{{short description|British fantasy writer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}} {{Use British English|date=August 2011}} {{Infobox writer | name = Stephen Hunt | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|year=1966|month=5|day=5}} | birth_place = Canada | occupation = Writer, computer programmer, publisher | nationality = British | genre = Historical fantasy, alternate history, science fiction, fantasy | subject = Fantasy adventure set on a far-future Earth | movement = Flintlock fantasy, steampunk, space opera | website = {{URL|StephenHunt.net}} | pseudonym = }}
'''Stephen Hunt''' (5 May 1966) is a British writer of fantasy novels. He was born in Canada and studied in the United Kingdom. He worked for a time managing online services for a number of newspapers and journals until he broke into writing in the 90's.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SFE: Hunt, Stephen |url=https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/hunt_stephen |access-date=2024-11-05 |website=sf-encyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Stephen Hunt |url=https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/StephenHunt |access-date=2024-11-05 |website=TV Tropes}}</ref>
His writing influences include Jack Williamson,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Duarte|first=José|title=Interview with Stephen Hunt|url=https://repositorio.ul.pt/bitstream/10451/39377/1/Interview_with_Stephen_Hunt_Jos%C3%A9_Duarte_Ana_Rita_Martins.pdf|website=repositorio.ul.pt}}{{Dead link|date=April 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> Stephen Goldin, David Gemmell, Bruce Sterling, Larry Niven and Michael Moorcock.<ref>{{Cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/books/sciencefictionfantasyandhorror | title = For the Crown and the Dragon reviewed | date = 7 November 1994 | work=The Guardian | location=London}}</ref>
== Career == Hunt's stories have appeared in various magazines in the US and UK. Some of his earliest works were written in the cyberpunk style.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Space Opera |url=https://faustusnotes.com/tag/space-opera/ |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=Compromise and Conceit |language=en}}</ref> One of these was ''The Hollow Duelists'', which won the 1992 ''ProtoStellar'' Prize for Best Short Fiction Story.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Magazine Contents Lists: Page 1574 |url=http://www.philsp.com/homeville/SFI/k01574.htm#A8 |access-date=2024-11-05 |website=www.philsp.com}}</ref>
Hunt's first fantasy novel, ''For the Crown and the Dragon'', was published in 1994 after winning the WH Smith's New Talent Award.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Interview with Stephen Hunt |url=https://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/2007/06/interview-with-stephen-hunt.html |access-date=2024-11-05}}</ref> Reviewer Andrew Darlington used Hunt's novel to coin the phrase "Flintlock Fantasy", describing the subgenre of fantasy set in a Regency or Napoleonic-era period.<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 April 1994 |title=NSFA Review, re-published Hologram Tales |url=http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/Holotales/br2.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512070827/http://sfcrowsnest.com/Holotales/br2.htm |archive-date=12 May 2008 |work=NSFA Review}}</ref>
In 2005, Hunt became the first client of the John Jarrold Literary Agency. His second novel, ''The Court of the Air'', the first of Hunt's ''Jackelian'' series, was published by Harper Collins in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Publication: The Court of the Air |url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?314561 |access-date=2024-11-05 |website=www.isfdb.org}}</ref> ''The Court of the Air'' was one of ten books selected by the Berlinale Film Festival/Co-Production Market organisers for presentation to US and European film producers.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Meza |first=Ed |date=24 January 2008 |title=Berlin selects 10 books for market |url=https://www.variety.com/article/VR1117979559.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 |work=Variety}}</ref>
Later works include the ''Sliding Void'' series, published under the Green Nebula imprint, and the ''Far-called'' series, the first book of which, ''In Dark Service'', was published by Gollancz in 2014.
In 2011, Hunt was among 85 authors - which included Iain M Banks, Elizabeth Moon and Michael Moorcock - who wrote to the BBC's director general, Mark Thompson, attacking its "sneering" coverage of genre fiction on World Book Day. The BBC subsequently asserted its commitment to genre fiction in all forms.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Flood |first=Alison |date=2011-04-21 |title=BBC denies 'sneering' at genre fiction |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/apr/21/bbc-genre-fiction |access-date=2024-11-05 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
== Bibliography == {{refbegin}} ===Standalone novels=== * ''Six Against the Stars'' (2020) * ''The Pashtun Boy's Paradise'' (2020)
=== ''Triple Realm'' === # {{cite book |last=Hunt |first=Stephen |author-mask=2 |title=For the Crown and the Dragon |year=1994 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |ISBN=9780952288503}} # {{cite book |last=Hunt |first=Stephen |author-mask=2 |title=The Fortress in the Frost |year=2020 |publisher= |ISBN=}}
=== ''The Agatha Witchley Mysteries'' series === # {{cite book |last=Hunt |first=Stephen |author-mask=2 |title=Secrets of the Moon |year=2015 |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |ISBN=1514238411}}
=== ''The Songs of Old Sol'' series === # {{cite book |last=Hunt |first=Stephen |author-mask=2 |title=Empty Between the Stars |year=2018 |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |ISBN=1983183989}}
=== ''Jackelian'' series === # {{cite book |last=Hunt |first=Stephen |author-mask=2 |title=The Court of the Air |year=2007 |publisher=HarperCollins |ISBN=0007232179}}{{Ref label|alpha|a}} # {{cite book |last=Hunt |first=Stephen |author-mask=2 |title=The Kingdom Beyond the Waves |year=2008 |publisher=HarperCollins |ISBN=0007232209}}{{Ref label|beta|b}} # {{cite book |last=Hunt |first=Stephen |author-mask=2 |title=The Rise of the Iron Moon |year=2009 |publisher=HarperCollins |ISBN=9780007232222}}{{Ref label|gamma|c}}
=== ''Far-called'' series === # {{cite book |last=Hunt |first=Stephen |author-mask=2 |title=In Dark Service |year=2014 |publisher=Gollancz |ISBN=0575092068}}
=== ''Sliding Void'' === # {{cite book |last=Hunt |first=Stephen |author-mask=2 |title=Void All the Way Down |year=2014 |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |ISBN=9781508922193}}
== Notes == :{{Note|alpha|a}}Published in the US in Jun 2008, {{ISBN|9780765320421}}
:{{Note|beta|b}}Published in the US in July 2009, {{ISBN|9780765320438}}
:{{Note|gamma|c}}Published in the US in Mar 2011, {{ISBN|9780765327666}}
== Reviews == * {{Cite web | url=https://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/2008/05/kingdom-beyond-waves-by-stephen-hunt.html | title=The Kingdom Beyond the Waves | author=The Fantasy Book Critic | publisher=The Fantasy Book Critic }} * {{Cite web | url = http://www.omnivoracious.com/2008/07/stephen-hunts-t.html | title = The Court of the Air | author=Jeff VanderMeer | publisher=Omnivoracious }} {{refend}}
== External links == *[http://www.StephenHunt.net Stephen Hunt's official blog]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Stephen}} Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:British fantasy writers Category:British alternative history writers Category:British historical novelists Category:20th-century British novelists Category:21st-century British novelists Category:British male novelists