Anna Smith Spark | |
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Born | 1978 or 1979 (age 45–46) [1] |
Occupation | Author, civil servant |
Education | The Hertfordshire and Essex High School |
Genre | Grimdark fantasy |
Children | 2 [1] |
Website | |
www |
Anna Smith Spark (born 1978 or 1979) is a fantasy fiction author and civil servant from Bishop's Stortford, England. Spark has released a number of critically well received books, including the Empires of Dust trilogy, and has been styled the "Queen of Grimdark". [1] [2]
Spark is from Bishop's Stortford, where she was educated at the The Hertfordshire and Essex High School. Academically she has a BA, an MA, and a PhD, focused on classical and cultural history. As well as authoring fantasy literature she works in the civil service. [1]
Spark's debut novel, The Court of Broken Knives, the first in the Empires of Dust trilogy, was released in 2017. Focused on four protagonists, the story is a grimdark fantasy focused on an attempt to overthrow the Sekemleth Empire. It was released to positive critical reception, with Kirkus magazine stating it should "appeal to grimdark fans looking for the extreme edge", but that "others may well find it nasty, brutish, and not short enough". [3] [4] The sequel, The Tower of Living and Dying, was released in 2018. The previous protagonist, Marith Altrersyr, becomes king and leaves behind a "trail of violent death". A review in Publishers Weekly states that Spark "fascinates and entertains", with no sign of "middle-book sag". [5] The concluding novel in the "blood-spattered" trilogy, The House of Sacrifice, was released in 2019. [6]
In 2023 Spark published A Woman of the Sword. Set in the same world as the Empires of Dust, the novel is character led, focusing more on "grunt" characters, including from a feminist perspective and addressing PTSD and the struggles of motherhood. A review in Grimdark magazine stated the book "hurts to read", but is "unputdownable at times". [1] [7] Also released in 2023 was the novel A Sword of Bronze and Ashes, about a retired warrior, Kanda, who is now a wife and mother living peacefully until ancient foes return and threaten the agrarian existence of her and her family. It was described by Liz Rourke of Locus Magazine as a "peculiar, ambitious novel" that recalls "oral epic poetry" and is reminiscent of the Táins. [2] [8] [9]
In 2018 Spark's novel The Court of Broken Knives was nominated for both a David Gemmell award and a British Fantasy Award. [10] [11]