Author Spotlight: Maggie Furey


MaggieFurey-AuthorPicMaggie Furey is a British author of a number of beloved, long-in-print fantasy series. Born and raised in the North of England, she now lives in Ireland.

‘It’s clearly fate,’ she says. ‘Whatever I did in life, it always brought me back to books. Even when I was at school I was best in English, and my teacher always said I’d be a writer.’ Maggie’s prescient teacher’s prediction came true some years later when Maggie she found herself out of work, living in the North of England. ‘I always knew I’d write a book one day. Ideas had been simmering in my mind for years – and suddenly, the time had come. I knew I could do this – I had never been so certain about anything in my life.’ The end result was AURIAN, a fan-favourite epic fantasy novel, and the beginning of her Artefacts of Power series, published by Orbit Books in the UK and Spectra in the US, between 1994-1997. The late, great David Gemmell once described her work as ‘infinitely enchanting’. The series was praised by LOCUS magazine as ‘a true classic’, and SFX described it as ‘truly compelling’. The series has now sold in excess of 250,000 copies, and been published widely in translation (especially in Europe). Continue reading “Author Spotlight: Maggie Furey”

Happy Publication Day, MAGGIE FUREY…


Furey-ExodusOfTheXandem-BlogMaggie Furey‘s EXODUS OF THE XANDIM, the highly-anticipated sequel to HERITAGE OF THE XANDIM is published by Gollancz today. This brand new novel takes readers back into the history of her much loved Aurian fantasy world.

The Xandim novels are a perfect introduction to the richness and wonder of Aurian, and tell the story of the genesis of the Artefacts of Power, charting the epic struggle for freedom of a cursed people. Here’s the synopsis…

Return to the lands of Aurian.

Return to a time when even the land was a different shape. When the fabled Artefacts of Power were shaped. And when a race was fighting for freedom…

Corisand, shaman of the Xandim, is locked in a desperate fight to free her tribe from slavery, accompanied by her friend, the blind Wizard Iriana.

They have achieved the first step; the recovery of the powerful Fialan stone, but now the evil Magefolk are plotting a ruinous war, and the Archwizard Cyran wants to take the stone and use it as a weapon.

Will Corisand succeed in mastering the enigmatic Fialan before she and her people are swept up in a conflict that that will change the world for ever?

The Xandim are a people enslaved by the fey and powerful Phaerie, masters of the Old Magic. They were trapped in their horse forms for so long they forgot their human shapes, until their shaman, Windeye, found a way to rouse some of her people and bring them back to their humanity. But the quest to free the Xandim is not over. Indeed, the fight for freedom has only just begun.

 

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Back in the mid-1990s, Maggie‘s debut novel, AURIAN, was nominated for three prestigious genre awards – the British Fantasy Award for Best Newcomer (which she won!), the Campbell Award and the LOCUS Award. Since then, she has gone on to publish eleven fantasy novels, each of which were warmly received and some are now considered beloved classics…

‘… a sweeping tale that has such likeable and rich characters, set in a world that is equally endowed with depth and history… Fresh, strong, unique and enjoyable [heroes]. We know who they are and enjoy their journeys immensely. Our heroine is probably one of the strongest and deepest that I’ve had the pleasure of reading… A very beautiful setting with a great history and little secrets to discover.’Fantasy Faction on AURIAN (Maggie’s debut)

AURIAN is a highly entertaining story that, with a boundless sense of “sky’s the limit” confidence, unapologetically runs the gamut from heroic high adventure to bodice-ripper… It may well be the greatest guilty pleasure the fantasy genre has produced in the last decade… Maggie Furey is an author who understands the magic in fulfilling a wish.’SFReviews.net