STAN NICHOLLS is the author of thirty books, most of them in the fantasy and science fiction genres, and he has written for both adult and young readers. Titles include 'Strange Invaders', 'Fade to Black', The Nightshade Chronicles trilogy [all Scholastic] and 'Wordsmiths of Wonder: Fifty Interviews With Writers of the Fantastic' [Little Brown/Orbit]. He adapted David Gemmell's 'Legend' and 'Wolf in Shadow' into graphic novel form [Random House], novelised TV series 'Dark Skies' [Bantam Books], and wrote authorised biographies of, among others, Gerry Anderson of Thunderbirds fame [Random House] and Coronation Street's William Roache [Simon & Schuster]. His Quicksilver trilogy (Dreamtime trilogy in the US) - 'Quicksilver Rising', 'Quicksilver Zenith' and 'Quicksilver Twilight' - was published in the UK by Voyager/HarperCollins.
Stan's Orcs: First Blood trilogy - 'Bodyguard of Lightning', 'Legion of Thunder' and 'Warriors of the Tempest' - published in the UK by Gollancz, is a worldwide bestseller, with over one million copies sold as of 2010. The associated Orcs story 'The Taking' was shortlisted for the 2001 British Fantasy Award. Current projects include a return to the Orcs universe with a new trilogy entitled Orcs: Bad Blood. The first volume, 'Weapons of Magical Destruction', was published in the UK in December 2008 (and is currently in its seventh printing); volume two, 'Army of Shadows', appeared in October 2009. The third volume, 'Inferno', is due in 2011.
Audiobook versions of both trilogies, read by John Lee, are being released by US company Tantor Media in 2010/2011. An original Orcs graphic novel, 'Forged for War', illustrated by Joe Flood, will be published by FirstSecond Books, New York, in Autumn 2011.
Stan's books have been published in more than 20 countries, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain and the United States.
He has had approximately thirty short stories published in anthologies and fiction magazines.
Before taking up writing full-time in 1981, Stan co-owned and managed Notting Hill bookstore Bookends, and was manager of specialist sf bookshop Dark They Were and Golden Eyed. He was the first manager of Forbidden Planet's original London store, and helped establish and run the New York branch.
A journalist for national and specialist publications, and the Internet, Stan was for six years the science fiction and fantasy book reviewer for London listings magazine Time Out, and subsequently reviewed popular science titles for the magazine. His journalism has also appeared in The Guardian, The Independent, The Times, Film Monthly, Films & Filming, Movie, SFX, Sight & Sound, Rock Power and some seventy other publications.
He was the recipient of Le'Fantastique Lifetime Achievement Award for Contributions to Literature, presented at the Trolls & Legendes Festival in Mons, Belgium, 7th-8th April 2007.
Stan is Chair of The David Gemmell Awards For Fantasy. The awards currently comprise the Legend Award, for year's best fantasy novel; the Morningstar Award, for best debut, and the Ravenheart Award, for best fantasy book cover art.
