It is my melancholy task to note the passing of Niel Hancock on May 7th of this year, at the age of 70. He died of an aneurysm during an annual motorcycle trip to New Mexico. He was a Vietnam War veteran and a Buddhist, and these experiences and beliefs infused his works. He was an early practitioner of High Fantasy in the wake of J. R. R. Tolkien, publishing between the years of 1977 and 1990 his stories of Atlanton Earth. His books include The Circle of Light Series, comprised of
Greyfax Grimwald,
Faragon Fairingay,
Calix Stay, and
Squaring the Circle;
Dragonwinter, a standalone volume; The Wilderness of Four Series, comprised of
Across the Far Mountain,
The Plains of the Sea,
On the Boundaries of Darkness, and
The Road to the Middle Islands; and The Windameir Circle Series, comprised of
The Fires of Windameir,
The Sea of Silence,
A Wanderer's Return, and
The Bridge of Dawn. The fate of a further volume or series entitled
The Brandigore Gate, announced as long ago as 1999 and returning to the story of his heroes Dwarf, Bear, and Otter, remains unknown.
It is my melancholy task to note the passing of Niel Hancock on May 7th of this year, at the age of 70. He died of an aneurysm during an annual motorcycle trip to New Mexico. He was a Vietnam War veteran and a Buddhist, and these experiences and beliefs infused his works. He was an early practitioner of High Fantasy in the wake of J. R. R. Tolkien, publishing between the years of 1977 and 1990 his stories of Atlanton Earth. His books include The Circle of Light Series, comprised of Greyfax Grimwald, Faragon Fairingay, Calix Stay, and Squaring the Circle; Dragonwinter, a standalone volume; The Wilderness of Four Series, comprised of Across the Far Mountain, The Plains of the Sea, On the Boundaries of Darkness, and The Road to the Middle Islands; and The Windameir Circle Series, comprised of The Fires of Windameir, The Sea of Silence, A Wanderer's Return, and The Bridge of Dawn. The fate of a further volume or series entitled The Brandigore Gate, announced as long ago as 1999 and returning to the story of his heroes Dwarf, Bear, and Otter, remains unknown.
I have elsewhere shown the older covers of his books, by Gervasio Gallardo and Tim Hildebrandt. Those pictured here are from the 2004 Tor reprints of his first four books as for "Young Readers."
ReplyDeleteI discovered Hancock's passing quite by accident, and was a little surprised I had not heard before. I wish there was a site dedicated to the status of people in the fantasy field (dead, alive, producing, retired, or what not). It would be a rather specialized field, but in a world where the mainstream cares very little about it (unless you are J. K. Rowling or Stephen King) it would help fanatics like me to keep up.