Hugh Cook (science fiction author)

Hugh Cook (born 1956) is a cult author whose works blend fantasy and science fiction. He is best-known for his epic series "The Chronicles of an Age of Darkness".

Biography

Hugh Walter Gilbert Cook was born in Essex, England in 1956. After spending his early childhood in England he moved to Ocean Island (now Banaba Island in Kiribati). His experiences of English castles and of life on an equatorial island later influenced his writing [http://www.zenvirus.com/diary/wizard-war-chronicles-age-darkness.html] .

He moved to, and was educated in New Zealand. His first novel, "Plague Summer" was published when he was 24 in 1980.

Between 1986 and 1992 he wrote the ten-novel series "The Chronicles of an Age of Darkness". Disappointing sales prevented the publication of further volumes (up to 60 were planned).

In 1997 he moved to Japan, and now lives in Yokohama with his wife and daughter and teaches English.

He now publishes mainly online, through his site, [http://www.zenvirus.com Zen Virus] . His online works include poetry, short stories, "flash fiction", and several novels.

In 2005 he underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment for cancer in the form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He wrote a medical memoir, [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/cancer-patient/cancer-patient-chapter-1.html#start Cancer Patient] , telling of this experience.

Bibliography

Chronicles of an Age of Darkness series

*"The Wizards and the Warriors" - (aka Wizard War [http://greatsfandf.com/AUTHORS/HughCook.php] ) 1986 (ISBN 0-552-12566-0)
*"The Wordsmiths and the Warguild" - (aka The Questing Hero and The Heroes Return (2 volumes) [http://greatsfandf.com/AUTHORS/HughCook.php] ) 1987 (ISBN 0-552-13130-X)
*"The Women and the Warlords" - (aka The Oracle [http://greatsfandf.com/AUTHORS/HughCook.php] ) 1987 (ISBN 0-552-13131-8)
*"The Walrus and the Warwolf" - (the first half was published in the US as Lords of the Swords) 1988 (ISBN 0-552-13327-2)
*"The Wicked and the Witless" - 1989 (ISBN 0-552-13439-2)
*"The Wishstone and the Wonderworkers" - 1990 (ISBN 0-552-13536-4)
*"The Wazir and the Witch" - 1990 (ISBN 0-552-13537-2)
*"The Werewolf and the Wormlord" - 1991 (ISBN 0-552-13538-0)
*"The Worshippers and the Way" - 1992 (ISBN 0-552-13848-7)
*"The Witchlord and the Weaponmaster" - 1992 (ISBN 0-552-13849-5)

The series broadly tells the story of the events leading to the end of a dark age. The idea for the series began with an ambitious outline for a series of twenty novels. This would have been followed by two equally long series, "The Chronicles of an Age of Wrath", and "The Chronicles of an Age of Heroes". This sixty-volume scheme ended with the publication of the tenth volume because of disappointing sales. [http://www.zenvirus.com/chronicles-darkness/chronicles-1989-plan.html]

Other novels

*"Plague Summer"
*"The Shift":This describes a postnuclear world where orange intelligent reptilian extraterrestrials known as the Spang have conquered the Earth through the use of a device called the Shift, which controls movement through space and time and can alter history. They are in league with Iridian Troy, the most powerful human on Earth, who has an overprotective attitude towards his daughter. He is opposed by his guilt-ridden over-intellectual employee Gabriel Arkhangel and his daughter's lover Clive Sendarka, whom he pursues using all the resources available to the human race. Humans are regularly exported to a slave colony known as Deep Six, which is far out in interstellar space.

*"Oceans of Light series"
**"West of Heaven"
**"East of Hell"
**"North of Paradise":A fantasy trilogy that Cook finished in the 1990s, set in Chalakanesia.

hort stories

*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/consenting.html Consenting Adults] " 1988
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/kidney-bean.html The Kidney Bean Diet] " 1998
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/consequences.html Consequences] " 1998
*"Heroes of the Third Millennium" "Fantasy & Science Fiction", December 1998, Vol. 95, Iss. 6, p. 99.
*Outing" 1998
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/night-on-bear-mountain.html Night on Bear Mountain] " 1999
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/alien-japan.html An Alien in Japan] " 1999
*"Howie Glenst and the Woman Made From Glass" 1999
*"The Succubus" 1999
*"The Earth is Flat" 1999
*"Her Mint-Green Breath" 1999
*"Remembering Nagasaki" 1999
*"Mountaineering Complex" 1999
*"Machine Readable" 1999
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/golf.html Golf Course] " 1999
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/sweetness-and-light.html Sweetness and Light] " 2000
*"Locked Out" 2000
*"Night in the Month of Madness" 2000
*"In the Month of Lombok" 2000
*"Marooned on Footbone" 2000
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/lost-in-the-moid.html Lost in the Moid] " " [http://www.challengingdestiny.com/ Challenging Destiny] " No. 10, July 2000 (St. Marys, Canada, ISSN 1206-6656) (pp 7-27).
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/gally-smith.html Gally Smith and the Massacre of the Orcs] " 2000
*"Boxes" 2000
*"Portrait of a Woman with her Hair on Fire" 2000
*"The Invention of Stones" 2000
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/basque.html Basque] " 2000
*"Other Lives" 2000
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/swisstoys.html Swiss Toys] " 2001
*"Limbo Larry" 2001
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/gap-music.html Gap Music] " 2001
*"That Nightmare Known as Life" 2001
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/wet-leaves.html Wet Leaves on the Track] " 2001
*"Hunting Andrew" 2001
*"A Totally Ordinary Young Woman" 2001
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/warden-jestabel.html The Warden of Jestabel Zee] " 2001
*"Pogy Bobs and the Hyena of Death" 2001
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/golgo-molgo.html Golgo Molgo] " 2001
*"The Trial of Edgar Allan Poe" 2002
*"Cultural Correctness" 2002
*"Flowers for the Lady" 2002
*"Views of Texas" 2002
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/bad-sex.html Bad Sex] " 2003
*"Patriots" 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/the-suicide-bomber.html The Suicide Bomber] " 2003
*"Quilting" 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/ufo.html UFO Invasion - the Truth about Alien Abductions!!] " 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/acorns.html Acorns] " 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/the-transfer-of-patient-twenty-seven.html The Transfer of Patient Twenty-Seven] " 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/live-on-channel-10.html Live on Channel 10] " 2003
*"On the Wings of a Cockroach" 2003
*"The Man on the Balcony" 2003
*"Sign on the Dotted Line" 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/life-planet-earth.html Life on Planet Earth] " 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/saint-george-and-ibrahim.html Saint George and Ibrahim] " 2003
*"Cherry Normal" 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/the-rat.html The Rat] " 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/upgrade.html Upgrade] " 2003
*"A Subway Ride" 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/wrath-babril-hestek.html The Wrath of Babril Hestek] " 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/too-far-from-home.html Too Far From Home] " 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/the-angel-of-the-seventh-apocalypse.html The Angel of the Seventh Apocalypse] " 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/the-triumph-of-japanese-english.html The Triumph of Japanese English] " 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/the-naked-succubus-sex-slave-murders.html The Naked Succubus Sex Slave Murders] " 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/harriets-armpit.html Harriet's Armpit] " 2003
*"House Hunting" 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/the-orcs-armpit.html The Orc's Armpit] " 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/his-name-was-mac.html His Name Was Mac] " 2003
*"The Magniloquator" 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/honeymoon-horror-story-hardcore-horror.html Honeymoon] " 2004
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/you-are-in-my-body-fantasy-story.html You're in my Body] " 2004
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/the-executed-man.html The Executed Man] " 2004
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/the-wind-in-his-mouth.html The Wind in his Mouth] " 2004
*"Jorgelvace" 2004
*"Fulfillable Wishes" 2004
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/yenlows-renewal-52.html Yenlow's Renewal 52] " 2004
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/grapefruit-perfume-bicycle-birthmark.html Grapefruit Perfume Bicycle Birthmark] " 2004
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/escape-from-hell.html Escape from Hell] " 2004
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/implantation.html Implantation] " 2004
*"Shotgun Al's Last Picnic" 2004
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/maggots.html Maggots] " 2004
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/the-therapy-of-the-great-god-mulchagola.html The Therapy of the Great God Mulchagola] " 2004
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/lost-in-his-bedroom.html Lost in his Bedroom] " 2004
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/daddys-little-girl.html Daddy's Little Girl] " 2004
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/a-better-life.html A Better Life] " 2004
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/suicide-hotel.html Suicide Hotel] " 2004
*"Newlyweds" 2004
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/burning-louty.html Burning Louty] " 2004
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/hot-cardboard.html Hot Cardboard] " 2004
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/santa-claus-sex-criminal.html Santa Claus, Sex Criminal] " 2004
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/eating-jesus-christ.html Eating Jesus Christ] " 2005

Chronicles of an Age of Darkness stories

*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/invasion-of-the-chickens.html Invasion of the Chickens] " 1999
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/vorn.html Vorn the Gladiator] " 2000
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/pk1of3.html A Pilgrimage to Plaka Kalada] " 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/lord-dreldragon.html The Secret History of Lord Dreldragon] " 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/the-dragon-zenphos.html The Dragon Zenphos] " 2003

Oolong Morblock stories

*"Life and Death in Oolong Jalabar" 2000
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/astral-talent.html Astral Talent] " 2001
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/life-and-death-in-oolong-morblock.html Life and Death in Oolong Morblock] " 2003
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/a-genie-at-work.html A Genie at Work] " 2003

Chalakanesia stories

*" [http://www.zenvirus.com/stories/the-ghosting-hj.html The Ghosting of Heineman Jubiladilia] " 2000
*" [http://www.zenvirus.com:8080/stories/diving-on-the-wreck.html Diving on the Wreck] " 2002

External links

* [http://www.zenvirus.com/ Zen Virus] official site of Hugh Cook
* [http://home.netyou.jp/xx/hughcook/home.html Another Site by Hugh Cook]
* [http://hughcook.com/ HughCook.com]
* [http://www.chroniclesofanageofdarkness.info/ Chronicles of an Age of Darkness] a fan site
* [http://greatsfandf.com/AUTHORS/HughCook.php Great Science Fiction & Fantasy Works]
* [http://www.mjckeh.demon.co.uk/aut0041.htm#0808 BSFA Index of Reviews]
* [http://www.colinsmythe.co.uk/authors/hughcook/hughck1.htm Colin Smythe Bibliography]