Hannu Rajaniemi

Hannu Rajaniemi
Born	(1978-03-09) 9 March 1978 (age 46) Ylivieska, Finland
Occupation	Writer, entrepreneur
Nationality	Finnish
Period	2003–present
Genre	Science fiction, fantasy

Hannu Rajaniemi (born 9 March 1978) is a Finnish American author of science fiction and fantasy, who writes in both English and Finnish. He lives in Oakland, California, and was a founding director of a commercial research organisation ThinkTank Maths.^[1]

Rajaniemi was born in Ylivieska, Finland in 1978. He holds a BSc in Mathematics from the University of Oulu, a Certificate of Advanced Study in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in Mathematical Physics from the University of Edinburgh. Prior to starting his PhD candidature, he completed his national service as a research scientist for the Finnish Defence Forces.^[1]

While pursuing his PhD in Edinburgh, Rajaniemi joined Writers' Bloc,^[2] a writers' group in Edinburgh that organizes semi-regular spoken word performances and counts Charlie Stross amongst its members.

Early works included his first published short story "Shibuya no Love"^[3] in 2003 and his short story "Deus Ex Homine" in Nova Scotia, a 2005 anthology of Scottish science fiction and fantasy, which caught the attention of his current literary agent, John Jarrold.^[4][5]

Rajaniemi gained attention in October 2008 when John Jarrold secured a three-book deal for him with Gollancz,^[6] on the basis of only twenty-four double-spaced pages.^[4][7] His debut novel, The Quantum Thief, was published in September 2010 by Gollancz in Britain^[8] and was published in May 2011 by Tor Books in the U.S.^[9][10] The novel has been nominated for the 2011 Locus Award for Best First Novel.^[11] A sequel, The Fractal Prince, was published in September 2012 by Gollancz in Britain, and in October 2012 by Tor in the U.S.^[12] The third book in the series is called The Causal Angel, and was published in July 2014 by Gollancz in the U.K. and by Tor in the U.S.^[13]

Rajaniemi has stated that the literary works of Jules Verne originally inspired both his career in science, as well as his science-fiction writing.^[14] Other influences include Maurice Leblanc, Arthur Conan Doyle and architecture blogger Geoff Manaugh.^[15] He also co-founded Helix nanotechnologies.^[16]

• 2012 Tähtivaeltaja Award, winner (best science fiction book published in Finnish) for The Quantum Thief.^[17]
• 2011 Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation Awards, winner, Short Form category, translation of Hannu Rajaniemi's "Elegy for a Young Elk".^[18]
• 2011 Locus Award for Best First Novel, nominee, The Quantum Thief^[11]
• 2011 John W. Campbell Memorial Award, third place, The Quantum Thief^[19]
• 2013 John W. Campbell Memorial Award, nominee, The Fractal Prince^[20]

Rajaniemi lives in San Francisco, California with his wife.^{[21][citation needed]} Before moving to the U.S., he lived in the United Kingdom for over ten years.^[22]

• Summerland (2018, ISBN 978-1473203273) ^[23]

• The Quantum Thief (2010, ISBN 978-0-575-08888-7)
  • Third place, John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel^[24]

• The Fractal Prince (2012, ISBN 978-0-575-08891-7)
• The Causal Angel (2014, ISBN 978-0-575-08896-2)^[25]

• Words of Birth and Death (2006, Bloc Press), as a limited edition chapbook.^[26]
  • "The Viper Blanket"
  • "Barley Child"
  • "Fisher of Men"
• Hannu Rajaniemi: Collected Fiction (2015)^[27] ISBN 978-1-61696-192-3

A partial list follows.

• "Shibuya no Love"
  • Published in futurismic.com, 2003
  • Available online
• "Deus Ex Homine"
  • First anthologized in Nova Scotia: New Scottish Speculative Fiction, 2005, ISBN 978-1-84183-086-5
  • The Year's Best Science Fiction 23, 2006, edited by Gardner Dozois, ISBN 0-312-35334-0
  • Year's Best SF 11, 2006, edited by David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, ISBN 0-06-087341-8
• "His Master's Voice"
  • Published in Interzone 218, October 2008
  • Available online in English and Finnish
  • Audio version available online as a podcast on the Escape Pod (episode #227) and Starship Sofa (Aural Delights No. 98)
• "Elegy for a Young Elk"
  • Published in Subterranean, Spring 2010
  • Won the award for short from in the 2011 Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation Awards.^[28]
• "The Server and the Dragon"
  • Published in Engineering Infinity, edited by Jonathan Strahan, December 2010^[29][30][31]
• "Invisible Planets"
  • Published in Reach for Infinity, edited by Jonathan Strahan, May 2014^[32]
• "Unchained: A story of love, loss, and blockchain"
  • Published in MIT Technology Review, April 25, 2018.

• Hannu Rajaniemi on Twitter
• Hannu Rajaniemi at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database