and weird stuff from the likes of CL. Moore, Clifford Simak and Cordwainer Smith. He also likes the secret history writing of Tim Powers and the old science fiction novels from the likes of Delanmy and Zelazny.

While science fiction is changing a lot and he bemoans the decreasing freedom, he still does get a lot of new things that get him excited when he reads new material as editor of the “Apex Book of World Science Fiction” anthology.

As for why he combines everything from science fiction, espionage, fantasy, and pulp fiction style stories, Lavie says that he sees genres as tools that he can employ depending on the task at hand. He has a predilection for some genres such as noir but often has the need to challenge himself to try out new things.

In this regard, he has also worked with Paul McCaffrey the artist and Adler from “Titan Comics.” For Lavie, it is all about what is worth saying or what is important and interesting.

Lavie Tidhar’s novel “The Bookman,” is the ultimate steampunk novel that should be the standard for judging other steampunk works.
It opens to an orphan living in London during the 19th century, where sophisticated automatons interact and walk among human beings, the royal family has been replaced by reptilian lizards from space, whales sing and swim in the Thames, and the skies over London are peppered with silk blimp balloons.

The orphan works at a bookstore, lives a very simple life and is in love with Lucy, a beautiful woman who works with whales in the Thames. But then she is killed in a terror attack and he is forced to work with the perpetrator for a chance that they could get her back.

Tidhar does not write something so revolutionary but he is a master at worldbuilding, which makes for a beautiful story. He doesn’t just add classic steampunk elements to the historical 19th century but he also weaves in well loved and memorable characters in the telling of his story.

Using popular tropes from authors such as HG Wells, Jules Verne and Holmesian canon, this is a fast absorbing read with clean prose and fast pacing.

“Camera Obscura” by Lavie Tidhar picks up from where the debut left off. Just like in “The Bookman,” the author makes use of historical and fictional characters from the past to make for a delightful story. The story that stars Mylady De Winter begins in Asia before it transforms into a murder mystery in Paris.

There are two intertwined narratives in the novel with one following Kai, an Asian boy who possesses a strange alien figurine. The other thread is about the adventures of Mylady De Winter in a dark, fascinating and dangerous Paris.

During this time, France had strange rulers that took power during the Quiet Revolution. The country is ruled by a secretive council that works with several disreputable characters who do their dirty work.

Mylady is one of these characters who finds herselkf working on a murder mystery that is semingly more sinister. In her work, she works with all manner of people from scheming courtiers, members of Chinese secret societies and elements of the Parisian underworld.

Lavie Tidhar’s novel “The Great Game” is a story of intrigue and psycraft set in the same world as the first two novels in the “Bookman Histories” series of novels. He borrows from the likes of Victor Frankenstein and Mycraft Homes as it follows the story of retired secret agent Smith.

Another very interesting character in this novel is the determined and clever agent Lucy. The paths of the two protagonists cross as they go on a journey that is one part crazy, one part James Bond style action and one part tension filled John le Carre.

The wonderful and weird world that Tidhar creates is a part of the appeal of this series which is showcased in this novel in spectacular style.