Ian Irvine (born 1950) is an Australian
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving 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 literature and d ...
and eco-
thriller author and
marine scientist. To date Irvine has written 27 novels, including fantasy, eco-thrillers and books for children. He has had books published in at least 12 countries and continues to write full-time.
Career
Irvine was born in
Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, in 1950. He was educated at
Chevalier College
, motto_translation = Strong in Faith
, established =
, type = Independent co-educational secondary day school
, denomination = Roman Catholic
, religious_affiliation = Missionaries of the Sacred Heart
, affiliations = Independent Scho ...
and the
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...
where he received a PhD in
marine science
Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dyna ...
, studying the management of contaminated sediments.
Setting up his own environmental consulting firm in 1986, Irvine has worked in many countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including
Australia,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, Singapore,
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
,
Papua-New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
,
Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...
,
Bali,
Fiji and
Western Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...
. During the course of his career he played a role in developing Australia's national guidelines for protection of the oceanic environment and still works in this field. He was the principal author of Australia's National Environmental Assessment Guidelines for Dredging, 2009.
During 1987 Irvine began writing the first in his ''
The View from the Mirror'' series. He continued working full-time as an environmental scientist and so wrote the series in his spare time. The first book in the series was published in 1998 and since this time Irvine has been a full-time author, although he still undertakes some environmental consulting work when he has time.
Irvine is married with four grown-up children and lives in the mountains of northern New South Wales.
Writing
To date, Irvine has written 27 novels, including fantasy, eco-thrillers and books for children. He has had books published in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, Netherlands,
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
, Poland,
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
and
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
.
Books for older readers
Three Worlds Cycle series
Irvine's most popular series is the Three Worlds fantasy series, comprising ''The View from the Mirror'', ''The Well of Echoes'' and ''The Song of the Tears'' and selling over a million copies worldwide. The series comprises eleven currently published books set on the three linked worlds of Santhenar, Aachan and Tallallame.
The cycle details the struggle for survival between four human species: old humans, Aachim, Faellem and Charon. The View from the Mirror series has also been published in
audiobook
An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements.
Spoken audio has been available in sc ...
format.
A complete list of books in the Three Worlds Cycle series is:
* ''The View from the Mirror Quartet''
** ''A Shadow on the Glass'' (1998)
** ''The Tower on the Rift'' (1998)
** ''Dark is the Moon'' (1999)
** ''The Way Between the Worlds'' (1999)
* ''The Well of Echoes Quartet''
** ''Geomancer'' (2001)
** ''Tetrarch'' (2002)
** ''Scrutator'' / ''Alchymist'' (UK title) (2003)
** ''Chimaera'' (2004)
* ''The Song of the Tears Trilogy''
** ''Torments of the Traitor'' / ''The Fate of the Fallen'' (UK title) (2006)
** ''The Curse on the Chosen'' (2007)
** ''The Destiny of the Dead'' (January 2008)
* ''Short Stories Collection''
** ''A Wizard's War and Other Stories'' (2015)
* ''The Gates of Good and Evil Quartet''
** ''The Summon Stone'' (2016)
** ''The Fatal Gate'' (2017)
** ''The Perilous Tower'' (2020)
** ''The Sapphire Portal'' (2020)
Other books for adults
Irvine's eco-thriller trilogy ''The Human Rites Trilogy'', comprising ''
The Last Albatross'', ''
Terminator Gene'', and ''
The Life Lottery'', explores a world undergoing catastrophic climate change. They are set a little way in Earth's future and shows the impact climate change is having on politics, the economy and life in general. The series was originally published between 2000 and 2003, and many of the events described in the books (such as the destruction of New Orleans by a huge hurricane) have since come true. A revised and updated edition of the Human Rites trilogy was published in Australia between 2008 and 2010.
Irvine has written two novellas. ''Poisoned Chalice'' was published in Mystery, Magic, Voodoo and the Holy Grail (2000), and ''Tribute to Hell'' was published in Legends of Australian Fantasy in 2010.
In addition to fantasy fiction Irvine has also written a number of other works including ''The Truth About Publishing'' and ''The Art and Science of Book Promotion'' which both 'tell it like it is' about being a successful author.
Books for children
Irvine published 11 books for adults before he began his first children's series, ''Runcible Jones'', in 2006. The series comprises four books (''
Runcible Jones: The Gate to Nowhere'' (2006), ''
Runcible Jones: The Buried City'' (2007), ''Runcible Jones: The Frozen Compass'' (2008), and ''Runcible Jones: The Backwards Hourglass'' (2010)) for children aged 10 and up. His second children's series, ''
The Sorcerer's Tower'', is a quartet of short books for younger readers (from around eight years and up) and was published in 2008 and illustrated in black and white by Australian artist and fantasy novelist
D. M. Cornish. The first book in the series is ''
Thorn Castle''. This was followed by the ''
Grim and Grimmer'' quartet of humorous fantasy novels (2010 and 2011).
Many of Irvine's books (for both children and adults) are now available as
ebooks
An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...
.
Irvine has also produced "book trailers" (similar to movie trailers) for a number of his children's and adults books and has placed them on YouTube.
Awards, honourable mentions, listings
* A Shadow on the Glass. Shortlisted for the Aurealis Award, best fantasy novel (1998). Listed in ScienceFiction.com's Best of 2001 (US edition).
* The Tower on the Rift. Listed in
Sydney Morning Herald's Best Books of 1998. Listed i
ScienceFiction.com’sBest of 2001 (US edition).
* The Last Albatross. Listed in The Australian's Best of Summer Reading (2000).
* Terminator Gene. Shortlisted for the Aurealis Award, best SF Novel (2003).
* Scrutator. Honourable Mention, Aurealis Award, best fantasy novel (2003). Listed in the Sydney Morning Herald's Best Books of 2003.
* Chimaera. Listed in the Sydney Morning Herald's Best Books of 2004.
* The Art & Science of Book Promotion. Chapter, The Art & Science of Book Promotion in The Complete Guide to Writing Science Fiction, Dragon Moon Press, Canada, 2007. Winner of the 2007
Eppie Award, best non-fiction book.
* The Sorcerer's Tower. Shortlisted for the 2008
Aurealis Award
The Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual literary award for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award.
History
The Aurealis Award was established in 1995 by ...
for best children's novel.
Interviews
Interview on wotmania.coma
SFFWorld.cominterviewconducted by Nalini Haynes of Dark Matter Zine, October 2011
References
External links
Ian Irvine's websiteIan Irvine's official Facebook pageTriune – Fan Site*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irvine, Ian
1950 births
Living people
20th-century Australian novelists
21st-century Australian novelists
Australian children's writers
Australian fantasy writers
Australian male novelists
Australian oceanographers
20th-century Australian male writers
21st-century Australian male writers
University of Sydney alumni