Authors A to Z - Tom Arden

Tom Arden was born in Australia and has lived in Ireland and England since 1990.

His principal work is The Orokon, a million-word, five volume sequence of novels comprising The Harlequin's Dance (1997), The King and Queen of Swords (1998), Sultan of the Moon and Stars (1999), Sisterhood of the Blue Storm (2000) and Empress of the Endless Dream (2001).

Set in an imaginary eighteenth-century world, this darkly comic fantasy epic has been variously described as 'grotesque', 'marvellously camp', 'a sprawling baroque tapestry', and 'a feverish cross between Georgette Heyer and Mervyn Peake'.

He has also written the offbeat gothic mystery Shadow Black, while other publications include short stories, columns, and reviews in magazines including the Times Literary Supplement and Interzone.

Tom was educated at the University of Adelaide where he acquired a PhD in English literature. For seven years he was a lecturer in English, and he has been a full-time writer since 1998.

Among other interests he cites music, theatre, and travel. He has also been a Doctor Who fan since he was a child, when Doctor Who was one of the first programmes he saw after his parents finally, and reluctantly, acquired a television set. He vividly remembers the programme from the Jon Pertwee period.

What they've said about Tom's books:

The Orokon Series (1997 - 2001)

Book I - The Harlequin's Dance (1997):
"[Characters] as memorable as any characters Dickens created. The Harlequin's Dance is full-blooded, vivid stuff" - Starburst

"builds to a stunning climax" - SFX.

Book II - The King and Queen of Swords (1998):
"Arden takes some attractive risks ... a writer in whom we can have real confidence" - Dreamwatch

"A triumph of which Arden should be justly proud" - SFX.

Book III - Sultan of the Moon and Stars (1999):

"Treachery abounds and wild magic is almost commonplace [in] this womderful baggy monster of an epic ... mixes thrills and ironic humour with delightful camp profusion" - amazon.co.uk

"A wildly innovative, marvelously unpretentious mix of chaos, magic, manners, satire and adventure ... like a Jonathan Swift tale rewritten by Jane Austen, turned into a play by Oscar Wilde and then filmed by Terry Gilliam, it must be read to be believed" - Wavelengths Online.

Book IV - Sisterhood of the Blue Storm (2000):
"It's grim. It's witty ... the story is so cleverly written, the characters are so engaging/enraging ... vastly entertaining on several levels" - The SF Site.

"Witty, stylish and gloriously convoluted" - Dave Langford, Amazon.co.uk.

"Altogether, great fun" - Interzone.

Book V - Empress of the Endless Dream(2001):
"Few writers are as adroit as Arden at conjuring up something as idiosyncratic as the 18th-century fantasy world here ... As a purveyor of epic fantasy, Arden is very much in the upper brackets" - Starlog.

"Imagine a feverish cross between Georgette Heyer and Mervyn Peake ... Arden is a master of the macabre, with a wonderfully twisted sense of humor and adventure" - Locus.

"The apocalyptic climax will astound and enthrall Arden's legion of admirers" - amazon.co.uk.

Other Novels:

Shadow Black (2001):
"Tom Arden's Shadow Black is sinuous, sensual, and strange, with lashings of macabre humour and a feverish eroticism. This is Sunset Boulevard set on the English coast and directed by Fellini." - Molly Brown.

Other Writing:

Tom has also written short stories for magazines such as the prestigious UK publication Interzone.

His works include:

"The Indigenes" (IZ 136)

"The Volvax Immersion" (IZ 143)

Tom also wrote a series of articles on Fantasy under the collective title of Castle Dangerous, for Mark Chadbourn's At The World's End website and then later for The Alien Online.

His articles have also been published in the British Fantasy Society magazine, Prism.

 

More information about Tom Arden can be found on the official Official Website.