Dennis L McKiernan

Dennis L McKiernan is an American writer best known for his fantasy novel The Iron Tower. McKiernan was born 4 April 1932, in Moberly, Missouri, where he lived until he served the U.S. Air Force for four years, stationed within US territory during the Korean War.

After military service, he attended the University of Missouri and received a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1958 and an M.S. in the same field from Duke University in 1964. He worked as an engineer at AT&T, initially at Western Electric but soon at Bell Laboratories, from 1958 until 1989. In 1977, while riding his motorcycle, Dennis L McKiernan was hit by a car which had crossed the median, and was confined to a bed in traction for many months.

During his recuperation, he boldly began a sequel to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The publisher Doubleday showed an interest in his work and tried to obtain authorization from Tolkien's estate but was denied. Doubleday then asked McKiernan to rewrite his story, placing the characters in a different fictitious world, and also to write a prequel supporting it. The prequel, of necessity, resembles The Lord of the Rings; the decision of Doubleday to issue the work as a trilogy increased that resemblance; and some critics have seen Dennis L McKiernan as simply imitating Tolkien's epic work. McKiernan has subsequently developed stories in the series that followed along a story line different from those that plausibly could have been taken by Tolkien.

In 1989, after early retirement from engineering, McKiernan began writing on a full-time basis. His genres include high fantasy (set in various fictitious worlds), science fiction, horror fiction, and crime fiction. He currently lives in Tucson, Arizona.

• Mithgar
  • Dragondoom (1990)
  • The Eye of the Hunter (1992)
  • Voyage of the Fox Rider (1993)
  • Tales of Mithgar (1994)
  • The Dragonstone (1996)
  • Silver Wolf, Black Falcon (2000)
  • Red Slippers: More Tales of Mithgar (2004)
  • Hel’s Crucible Duology
    • 1 Into the Forge (1997)
    • 2 Into the Fire (1998)
  • Iron Tower Trilogy
    • Iron Tower Trilogy (1986)
    • 1 The Dark Tide (1984)
    • 2 Shadows of Doom (1984)
    • 3 The Darkest Day (1984)
  • The Silver Call
    • The Silver Call (2001)
    • 1 Trek to Kraggen-Cor (1986)
    • 2 The Brega Path (1986)

• Once Upon/Faery
  • 1 Once Upon a Winters Night (2002)
  • 2 Once Upon a Summer Day (2005)
  • 3 Once Upon an Autumn Eve (2006)
  • 5 Once Upon a Spring Morn (2006)

Reurn from Dennis L McKiernan to Biographies

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