Alexander C Irvine is an American fantasist and science fiction writer Many of his works have appeared under the simple moniker Alex Irvine He first gained attention with his novel A Scattering of Jades and the stories that would form the collection Unintended Consequences He has also published the Grail quest novel One King, One Soldier, and the World War II era historical fantasy The Narrows.In addition to his original works, Irvine has published Have Robot, Will Travel, a novel set in Isaac Asimov s positronic robot milieu and Batman Inferno, about the DC Comics superhero.His academic background includes an M.A in English from the University of Maine and a PhD from the University of Denver He is an assistant professor of English at the University of Maine He also worked for a time as a reporter at the Portland Phoenix.