Simon Turney, born in Ripon, UK, is an English

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

ist with releases centered around Antiquity and

Roman Times In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

, the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

, and the early

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, writing often under the pseudonym SJA Turney.

Biography

Simon worked in a variety of fields before returning to university to complete an honours degree in classical history through the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

In his spare time, he wrote the first ''Marius' Mules'' novel, a tale based upon the

Gallic Wars The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul (present-day France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland). Gallic, Germanic, and British tribes fought to defend their homela ...

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

, and with it enjoyed initial self-published success before moving into mainstream releases. A former re-enactor with the Deva Victrix Roman group in Chester, Simon is also a Roman historian and public speaker on the classical world, with a biography of the general

Gnaeus Julius Agricola Gnaeus Julius Agricola (; 13 June 40 – 23 August 93) was a Roman general and politician responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain. Born to a political family of senatorial rank, Agricola began his military career as a military tribun ...

due for release in 2021. Now, with in excess of 40 novels, Simon is a prolific author, spanning such genres as

historical fantasy Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those classed as Arthur ...

, historical mysteries and historical biography, as well as releasing novels both independently and through publishers like Canelo and

Orion Publishing Group Orion Publishing Group Ltd. is a UK-based book publisher. It was founded in 1991 and acquired Weidenfeld & Nicolson the following year. The group has published numerous bestselling books by notable authors including Ian Rankin, Michael Connelly, ...

. Simon writes full-time and is represented by MMB Literary Agency. He lives with his wife, children, rabbits and dog in rural

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

Bibliography

Series as "S J A Turney"

Marius' Mules

# ''The Conquest of Gaul'' aka ''The Invasion of Gaul'' (2009) # ''The Belgae'' (2010) # ''Gallia Invicta'' (2011) # ''Conspiracy of Eagles'' (2012) # ''Hades' Gate'' (2013) # ''Caesar's Vow'' (2014) # ''Prelude to War'' (2014) # ''The Great Revolt'' (2014) # ''Sons of Taranis'' (2015) # ''Pax Gallica'' (2016) # ''Fields of Mars'' (2017) # ''Tides of War'' (2018) # ''Sands of Egypt'' (2019) # ''Civil War'' (2020)

Tales of the Empire

*''Emperor's Bane'' (2016) #''Interregnum'' (2009) #''Ironroot'' (2010) #''Dark Empress'' (2011) #''Insurgency'' (2016) #''Invasion'' (2017) #''Jade Empire'' (2017)

Ottoman Cycle

#''The Thief's Tale'' (2013) #''The Priest's Tale'' (2013) #''The Assassin's Tale'' (2014) #''The Pasha's Tale'' (2015)

Praetorian

#''The Great Game'' (2015) #''The Price of Treason'' (2015) #''Eagles of Dacia'' (2017) #''Lions of Rome'' (2019) #''The Cleansing Fire'' (2020) #''Blades of Antioch'' (2021)

Roman Adventure

#''Crocodile Legion'' (2016) #''Pirate Legion'' (2017)

Knights Templar

#''Daughter of War'' (2018) #''The Last Emir'' (2018) #''City of God'' (2019) #''The Winter Knight'' (2019) #''The Crescent and the Cross'' (2020)

Wolves of Odin

#''Blood Feud'' (2022) #''The Bear of Byzantium'' (2022)

Series as "Simon Turney"

Damned Emperors

#''Caligula'' (2018) #''Commodus'' (2019)

Rise of Emperors (with
Gordon Doherty Gordon Doherty is a Scottish historical novelist whose works centre mainly on Classical Antiquity. Biography Graduating from university with a degree in Physics, Gordon pursued a career in the science and technology sector. In his spare time, ...
)

#''Sons of Rome'' (2020) #''Masters of Rome'' (2021)

Novels

*''A Year of Ravens'' (2015) (with

Ruth Downie Ruth Downie (born 18 April 1955, North Devon, United Kingdom) is a British author. She is best known for her mysteries featuring the “reluctant sleuth”, Gaius Petreius Ruso, that are set in the Roman world The culture of ancient Rome e ...

, Stephanie Dray, E Knight, Kate Quinn, Vicky Alvear Shecter and Russell Whitfield) *''A Song of War'' (2016) (with

Christian Cameron Christian Gordon Cameron (born August 16, 1962) also writes under the pen names ''Miles Cameron'' and ''Gordon Kent'' (used only for those novels written with his father, author Kenneth Cameron). Christian, a Canadian novelist, was educated and t ...

, Libbie Hawker, Kate Quinn, Vicky Alvear Shecter, Stephanie Thornton and Russell Whitfield)

References

External links

Author's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turney, Simon Living people English historical novelists 21st-century English novelists Writers of historical fiction set in antiquity Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages English male novelists Year of birth missing (living people)