About

Hi, I’m Anthony Ryan, writer of fantasy, science fiction, and very occasional non-fiction.

After a long career in the British Civil Service I took up writing full time after the success of my first novel Blood Song, Book One of the Raven’s Shadow trilogy which has been purchased by Penguin US, published in July 2013. I also wrote the Draconis Memoria trilogy and the Raven’s Blade duology, the sci-fi noir series Slab City Blues, and The Seven Swords series of fantasy novellas.

You can contact me here.

I’m also on Twitter: @writer_anthony

And Facebook: facebook.com/anthonyryanauthor

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62 responses to “About”

  • Andrew Reckles
    May 18th, 2012 at 2:33 am

    So, I’m about 80% through Raven’s Shadow. KUDO’s to you! I am an avid Fantasy Reader..I read literally 4 or 5 books a month, must be my English Lit background…always been a voracious reader..Anyway, I have to say that this is on PAR with some of the best stuff I’ve read in the genre. I am more impressed with this (as a first volume in a series) than I was with “Name the Wind”..which I suspect you’ll find as high praise..and you should. I am really very concerned that I am going to have to wait a long time for the ensuing books in this series, so with that in mind, IF writing isn’t your day job, then I suggest you quit your day job, and start writing full time…you’re VERY good and more Fantasy readers need to read this story.

    • Cheryl Emry
      July 8th, 2014 at 11:45 pm

      Brilliant! I could not put them down and finished book 1 and 2 of Raven’s Shadow in a week. (I am putting up a fence or it would have sooner. 😉 I am not a big fan of paying 14.99 for a down load book but you are definitely worth it. Your characters are wonderful and your story is exciting. Drew me in and when I was not reading it I found myself thinking about it. Not many writers can do this for me. Hurry up with that third book! I hope you have more for us after this trillogy.

  • Sean Varney
    July 3rd, 2012 at 4:06 am

    I read about two or three fantasy books a week. I don’t sleep much! I find myself sifting through the rubble often and I have to say that I really can’t wait to recommend this book. This book is literally a steal for the kindle and I can’t wait to read what comes next. Thank you for picking up the pen!

    • Sean Varney
      February 13th, 2013 at 3:39 am

      Just finished my 5th read through and I still can’t believe how awesome Blood Song is to read and re-read. Your book is the best book I have ever read! Thank you again!

  • Cubert
    August 8th, 2012 at 5:34 am

    Sir you have blown me away with your Blood Song. I anticipate great things from you and just want to offer all the encouragement I can to keep chugging away. I didn’t think I’d find another independent author I could compare with Michael J. Sullivan but you’ve out done yourself. Great work

  • Mack
    August 10th, 2012 at 1:43 pm

    Gods is Raven’s Shadow AMAZING. Quick, make the next book!

  • Shawna
    August 11th, 2012 at 3:27 am

    Thank you so much for Blood Song. You’ve done an amazing job. I can’t remember the last time I’ve enjoyed a book so much. I only wish I had discovered it 10 years from now so I could read the whole series without waiting 🙂

  • Jacob Bryant
    August 30th, 2012 at 8:55 am

    Second time through Blood Song. The book has only gotten better the second time through. Love the main character and his story. Clearly was worth the read again since it kept me up until 4 a.m. Cannot wait for the second novel!

  • Chamene Welhengama
    September 2nd, 2012 at 11:44 am

    Just finished Blood Song. It was absolutely superb, and ridiculously low priced on Amazon considering the length and quality of the book. You managed to combine echoes of David Gemmell at his best and the worldbuilding of someone like Robert Jordan or George RR Martin.

    Congratulations on getting the Penguin deal in the US. As a fellow Brit (living in Liverpool, UK) I’m sorry to hear that the UK publishing agencies turned you down, but considering the rave reviews you’re getting all over the Internet, I suspect that situation will change fairly soon.

    Can’t wait to get my digital hands on the second book. Good luck, and rest assured I’ll be putting up a similar review on Amazon.

  • Kira
    September 10th, 2012 at 9:32 pm

    Please finish this series! I still hold 15 years of loathing against Melanie Rawn for not publishing her third and final book in the Exiles trilogy(although the publisher kept saying it was coming year after year). Since that series there have only been a few books or series that have captured my attention with characters that I care about, well developed worlds I can picture and plots that keep me guessing. I am an avid sci-fi fantasy reader and read at least 1-4 books a week depending on family and kids. I almost didnt want this book to end! Keep up the great work! I can’t wait for the Towr Lord to come out. Though I think I’m with the other person that wishes it were ten years in the future so I can read the whole trilogy at once.

  • Karsten Steinmeyer
    December 13th, 2012 at 5:50 am

    Ok so I loved blood song and it has defiantly made its way to my top ten books. I mean I couldn’t put it down, I badically said screw homework I’m reading this book (i rarely have hw and when I do it’s really easy). When do you think the sequel will be released? P.s. isn’t my grammar just amazing while I’m on the Internet???!!!?!??!?

  • Sally
    December 19th, 2012 at 8:09 pm

    Really enjoyed Ravensong. Looking forward to book 2. Thank you for a good read.

  • Kevin Brennan
    January 2nd, 2013 at 1:15 pm

    Fantastic first book Sir! Right up there with best from Richard Morgan, Joe Abercrombie & Peter Brett. I have had several 3am finishes in reading it. As was said before, thank you for picking up the pen to begin with. I avidly await book number 2!

  • Katharina H.
    February 3rd, 2013 at 8:47 am

    I am amazed, and kind of pissed 🙂 Why is it, that I always have the “luck” to find a good fantasy book before the other parts are also released? All this waiting really frustrates me.
    My congratulations to you, Mr Ryan, for really blowing me away with the “Ravensong” book.
    It’s definitely going to be my “books of the year 2013”-list although the year has just started.
    Greetings from Vienna, Austria

  • San Kumar
    February 12th, 2013 at 12:29 pm

    I just finished reading your book Blood Song and I enjoyed it very much. Looking forward to the sequels and I hope they come out very soon!

    I really wanted to discuss the book with others who have read it but unfortunately I didn’t find many places on the internet where I can discuss your book. I was going to post on one of your blog posts about Blood Song but I noticed that you remove spoilers. Do you know any places on the internet where people actively discuss your books? I have found lot of reviews on Amazon, Good reads etc but hardly any discussions. Why not setup a discussion forum on your web site? I am sure lot of your readers will find it very useful!

    Anyway thanks for a good book and keep up the good work!

  • elijahmaria
    March 24th, 2013 at 10:49 pm

    Just beginning Blood Song. I was so stunned by my response to it that I had to come looking for the author…from one who can read, to one who can write!!!…S’wonderful!…S’marvelous!…thank you!

  • Genny Williams
    April 26th, 2013 at 3:07 am

    I’m a voracious reader and my fave genre is historical romance (yes, those trashy bodice-rippers w/ Fabio on the cover), but I enjoy good fiction in general. Since I only started reading sci-fi/fantasy a year and a half ago, I was able to happily breezebreeze through almost all of Jordan’s WoT and all 5 of Martin’s GoT. Reading “Blood Song” has been amazing! I can’t remember the last book I read that had me dreading the story’s end, but that is definitely the case with your novel. I’m 2/3 of the way through the story and already depressed that I won’t be able to immediately pick up the next book in the series.

  • Fan in Bangkok
    April 30th, 2013 at 9:53 am

    Just wanted to stop by and say I truly enjoyed your ‘Blood Song’. Had fun reading it on my Kindle a while back and it’s been haunting me to check/search for book 2. So I finally come to your blog to look for news and so happy it’s on it’s way! Looking forward to the next one! Best wishes.

  • Frank
    May 5th, 2013 at 10:16 pm

    Anthony, wonderful to read Blood Song. Couldn’t put it down. Reminds me of Peter Moorwood, Gemmel et al. Gritty and amazing characters and I know that I will be waiting on baited breath for the next installment.
    Just a quick question, please can we have more Slab City? After finishing Blood Song, I searched for your other stuff and really like it. As one of those who is constantly waiting for Asher, Morgan and Hamilton to publish, I now have another to add to the list. Great to see Brits doing good! Keep it coming, it’s great

    • Anthony Ryan
      May 5th, 2013 at 10:43 pm

      Thanks Frank,
      There will be a final Slab City Blues novel in due course, but it may be a while before it appears. In the meantime, please know your support is greatly appreciated.

  • Frank
    May 5th, 2013 at 10:55 pm

    No worries

  • Justice
    September 4th, 2013 at 7:27 am

    Ur awesome. Jus burnt thru blood song, When is d next one comin out? P.s. pls make sure dat he ends up wit d woman he loves. I think he deserves dat after all d pain he’s been thru.

  • Jennifer
    September 25th, 2013 at 6:15 am

    Blood Song was excellent. It was a pleasure to read. Thank you for a great story.

  • Lyllie
    January 7th, 2014 at 6:37 am

    Hi, Im french. I decided to write something to you for two reasons ; first, because I read your stupendous book thanks to my Ireland’s summer camp, and i bought it there (to read it in english). Second, because I absolutely adored your writing, your story and the character of Vaelin !
    In fact, i liked it so much that I am going to introduce it to my classmates during an english presentation (as I can speak about anything, I’d rather speak about an english book). So I was looking for some informations about you, and I found this place. It’s a pity that you are still alive (sorry for this 😉 ) because you don’t have a biography yet. Though you can still write the second book (which I look for with eager) and that’s even better than a biography.

    I wanted to thank you so much… Because your way of reflecting is so natural, everything is so fluent and passionate, as if we (readers) were all in there. and you know what ? Your system of Orders is exactly the same as the one my father and I created for our own world. Plus, your “Faith” is so well imagined… Well, I think I am going to end this because otherwise I won’t be able to prevent myself from thanking you.

    • Anthony Ryan
      January 7th, 2014 at 11:54 am

      Hi Lyllie,
      Thanks for the kind the words (and apologies for not dying yet, but I’m working on it). Good luck with the presentation.
      Anthony

      • Lyllie
        January 8th, 2014 at 4:53 pm

        Haha ! 🙂 and good luck for the third book (if I understood well).
        By the way, I found some informations about you. And it’s not thanks to you.

        Have a nice happy new year as well.

  • Frank
    July 6th, 2014 at 1:56 pm

    Mr. Ryan,

    I wish I had the ability to wordsmith in the manner the two “Raven’s Shadow” books are written so my note here would say all that I mean. However, the best way to put it is the wait for “Tower Lord”. athough sooooo loooong, was well worth it. I had preordered it soon after completion of “Blood Song” – which I actually read twice. I anxiously await the next book in the trilogy. In the meantime I will likely reread both of the first two again – having just finished “Tower Lord”.

    I read a lot of historical novels (and even dry history at times), action, political, suspense, science fiction – well, just about everything. I’ve been impressed with the likes of epics like this series that include “The Wheel of Time”, and the “Song of Ice and Fire”. However, I find this one keeps inserting itself in my idle thoughts long after completing a book.

    You, sir, are at the top of my most readable authors so I’m going to have to get some of your other works. “Slab City” sounds like a good place to start. Even though I have my ebook library stocked with unread books they just may continue to be pushed back

    Thank you for taking up writing full time. I’m certain of your continued success.

    • Anthony Ryan
      July 6th, 2014 at 2:03 pm

      Thanks Frank. I too have a stack of books sitting on my Kindle which really need to get round to, seems to be a common feature of owning an e-reader.
      Hope you like Slab City Blues,
      Anthony

  • Juan Pablo
    July 6th, 2014 at 6:03 pm

    Mr. Ryan,

    I’m from Santiago, Chile, so forgive me if I do not express myself very well.

    I just wanted to thank you for writing one of the best fantasy books I’ve ever read. I read plenty (not so much compared to some that posted before haha), and it had been a while since I encountered a book that really caught me, I spent every bit of time I’d got to spare reading Blood Song. The way you profess the art of creating, it’s just fantastic! I mean I didn’t find any inconsistencies and the story went so fluently, like you were narrating something that occurred in front of your eyes. The character development was splendid, I felt how Vaelin was becoming a man and the sense of camaraderie that was been initiated between the members of the group he leaded through the pages.

    I first read Blood Song six months ago, and now that the second book is out I started it over again and it was just like the first time, I let myself be amazed again.

    I thank everyday that I was born in this era that permits me to have access to books in an instant from so far away (through e-books and kindle).

    Someday, when I get the chance to visit the UK I will send my book by postmail for you to sign it hahaha.

    I hope someday I can write something as well-thought as your books. University makes it difficult right now but one never knows what destiny has planned for us.

    I wish you the very best of luck! Continue writing please!!! I’m going to start Tower Lord now! Hahaha!

    Ps. Hope your book is translated to spanish sometime so I can recommend you to my friends that do not understand english 🙂

  • Linden Lafferty
    July 8th, 2014 at 12:07 am

    Just wanted to thank you for writing such wonderful characters. I read any good SF/fantasy books I can find and yours are in the top 5. And that is true of everything I can find to read from you although the Raven Song series is my favorite. Smart complex and powerfully written sf novels make the world a better place! Thank you for every minute you devote to creating them for the rest of us!! So refreshing to read something not dumbed down. In fact, I decided to go back and reread Blood Song to fully appreciate the experience of Tower Lord. I am planning to read the new book as slowly as possible to make it last longer. Cannot remember when a book inspired me to do catchup beforehand.

  • dmb321
    July 9th, 2014 at 5:18 pm

    Wow! What great stories. I just finished the first and second Raven books. Fantastic , I listened to the digital audio from audible.com. Your reader is gifted and brought all to life in a beautiful way. Looking forward to more. Being a digital reader and listener and a fan can I have your digital autograph !
    Donna Busch
    Lake Orion , Michigan. USA

  • Tom Austin
    July 11th, 2014 at 2:22 am

    Thanks so much for these first two books.

    I was beginning to tire of fantasy stories until until I read “Blood Song”. I was enthralled. I put your story telling right next to my favorite authors.

    I was about to begin a 16 hour drive from Idaho to California and was very excited to see that “Tower Lord” had become available on Audible. I grabbed it before the trip. The miles flew by and I continued to listen as I pulled up outside my house and walked inside.

  • hangerhead
    July 13th, 2014 at 6:49 pm

    Hello Anthony – I’ve just finished Tower Lord – immensely enjoyable and epic in the best way.
    Now I’ve got to hope to catch announcements of the next book and perhaps understanding of exactly what happened on the final page! 😀

  • Tom Austin
    July 14th, 2014 at 5:19 pm

    I hope no one posts spoilers. I have been saving this book for my walks to work, andI have another four days until I finish.

  • hangerhead
    July 14th, 2014 at 6:44 pm

    of course, i’d hope for no spoilers for anyone else too.

  • Mark Pelham
    July 21st, 2014 at 1:26 am

    I thoroughly enjoyed Bloodsong and I’m now well into Tower Lord. Your writing is excellent, but I’m disappointed that you decided to use the f-word and some gratuitous sex in your second book. Good writing is only sullied by this; it’s harder but better to be counter-cultural and take the high road. Many an author has started well and slid downward after success. You have a gift–use it well!

  • Arianna Walker
    July 31st, 2014 at 12:25 am

    I’m writing primarily to distract myself away from reading the rest of Tower Lord because once I’ve finished it, I know what awaits me is months and months of waiting for book three and resorting to filling the wait time with books that have all the right ingredients but don’t know the right recipe. You have the rare and precious talent of knowing not just the ingredients of a great story but also how to put it all together in such a way that your readers are well and truly hooked. And that is what I am- hooked. I’m at work wondering if I can nip to the loo and read a few pages on my iPhone. I burnt my hand trying to get tea out of the oven because I was also reading my kindle and I think about the characters more often than is healthy, bearing in mind they are not real people. So thank you and well done and if at all possible please please do not eat, sleep or do anything other than be writing book three- you owe it to the addicts you created! So, it’s now 12:23 am, I’ve distracted myself away from the Tower Lord for 15 minutes, shall I sleep or read? READ!!

    • Anthony Ryan
      July 31st, 2014 at 1:06 am

      Thanks Arianna. Remember kids, don’t read and cook. Or at least buy the audiobook if you do. As for book 3, I finished it in December and it should appear in July 2015.
      Best,
      Anthony

      • Kim Morgan
        September 2nd, 2014 at 1:59 am

        What’s the title of book 3? I try to always keep a list of must-reads, and right now I’m almost done with Tower Lord… and loving it. I hate having to wait another year for it!

      • Anthony Ryan
        September 2nd, 2014 at 2:18 am

        Hi Km,
        Book 3 will be called Queen of Fire. Glad you’re liking Tower Lord and Hope you don’t find the wait too irksome.
        Best,
        Anthony

    • Efrona Mor
      August 20th, 2014 at 9:30 pm

      Arianna, being a chef for many years I vouch for ‘not reading and cooking’, but Anthony Ryan’s book can lead a person to a blissful madness through the world of Vaelin Al Sorna… In similar interests to ‘cooking and reading’, I tried making an espresso this morning with my kindle open, reading Tower Lord of course. It went well until I frothed the milk. Had to put the kindle down, but even so I stood it up in vain effort to continue reading without making a mess………as you stated, we are ‘truly hooked!’ ……. I’m with you, failing my attempts to read segments, stretching it out. I just can’t put it down for long, as it’s a fabulous read!
      Happy Reading!

      • Anthony Ryan
        August 20th, 2014 at 11:10 pm

        Mr Ryan’s lawyers would like to point out that, whilst he appreciates the sentiment behind such actions, he in no way endorses or encourages the increasingly prevalent practice of Kindle-cookery.

  • Meghann
    August 12th, 2014 at 2:46 am

    I picked up Blood Song at the bookstore as I was wandering through about 3 weeks ago. Now here I am just finished book 2 and trying to figure out when I’ll be able to get my hands on book 3! I’m so disappointed that I have to wait a year, I suppose good things come to those who wait.
    I already got a friend and my brother, who’s name is also Anthony incidentally, on to your first book and so the word spreads 🙂
    Thanks for sharing this world with us and please know that your hard work is very much appreciated!

  • Sheila Pardue
    September 15th, 2014 at 7:58 am

    Love the Raven’s Shadow series!! Just finished the 2nd book and can’t wait for the next one!! Do you know when the next one is expected to be published?

  • Ilona Es
    October 30th, 2014 at 1:23 am

    You should get yourself a Facebook fan page, all the other authors have one!
    your fan Ilona

  • pettelt34
    January 4th, 2015 at 10:11 pm

    Hello, First off, I love your books. Absolutely loved them. Second, I was wondering if it was possible for me to send you a book to sign? I understand if that is not possible, but thought it couldn’t hurt to ask. Thanks so much.

    Warm regards,
    Paul

  • Farah
    January 23rd, 2015 at 4:32 pm

    Thank you so much Mr. Ryan for such an amazing series, I read (and Listened to) the first two books and can’t wait for the last in the series
    I know its still early, but would you write more novels in the world of Raven’s Shadow?
    Best regards from Iraq
    Farah

  • Amrider
    June 10th, 2015 at 8:05 am

    How and when did the medeneans capture Lady Emereen ? Anyone ?

  • Amrider
    June 10th, 2015 at 8:07 am

    *Emeren*

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