Aaron Allston

Template:Short description

**Aaron Dale Allston** (December 8, 1960 – February 27, 2014) was an American game designer and author of many science fiction books, notably *Star Wars* novels. His works as a game designer include game supplements for role-playing games, several of which served to establish the basis for products and subsequent development of TSR's *Dungeons & Dragons* game setting Mystara. His later works as a novelist include those of the *X-Wing* series: *Wraith Squadron*, *Iron Fist*, *Solo Command*, *Starfighters of Adumar*, and *Mercy Kill*. He wrote two entries in the *New Jedi Order* series: *Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream* and *Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand*. Allston wrote three of the nine Legacy of the Force novels: *Betrayal*, *Exile*, and *Fury*, and three of the nine Fate of the Jedi novels: *Outcast*, *Backlash*, and *Conviction*.

## Early life and education

Allston was born December 8, 1960, in Corsicana, Texas, to Tom Dale Allston and Rose Binford Boehm. Allston moved all over Texas in his youth and graduated from high school in Denton. An avid fan of science fiction from an early age, by high school he was the secretary and reporter for his high school science fiction club. Allston moved to Austin in 1979 and attended the University of Texas.

## Career

Allston was a circulation manager, assistant editor, and editor of *Space Gamer* magazine, and by 1983 was a full-time freelance game designer. He served as editor of *Space Gamer* from issues 52 (June 1982) to 65 (September/October 1983),[*citation needed*]

```
and as editor of *Fantasy Gamer* for the first issue (August/September 1983) and co-editor of the second issue (December/January 1984).[*citation needed*]
During Allston's tenure as editor, the magazine won the H.G. Wells Award for Best Professional Role-Playing Magazine in 1982. Allston authored the book *Autoduel Champions* in 1983, which crossed over *Champions* by Hero Games and *Car Wars* by Steve Jackson Games. Allston helped launch the *Fantasy Gamer* spinoff magazine. He co-wrote the computer game *Savage Empire*, which was named Best PC Fantasy RPG by *Game Player* magazine in 1990. He authored the *Rules Cyclopedia* (1991), a revision and compilation for the *Dungeons & Dragons* game. He branched into fiction, and in the mid-1990s wrote five novels.

```

He began writing for the *Star Wars X-Wing* series in 1997, when the primary sequence writer Michael Stackpole could not handle the entire workload. Allston produced a new edition of *Champions* for Hero Games in 2002. In 2006, he launched *The Legacy of the Force* series with a hardcover entitled *Betrayal*.

In 2005, Allston made his directorial debut on the independent film *Deadbacks*, which he also wrote and produced. The film went into post-production but was never released.

Allston lived in Round Rock, Texas. For a short time, he worked for the *Austin American-Statesman* newspaper.

## Health issues and death

In early April 2009 Allston had a heart attack and underwent an emergency quadruple bypass surgery, while on the book signing tour for *Outcast*,[*citation needed*]

```
the first book in the *Fate of the Jedi* series.

```

On February 27, 2014, Allston collapsed during an appearance at VisionCon in Branson, Missouri, apparently from heart failure. He died later that day in Springfield, Missouri, at the age of 53.

## Selected bibliography

### Stand-alone titles

* *Web of Danger* (1988)
* *Galatea In 2-D* (1993)
* *Double Jeopardy* (1994)
* *Thunder of the Captains* (with H. Lisle) (1996)
* *Wrath of the Princes* (with H. Lisle) (1997)

#### *Doc Sidhe*

* *Doc Sidhe* (1995)
* *Sidhe-Devil* (2001)

### *Star Wars*

#### *X-Wing*

* *Wraith Squadron* (1998)
* *Iron Fist* (1998)
* *Solo Command* (1999)
* *Starfighters of Adumar* (1999)
* *Mercy Kill* (2012)

#### *The New Jedi Order*

* *Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream* (2002)
* *Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand* (2002)

#### *Legacy of the Force*

* *Betrayal* (2006)
* *Exile* (2007)
* *Fury* (2007)

#### *Fate of the Jedi*

* *Outcast* (2009)
* *Backlash* (2010)
* *Conviction* (2011)

### *Terminator*

* *Terminator 3 Terminator Dreams* (2003)
* *Terminator Hunt* (2004)

### Role-playing games

* *The Circle and M.E.T.E.* (1983)
* *Autoduel Champions* (1983)
* *Lands of Mystery* (1985)
* *Treasure Hunt* (1986)
* *GAZ1: The Grand Duchy of Karameikos* (1987)
* *Mythic Greece (Rolemaster)* (1988)
* *Strike Force* (1988)
* *GURPS Supers School of Hard Knocks* (1989)
* *Dungeon Master's Design Kit* (1988)
* *The Complete Fighter's Handbook* (1989)
* *Dawn of the Emperors: Thyatis and Alphatia* (1989)
* *Ninja Hero* (1990)
* *Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia* (1991)
* *Poor Wizard's Almanac & Book of Facts* (1992)
* *Wrath of the Immortals* (1992)
* *The Complete Ninja's Handbook* (1995)
* *Champions*, Fifth Edition (2002)

### Short story anthologies

* 2013 *A Hero by Any Other Name* (Short story anthology edited by Jean Rabe)

## Sources

* Appelcline, Shannon (2011). *Designers & Dragons*. Mongoose Publishing.

## References

{{#vardefine:numCol|2}}

1. ↑ Edward Nawotka (2008-04-24). "Nebula Awards puts Austin and Texas writers at center of science fiction world". *Dallas Morning News*. Archived from the original on 2009-05-02.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
2. ↑ Roqoo Depot: "Happy Birthday, Aaron Allston"
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.dentonfuneralhome.net/obituaries/Aaron-Allston
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Jeff Salamon (May 19, 2005). "So a guy walks into the Mos Eisley cantina...". *Austin American-Statesman*. p. E1.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
5. ↑ Denton High School Annual "Bronco 1977", 133
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Peter F. Panzeri Jr. (2006-07-01). 32nd Hall of Fame Inductees Announced (PDF). Talsorian. Archived from the original on 2012-02-12. Retrieved on 2008-12-04.
7. ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11  (2004) “Allston, Aaron”, *Writers Directory 2005*. Retrieved on June 27, 2013. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
8. ↑ Appelcline 2011, p. 146.
9. ↑ http://www.sjgames.com/ill/archive/2014-02-28
10. ↑ Appelcline 2011, p. 27.
11. ↑ Appelcline 2011, p. 152.
12. ↑ https://plus.google.com/+AllenVarney/posts/8ogyNeuYUgY
13. ↑ Mike Shea (December 2007). "Aaron Allston". *Texas Monthly*. p. 74.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
14. ↑ Aaron Allston in the Hospital. Archived from the original on 10 June 2009. Retrieved on 2009-06-04.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 TheForce.Net story on Allston's death
16. ↑ http://www.locusmag.com/News/2014/02/aaron-allston-1960-2014/
17. ↑ Richard Gawel (September 19, 2012). "A short time from now in a library not too far away...". *Suburban Trends*. p. D1.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Swan, Rick (February 1996). Anthony J. Bryant (ed.). "Role-playing Reviews". *Dragon*. TSR, Inc. (226): 94.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

## External links

Template:Commons
Template:Wikiquote

* Error on call to Template:cite web: Parameters **archiveurl** and **archivedate** must be both specified or both omitted. Pen & Paper listing for Aaron Allston.
* Aaron Allston @ FantasticFiction.co.uk
* Aaron Allston at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
* Interview with Aaron Allston, Author, "Star Wars: "Fate of the Jedi: Conviction
* Aaron Allston at Find a Grave**Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 23: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).**

**Lua error in Module:Authority\_control at line 967: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).**