John Barnes

John Barnes (born 1957) is an American science fiction author and academic. Raised in Angola, Indiana, he holds degrees from Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Montana, and a PhD in theater from the University of Pittsburgh, and has worked in fields ranging from systems analysis to statistical semiotics alongside writing. He is best known for the Thousand Cultures series, following the effects of interstellar-scale cultural contact and globalization across four novels beginning with A Million Open Doors, and for the post-apocalyptic Directive 51/Daybreak trilogy, in which a decentralized movement triggers civilizational collapse. He also co-authored Encounter with Tiber and The Return with astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and wrote young-adult science fiction including The Duke of Uranium and the Printz Honor book Tales of the Madman Underground. His fiction has received multiple Hugo and Nebula Award nominations.