Tom Holt


Thomas Charles Louis "Tom" Holt is a British novelist. In addition to fiction published under his own name, he writes fantasy under the pseudonym K. J. Parker.
Holt was born in London, the son of novelist Hazel Holt, and was educated at Westminster School, Wadham College, Oxford, and The College of Law, London.
His works include mythopoeic novels which parody or take as their theme various aspects of mythology, history or literature and develop them in new and often humorous ways. He has also written a number of historical novels writing as Thomas Holt. Steve Nallon collaborated with Holt to write I, Margaret, a satirical autobiography of Margaret Thatcher published in 1989.

K. J. Parker

K. J. Parker is a pseudonym under which British author Tom Holt has published fantasy fiction. Parker's identity as Holt was kept secret for 17 years, until April 2015.
While Parker's stories take place in secondary worlds with fictional geographies and world history, some of the typical features of fantasy fiction such as explicit use of magic are not present in his novels. His short stories, on the other hand, frequently deal with magic and the problems it brings for sorcerers. The stories tend to have tragic themes with characters whose actions are unintentionally, ultimately self-destructive. Other major themes in the books are politics, technology, and either or both of the former as a means to power.

Novels

Humorous fantasy

Using Thomas Holt as author name.

Parodies of musical works

The Fencer trilogy

The Fencer trilogy follows Bardas Loredan, a fencer-at-law.
The Scavenger trilogy is about a man, or possibly god, who wakes up on a battlefield with amnesia and discovers that he is being hunted by enemies he no longer remembers.
The Engineer trilogy features an engineer, Ziani Vaatzes, who is forced into exile from his home city and plots an elaborate revenge.

Novellas

Novelettes

Short essays