Robert Shea

Robert Joseph Shea was born in New York City. He attended high school at Manhattan Prep (Manhattan College High School), a Roman Catholic school run by the Christian Brothers, in the Riverdale section of The Bronx. After graduation, he attended Manhattan College and Rutgers University.^[1]

Apart from co-authoring Illuminatus! with Wilson, Shea wrote several historical action novels, including Shike (1981), a two-volume novel set in Ancient Japan about the warrior monk Jebu and his love Lady Shima Taniko, All Things Are Lights (1986), and The Saracen, a novel published in two volumes in 1989 depicting the struggle between a blond Muslim warrior called Daoud ibn Abdullah and his French crusader adversary, Simon de Gobignon. His last published book was the Native American tale Shaman (1991).^{[citation needed]}

All Things Are Lights and the outline for the unfinished novel Children of Earthmaker have been released under a Creative Commons license and are available to read and copy at Robert Shea's website, as are Shike, The Saracen, and Shaman under similar license terms.^[2] Lady Yang was finished but never published; a Creative Commons online version is in the works by Shea's son Michael.^[3]

Three of his lectures and two panel discussions he participated in were recorded when he was a featured speaker at both the Starwood Festival^[4] and the WinterStar Symposium (both with and without Robert Anton Wilson) and produced by the Association for Consciousness Exploration.^{[citation needed]}

For several years, Shea edited the anarchist zine No Governor. The title comes from a quote attributed to Zhuangzi, "There is no governor anywhere." Copies of the zine in PDF format may be downloaded from Bobshea.net. The zine was mentioned in, and read by, one of the characters in Illuminatus!.^{[citation needed]}

In 2025, Hilaritas Press issued Every Day Is a GOOD Day, a collection of short pieces by Shea, the first new Shea book in about 30 years.

Shea was a resident of Glencoe, Illinois^[1] He was survived by his son, Michael E. Shea, and his second wife, author Patricia Monaghan.^{[citation needed]}

• The Illuminatus! Trilogy (with Robert Anton Wilson) Full Trilogy printed December 1, 1983 by Dell: ISBN 0-440-53981-1, ISBN 978-0-440-53981-0
  • The Eye in the Pyramid (1975) Dell
  • The Golden Apple (1975) Dell
  • Leviathan (1975) ISBN Dell
• Shike (January 13, 1992) Two in One version: Ballantine Books ISBN 978-0-345-36046-5
  • Time of the Dragons (June 1, 1981) Jove ISBN 978-0-515-04874-2
  • Last of the Zinja (July 1, 1981) Jove ISBN 978-0-515-05944-1
• All Things Are Lights (April 12, 1986) Ballantine Books ISBN 978-0-345-32903-5
• From No Man's Land to Plaza del Lago (October 1987) Amer References ISBN 0-913765-08-2, ISBN 978-0-913765-08-1
• The Saracen - both books available as free downloads from Project Gutenberg and
  • Land of the Infidel (February 13, 1989) Ballantine Books, ISBN 978-0-345-33588-3
  • The Holy War (March 13, 1989) Ballantine Books ISBN 978-0-345-35933-9
• Shaman (February 20, 1991) Ballantine Books ISBN 978-0-345-36048-9 - Available as a free download from Project Gutenberg
• Every Day Is a GOOD Day, (Sept. 23, 2025) Hilaritas Press ISBN 978-1-952746-43-7

• A Meeting With Robert Shea, ACE
• Writing and Mysticism, ACE
• Magic in the Central Empire, ACE
• The Once and Future Legend (panel discussion with Ariana Lightningstorm, Patricia Monaghan, Jeff Rosenbaum, Rev. Ivan Stang, and Robert Anton Wilson), ACE
• What IS the Conspiracy, Anyway? (Panel Discussion with Anodea Judith, Jeff Rosenbaum, Rev. Ivan Stang, and Robert Anton Wilson), ACE