Brian Ruckley is a Scottish

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 ...

author and

comic book writer A script is a document describing the narrative and dialogue of a comic book in detail. It is the comic book equivalent of a television program teleplay or a film screenplay. In comics, a script may be preceded by a plot outline, and is almost ...

. He is the author of The Godless World trilogy: '' Winterbirth'', '' Bloodheir'', and '' Fall of Thanes''. He'd go on to become principal writer of the current ''Transformers: Generation 1'' comic book series for

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...

, following the conclusion of the previous continuity.

Biography

Brian Ruckley was born and raised in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and studied at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built w ...

. He lived for a time in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

but is now based in Edinburgh again. He is currently the author of eight published works. Four are short stories; "Farm Animal" was printed in 1993 in the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

, '' Interzone'' No. 74, and "Gibbons" was printed in 1999 in issue No. 20 of the magazine '' The Third Alternative'', now called ''

Black Static ''Black Static'', formerly ''The 3rd Alternative'', is a British horror magazine edited by Andy Cox. The magazine has won the British Fantasy Award for "Best Magazine" while individual stories have won other awards. In addition, numerous stories ...

''. "Beyond the Reach of his Gods" appeared in the 2009

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

''Rage of the Behemoth'' from Rogue Blades Entertainment, and was reprinted in 2012 in the online

and

magazine '' Lightspeed''. "Flint" appeared in the 2010

''Speculative Horizons'' from

Subterranean Press Subterranean Press is a small press publisher in Burton, Michigan. Subterranean is best known for publishing genre fiction, primarily horror, suspense and dark mystery, fantasy, and science fiction. In addition to publishing novels, short stor ...

. His first novel, '' Winterbirth'' was published in 2006 by

Orbit Books Orbit Books is an international publisher that specialises in science fiction and fantasy books. It is a division of Lagardère Publishing. History It was founded in 1974 as part of the Macdonald Futura publishing company. In 1992, its parent ...

in both the US and the UK. ''Winterbirth'' was followed by its sequel, '' Bloodheir'', which was released in 2008, also by

, as was the third book, '' Fall of Thanes'' released in 2009. In 2011 his fourth book, a standalone historical fantasy/horror novel entitled '' The Edinburgh Dead'' was published, again by

. In 2014 Ruckley released a standalone epic fantasy novel entitled ''The Free''. Between 2019 and 2022, Ruckley was the main writer for the ongoing ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, suc ...

'' comic by

Bibliography

Novels

* The Godless World series: **'' Winterbirth'' (2006) **'' Bloodheir'' (2008) **'' Fall of Thanes'' (2009) *Standalone: **'' The Edinburgh Dead'' (2011) **''The Free'' (2014)

Comics

*''

'' (#1–43, 2019–2022; for

) **''Transformers Annual 2021'' (one-shot, 2021) **''Transformers: Fate of Cybertron'' (one-shot, 2022) *'' Transformers: Escape'' (#1–5, 2020–2021) *'' Transformers: War's End'' (#1–4, 2022)

Footnotes

External links

Brian Ruckley official site
*
Audio interview with Brian Ruckley

Interviews

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruckley, Brian Living people Scottish fantasy writers Scottish short story writers Writers from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Year of birth missing (living people)