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Stuart Hill Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Stuart Hill

Stuart Hill

Stuart Hill Biography

Stuart Hill was born in Leicester, in the East Midlands of England, where he still lives today. His family heritage includes English, Irish, Romany and Jewish blood.  As a student his grades were average at best, but he was fortunate to have a teacher who inspired in him a lifelong love of reading. Since leaving school, he has worked as a teacher and an archaeologist, and now balances life as both a bookseller and a writer.

The Cry of the Icemark
is his first novel. When he was a teenager, Hill lost "the real Thirrin," his red-haired sister Kathleen, to leukemia. The story of the brave young warrior-queen who faces impossible dangers is dedicated to her. The Cry of the Icemark won the Ottakars Prize for the best new children’s novel - Ottakars is one of the UK's leading book chains.  Foreign rights have been sold to over 14 countries, and Fox have bought the movie rights. 

Blade of Fire, the second in the Icemark Chronicles series was published in the UK in September 2006 and in the USA in February 2007.  The third book of the Icemark Chronicles, Last Battle of the Icemark, was released in 2008.

Hill says that his influences include H. Rider Haggard, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Margaret Abbey—his former grade school teacher who is also a writer of historical novels.



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Interview

A few nuggets of information about Stuart Hill, author of The Cry of The Icemark, which won The Ottakar's Children's Book Prize for 2005 - one of the UK's most prestigious children's book awards.

Name:
Stuart Hill

Born:
1958

Lives:
Leicester, England

Where did you grow up?
Leicester.

What were you like at school?
Smaller.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
Taller.

What did you do after you left school?
I went to work as a car trimmer in a mouse-infested asbestos hut with no sanitation (our toilet was a window in a secluded corner – I'm not kidding). When it rained water flooded in and if you didn't keep the lid on your lunch box the mice had your sandwiches! After six years of this I finally came to my senses and I went to college and eventually university. Unfortunately insanity set in again and I was daft enough to become a teacher. At the time of writing I'm now in recovery and no longer work in schools.

Why did you begin writing/illustrating?
I couldn't read or write until I was seven and I can still remember that almost magical feeling when those strange angular symbols actually began to have a meaning. I'm not exaggerating, I remember that the letters literally suddenly started to make sense, almost as though a switch and been thrown in my brain and the light of ...

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Books by this Author

Books by Stuart Hill at BookBrowse
Blade of Fire jacket The Cry of The Icemark jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Stuart Hill but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Alison Goodman

    Alison Goodman

    Alison is the author of the award winning and New York Times bestselling duology EON and EONA, Singing the Dogstar Blues and her very adult thriller, A New Kind of Death.

    Her most recent novel is The Dark Days Club, the ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Cry of The Icemark

    Try:
    Eon
    by Alison Goodman

  • William Nicholson

    William Nicholson

    William Nicholson was born in 1948, and grew up in Sussex and Gloucestershire. He was educated at Downside School and Christ's College, Cambridge, and then joined BBC Television, where he worked as a documentary film ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Cry of The Icemark

    Try:
    Seeker
    by William Nicholson

We recommend 5 similar authors

View all 5 Read-Alikes

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