Chris Beckett’s Followers (340)

Chris Beckett

Born

Oxford, The United Kingdom

Website

http://www.chris-beckett.com/

Twitter

chriszbeckett

Genre

Science Fiction

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Chris Beckett is a British social worker, university lecturer, and science fiction author.

Beckett was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford and Bryanston School in Dorset, England. He holds a BSc (Honours) in Psychology from the University of Bristol (1977), a CQSW from the University of Wales (1981), a Diploma in Advanced Social Work from Goldsmiths College, University of London (1977), and an MA in English Studies from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge (2005).

He has been a senior lecturer in social work at APU since 2000. He was a social worker for eight years and the manager of a children and families social work team for ten years. Beckett has authored or co-authored several textbooks and scholarly articles on social work.

Beckett be Chris Beckett is a British social worker, university lecturer, and science fiction author.

Beckett was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford and Bryanston School in Dorset, England. He holds a BSc (Honours) in Psychology from the University of Bristol (1977), a CQSW from the University of Wales (1981), a Diploma in Advanced Social Work from Goldsmiths College, University of London (1977), and an MA in English Studies from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge (2005).

He has been a senior lecturer in social work at APU since 2000. He was a social worker for eight years and the manager of a children and families social work team for ten years. Beckett has authored or co-authored several textbooks and scholarly articles on social work.

Beckett began writing SF short stories in 2005. His first SF novel, The Holy Machine, was published in 2007. He published his second novel in 2009, Marcher, based on a short story of the same name.

Paul Di Filippo reviewed The Holy Machine for Asimov's, calling it "One of the most accomplished novel debuts to attract my attention in some time..." Michael Levy of Strange Horizons called it "a beautifully written and deeply thoughtful tale about a would-be scientific utopia that has been bent sadly out of shape by both external and internal pressures." Tony Ballantyne wrote in Interzone: "Let’s waste no time: this book is incredible."

His latest novel, Dark Eden, was hailed by Stuart Kelly of The Guardian as "a superior piece of the theologically nuanced science fiction".

Dark Eden was shortlisted for the 2012 BSFA Award for Best Novel.

On 27 March 2013 it was announced that Julian Pavia at Broadway Books, part of the Crown Publishing Group, had acquired the US rights to Dark Eden and Gela's Ring from Michael Carlisle at Inkwell Management and Vanessa Kerr, Rights Director at Grove Atlantic in London, for a high five-figure sum (in US dollars).

Beckett comments on his official website: "Although I always wanted to be a writer, I did not deliberately set out to be a science fiction writer in particular. My stories are usually about my own life, things I see happening around me and things I struggle to make sense of. But, for some reason, they always end up being science fiction. I like the freedom it gives me to invent things and play with ideas. (If you going to make up the characters, why not make up the world as well?) It’s what works for me."
...more

283 posts
Chris Beckett's Blog

Chris Beckett isn't a Goodreads Author (yet), but they do have a blog, so here are some recent posts imported from their feed.

The Three Classes

In a certain country the people are divided by law into just three classes: the Owners, the Experts and the Workers, the precise boundaries between them being set down in the relevant statutes. At one point the Owners, who were at that time basically warlords and protection racketeers, were in charge of everything. However, as time went on, the Experts – merchants and what we might now call profes

Combine Editions
Chris Beckett’s books

Average rating: 3.78 · 17,082 ratings · 2,144 reviews · 104 distinct works • Similar authors

	Dark Eden (Dark Eden, #1) 3.78 avg rating — 8,420 ratings — published 2012 — 29 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mother of Eden (Dark Eden, #2) 3.82 avg rating — 2,444 ratings — published 2015 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Daughter of Eden (Dark Eden, #3) 3.98 avg rating — 1,527 ratings — published 2016 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Holy Machine 3.60 avg rating — 951 ratings — published 2003	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Beneath the World, a Sea 3.69 avg rating — 742 ratings — published 2019 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	America City 3.80 avg rating — 595 ratings — published 2017 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Two Tribes 3.39 avg rating — 307 ratings — published 2020 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tomorrow 3.47 avg rating — 194 ratings — published 1991 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Marcher 3.52 avg rating — 170 ratings — published 2009 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Peacock Cloak 3.91 avg rating — 137 ratings — published 2013 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Chris Beckett…

Series by Chris Beckett

Dark Eden (3 books)
by

Chris Beckett

3.82 avg rating — 12,391 ratings

Quotes by Chris Beckett (?)

“Nothing looks more lovely than something that’s about to end, and that’s true even if you yourself are going to be the cause of its ending.”
― Chris Beckett, Dark Eden

14 likes

“Watch out for men who want to turn everything into a story that’s all about them. There will always be a few of them, and once one of them starts, another one of them will want to fight with him.”
― Chris Beckett, Dark Eden

8 likes

“Why do we struggle so much? Why do we demand so much of life, when the happiest moments are when nothing is happening at all?”
― Chris Beckett, The Holy Machine

tags: life-lessons

8 likes

See all Chris Beckett's quotes »

Polls

OCTOBER SCIENCE FICTION: This poll decides which two books will go on to the run-off poll for the October Science Fiction Book-of-the-month.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

20 votes, 19.2%

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

20 votes, 19.2%

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

16 votes, 15.4%

Sundiver by David Brin

14 votes, 13.5%

Shon'jir by C.J. Cherryh

11 votes, 10.6%

Dark Eden by Chris Beckett

7 votes, 6.7%

Blue Remembered Earth by Alastair Reynolds

7 votes, 6.7%

Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear

6 votes, 5.8%

Idlewild by Nick Sagan

3 votes, 2.9%

104 total votes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
SciFi and Fantasy...: Best First Science Fiction Novel by a Little-Known Author	36	455	Apr 14, 2013 06:50AM
Sci-fi and Heroic...: 2013 Arthur C Clarke Award Winner Announced	2	45	May 01, 2013 06:55PM
The Seasonal Read...: Spring Challenge 2013 Completed Tasks - DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS IN THIS TOPIC!	2808	778	May 31, 2013 09:02PM
Beyond Reality: Nominations for October!	25	49	Jul 20, 2013 01:11PM
2025 Reading Chal...: Karina's 2013 corner	13	76	Oct 01, 2013 07:42AM
2025 Reading Chal...: Karina - 105 books in 2013	65	189	Nov 15, 2013 09:50AM
2025 Reading Chal...: 3rd Quarter Challenge: Authors!	151	188	Dec 29, 2013 02:14AM
Dragons & Jetpacks: Books of the Month - March 2014 suggestions	24	73	Feb 16, 2014 11:25AM
Reading with Style: SP 2014 RwS Completed Tasks - Spring 2014	1052	207	May 31, 2014 09:05PM

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Chris Beckett’s Followers (340)

Chris Beckett

283 postsChris Beckett's Blog

The Three Classes

Combine EditionsChris Beckett’s books

Series by Chris Beckett

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

283 posts
Chris Beckett's Blog

Combine Editions
Chris Beckett’s books