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John Twelve Hawks

Goodreads Author

Website

http://www.johntwelvehawks.com

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Influences

George Orwell, Primo Levi, Philip K. Dick

Member Since

February 2026

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John Twelve Hawks is the New York Times bestselling author of the Fourth Realm Trilogy, SPARK, and CERTAINTY.

His 2005 novel THE TRAVELER imagined a world of total data surveillance — the Vast Machine — eight years before the Snowden disclosures revealed how close that fiction had come to reality.

Along with his novels, Hawks has written AGAINST AUTHORITY: Freedom and the Rise of the Surveillance States and the essay WRITING AS THE SKY RAINS DEATH.

A former war correspondent who reported on genocide and extreme violence, Hawks remains one of the few major American novelists to have built a public career while refusing photographs, appearances, and the disclosure of his legal identity.

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Combine Editions
John Twelve Hawks’s books

Average rating: 3.79 · 25,943 ratings · 2,403 reviews · 12 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Traveler (Fourth Realm, #1) 3.85 avg rating — 12,214 ratings — published 2005 — 93 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Dark River (Fourth Realm, #2) 3.79 avg rating — 6,462 ratings — published 2007 — 38 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Golden City (Fourth Realm, #3) 3.60 avg rating — 4,760 ratings — published 2009 — 46 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Spark 3.72 avg rating — 2,032 ratings — published 2014 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Certainty 3.93 avg rating — 231 ratings — published 2026 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Against Authority 4.13 avg rating — 177 ratings — published 2014 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	How to Free Your Mind in the Trump Era 4.13 avg rating — 64 ratings — published 2017	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Writing as the Sky Rains Death 4.20 avg rating — 30 ratings — published 2021 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Fourth Realm Trilogy (Fourth Realm, #1-3) 4.70 avg rating — 23 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	How We Live Now 4.15 avg rating — 20 ratings — published 2005	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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25 posts
John Twelve Hawks's Blog

BURIED ALIVE

Diana was a small woman with thinning grey hair, dark brown eyes, and smile lines around her mouth. Born in America to Italian parents, she had lived in Italy during the war and then returned to the States, where she became a professor of French literature. Although she had traveled all over the world, this graceful lady was always focused on this moment, this conversation, and this person sit

Series by John Twelve Hawks

Fourth Realm (3 books)
by

John Twelve Hawks (Goodreads Author)

3.79 avg rating — 23,459 ratings

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John’s Recent Updates

John Twelve Hawks wrote a new blog post BURIED ALIVE Diana was a small woman with thinning grey hair, dark brown eyes, and smile lines around her mouth. Born in America to Italian parents, she had lived Read more of this blog post »
Aug 21, 2026 07:10AM · like
John Twelve Hawks and 39 other people liked Zara Wynn's review of Great and Unfortunate Things: "Fantastic book. He is like an English Forest gump, this is fiction right?"
Aug 13, 2026 08:33AM · see review
John Twelve Hawks and 44 other people liked B SIDDLE's review of Great and Unfortunate Things: "Most people reviewing this book have done so before recent revelations. However, even without knowing the full extent of the lies that Mr Arday has told to embellish his CV, I cannot believe that any sensible person did not question the implausible c" Read more of this review »
Aug 13, 2026 08:33AM · see review
John Twelve Hawks and 5 other people liked Liz Mandeville's review of Certainty: "John Twelve Hawks has created a future world in which a global pandemic has devastated the global population and left the survivors struggling to live. Many people escape their marginalized lives by migrating to “boroughs” or travel centers, where th" Read more of this review »
Jun 04, 2026 01:26AM · see review
John Twelve Hawks made a comment on Demetri Papadimitropoulos’s review of Certainty " Thank you, Demetri. This isn't a review. It's a literary essay. You analyzed the book at a level that most professional reviewers at major outlets rar ...more "
Apr 22, 2026 03:34AM · see review
John Twelve Hawks answered Goodreads's question: What’s the best thing about being a writer? I take thousands of experiences and turn them into a story. Creating fictions helps me understand reality.
Mar 05, 2026 09:46AM · 2 likes · like
John Twelve Hawks is accepting questions on their profile page.
Mar 04, 2026 02:55PM · Be the first to ask John Twelve Hawks a question

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Quotes by John Twelve Hawks (?)

“If privacy had a gravestone it might read: 'Don't Worry. This Was for Your Own Good.”
― John Twelve Hawks, The Dark River

tags: culture, science-fiction, technology

59 likes

“Life is dangerous. That's what makes it interesting.”
― John Twelve Hawks, The Traveler

33 likes

“Every new experience is unusual. The rest of life is just sleep and committee meetings.”
― John Twelve Hawks, The Traveler

24 likes

See all John Twelve Hawks's quotes »

Polls

The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks: How do you rate our May Fantasy Book of the Month?

Not Interested

11 votes 29.7%

Planning to read

10 votes 27.0%

4 votes 10.8%

Tossed it

4 votes 10.8%

2 votes 5.4%

1 vote 2.7%

Reading it now

1 vote 2.7%

0 votes 0.0%

37 total votes

5 comments

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