Christian Gordon Cameron (born August 16, 1962), also known as Miles Cameron and Gordon Kent (used for those novels written with his father, author Kenneth Cameron), is a Canadian

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

. He was educated and trained as both a

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and a former career officer in the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. His best-known work is the

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

series ''Tyrant'', which by 2009 had sold over 100,000 copies.

Biography

Cameron was born in the US, in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, Pennsylvania, in 1962, and grew up in Rochester, New York, and

Iowa City Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's fifth-most populous city. The Iowa City metropolitan area, which enc ...

, Iowa, as well as

Rockport, Massachusetts Rockport is a seaside New England town, town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,992 in 2020 United States census, 2020. Rockport is located approximately northeast of Boston, at the tip of the Cape Ann peninsula. ...

. He attended high school at McQuaid Jesuit High School in Rochester, and got an honors BA in Medieval History at the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

. After University, Cameron joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

as an ensign, serving in VS-31 as an air intelligence officer and gaining his air observer wings before going to spend the rest of his military career as a

human intelligence Human intelligence is the Intellect, intellectual capability of humans, which is marked by complex Cognition, cognitive feats and high levels of motivation and self-awareness. Using their intelligence, humans are able to learning, learn, Concept ...

officer, first with NCIS and later with the DHS in Washington, DC. Cameron left the US military in 2000 as a lieutenant commander. Christian and Kenneth Cameron proposed their first novel while Christian was still in the Navy. It was published in 1998 as ''Night Trap'' in the UK and ''Rules of Engagement'' in the United States. In 2002, Cameron wrote his first solo novel, ''Washington and Caesar'', which was published by HarperCollins in the UK and Random House in the US. Also in 2002, Cameron moved to Canada and married his wife, Sarah. They have one child, Beatrice.

Fictional works

''Alan Craik'' series, written with Kenneth Cameron

The ''Alan Craik'' series of espionage thrillers was conceived by the Camerons on a camping trip in the

Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains ( ) are a massif of mountains in Northeastern New York (state), New York which form a circular dome approximately wide and covering about . The region contains more than 100 peaks, including Mount Marcy, which is the hi ...

in 1994-1995, and the events of the first book are very loosely based on the activities of John Anthony Walker and his son, father and son spies working for the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

against the

. The Camerons envisioned the books as a modern-day Hornblower series, depicting the life of a modern naval officer from his earliest career until his retirement. Over the course of eight novels, Alan Craik changes from a patriotic, enthusiastic and driven young man to a cynical and ambitious middle-aged man who resigns as a Captain to protest the use of intelligence to justify bad political decisions.

''Tyrant'' series

The ''Tyrant'' series was born in the classrooms of the Classics Department of the University of Toronto, where Cameron decided to write a series of historical novels in 2003. From 2003 to the present, Cameron has written six Tyrant novels: ''Tyrant'' (2008), ''Storm of Arrows'' (2009), ''Funeral Games'' (2010), ''King of the Bosporus'' (2011), ''Destroyer of Cities'' (2013), and ''Force of Kings'' (2014). The Tyrant series is set in the time of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

and concerns the history of the

Euxine The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

area and the inter-relationships between the

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

and

Scythians The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian noma ...

. Cameron also produced a single-volume fictional biography of Alexander entitled ''God of War'' which ties into the Tyrant series. ''God of War'' was published in 2012.

''Long War'' series

The ''Long War'' series is Cameron's second historical series, also published by Orion in the UK. Cameron's series covers the

Persian Wars The Greco-Persian Wars (also often called the Persian Wars) were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire and Greek city-states that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC. The collision between the fractious political world of th ...

from the first-person point of view of a historical figure,

Arimnestos Arimnestos (; early 5th century BCE) was the commander of the Plataean contingent at the battles of Marathon and Plataea during the Greco-Persian Wars. Battle of Plataea Plutarch relates that Arimnestos was responsible for selecting the lo ...

Plataea Plataea (; , ''Plátaia'') was an ancient Greek city-state situated in Boeotia near the frontier with Attica at the foot of Mt. Cithaeron, between the mountain and the river Asopus, which divided its territory from that of Thebes. Its inhab ...

. The first book, ''Killer of Men'' (published in 2010), is named after Achilles, the man-killer of the

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

, and covers in first person the early life of Arimnestos and his participation in the Ionian Revolt. The next installment of the series is ''Marathon'' (published in 2011), which culminates in the titular

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

. ''Poseidon's Spear'' (2013) covers the five years after Marathon and is a more personal tale of adventure, exploration, and revenge across the western Mediterranean and

Atlantic Europe Atlantic Europe encompasses the western portion of Europe which borders the Atlantic Ocean. The term may refer to the idea of Atlantic Europe as a cultural unit and/or as a biogeographical region. It comprises the British Isles (Great Britain an ...

. ''The Great King'' (2014) has Arimnestos partake in Sparta's diplomatic mission to Persia and ends with the

Battle of Artemisium The Battle of Artemisium or Artemision was a series of naval engagements over three days during the second Persian invasion of Greece. The battle took place simultaneously with the land battle at Thermopylae, in August or September 480 BC, off t ...

. ''Salamis'' (2015) covers the titular

and ''The Rage of Ares'' (2016) ends the series with the battles of

and Mycale. In addition to the battles, the series also features aspects of life in ancient Greece, such as smithery,

farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, and

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

, and historical figures such as

Heraclitus Heraclitus (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic philosopher from the city of Ephesus, which was then part of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Empire. He exerts a wide influence on Western philosophy, ...

Aristides Aristides ( ; , ; 530–468 BC) was an ancient Athenian statesman. Nicknamed "the Just" (δίκαιος, ''díkaios''), he flourished at the beginning of Athens' Classical period and is remembered for his generalship in the Persian War. ...

, Gorgo, and Xerxes.

''Chivalry'' series

The ''Chivalry'' series is Cameron's third historical series, also published by Orion (May 2013). Based loosely around the exploits of Sir William Gold, one of Sir John Hawkwood's lieutenants in Italy, this series begins with Gold's life as a goldsmith's apprentice in London just after the great plague of 1347 and will continue through the

Battle of Poitiers The Battle of Poitiers was fought on 19September 1356 between a Kingdom of France, French army commanded by King John II of France, King JohnII and an Kingdom of England, Anglo-Gascony, Gascon force under Edward the Black Prince, Edward, the ...

and the Savoyard Crusade, as well as the

Peasants' Revolt The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black ...

of 1381, right through to the

Battle of Agincourt The Battle of Agincourt ( ; ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected victory of the vastly outnumbered English troops agains ...

in 1415, covering the history of the period—military, chivalric, and literary—in England, France, Italy, and Greece and roughly in parallel with the career of Chaucer's knight.

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

is a major character, along with John Hawkwood and

Jean Le Maingre Jean II Le Maingre (Old French: Jehan le Meingre), also known as Boucicaut (28 August 1366 – 21 June 1421), was a French knight and military leader. Renowned for his military skill and embodiment of chivalry, he was made a marshal of France. ...

''Traitor Son Cycle''

Originally planned as a trilogy, and extended to a five book fantasy series with an alternative medieval setting. The major story arc takes the Red Knight from the relative obscurity of command of a little-known mercenary company to fame, international renown, worldly power, and confrontation with the real powers of his world and perhaps with his own belief system.

''Masters and Mages''

A magical fantasy alternate medieval setting fictional universe, written after the conclusion of the Traitor Son pentalogy, planned as a trilogy.

''Arcana Imperii''

A departure from Cameron's historical and fantasy settings, the ''Arcana Imperii'' series is a

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, space ...

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes Space warfare in science fiction, space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, i ...

. Published as Miles Cameron, the series is set in a far-future human civilization where faster-than-light travel has enabled the settling of many star systems, and enormous Greatships fly trade routes across vast interstellar distances.

Bibliography

As Gordon Kent

Alan Craik series

* ''Night Trap'' (1998). Published as ''Rules of Engagement'' in the USA. * ''Peacemaker'' (2002) * ''Top Hook'' (2002) * ''Hostile Contact'' (2003) * ''Force Protection'' (2004) * ''Damage Control'' (2005) * ''The Spoils of War'' (2006) * ''The Falconer's Tale'' (2007)

As Christian Cameron

Tyrant Series

* ''Tyrant'' (2008) * ''Storm of Arrows'' (2009) * ''Funeral Games'' (2010) * ''King of the Bosporus'' (2011) * ''Destroyer of Cities'' (2013) * ''Force of Kings'' (2014)

Long War Series

* ''Killer of Men'' (2010) * ''Marathon'' (2011) * ''Poseidon's Spear'' (2012) * ''The Great King'' (2014) * ''Salamis'' (2015) * ''The Rage of Ares'' (2016) * ''Treason of Sparta'' (2023)

Chivalry series

* ''The Ill-Made Knight'' (2013) * ''The Long Sword'' (2014) * ''The Green Count'' (2017) * ''Sword of Justice'' (2018) * ''Hawkwood's Sword'' (2021) * ''The Emperor's Sword'' (2024)

Tom Swan Serials (6 or 7 to a complete novel)

* ''Tom Swan and the Head of St George 1: Castillon'' (2012) * ''Tom Swan and the Head of St George 2: Venice'' (2012) * ''Tom Swan and the Head of St George 3: Constantinople'' (2012) * ''Tom Swan and the Head of St George 4: Rome'' (2013) * ''Tom Swan and the Head of St George 5: Rhodes'' (2013) * ''Tom Swan and the Head of St George 6: Chios'' (2013) * ''Tom Swan and the Siege of Belgrade 1'' (2014) * ''Tom Swan and the Siege of Belgrade 2'' (2014) * ''Tom Swan and the Siege of Belgrade 3'' (2014) * ''Tom Swan and the Siege of Belgrade 4'' (2015) * ''Tom Swan and the Siege of Belgrade 5'' (2015) * ''Tom Swan and the Siege of Belgrade 6'' (2015) * ''Tom Swan and the Siege of Belgrade 7'' (2015) * ''Tom Swan and Last Spartans 1'' (2016) * ''Tom Swan and Last Spartans 2'' (2016) * ''Tom Swan and Last Spartans 3'' (2017) * ''Tom Swan and Last Spartans 4'' (2017) * ''Tom Swan and Last Spartans 5'' (2017)

Commander series

* The New Achilles (2019) * The Last Greek (2020)

Other novels

* ''Washington and Caesar'' (2003) * ''God of War'' (2012)

As Miles Cameron

Traitor Son Cycle

* ''The Red Knight'' (2012) * ''The Fell Sword'' (2014) * ''The Dread Wyrm'' (2015) * ''The Plague of Swords'' (2016) * ''The Fall of Dragons'' (2017) * ''The Messenger's Tale I'' (2013) — short story prequel to ''The Red Knight'' * ''The Messenger's Tale II'' (2014) — short story set between ''The Fell Sword'' and ''The Dread Wyrm''

Masters and Mages

* ''Cold Iron'' (2018) * ''Dark Forge'' (2019) * ''Bright Steel'' (2019)

The Age of Bronze

* ''Against All Gods'' (2022) * ''Storming Heaven'' (2023) * ''Breaking Hel'' (2024)

Arcana Imperii

* ''Artifact Space'' (2021) * ''Beyond the Fringe: An Arcana Imperii Collection'' (2023) * ''Deep Black'' (2024)

References

External links

* Official forum website: http://www.hippeis.com/ * Official author website: https://christiancameronauthor.com/
Author's American Revolution period reenacting group
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Christian 1962 births Living people Canadian fantasy writers Canadian male novelists 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers Writers of historical fiction set in antiquity Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages