Ari Marmell is an American novelist and freelance

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

writer.

Novels

His first novel, ''Gehenna: The Final Night'', was published in 2004 by

White Wolf Publishing White Wolf Publishing was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant

. ''Agents of Artifice,'' a media tie-in novel set in the

Magic: The Gathering ''Magic: The Gathering'' (colloquially known as ''Magic'' or ''MTG'') is a Tabletop game, tabletop and Digital collectible card game, digital Collectible card game, collectable card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards ...

Planeswalkers game-setting, and published by

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...

, followed in November 2009. His first novel that was not based on a role-playing game was 2010's ''The Conqueror's Shadow''. Reviewing the novel for ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

'', Krista Hutley wrote, "This action-packed, morally gray fantasy has an intriguingly twisty plot, full of magic and political intrigue." Reviewer Clay Kallam wrote that it "has a lot going for it, but it still didn't leave me completely satisfied." The sequel to ''The Conqueror's Shadow'' is 2011's ''The Warlord's Legacy''. ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

'' wrote that it "fills a vital niche in the fantasy adventurer genre, one occupied by the heroes of Michael Moorcock's Elric Melniboné novels and C.S. Friedman's ''

Coldfire Trilogy The Coldfire Trilogy is a science fiction/fantasy trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video ...

''." In 2011, Marmell's novel, ''The Goblin Corps'' was published by Pyr. This novel was written from the perspective of the traditional "bad guys": the goblins themselves. In February 2012, Pyr also released Marmell's ''Thief's Covenant'', first in his "Widdershins Adventures" Young Adult series. It was followed by ''False Covenant'', the second "Widdershins Adventures" novel. The third "Widdershins Adventures" novel was announced on April 24, 2013 along with a preview of the cover art and synopsis. The novel will be published on December 3, 2013 and will be called ''Lost Covenant''. On February 1, 2012, it was announced Marmell would pen a novel set in the ''

Darksiders ''Darksiders'' is a hack and slash action-adventure video game franchise created by Vigil Games, now developed by Gunfire Games, which consists of some of the original members of Vigil. The series is set on a post-apocalyptic Earth, where mank ...

'' universe. ''Darksiders'' is a video game series published by

THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initi ...

and developed by

Vigil Games Vigil Games was an American game development company owned by THQ. It was formed by comic artist Joe Madureira and David Adams (video game designer), David Adams in 2005. History Vigil Games was founded in 2005 by Joe Madureira, David Adams, Mar ...

. The novel is titled ''Darksiders: The Abomination Vault'' and will be published by

Random House Publishing Group Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

. The novel will ship earlier than the actual game, in July, whereas ''Darksiders 2'' will ship in August. It centers around the adventures of Death and War, two of the

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are figures in the Christian scriptures, first appearing in the Book of Revelation, a piece of apocalypse literature written by John of Patmos. Revelation 6 tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand tha ...

Short fiction

Notable short stories from Marmell include "The Flight of the Righteous Indignation" from ''

Tales of the Last War Tales may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Tales'' (album), a 1995 album by Marcus Miller * ''Tales'' (film), a 2014 Iranian film * ''Tales'' (TV series), an American television series * ''Tales'' (video game), a 2016 point-and-click adventure ...

'' (Wizards of the Coast, April 2006), "The Ogre’s Pride," (a tie-in to '' The Conqueror's Shadow'' (originally published in Spectra Pulse, April 2010), and "Twenty-One-Oh" from the multimedia anthology, '' Foreshadows: The Ghosts of Zero'' (Blindsided Books, February 2012).

Role-playing games

He has written extensively for the role-playing game industry, including

White Wolf Publishing White Wolf Publishing was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant

D'Ammassa, Don (May 2004). "Toreador/Gehenna: The Final Night/The Puppet-Masters: SF, Fantasy & Horror's Monthly Trade Journal", ''

Chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

'' 26 (5): 46. and

. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' supplements for which he has written include: * ''

Cityscape In the visual arts, a cityscape (urban landscape) is an artistic representation, such as a painting, drawing, print or photograph, of the physical aspects of a city or urban area. It is the urban equivalent of a landscape. ''Townscape'' is ...

'' * ''

Drow of the Underdark ''Drow of the Underdark'' is the name of two supplemental rules books for the '' Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, providing supplementary game rules focusing on drow culture, equipment and folklore for both players and Dungeon Ma ...

'' * ''

Tome of Magic ''Tome of Magic'' (abbreviated ToM) is a handbook of rules and guidelines for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. As its name implies, it is a supplement to be used to expand the magical options available in the game. It was first releas ...

'' * ''

Fortress of the Yuan-Ti ''Fortress of the Yuan-Ti'' is an adventure module for the 3.5 edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Plot summary ''Fortress of the Yuan-Ti'' involves evil yuan-ti who conspire to destroy a kingdom using dark ritua ...

'' * ''

Dark Sun Creature Catalog ''Dark Sun Creature Catalog'' is a supplement to the 4th edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. Contents The book details monsters, stats for major NPCs, hazards and "a section on building encounters" for the Dark Sun setting ...

Personal life

Marmell was born in New York State, but moved to Houston, Texas when he was one year old. He attended college at the University of Houston, graduating in 1996. He lives in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

with his wife, George.

References

External links

*
The story behind Hot Lead Cold Iron - Online Essay by Ari Marmell at ''Upcoming4.me''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marmell, Ari 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists American fantasy writers American male novelists Dungeons & Dragons game designers Living people White Wolf game designers Year of birth missing (living people)