Jane Johnson (born 1960) is an English writer of books for adults and children and fiction book editor. As a writer she has used the pseudonyms Gabriel King, jointly with

M. John Harrison Michael John Harrison (born 26 July 1945), known for publication purposes primarily as M. John Harrison, is an English author and literary critic.Kelley, George. "Harrison, M(ichael) John" in Jay P. Pederson (.ed) ''St. James guide to sci ...

, and Jude Fisher, as well as her real name.

Biography

Jane Johnson was educated at Liskeard Grammar School. She has a first class honours English degree, a teaching degree and a master's degree in

Old Icelandic Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their ...

language and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

. From 1984 to 1992, she was the editor responsible for the

J.R.R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

list at George Allen & Unwin Publishers and commissioned both John Howe and Alan Lee to illustrate Tolkien's work, including Lee's acclaimed illustrated Tolkien-centenary edition of ''The Lord of the Rings''. The publishing house was later bought by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

, where she remains a Publishing Director working remotely across the Voyager fantasy and science fiction list and crime/thrillers. Her authors there have included

George R.R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948) also known by the initials G.R.R.M. is an American author, television writer, and television producer. He is best known as the author of the unfinished series of ep ...

, Raymond E. Feist,

Robin Hobb Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden (; born March 5, 1952), known by her pen names Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm, is an American writer of speculative fiction. As Hobb, she is best known for her fantasy novels set in the ''Realm of the Elderlings'', ...

Dean Koontz Dean Ray Koontz (born July 9, 1945) is an American author. His novels are billed as thriller (genre), suspense thrillers, but frequently incorporate elements of horror fiction, horror, fantasy, science fiction, Mystery fiction, mystery, and sati ...

Stuart MacBride Stuart MacBride is a Scottish writer, whose crime fiction, crime thrillers are set in the "Granite City" of Aberdeen, with Detective Sergeant List of Logan McRae characters, Logan McRae as protagonist. Biography Stuart MacBride was born 27 Febr ...

Jonathan Freedland Jonathan Saul Freedland (born 25 February 1967) is a British journalist who writes a weekly column for ''The Guardian'' and presents the BBC Radio 4 contemporary history series ''The Long View''. He previously wrote for ''The Jewish Chronicle' ...

, Tom Knox as S.K. Tremayne, and Mark Lawrence. With

she wrote the four-volume "Gabriel King" series – the "Tag, the Cat" animal stories as catalogued by

ISFDB The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) is a database of bibliographic information on genres considered speculative fiction, including science fiction and related genres such as fantasy, alternate history, and horror fiction. The ISFDB ...

(1997 to 2002). The series is available in e-book in the UK and are still in print in the US. As "Jude Fisher", she worked with cast and crew to create six Visual Companion books (2001 to 2014) for the film trilogies ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' and ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ...

'',

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...

's adaptations of Tolkien. Johnson travelled to North Africa in 2005 to investigate a family legend about the abduction of a family in 1625 from a Cornish church by

Barbary pirates The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...

, and there met Abdellatif, who was later that year to become her husband, a

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

tribesman. She now splits her time between the UK and a small town in the Anti-Atlas Mountains. Her first adult mainstream novel was ''The Tenth Gift'', based on the Barbary pirate story. This was followed by a desert epic, set in the Sahara among the

Tuareg The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym, depending on variety: ''Imuhaɣ'', ''Imušaɣ'', ''Imašeɣăn'' or ''Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group, traditionally nomadic pastoralists, who principally inhabit th ...

nomads, ''The Salt Road''. ''The Sultan's Wife'' (2012) is set in the 17th-century court of Sultan

Moulay Ismail Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif (, – 22 March 1727) was a Sultan of Morocco from 1672 to 1727, as the second ruler of the 'Alawi dynasty. He was the seventh son of Moulay Sharif and was governor of the province of Fez and the north of Morocco from ...

and tells the story of two slaves, an African chieftain's son Nus-Nus and an Anglo-Dutch woman Alys. It also includes an account of the embassy sent from the Moroccan sultan to the court of King Charles II which is documented in ''

John Evelyn's Diary The ''Diary'' of John Evelyn (31 October 1620 – 27 February 1706), a gentlemanly Royalist and ''virtuoso'' of the seventeenth century, was first published in 1818 (2nd edition, 1819) under the title ''Memoirs Illustrative of the Life and Writin ...

''. Her novels are translated and sold in more than 20 countries.. Living part of the year in Morocco, Johnson has made good use of her acquired knowledge of Moroccan culture and history as a background for the novels. In 2016 her 12th century epic, ''Pillars of Light'', set largely inside the walls of Acre during the infamous siege during the Third Crusade was published by the University of Central Lancashire to considerable critical acclaim, and was published in paperback in 2022 by Head of Zeus. It was described by Anne Fortier as 'A masterpiece of historical fiction', and by historian Dan Jones as 'Epic and tender, as thrilling as it is moving... deftly spins a story of the crusader world that is rich, deep, complex and quite unlike anything I've read before.' The following year her account of the Fall of Granada – ''Court of Lions'' was published by Head of Zeus in the UK, Penguin Random House in Canada and by Pegasus in the US. ''The Sea Gate'' – a WWII story set in her native Cornwall – was published by Head of Zeus in summer 2020 in the UK, and in winter 2020/21 by Simon & Schuster in Canada and the US. ''The White Hare'', an eerie tale set in Cornwall in 1954, was praised by Jackie Morris (''The Lost Words, Spell Songs'') as a novel that ''sings of an earth alive with power' and by Liz Fenwick as 'A brilliant novel of love, loss, forgiveness, and healing...' It is released in the US and Canada in October 2022. Her latest novel is ''The Black Crescent'', set in Morocco in 1955 as the struggle for independence from the French Protectorate comes to a head. The Sunday Times selected it as one of the historical novels of the year and called it 'a compelling narrative'. Her magical fantasy novels for children include The Eidolon Chronicles (''Legends of the Shadow World'' in a US omnibus edition): ''The Secret Country'', ''The Shadow World'' and ''Dragon's Fire''.Two single volume stories followed: ''Maskmaker'' in 2010 and ''Goldseekers'' in 2011.

Bibliography

As Jane Johnson

For children: * The Eidolon Chronicles (Simon & Schuster); US omnibus edition, ''Legends of the Shadow World'' (2010) # ''The Secret Country'' (2005) # ''Shadow World'' (2006) # ''Dragon's Fire'' (2008) * ''Maskmaker'' (2010) * ''Goldseekers'' (2011) For adults, four novels set in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

: * ''Crossed Bones'' (Viking Penguin UK, April 2008); US and paperback title ''The Tenth Gift'' * ''The Salt Road'' (Viking, 2010) * ''The Sultan's Wife'' (Viking, 2012) – based on the life of

Ismail Ibn Sharif Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif (, – 22 March 1727) was a Sultan of Morocco from 1672 to 1727, as the second ruler of the 'Alawi dynasty. He was the seventh son of Sharif ibn Ali, Moulay Sharif and was governor of the province of Fez and the north o ...

* ''The Black Crescent'' (Apollo/Head of Zeus, 2023) - about the Moroccan fight for independence one novel set in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

" * "Pillars of Light" (Random House Canada January 2016; UCLan October 2017) – the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt led by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. F ...

one novel set in Spain * Court of Lions (Random House Canada January 2017, Head of Zeus UK June 2017) – the

Fall of Granada The Granada War was a series of military campaigns between 1482 and 1492 during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, against the Nasrid dynasty's Emirate of Granada. It ended with the defeat of G ...

, the

Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Muslim world, Islamic world. Additionally, the ...

Two novels set in Johnson's native Cornwall * The Sea Gate (Head of Zeus June/September 2020, Simon & Schuster Canada November 2020, Simon & Schuster US January 2021) –

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

* The White Hare (Head of Zeus July 2022, Simon & Schuster US/Canada October 1922)

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

As Jude Fisher

* Fools' Gold # ''Sorcery Rising'' (Earthlight, 2002) # ''Wild Magic'' (2004) # ''Rose of the World'' (2005) ;Visual Companion books * ''The Fellowship of the Ring: Visual Companion'' ("The Lord of the Rings" S., 2001) * ''The Two Towers: Visual Companion'' (2002), with introduction by

Viggo Mortensen Viggo Peter Mortensen Jr. (; born October 20, 1958) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received nominations for three Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. Mortensen made his film debut with a small role in ...

* ''The Return of the King: Visual Companion'' (2003) * ''The Lord of the Rings: Complete Visual Companion'' (2004) * ''The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Visual Companion'' (2012) * ''The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: Visual Companion'' (2013) * ''The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies: Visual Companion'' (2014)

As Gabriel King

;Tag, the Cat This series of animal stories by Johnson and

as Gabriel King was published by Century (British hardcover editions) and other Random House divisions. # ''The Wild Road'' (1997) # ''The Golden Cat'' (1998) # ''The Knot Garden'' (2000) # ''Nonesuch'' (2002) all were reissued by Head of Zeus in 2017.

References

External links

*
Interview by WritersNewsWeekly.com (archived)
*
Jude Fisher
at LC Authorities
Gabriel King
at LC Authorities, with 3 records (joint pseudonym with M. John Harrison) {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Jane 1960 births Living people English fantasy writers English children's writers People educated at Liskeard Grammar School Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) English women writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers Writers from Cornwall