Michael J. Sullivan (author)
Encyclopedia
Michael J. Sullivan is a contemporary American author
of epic fantasy
as well as an artist
. He cites the following major influences on his writing:
plotting from Tolkien
, setting from Steinbeck
, brevity from Hemingway
, characterization from Stephen King
, fun from J. K. Rowling
, trusting the reader from Khaled Hosseini
, and character descriptions from Ayn Rand
.
Sullivan resides in Fairfax, Virginia
.
daughter. His first published work, The Crown Conspiracy, was released in October 2008.
and early Raymond E. Feist
.
for the series The Riyria Revelations. Unlike the depictions of the main characters on the covers of many fantasy novels, Sullivan instead illustrates on the cover a scene from the book.
On May 31 Orbit Books announced their copies of the Riyria Revelations Covers
Ridan Publishing
released the first edition of Avempartha in April 2009 and obtained the rights to The Crown Conspiracy from AMI, producing a second edition of that book in January 2010. They have subsequently released Nyphron Rising and The Emerald Storm, the third and fourth volumes in the series. Ridan is planning to release all six books in the Riyria Revelations series.
In March, 2010 it was announced that two publishers in the Czech Republic were bidding for translations rights for that region.
In February, 2011 it was announced that Orbit Books
(an imprint of Hachette Book Group) signed Michael to a 3-book deal.
The exact numbers have not been reported but Fantasy Book Critic reported that Jack Womack of Orbit disclosed it was a six-figure deal negotiated with agent Teri Tobias. The trilogy is being released in three consecuative months: Theft of Swords (Nov 2011), Rise of Empire (Dec 2011), Heir of Novron (Jan 2012) The exact numbers have not been reported but Fantasy Book Critic.
American literature
American literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. During its early history, America was a series of British...
of epic fantasy
High fantasy
High fantasy or epic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is set in invented or parallel worlds. High fantasy was brought to fruition through the work of authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, whose major fantasy works were published in the 1950s...
as well as an artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
. He cites the following major influences on his writing:
plotting from Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
, setting from Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
, brevity from Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
, characterization from Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, fun from J. K. Rowling
J. K. Rowling
Joanne "Jo" Rowling, OBE , better known as J. K. Rowling, is the British author of the Harry Potter fantasy series...
, trusting the reader from Khaled Hosseini
Khaled Hosseini
Khaled Hosseini , is an Afghan-born American novelist and physician of ethnic Tajik origin. He is a citizen of the United States where he has lived since he was fifteen years old. His 2003 debut novel, The Kite Runner, was an international bestseller, selling more than 12 million copies worldwide....
, and character descriptions from Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
.
Sullivan resides in Fairfax, Virginia
Fairfax, Virginia
The City of Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City is nevertheless the county seat....
.
History
Sullivan began writing at the age of ten. Over a span of fifteen years, he wrote thirteen novels, but never made any serious attempts at publishing them. When he finally decided to seek publication, it was to produce a series of books that he wrote for his dyslexicDyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
daughter. His first published work, The Crown Conspiracy, was released in October 2008.
The Riyria Revelations
The Riyria Revelations is a six-book epic fantasy series. All the books were written before the first one was released. It abandons the recent trends in fantasy toward the lengthy, gritty, and dark, and brings the genre back to its roots and traditional elements. The series is centered around two thieves, Royce Melborne and Hadrian Blackwater and contains adventure, humor, and twisting plots. The two are reminiscent of buddy cop movies but set in a fantasy setting. Sullivan style has been compared to David EddingsDavid Eddings
David Eddings was an American author who wrote several best-selling series of epic fantasy novels.-Biography:...
and early Raymond E. Feist
Raymond E. Feist
Raymond Elias Feist is an American author who primarily writes fantasy fiction. He is best known for The Riftwar Cycle series of novels and short stories. His books have been translated into multiple languages and have sold over 15 million copies.- Biography :Raymond E...
.
Awards and recognition
- 2012 Fantasy Book Critic's Top 5 Anticipated Releases for Q1 for Heir of Novron
- 2011 Civilian's Reader 6 Most Anticipated Reads for Dec for Rise of Empire
- 2011 Library Journal's Best Books for Fantasy/Sci-Fi for Theft of Swords
- 2012 Civilian Reader's Top Five List for January 2012 for Heir of Novron
- 2011 Library Journal's Fantasy/Sci-Fi Debut For September for Theft of Swords
- 2011 Civilian's Reader 5 Most Anticipated Reads for Nov for Theft of Swords
- 2010 Fantasy Book Critic Top 25 Novels for The Emerald Storm and Wintertide
- 2010 Top 10 Read in 2010 List by Only the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy for The Crown Conspiracy
- 2010 GoodReads Choice Award Nominee for The Emerald Storm
- 2010 Fantasy Book Critic Top Independent Novels for The Emerald Storm and Wintertide
- 2010 Bookworm Blues Best Overall Read for Avempartha
- 2010 Fantasy Book Critic Top Independent Novels for The Emerald Storm and Wintertide
- 2010 Iceberg Ink Best Read Award for The Crown Conspiracy
- 2010 Fantasy Book Critic Anticipated Releases for The Emerald Storm and Wintertide
- 2009 ForeWord MagazineForeWord (magazine)ForeWord is a trade journal published six times yearly with the tagline, “Reviews of Good Books Independently Published.” The magazine is distributed primarily to librarians and booksellers to familiarize them with upcoming books from small, independent, and university presses, as well as...
Book of the Year Finalist for Fantasy for Avempartha - 2009 ForeWord MagazineForeWord (magazine)ForeWord is a trade journal published six times yearly with the tagline, “Reviews of Good Books Independently Published.” The magazine is distributed primarily to librarians and booksellers to familiarize them with upcoming books from small, independent, and university presses, as well as...
Book of the Year Finalist for Fantasy for Nyphron Rising - 2009 Dark Wolf Award for The Riyria Revelations
- 2009 National Indie Excellence Award Finalist for Fantasy for The Crown Conspiracy
- 2009 Dark Wolf Top 5 books of First Half of 2009 for The Crown Conspiracy
- 2009 Fantasy Book Critic Notable Fantasy Book for Avempartha
- 2008 Fantasy Book Critic Notable Indie for The Crown Conspiracy
- 2008 ReaderViews Literary Award Finalist for Fantasy for The Crown Conspiracy
- 2007 ForeWord MagazineForeWord (magazine)ForeWord is a trade journal published six times yearly with the tagline, “Reviews of Good Books Independently Published.” The magazine is distributed primarily to librarians and booksellers to familiarize them with upcoming books from small, independent, and university presses, as well as...
Book of the Year Finalist for Fantasy for The Crown Conspiracy
Cover art
In addition to writing, Sullivan received a scholarship to attend the Center for Creative Studies as an artist. He formed his own advertising agency in 1996 and ran it until 2005 when he closed it to write full time. Sullivan also created the cover artCover art
Cover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...
for the series The Riyria Revelations. Unlike the depictions of the main characters on the covers of many fantasy novels, Sullivan instead illustrates on the cover a scene from the book.
On May 31 Orbit Books announced their copies of the Riyria Revelations Covers
Publishers
Aspirations Media was the first publisher to print Sullivan's work releasing The Crown Conspiracy in October 2008. They also had a contract to publish his second book Avempartha, but by April 2009 it was announced that economic conditions required them to cancel the release of the second volume in the series. AMI's first printing of The Crown Conspiracy sold out in December 2009.Ridan Publishing
Ridan Publishing
Ridan Publishing is a small, independent publisher working out of Fairfax, Virginia, in the United States. It was founded in 2007 by Robin Sullivan, initially as a vehicle for her husband, Michael Sullivan's science fiction novels. It has since expanded from a self-publishing venture to publish...
released the first edition of Avempartha in April 2009 and obtained the rights to The Crown Conspiracy from AMI, producing a second edition of that book in January 2010. They have subsequently released Nyphron Rising and The Emerald Storm, the third and fourth volumes in the series. Ridan is planning to release all six books in the Riyria Revelations series.
In March, 2010 it was announced that two publishers in the Czech Republic were bidding for translations rights for that region.
In February, 2011 it was announced that Orbit Books
Orbit Books
Orbit Books is an international publisher that specialises in science fiction and fantasy books. It was founded in 1974 as part of the Macdonald Futura publishing company...
(an imprint of Hachette Book Group) signed Michael to a 3-book deal.
The exact numbers have not been reported but Fantasy Book Critic reported that Jack Womack of Orbit disclosed it was a six-figure deal negotiated with agent Teri Tobias. The trilogy is being released in three consecuative months: Theft of Swords (Nov 2011), Rise of Empire (Dec 2011), Heir of Novron (Jan 2012) The exact numbers have not been reported but Fantasy Book Critic.