Stan Nicholls (born 1949) is a British author and journalist, working full-time since 1981. He is the author of many novels and short stories but is best known for the internationally acclaimed '' Orcs: First Blood'' series.

Career

His journalism has appeared in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', ''

The Daily Mirror ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'', '' Time Out'', '' Sight and Sound'', ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'', '' SFX'' and ''

Locus Locus (plural loci) is Latin for "place". It may refer to: Entertainment * Locus (comics), a Marvel Comics mutant villainess, a member of the Mutant Liberation Front * ''Locus'' (magazine), science fiction and fantasy magazine ** ''Locus Award' ...

'' among many others. Nicholls has worked for a number of specialists and general book shops including Dark They Were, and Golden Eyed and was the first manager of the London branch of

Forbidden Planet ''Forbidden Planet'' is a 1956 American science fiction film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Nicholas Nayfack, and directed by Fred M. Wilcox from a script by Cyril Hume that was based on an original film story by Allen Adler and Irvi ...

. Following on from ''Weapons of Magical Destruction, Part Two'' in the ''Bad Blood'' series, ''Army of Shadows'' was released in October 2009. The final book in the trilogy, ''Bad Blood: Inferno'', was released in December 2011. A graphic novel set in the ''Orcs'' universe was set for release in 2010 or 2011.

Awards

The first two books in the ''Orcs: First Blood'' series, ''Bodyguard of Lightning'' and ''Legion of Thunder'', received best novel nominations at the 1999

British Fantasy Award The British Fantasy Awards (BFA) are awarded annually by the British Fantasy Society (BFS), first in 1976. Prior to that they were known as The August Derleth Fantasy Awards (see August Derleth Award). First awarded in 1972 (to ''The Knight of ...

s. In 2007, Nicholls was awarded the ''Le'Fantastique Lifetime Achievement Award for Contributions to Literature'' at the Trolls & Legendes Festival in

Mons, Belgium Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...

. His 2008 novel ''Orcs Bad Blood 1: Weapons of Magical Destruction'' was nominated for the inaugural

David Gemmell David Andrew Gemmell (; 1 August 1948 – 28 July 2006) was a British author of heroic fantasy, best known for his debut novel, ''Legend''. A former journalist and newspaper editor, Gemmell had his first work of fiction published in 1984. H ...

Legend Award for best fantasy novel.

Personal life

Nicholls currently lives in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

with his wife,

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 uni ...

author Anne Gay.

Bibliography

Orcs * ''First Blood: Bodyguard of Lightning'' * ''First Blood: Legion of Thunder'' * ''First Blood: Warriors of Tempest'' * '' Orcs: First Blood'' ( omnibus edition of the First Blood trilogy) * ''Bad Blood: Weapons of Magical Destruction'' (Titled "Orcs: Bad Blood" in America) * ''Bad Blood: Army of Shadows'' * ''Bad Blood: Inferno'' * ''Orcs Bad Blood: The Second Omnibus'' (omnibus edition of the Bad Blood trilogy) Dreamtime Trilogy * ''Quicksilver Rising'' / ''Covenant Rising'' * ''Quicksilver Zenith'' / ''Righteous Blade'' * ''Quicksilver Twilight'' / ''Diamond Isle'' Nightshade Trilogy * ''Book of Shadows'' * ''Shadow of a Sorcerer'' * ''Gathering of Shadows''

References

External links

* *
Story Behind Orcs : Bad Blood Omnibus) - Online Essay at ''Upcoming4.me''
1949 births British fantasy writers British non-fiction writers British short story writers Daily Mirror people The Guardian journalists The Independent people Living people British male writers British male short story writers Male non-fiction writers {{UK-writer-stub