David John Duncan (30 June 1933 – 29 October 2018) was an award-winning

Scottish Canadian Scottish Canadians are people of Scottish descent or heritage living in Canada. As the third-largest ethnic group in Canada and amongst the first Europeans to settle in the country, Scottish people have made a large impact on Canadian culture s ...

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

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 ...

author.

Biography

Duncan was born in

Newport-on-Tay Newport-on-Tay is a small town in the north-east of Fife in Scotland, acting as a Commuting, commuter suburb for Dundee. The Fife Coastal Path passes through Newport-on-Tay. The area itself is surrounded by views of the two bridges that cross the ...

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 was educated at the

High School of Dundee The High School of Dundee is an independent, co-educational, day school in Dundee, Scotland, which provides nursery, primary and secondary education to just over one thousand pupils. Its foundation has been dated to 1239, and it is the only priv ...

before studying

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

. After graduating in 1955, he moved to

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, becoming a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

citizen in 1960. He pursued a career as a

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

in the

petroleum industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The larges ...

for nearly three decades before he started writing science fiction and fantasy novels. He made his first sale (''A Rose Red City'') two years later in 1986 at the age of 53, just two weeks after his 31-year career as a geologist came to an end due to a slump in the oil business, at which point he switched to full-time writing. Duncan lived in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

. His wife was Janet, whom he married in 1959, and they had one son, two daughters, and four grandchildren. He had one brother, Michael, who was an agriculturist. Duncan died on 29 October 2018 at the age of 85.

Writing career

Duncan was a prolific writer and penned over fifty books. His sixth book, '' West of January'', won the 1990

Aurora award The Aurora Awards (french: Prix Aurora-Boréal) are a set of primarily literary awards given annually for the best Canadian science fiction or fantasy professional and fan works and achievements from the previous year."Literary glow of Auroras lure ...

, an award he would win again in 2007 for ''Children of Chaos''. He was a member of

SF Canada SF Canada was founded as an authors collective circa 1989 under the title Canada’s National Association of Speculative Fiction Professionals. Several Canadian science fiction authors have made public claim to be "founding members" of the organi ...

and in 2015 he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. Although Duncan usually wrote under his own name, some of his early books were published under the pseudonyms Ken Hood and Sarah B. Franklin.

Bibliography

The Seventh Sword

A dying young man named Wallie Smith is transferred from Earth into the body of a master swordsman in a pre-technological world by its gods for their own purposes. #''The Reluctant Swordsman'' (1988), #''The Coming of Wisdom'' (1988), #''The Destiny of the Sword'' (1988), #''The Death of Nnanji'' (2012),

Pandemia

A Man of His Word

# ''Magic Casement'' (1990), # ''Faery Lands Forlorn'' (1991), # ''Perilous Seas'' (1991), # ''Emperor and Clown'' (1992), As mentioned in the forewords, these titles are based on an excerpt from the 1819 poem "

Ode to a Nightingale "Ode to a Nightingale" is a poem by John Keats written either in the garden of the Spaniards Inn, Hampstead, London or, according to Keats' friend Charles Armitage Brown, under a plum tree in the garden of Keats' house at Wentworth Place, also ...

" by

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...

The voice I hear this passing night was heard In ancient days by emperor and clown: Perhaps the self-same song that found a path Through the sad heart of Ruth, when sick for home, She stood in tears amid the alien corn; The same that oft-times hath Charm'd magic casements, opening on the foam Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.

A Handful of Men

# ''The Cutting Edge'' (1992), # '' Upland Outlaws'' (1993), # ''The Stricken Field'' (1993), # ''The Living God'' (1994),

Omar

#''The Reaver Road'' (1992), #''The Hunters' Haunt'' (1995),

The Great Game

#''Past Imperative'' (1995), #''Present Tense'' (1996), #''Future Indefinite'' (1997),

The Years of Longdirk

Published using the pseudonym Ken Hood: #''Demon Sword'' (1995), #''Demon Rider'' (1997), #''Demon Knight'' (1998),

The King's Blades

Tales of the King's Blades

#''The Gilded Chain'' (1998), #''Lord of the Fire Lands'' (1999), #''Sky of Swords'' (2000),

Chronicles of the King's Blades

#''Paragon Lost'' (2002), #''Impossible Odds'' (2003), #''The Jaguar Knights'' (2004), #''One Velvet Glove'' (2017), #''The Ethical Swordsman'' (2019),

The King's Daggers

A series of

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

books set in the "King's Blades" world: #''Sir Stalwart'' (1999), #''The Crooked House'' (2000), #''Silvercloak'' (2001), Omnibus edition of all three is titled ''The Monster War'',

Dodec

#''Children of Chaos'' (2006), #''Mother of Lies'' (2007),

Nostradamus

#''The Alchemist's Apprentice'' (2007), #''The Alchemist's Code'' (2008), #''The Alchemist's Pursuit'' (2009),

Brothers Magnus

#''Speak to the Devil'' (2010), #''When the Saints'' (2011),

The Starfolk

#''King of Swords'' (2013), #''Queen of Stars'' (2014),

Ivor of Glenbroch

A series of young adult short stories: #''The Runner and the Wizard'' (2013), #''The Runner and the Saint'' (2014), #''The Runner and the Kelpie'' (2014), Omnibus edition of all three is titled ''The Adventures of Ivor'',

The Enchanter General

#''Ironfoot'' (2017) #''Trial by Treason'' (2018) #''

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...

Redux'' (2019)

Standalone novels

*''A Rose-Red City'' (1987), *''Shadow'' (1987), *'' West of January'' (1989), *''Strings'' (1990), *''Hero!'' (1991), *''The Cursed'' (1995), *''Daughter of Troy'' (1998), (as Sarah B. Franklin), *''Ill Met in the Arena'' (August 2008), *''Pock's World'' (October 2010), *''Against the Light'' (January 2012), *''Wildcatter'' (August 2012), *''The Eye of Strife'' (April 2015), *''Irona 700'' (August 2015), *''Eocene Station'' (August 2016), *''Portal of a Thousand Worlds'' (February 2017), *''Pillar of Darkness'' (January 2019),

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Dave 1933 births 2018 deaths People educated at the High School of Dundee Alumni of the University of St Andrews Scottish fantasy writers Canadian fantasy writers Scottish emigrants to Canada Scottish science fiction writers Canadian science fiction writers Writers from Victoria, British Columbia British male novelists