Born in Fife, Scotland in 1933, Duncan studied geology at the University of St. Andrews. He moved to Canada in 1955 (becoming a citizen in 1960) and worked in the petroleum industry for thirty years before deciding to quit after a slump in the industry. He started writing and published his first novel, A Rose-Red City, in 1987 at the age of 54.
A prolific writer, he published over fifty books and was still going strong, publishing the standalone Portal of a Thousand Years last year and the Enchanter-General Trilogy this year (the final volume is scheduled for release in 2019). His best-known works include the Seventh Sword and King's Blades series and the Great Game trilogy in the mid-1990s.
A fast and reliable author of cracking tales, Duncan will be missed.
Had someone slapped me, it wouldn't have had a stronger impact that seeing the headline "RIP Dave Duncan".
ReplyDeleteI know that 85 is not exactly a tender age but I've been visiting Duncan's website regularly and seemed to be fine and have still a lot of story ideas he planned to put on paper. I can't believe he's gone.
For all of you who've never read any of Duncan's novels, please do yourselves a favor and change that!
Very sad news...
ReplyDeleteI had a spell in the 90s (?) when I gobbled up everything of his I could find!
I LOVE dave duncan. He will be dearly missed. The seventh sword series is great fun and I like the aesthetic of the Great Game trilogy. It has a really unique play on colonialism in fantasy. Anyway, echoing the others here-- definitely recommend checking out his books if you haven't!
ReplyDeleteLove this guy. Will miss him dearly...
ReplyDeleteThat is sad news indeed. I still have his Man of his Word series sitting on my shelf from way back. And I've never read it... One of my favorites is The Cursed. Such a fine author.
ReplyDeleteTime marches on.
ReplyDeleteLoved the King's Blades books, especially the first few. He was a good writer of heroic fantasy.
RIP