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John Shirley

Goodreads Author

Born

in Houston, Texas, The United States

Website

https://john-shirley.com/

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Horror

Member Since

November 2013

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John Shirley won the Bram Stoker Award for his story collection Black Butterflies, and is the author of numerous novels, including the best-seller DEMONS, the cyberpunk classics CITY COME A-WALKIN', ECLIPSE, and BLACK GLASS, and his newest novels STORMLAND and A SORCERER OF ATLANTIS.

He is also a screenwriter, having written for television and movies; he was co-screenwriter of THE CROW. He has been several Year's Best anthologies including Prime Books' THE YEAR'S BEST DARK FANTASY AND HORROR anthology, and his nwest story collection is IN EXTREMIS: THE MOST EXTREME SHORT STORIES OF JOHN SHIRLEY. His novel BIOSHOCK: RAPTURE telling the story of the creation and undoing of Rapture, from the hit videogame BIOSHOCK is out from TOR books; his Hal ...more

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Combine Editions
John Shirley’s books

Average rating: 3.88 · 51,990 ratings · 4,810 reviews · 338 distinct works • Similar authors

	BioShock: Rapture 3.99 avg rating — 12,106 ratings — published 2011 — 23 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
	Halo: Broken Circle 3.89 avg rating — 2,131 ratings — published 2014 — 10 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
	Constantine 3.99 avg rating — 1,082 ratings — published 2005 — 8 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
	Eclipse (A Song Called Youth, #1) 3.91 avg rating — 703 ratings — published 1985 — 20 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
	Batman: Dead White 3.53 avg rating — 745 ratings — published 2006 — 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
	Grimm: The Icy Touch (Grimm, #1) 3.70 avg rating — 669 ratings — published 2013 — 12 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
	City Come a-Walkin' by John Shirley (Goodreads Author), William Gibson (Introduction) 3.78 avg rating — 619 ratings — published 1980 — 18 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
	Wetbones 3.76 avg rating — 519 ratings — published 1991 — 19 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
	Demons 3.26 avg rating — 527 ratings — published 2000 — 12 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
	Black Butterflies 3.80 avg rating — 428 ratings — published 1998 — 8 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 John Shirley…

762 posts
John Shirley's Blog

alternative lullabies, for naughty children.

alternative lullabies, for naughty children.
#1
The Great Gray Larva

When you’re ready for sleep,
whisper to the light
ask that the Great Gray Larva
won’t visit you tonight

it waits till you sleep
till your eyelids drop
then creeps and slides
to harvest its crop

though it’s ever so big
it is supple as smoke
to slide under the door
to visit small folk

and oh the marvels
and oh the sights
of the Gray Gray Larvals
w

Series by John Shirley

A Song Called Youth (3 books)
by

John Shirley (Goodreads Author)

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,467 ratings

Borderlands (3 books)
by

John Shirley (Goodreads Author)

3.57 avg rating — 682 ratings

John Constantine Hellblazer Novels (2 books)
by

John Shirley (Goodreads Author)

3.76 avg rating — 381 ratings

Cleve Trewe (3 books)
by

John Shirley (Goodreads Author)

4.28 avg rating — 280 ratings

The Crow: Death & Rebirth (1 book)
by

John Shirley (Goodreads Author)

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating

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John is Currently Reading

John Shirley is currently reading

Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years

by Carl Sandburg

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Aug 08, 2025 11:33PM

John Shirley is currently reading

رباعيات خيام

by Omar Khayyám

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Jul 19, 2025 12:08AM

John Shirley is currently reading

Bloody Newton

by Johnny D. Boggs

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Jul 13, 2025 12:04AM

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John’s Recent Updates

John Shirley wrote a new blog post He failed to pass the teaching along? GURDJIEFF: Mysticism, Contemplation and ExercisesBy Joseph AzizeOxford University Press 2020Reviewed by John Shirley Years ago, I wrote a letter to Co Read more of this blog post »
Sep 12, 2026 02:00AM · like
John Shirley is accepting questions on their profile page.
Aug 17, 2026 11:16PM · Be the first to ask John Shirley a question
John Shirley rated a book it was amazing Treasure Mountain (Sacketts Book 13) by Louis L'Amour	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
Aug 12, 2026 05:56PM · like
John Shirley is currently reading Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years by Carl Sandburg	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
Aug 08, 2025 11:33PM · like
John Shirley is currently reading رباعيات خيام by Omar Khayyám	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
Jul 19, 2025 12:08AM · like
John Shirley is currently reading Bloody Newton by Johnny D. Boggs	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
Jul 13, 2025 12:04AM · like
John Shirley is currently reading Soldier's Farewell by Johnny D. Boggs	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
Jul 13, 2025 12:02AM · like
John Shirley is currently reading The Killing Shot by Johnny D. Boggs	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
Jul 12, 2025 11:55PM · like
John Shirley is currently reading Grant by Ron Chernow	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
May 13, 2025 11:30PM · like
John Shirley is currently reading The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss by David Bentley Hart	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
May 07, 2025 12:50AM · like

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Quotes by John Shirley (?)

“No Gods Or Kings. Only Man. -Andrew Ryan”
― John Shirley, BioShock: Rapture

tags: objectivism, philosophy, religion, science

48 likes

“If the modern world were a patient in my care... I would diagnose it suicidal." - Dr. Sofia Lamb”
― John Shirley, BioShock: Rapture

tags: bioshock, game, rapture, shirley

36 likes

“A man must make of his life a ladder that he never ceases to climb -- if you're not rising, you are slipping down the rungs, my friend.”
― John Shirley, BioShock: Rapture

tags: andrew-ryan, bioshock, prosperity

19 likes

See all John Shirley's quotes »

Polls

What horror read shall we have for our 4th quarter of 2012 group read?

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

3 votes, 60.0%

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

2 votes, 40.0%

Song of Kali by Dan Simmons

0 votes, 0.0%

Demons by John Shirley

0 votes, 0.0%

Weaveworld by Clive Barker

0 votes, 0.0%

5 total votes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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The Sword and Laser: Any fans of tie-in fiction?	93	264	Jul 18, 2012 03:45PM
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The Sword and Laser: S&L Podcast - #261 - The Restaurant at the End of the Barnes & Noble	26	148	Jul 14, 2016 06:25AM
Stress Free Readi...: #53: itchy's Passport	38	16	Aug 28, 2016 09:58PM

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John Shirley

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