Doyle, Noreen

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DOYLE, Noreen

PERSONAL: Female. Education: University of Liverpool, M.A.; Texas A&M University, M.A.

ADDRESSES: Agent—Linn Prentis, 155 East 116th St., 2F/2R, New York, NY 10028. E-mail—Wenamun@aol.com.

CAREER: Scholar of marine archaeology and anthropology; writer.

MEMBER: International Association of Egyptologists, Egypt Exploration Society, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi.

AWARDS, HONORS: Top-ten science fiction and fantasy title designation, Amazon.com, 2004, for The First Heroes: New Tales of the Bronze Age.

WRITINGS:

(Editor with Harry Turtledove, and contributor) The First Heroes: New Tales of the Bronze Age, Tor (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor of short stories to anthologies, including Bruce Coville, editor, Bruce Coville's UFOs, Avon Books (New York, NY), 2000; Coville, editor, Bruce Coville's Strange Worlds, Avon Books, 2000; Mike Ashley, editor, The Mammoth Book of Egyptian Whodunnits, Carroll & Graf (New York, NY), 2002; and Harry Turtledove, editor, Alternate Generals II, Baen (New York, NY), 2002. Contributor of short stories to periodicals, including Century, Realms of Fantasy, and Weird Tales; contributor to Encyclopedia of Themes in Science Fiction and Fantasy and Encyclopedia of Storytelling. Editor, The Artifact (newsletter of Institute for Marine Archaeology).

WORK IN PROGRESS: Young adult fantasy novels; short stories.

SIDELIGHTS: Noreen Doyle's unconventional academic background—marine archaeology—has inspired her to write short stories and novellas about ancient cultures and their beliefs. One of Doyle's novellas, Ankhtifi the Brave Is Dying, appeared in a collection she co-edited with Harry Turtledove, titled The First Heroes: New Tales of the Bronze Age. All of the works in The First Heroes are set in the Bronze Age, but they differ widely in presentation, in setting, and in the culture they explore. Doyle's story, for instance, concerns the last days of a powerful politician of ancient Egypt who reminisces about his climb to power during the First Intermediate Period. Doyle's short stories "The Execration," "Horizon," and "Shadow of the Pyramid" are also set in ancient Egypt, revealing the author's familiarity with that civilization.

In a Library Journal review of The First Heroes, Jackie Cassada noted that the tales "bring the Bronze Age to life," while Roland Green, writing in Booklist, felt that Doyle and Turtledove "contribute personally to the overall quality" of the work. A Publishers Weekly critic concluded that, while some of the stories in the collection offer "mere historical curiosities," others "amount to beautiful and durable artifacts."