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Portrait of Max Gladstone

Max Gladstone

Max Gladstone (born April 28, 1984, Concord, United States), aged 42, is an American novelist. Gladstone's honours include Hugo Award for Best Novella, Nebula Award for Best Novella and Locus Award for Best Novella.

Max Gladstone’s zodiac sign is Taurus, Chinese zodiac is Wood Rat, with Life Path 9 in numerology.

Your match with Max

Free, no account, stays on this device. Add a birth time later.

Max Gladstone’s AsterNym identity

The Tidal Lightkeeper

Water represents depth and adaptability. Water-led charts are associated with instinct, memory and the ability to find a path around obstacles. Life Path 9 represents compassion: generosity, completion and the ability to consider more than one person’s experience.

Water Day Master (BaZi) × fixed Sun × Life Path 9, on the intuitive plane.

How common is the name Max in the U.S.?

#180

US rank in 2025

~168,577

Americans share it since 1880

2009

its peak year

Max ranked 308th in 1984, the year of this birth, with 632 American boys on the register.

US Social Security Administration public records

What Max’s name adds up to

Worked from the name as published, letter by letter.

9

Expression · the bigger picture

4

Soul Urge · solid ground

5

Personality · restless, adaptable

The name opens on M (4) and closes on X (6). The value it repeats most is 1, which numerology reads as drive.

Pythagorean letter values · A=1 to I=9, then J=1 again

Max’s lucky numbers, colours and stones

Traditional correspondences, calculated not chosen.

Lucky numbers

9 · 2 · 3

Lucky colours

Green & Teal

Lucky day

Friday

Direction

→ East

Season

spring

Stones

Diamond, Diamond, Green Aventurine

Flower constellation

🌼 Daisy · 🌹 Blush Rose · 🌿 Fern

White · Blush · Forest

Eight Mansions · Kua number

Kua 6, trigram Qian 乾, West group. Best direction West, worst Southeast.

A different tradition from the Direction above, and a different question: feng shui reads it from the solar year 1984, which turns at Li Chun rather than at New Year, and from sex, which Wikidata records as male. Work out your own →

The record

What sets Max apart

Max Gladstone took the BSFA Award for Best Short Fiction in 2019, at 35.

Training came by way of St. Andrew's-Sewanee School and Yale University.

Wikipedia's editors put Max Gladstone under Aurora Award-winning writers, Nebula Award winners and American fantasy writers.

Penélope Cruz (1974) and Kurt Gödel (1906) share the birthday in another year, so the sun sits where it sits here.

Educated at
St. Andrew's-Sewanee School and Yale University
Instruments
violin
Awards
Nebula Award for Best Novella (2020), Ignyte Award for Best Novella (2020) and Hugo Award for Best Novella (2020)
Nominated for
Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature and Locus Award for Best Anthology
Sport
martial arts
Citizenship
United States
Languages
English
Wikipedia editions
6

What the chart says

Max, according to the stars

Core essence

Max is the steady one, the person whose yes means yes and whose Sunday looks the same as it did last year because it was a good Sunday. The core of Max is a deep loyalty to what is real: good food, a good bed, people who show up. They move slowly on purpose. Once they have decided something, it is decided, and that is a comfort to everyone around them.

The vibe

Underneath, Max runs hot. The Moon in Aries means feelings arrive fast and loud and burn out just as fast, so the flare you saw an hour ago is already forgiven. What Max needs to feel safe is honesty in real time and room to react. Say it straight, and they will always meet you there.

How Max wants to be loved

Max wants to be loved boldly. Venus in Aries falls fast, says so, and wants you to chase back. Grand gestures land, so does a fight followed by a proper make-up. What bores them is hesitation. Be direct, be a little brave about them, and keep the spark lit on purpose.

How Max creates

How Max makes things happen: they keep moving. A Yang Water day master is the river, curious, restless, going somewhere even when nobody knows where. Max creates by exploring, by talking to everyone, by carrying ideas from one place to another. Hard to pin down, impossible to dam, and the best person to have on a long trip.

Instinct

Instinct: Max is quick, clever and alert, a Rat year, and their gut reaction to a problem is to find the angle nobody has tried. Charming, resourceful, a little bit of a hoarder of good things and good people. The Wood year adds growth: ideals, ambition, a need to be getting somewhere.

Purpose

Purpose: Life Path 9 is the humanitarian. Max is here for the bigger picture, to give, to finish what others started and hand it on. Wise beyond their years, compassionate, a little world-weary, and learning to receive as freely as they give.

Triggers

Triggers: betrayal, and being handled. Mars in Scorpio means Max runs hot underneath and cold on top; the anger is quiet, deep and long-remembered. They do not lose their temper, they decide. Point that focus at a goal and nothing survives in its way.

Computed from Max's birth date. Working below.

Where Max sits

Six lines

Max’s dot comes from the chart; yours is where you put it.

Intimate circleWide network
Max

You likely balance a tight inner circle with a wider orbit you dip into.

DeliberateSpontaneous
Max

You likely think things through before you act. Haste rarely feels safe.

PrivateExpressive
Max

You may wear your feelings openly. What you feel tends to show.

Cool off firstResolve immediately
Max

You likely handle some friction right away and let smaller things settle.

PracticalVisionary
Max

You likely balance practical steps with room to imagine further.

Gradual trustImmediate chemistry
Max

You may build trust slowly, letting closeness earn its way in.

✦ A real star from their birth night

Dedicate a star to Max Gladstone

Three stars chosen from the real sky above Concord on the night they were born. Choose the story that connects you.

A 9 p.m. reference sky, not the birth minute. Dedications are commemorative and confer no ownership of stars.

The sky over Concord that night

Computed for 42.46°N, 9 p.m. local sky.

Overhead at Concord at 9 p.m. that evening: Phecda of Ursa Major, within 11.4° of the exact zenith.

Of the 94 catalog stars above the horizon, Sirius was the brightest.

From 42.5°N not one of the brightest stars stays permanently above the horizon — all of them rise and set.

Nothing below −47.5° declination clears the horizon at this latitude, so Canopus, Rigil Kentaurus, Achernar, Hadar, Acrux, Mimosa and Toliman were never visible from Concord on any night.

Sun 21° below the horizon, Moon down and 4% lit at waning crescent.

How unusual Max's chart is

Chart pattern score

64 / 100 · Unusual

6 planets retrograde · 1 unaspected planet · No Air planets

An AsterNym index built from stelliums, yods, grand crosses and chart shape. It is not a population percentile, and a high score is not a better chart. Without a birth time the houses are left out of it.

Score your own chart →

If you only read one paragraph

Taurus Sun

Stubborn is the polite word.

Max Gladstone's Sun was in Taurus for the whole of April 28, 1984, so no birth time is needed to settle it.

What Taurus means →

Wood Rat

Resourceful is an understatement.

Max Gladstone was born on April 28, 1984, which falls in a Wood Rat year of the Chinese calendar.

What the Rat means →

Life Path 9

Endings come naturally.

Max Gladstone's birth date, April 28, 1984, reduces to Life Path 9 under the numerology method AsterNym uses.

What Life Path 9 means →

What stands out in Max’s chart

Max’s birth chart

Reference chart · birth time unknown

Positions are checked across the whole date. The Moon ranges from 4° to 17° Aries depending on the hour.

AriesTaurusGeminiCancerLeoVirgoLibraScorpioSagittariusCapricornAquariusPisces123456789101112Jupiter opens doors for Saturn · Sextile, 0.5° orbNeptune opens doors for Pluto · Sextile, 0.7° orbMoon flows with Uranus · Trine, 1.9° orbMoon grinds against Jupiter · Square, 2° orbMercury fuses with Venus · Conjunction, 2.4° orbMercury faces off with Pluto · Opposition, 2.4° orbMercury flows with Neptune · Trine, 3.1° orbSun flows with Jupiter · Trine, 4.4° orbSun in Taurus · 8°35′☉8°Moon in Aries · 10°59′☽10°Mercury in Aries · 28°07′ · retrograde☿℞28°Venus in Aries · 25°42′♀25°Mars in Scorpio · 25°00′ · retrograde♂℞25°Jupiter in Capricorn · 12°58′♃12°Saturn in Scorpio · 13°26′ · retrograde♄℞13°Uranus in Sagittarius · 12°52′ · retrograde♅℞12°Neptune in Capricorn · 1°14′ · retrograde♆℞1°Pluto in Scorpio · 0°31′ · retrograde♇℞0°

No birth time, so the houses are a solar chart: the Sun’s sign counts as house 1.

Tap a planet, a sign, a house, an aspect line or an element to see what it means and what sits in it.
Lines drawn
Conjunction 0°
Sextile 60°
Square 90°
Trine 120°
Opposition 180°

Placements

Tap one to light it on the wheel.

The working: aspects, Chiron and the asteroids, dominant planets and configurationsshow

Aspects across every possible birth time

  • stableJupitersextileSaturn0.4° to 0.5° orb

    Max’s growth opens doors for their discipline. An easy alliance, and it pays off when it is used.

  • stableNeptunesextilePluto0.7° orb

    Max’s imagination opens doors for their depths. An easy alliance, and it pays off when it is used.

  • stableMercuryconjunctionVenus1.6° to 3.3° orb

    Max’s mind and affections act as one. Wherever one goes, the other is already there.

  • stableMercuryoppositionPluto2.2° to 2.6° orb

  • stableMercurytrineNeptune2.9° to 3.4° orb

  • stableSuntrineJupiter3.9° to 4.9° orb

  • stableVenusoppositionPluto4.2° to 5.5° orb

  • stableSunoppositionSaturn4.3° to 5.4° orb

  • stableVenustrineNeptune4.9° to 6.2° orb

  • possibleMoonsquareJupiterorb from 0.0° to 8.0° depending on birth time

  • possibleMoontrineUranusorb from 0.1° to 7.9° depending on birth time

  • possibleMoonsquareNeptuneorb from 3.7° to 15.8° depending on birth time

Chart signature

Elements

  • Fire4 of 10
  • Earth3 of 10
  • Air0 of 10
  • Water3 of 10

Modalities

  • Cardinal5 of 10
  • Fixed4 of 10
  • Mutable1 of 10

Counted across the ten planets by sign: Fire leads this chart, with no planets in Air signs.

Max’s Chiron, Ceres, Eros, Hygiea and Lilith

What astrologers make of these five, at noon values.

  • ⚷ ChironGemini 1°10′ (moves 0.07° over the day)

    centaur (2060) · the wound and what is learnt from it

  • ⚳ CeresAries 16°52′ (moves 0.39° over the day)

    dwarf planet (1) · how a person nurtures and wants to be nurtured

  • ♡ Eros ℞Capricorn 3°27′ (moves 0.02° over the day)

    near-Earth asteroid (433) · what draws them and how they desire

  • ⚕ HygieaAquarius 11°22′ (moves 0.22° over the day)

    main-belt asteroid (10) · health, routine and what keeps them well

  • ⚸ Black Moon LilithPisces 15°29′ (moves 0.11° over the day)

    mean lunar apogee · the part that refuses to be tamed

Aspects to the asteroids and Lilith

  • Hygiea sextile Uranus 1.5°
  • Black Moon Lilith trine Saturn 2.0°
  • Hygiea square Saturn 2.1°
  • Eros conjunction Neptune 2.2°
  • Black Moon Lilith sextile Jupiter 2.5°
  • Black Moon Lilith square Uranus 2.6°
  • Hygiea square Sun 2.8°
  • Eros sextile Pluto 2.9°

Max’s dominant planets

  1. 1. ♀ Venus7 pts

    rules the Sun sign, Taurus; disposes Sun; 3 major aspects

  2. 2. ♇ Pluto7 pts

    in its own sign, Scorpio; disposes Mars, Saturn; 3 major aspects

  3. 3. ♄ Saturn4 pts

    disposes Jupiter, Neptune; 2 major aspects

Configurations in Max’s chart

No stellium, grand trine, T-square, grand cross, yod or kite — the common case.

Minor aspects

semi-sextile, semi-square, quintile, sesquiquadrate, biquintile, quincunx.

  • Jupiter semi-sextile Uranus 0.1°
  • Mercury sesquiquadrate Uranus 0.3°
  • Jupiter quintile Pluto 0.4°
  • Saturn semi-sextile Uranus 0.6°
  • Venus quincunx Mars 0.7°

More people like Max

Other writers

Born in United States

More charts like Max’s

Fellow Taurus suns

All about Taurus →

Born in Rat years

Year of the Rat →

Also born on April 28

Fellow Yang Water day masters

What a Day Master is →

Other Taurus Rat charts

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  • HyeinSouth Korean singer and model, born 2008
  • Dana PerinoAmerican conservative political commentator and the 24th White House Press Secretary (born 1972)
  • Albert FinneyBritish actor

Other Tidal Lightkeepers

The Tidal Lightkeeper explained →

Famous people with Life Path 9

Life Path numbers explained →

From the journal: What is feng shui? · Moon sign vs rising sign vs Sun sign

Max’s cards

Computed from April 28, 1984. Tap to flip.

Birth tarot card

The Hermit

AsterNym identity card

The Tidal Lightkeeper

Western zodiac

Taurus

Chinese zodiac

Rat 子

Life Path

9 · Healer

♀ Ruled by Venus

Copper Cu

The working: BaZi pillarsshow

BaZi pillars

Day Master: yang Water.

Year

甲

yang Wood

子

Rat

Water

roots & early life

Month

戊

yang Earth

辰

Dragon

Earth

work & drive

Day

day master

壬

yang Water

辰

Dragon

Earth

you & partnership

Where this comes from, and how it is worked out

Max’s birth date and birthplace come from Wikidata Q16203004 (CC0), as do the occupations, works and awards above. With no documented birth time this chart is rated X on the Rodden scale, the astrological convention for how well evidenced a birth time is. The banner above lists what that leaves out. Entries are matched to Wikidata by entity id rather than by name, kept at day precision, and dropped where sources disagree on the date.

Tropical zodiac, whole-sign houses, modern rulers. Aspects on the western_v1 orb policy; minor ones at 1.5° to 2.5°, skipped where a major already holds. Minor bodies from JPL Horizons heliocentric vectors, Lilith as mean apogee. Dominance is an AsterNym score — rulerships, dispositors, aspect count — so other methods can name a different leader.

Portrait by Henry Söderlund, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The same Max Gladstone at Wikipedia, maxgladstone.com, IMDb, Instagram and X.

Roster last reviewed September 10, 2026. The full method: how it works.

Traditional interpretations, not facts or predictions, and not endorsed by Max Gladstone.

Quick answers about Max Gladstone’s chart

How old is Max Gladstone?
Max Gladstone is 42 years old, born April 28, 1984 in Concord, United States.
What zodiac sign is Max Gladstone?
Max Gladstone is a Taurus: born April 28, 1984, which puts the Sun in Taurus for the whole of that day.
What is Max Gladstone's Chinese zodiac animal?
The Rat, with the Wood element, from the Chinese lunar year of the April 28, 1984 birth.
What is Max Gladstone's Life Path number?
Life Path 9, calculated in numerology.
What is Max Gladstone's Chiron sign?
Chiron in Gemini at 1°. Position from JPL Horizons.
Where is Max Gladstone's Black Moon Lilith?
Mean Black Moon Lilith in Pisces at 15°. This is the mean lunar apogee; the osculating Lilith some tables use can sit up to 30° away.
What is Max Gladstone's dominant planet?
Venus, on AsterNym's dominance score (7 points: rules the Sun sign, Taurus; disposes Sun; 3 major aspects). Pluto is second and Saturn third. Other sites weight rulerships and aspects differently and can name a different leader.

More charts to explore