Brian Lee Durfee is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animal species (biology), species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous ...

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

, and fantasy painter, and a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

and

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

writer. His paintings have appeared in various genre and other magazines, games, and books. One of his wildlife paintings is in the permanent collection at the

Grand Canyon National Park Grand Canyon National Park, located in northwestern Arizona, is the 15th site in the United States to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often consider ...

visitors center.

Saga Press Gallery Publishing Group is a general interest publisher and a division of Simon & Schuster which houses the imprints Gallery Books, Pocket Books, Scout Press, Gallery 13, and Saga Press. Jen Bergstrom is the Senior Vice President and Publisher. ...

published his epic grimdark fantasy series, beginning with ''

The Forgetting Moon ''The Forgetting Moon'' is a 2016 grimdark epic fantasy novel by Brian Lee Durfee, published through Saga Press. Plot A young boy, Nail, is orphaned and subsequently raised by a retired warrior named Shawcroft. Unbeknownst to him, he is part of a ...

''. He also has a horror alternate history series.

Biography

Durfee grew up in

Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...

and Monroe, Utah. He played high school football, then served a mission for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, though he is no longer a practicing member of that church. He graduated from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

with a degree in illustration and fine arts. In 1992, he won second place in the second quarter Illustrators of the Future contest and was chosen to illustrate "The Monitor" by John Richard DeRose and "Lady's Portrait, Executed in Archaic Colors" by Charles M. Saplak in ''Writers of the Future, Volume IX''. He was a member of the Society of Illustrators in New York. Durfee cites works by Robert Jordan,

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...

Larry McMurtry Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas.

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albums ...

, the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

, and

Tad Williams Robert Paul "Tad" Williams (born March 14, 1957) is an American fantasy and science fiction writer. He is the author of the multivolume ''Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn'' series, ''Otherland'' series, and ''Shadowmarch'' series as well as the standal ...

as being influential on his life and his works. His oil painting, "Grand Canyon Cliffs–Peregrine Falcons", won the 1999 Bird Award of Merit and the Grand Canyon National Park Association Purchase Award. One of his paintings is in the permanent collection at the Kolb Gallery at the visitors center at

. He was the artist guest of honor at CONduit 10 in 2000. Durfee works as a prison guard at the

Utah State Prison Utah State Prison (USP) was one of two prisons managed by the Utah Department of Corrections' Division of Institutional Operations. It was located in Draper, Utah, United States, about southwest of Salt Lake City.Utah Department of Correct ...

, where he has worked in the mental health unit, the gang unit, processing new inmates, and overseeing the six libraries within the prison. He initially got the job because he wanted to be a police officer, but then decided to stay in that job. He worked with author

James Dashner James Smith Dashner (born November 26, 1972) is an American writer known for speculative fiction. Many of his books are primarily aimed at children or young adults. He is best known for ''The Maze Runner'' series and the young adult fantasy ser ...

to put on a convention for the inmates at the prison, and he has taught creative writing classes to some of the inmates.

Bibliography

''The Five Warrior Angels''

An epic

grimdark Grimdark is a subgenre of speculative fiction with a tone, style, or setting that is particularly dystopian, amoral, and violent. The term is inspired by the tagline of the tabletop strategy game ''Warhammer 40,000'': "In the grim darkness of t ...

fantasy series. *''

'' (August 2016,

, ) *''The Blackest Heart'' (February 2019, Saga Press, ) *''The Lonesome Crown'' (forthcoming November 2022, Saga Press, )

South Severe

An alternate history horror series set in a small, rural town, published under the pseudonym "Brian D. Lee". *''South Severe'' (December 2011, B.Lee.D Books, ) *''Bedlam Blues'' (December 2011, B.Lee.D Books, )

As artist

Cover art

*'' The Leading Edge'' edited by Alex Grover (issue 32, February 1996,

) *''Adventures of Sword and Sorcery'', Spring 1996 issue edited by Randy Dannenfelser *''Adventures of Sword and Sorcery'', Issue 3, 1996 edited by Randy Dannenfelser *''Pirate Writings'' edited by Edward J. McFadden (issue 14, 1997) *''

Dragon Magazine Dragon Magazine may refer to: * ''Dragon'' (magazine), an American magazine for ''Dungeons & Dragons'' players * ''Dragon Magazine'' (Fujimi Shobo), a Japanese light novel magazine {{disambig ...

'' (issue 239, September 1997)

Interior art

*"The Froglover" in ''

Tomorrow Speculative Fiction ''Tomorrow Speculative Fiction'' was a science fiction magazine published in the United States from 1993 through 2000. Over this period, it had 24 bi-monthly issues as a print magazine from 1993 to 1997,. then transitioned to become one of the ...

'' edited by

Algis Budrys Algirdas Jonas "Algis" Budrys (January 9, 1931 – June 9, 2008) was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome (in collaboration with Jerome Bixby), John ...

(February 1994) *"Planned Obsolescence" in ''

'' edited by Algis Budrys (April 1994) *"Character Creation" in ''Spectrum III: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art'' (as Brian Durfee) (1996, Underwood Books, )

Collectible card games

Durfee illustrated several cards for '' Magic: The Gathering''

collectible card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in ...

, including four mountain cards, "Blossoming Wreath", and "Sylvan Hierophant". He also illustrated three cards for the ''

Middle-earth Collectible Card Game Middle-earth Collectible Card Game (MECCG) is an out-of-print collectible card game released by Iron Crown Enterprises in late 1995. It is the first CCG based on J.R.R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, with added content from ICE's ...

'': "Black Númenóreans", "Returned Exiles", and "Hey, come merry dol!".

Wildlife and landscape works

*"The Bear" (1998, oil) *"Red Tailed Hawk" (1998, oil) *"Grand Canyon Cliffs–Peregrine Falcons" (1999, oil)

Awards and honors

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durfee, Brian Lee Living people 20th-century American artists 21st-century American novelists 21st-century male writers American fantasy writers American horror writers Artists from Utah Brigham Young University alumni Tolkien artists Writers from Utah Writers from Fairbanks, Alaska People from Monroe, Utah Year of birth missing (living people)