Stephanie Jane Swainston (born 1974) is a British literary

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, ...

/ science fiction author, known for the ''Castle'' series. Her

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

, '' The Year of Our War'' (2004), won the 2005

Crawford Award The IAFA William L. Crawford Fantasy Award (short: Crawford Award) is a literary award given to a writer whose first fantasy book was published during the preceding calendar year. It's one of several awards presented by the International Associat ...

and a nomination for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

Biography

Swainston was born in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

, West Yorkshire, in 1974. She attended St Joseph's Catholic College, Bradford, followed by

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the un ...

, and the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

. Outside writing, Swainston has had a broad range of occupations, which include

bookseller Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The foundi ...

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

, lock keeper,

information scientist The term information scientist developed in the latter part of the twentieth century by Wm. Hovey Smith to describe an individual, usually with a relevant subject degree (such as one in Information and Computer Science - CIS) or high level of subjec ...

, and

pyrotechnician Pyrotechnicians are people who are responsible for the safe storage, handling, and functioning of pyrotechnics and pyrotechnic devices. Although the term is generally used in reference to individuals who operate pyrotechnics in the entertainment ...

. Swainston's novels to date take place in the Fourlands, which the author has described as a secret childhood

paracosm A paracosm is a detailed imaginary world thought generally to originate in childhood. The creator of a paracosm has a complex and deeply felt relationship with this subjective universe, which may incorporate real-world or imaginary characters a ...

,Profile at orionbooks.co.uk
/ref>Interview at clarkesworldmagazine.com
further influenced by aspects of her later adult life, including the competitive academic world. The novels centre on the life of the Circle, an elite group of immortals created and sustained by the Emperor, a near god-like figure engaged in a prolonged conflict with

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

-like creatures, apparently from another world. Told in the first person, the novels follow the life of Jant, a winged humanoid with a distinctly flawed personality. The ''Castle'' series is also marked by the existence of multiple worlds, including the fantastic, baroque "Shift". The novels have been labeled by others as New Weird fantasy. Swainston has argued against labeling writers, including herself, within genres, on the basis that good fantasy and mainstream literature form a continuum. She has been critical of the conservative nature of much commercial fantasy writing. Her writing, unlike most works classified as traditional fantasy, depicts drug use and graphic sex scenes, alongside the hyper- realistic depiction of warfare. Swainston describes her work as appealing to the ongoing deep structures of universal storytelling, as literature written as much in response to the author's own needs than as a response to specific market requirements. Swainston took a break from writing in 2011 to become a chemistry teacher, but subsequently returned to writing.Blog entry
Fair Rebel - the fifth Castle book
(2 October 2015) Her fifth novel, ''Fair Rebel'', was published in 2016.

Bibliography

Novels

* '' The Year of Our War'' (Gollancz SF, 2004) * '' No Present Like Time'' (Gollancz SF, 2005, hardcover) * '' The Modern World'' (Gollancz SF, 2007, hardback) * ''Above the Snowline'' (Gollancz SF, 2010, hardcover) * ''Fair Rebel'' (Gollancz SF, 2016, paperback)

Omnibus

* ''The Castle Omnibus: "The Year of Our War", "No Present Like Time", "The Modern World"'' (Gollancz SF, 2009, paperback) * ''Velocity's Aftermath: "Wrought Gothic", "Aftermath", "Turning Point"'' (Air and Nothingness Press, 2023, paperback)

Collection

* ''Wrought Gothic and Other Scenes'' (Air and Nothingness Press, 2016, paperback) * ''Turning Point'' (collection) (Air and Nothingness Press, 2018, paperback)

Short fiction

* "The Wheel of Fortune" (included in ''The Best British Fantasy 2013'', Salt Publishing, 2013, paperback) * ''Aftermath'' (an excerpt from a book-length sequel to ''Fair Rebel'' entitled ''The Savant and the Snake'', and other material) (Air and Nothingness Press, 2016, paperback) * "Velocity" (included in ''The Best of British Fantasy 2018'', NewCon Press, 2019)

References

External links

* *
Interview
conducted by

Jeff VanderMeer Jeff VanderMeer (born July 7, 1968) is an American author, editor, and literary critic. Initially associated with the New Weird literary genre, VanderMeer crossed over into mainstream success with his bestselling Southern Reach Series. The se ...

for '' Clarkesworld Magazine''
Interview
conducted in 2006 by Jay Tomio
Reviews
of all three books in the ''Castle'' series
HarperCollins interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swainston, Steph 1974 births Living people Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Wales English fantasy writers Writers from Bradford Date of birth missing (living people) British women short story writers British women science fiction and fantasy writers English women novelists 21st-century English women writers 21st-century English writers 21st-century British novelists People educated at St. Joseph's Catholic College, Bradford 21st-century British short story writers British weird fiction writers