American science fiction writer John Varley (John Herbert Varley) was born and raised in Texas. After college, where John studied physics and English, he, by his own admission, changed four different jobs, but did not stay at any for more than three months, because the only thing he really wanted was to write. John Varley is without a doubt one of the most talented American science fiction writers, but alas, far from the most famous of them. Varley's first novel [Ophiuchi Hotline] was published in 1977, although it was nominated for a number of fantastic awards (including Hugo and Nebula), but did not receive a single one. This subsequently became a hallmark of his books. They were damn good, but too often they came across works that were simply brilliant.