Stephen Hunt (5 May 1966) is a British writer of fantasy novels. He was born in Canada and studied in the United Kingdom. He worked for a time managing online services for a number of newspapers and journals until he broke into writing in the 90's.^[1][2]

His writing influences include Jack Williamson,^[3] Stephen Goldin, David Gemmell, Bruce Sterling, Larry Niven and Michael Moorcock.^[4]

Hunt's stories have appeared in various magazines in the US and UK. Some of his earliest works were written in the cyberpunk style.^[5] One of these was The Hollow Duelists, which won the 1992 ProtoStellar Prize for Best Short Fiction Story.^[6]

Hunt's first fantasy novel, For the Crown and the Dragon, was published in 1994 after winning the WH Smith's New Talent Award.^[7] Reviewer Andrew Darlington used Hunt's novel to coin the phrase "Flintlock Fantasy", describing the subgenre of fantasy set in a Regency or Napoleonic-era period.^[8]

In 2005, Hunt became the first client of the John Jarrold Literary Agency. His second novel, The Court of the Air, the first of Hunt's Jackelian series, was published by Harper Collins in 2007.^[9] The Court of the Air was one of ten books selected by the Berlinale Film Festival/Co-Production Market organisers for presentation to US and European film producers.^[10]

Later works include the Sliding Void series, published under the Green Nebula imprint, and the Far-called series, the first book of which, In Dark Service, was published by Gollancz in 2014.

In 2011, Hunt was among 85 authors - which included Iain M Banks, Elizabeth Moon and Michael Moorcock - who wrote to the BBC's director general, Mark Thompson, attacking its "sneering" coverage of genre fiction on World Book Day. The BBC subsequently asserted its commitment to genre fiction in all forms.^[11]

• Stephen Hunt's official blog