James S. A. Corey is the pen name used by collaborators Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, authors of the science fiction series The Expanse. The first and last name are taken from Abraham's and Franck's middle names, respectively, and S. A. are the initials of Abraham's daughter.[1] The name is also meant to emulate many of the space opera writers of the 1970s.[2] In Germany, their books are published under the name James Corey with the middle initials omitted.[3]
Between each pair of full-length books, they published shorter works in the series. The first, a short story entitled The Butcher of Anderson Station: A Story of The Expanse was released as an eBook in October 2011. A 69-page novella, Gods of Risk followed, and was released as an eBook in September 2012.[14] A short story entitled Drive was released in November 2012 as a part of the anthology Edge of Infinity.[15] Another novella, The Churn, was released April 29, 2014,[16] and other novellas have followed. All are set in The Expanse series.
The authors have also written a Star Wars novel, Honor Among Thieves, published by Random House in 2014, and a short story unrelated to The Expanse titled A Man Without Honor, included in the anthology Old Mars, edited by George R. R. Martin.[17]
In May 2018, Orbit Books announced Corey's new space opera trilogy.[18] In November 2023, the release date of The Mercy of Gods, first book of The Captive's War series was announced.[19][20] The first chapter of the book was published on May 28, 2024 on Polygon.[21] The book, released on August 6, 2024, became an instant New York Times bestseller.[22]
In September 2023, the duo started writing a new novel, with their collaborative process being open to their Patreon audience.[23][20] The project James S. A. Corey Writes a Novel was inspired by Harlan Ellison's experiment of writing in the bookshop windows.[24]