Brian Ruckley is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

novelist and

comic book writer A script is a document describing the narrative and dialogue of a comic book in detail. It is the comic book equivalent of a television program teleplay or a film screenplay. In comics, a script may be preceded by a plot outline, and is almost al ...

. He is the author of '' The Godless World'' trilogy: '' Winterbirth'', '' Bloodheir'', and '' Fall of Thanes''. He would go on to become principal writer of the current ''Transformers: Generation 1'' comic book series for

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...

, following the conclusion of the previous continuity.

Biography

Brian Ruckley was born and raised in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and studied at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

and the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals; ) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by a royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built within the walled Airth ...

. He lived for a time in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

but is now based in Edinburgh again. Ruckley is the author of eight published works. Four are short stories; "Farm Animal" was printed in 1993 in the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

science-fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, sp ...

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

, '' Interzone'' No. 74, and "Gibbons" was printed in 1999 in issue No. 20 of the magazine ''

The Third Alternative ''Black Static'', formerly ''The 3rd Alternative'', was a British horror magazine edited by Andy Cox. The magazine twice won the British Fantasy Award for "Best Magazine" while ''The 3rd Alternative'' twice won the same award for Best Small Pres ...

'', now called ''

Black Static ''Black Static'', formerly ''The 3rd Alternative'', was a British horror magazine edited by Andy Cox. The magazine twice won the British Fantasy Award for "Best Magazine" while ''The 3rd Alternative'' twice won the same award for Best Small Pres ...

''. "Beyond the Reach of His Gods" appeared in the 2009

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

''Rage of the Behemoth'' from Rogue Blades Entertainment, and was reprinted in 2012 in the online science-fiction and fantasy magazine '' Lightspeed''. "Flint" appeared in the 2010

''Speculative Horizons'' from

Subterranean Press Subterranean Press is a small press publisher in Burton, Michigan. Subterranean is best known for publishing genre fiction, primarily Horror fiction, horror, suspense and dark mystery, fantasy, and science fiction. In addition to publishing novel ...

. His first novel, '' Winterbirth'', was published in 2006 by

Orbit Books Orbit Books is an international publisher that specialises in science fiction and fantasy books. It is a division of Lagardère Publishing. History Orbit Books was founded in 1974 as part of the Macdonald Futura publishing company. In 1992, ...

in both the United States and the United Kingdom. ''Winterbirth'' was followed by its sequel, '' Bloodheir'', which was released in 2008, also published by Orbit Books, as was the third novel, '' Fall of Thanes'', released in 2009. In 2011, Ruckley's fourth book, a standalone historical fantasy and horror novel, '' The Edinburgh Dead'' was published, again by Orbit Books. In 2014, Ruckley released a standalone epic fantasy novel entitled ''The Free''. Between 2019 and 2022, Ruckley was the main writer for the ongoing ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

'' comic by IDW Publishing.

Bibliography

Novels

* '' The Godless World'' series: ** '' Winterbirth'' (2006) ** '' Bloodheir'' (2008) ** '' Fall of Thanes'' (2009) * Standalone: ** '' The Edinburgh Dead'' (2011) ** ''The Free'' (2014)

Comics

* ''

'' (#1–43, 2019–2022; for

) ** ''Transformers Annual 2021'' (one-shot, 2021) ** ''Transformers: Fate of Cybertron'' (one-shot, 2022) * '' Transformers: Escape'' (#1–5, 2020–2021) * '' Transformers: War's End'' (#1–4, 2022)

References

*Brian Ruckley. Baker & Taylor Author Biographies. January 2000:1. Accessed June 20, 2025. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lkh&AN=49304480&lang=ru&site=eds-live&scope=site *Murray F. Bloodheir. Booklist. 2008;104(18):36. Accessed June 20, 2025. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lkh&AN=32469348&lang=ru&site=eds-live&scope=site *Green R. Winterbirth. Booklist. 2007;104(1):66. Accessed June 20, 2025. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lkh&AN=26760866&lang=ru&site=eds-live&scope=site *The Edinburgh Dead. Publishers Weekly. 2011;258(25):32. Accessed June 20, 2025. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lkh&AN=62666244&lang=ru&site=eds-live&scope=site *Schonberger C. WINTERBIRTH. Entertainment Weekly. 2007;(953/954):151. Accessed June 20, 2025. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=26559229&lang=ru&site=eds-live&scope=site *Winterbirth. Kirkus Reviews. 2007;75(13):6. Accessed June 20, 2025. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lkh&AN=25696285&lang=ru&site=eds-live&scope=site *Winterbirth: The Godless World: Book One. Publishers Weekly. 2007;254(29):47-48. Accessed June 20, 2025. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lkh&AN=25949626&lang=ru&site=eds-live&scope=site *Bloodheir. Publishers Weekly. 2008;255(16):40-41. Accessed June 20, 2025. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lkh&AN=31861328&lang=ru&site=eds-live&scope=site

External links

Brian Ruckley official site
*

Interviews

Audio interview with Brian Ruckley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruckley, Brian Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century births Living people 20th-century Scottish male writers 20th-century Scottish novelists 20th-century Scottish short story writers 21st-century Scottish male writers 21st-century Scottish novelists 21st-century Scottish short story writers Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Stirling Scottish comics writers Scottish fantasy writers Scottish male novelists Scottish male short story writers Novelists from London Writers from Edinburgh