Geoff Gillan
Bachelor of Arts (Honours)
University Medallist (1998)
 Geoff Gillan waited a long time to have a novel published. Now, with his fantasy work Envious Gods released to critical acclaim in the United States, Gillan already has another book in the pipeline. Gillan, who recently moved to Brisbane after working part-time as a project officer at UOW’s Faculty of Arts while he pursued his passion for writing, wrote his first novel when he was 17. In the 28 years since then he has been a script writer for television shows and Film Victoria in Melbourne, written fantasy games, studied history and politics for an Arts degree at UOW, been awarded the University Medal in 1998, and worked on manuscripts which he sent to Australian publishers. Frustrated by the lack of interest in Australia, he decided to work through a US agent. US publisher Five Star provided the breakthrough Gillan was looking for when it accepted Envious Gods and released it in hardcover in the US in December last year. The novel achieved instant recognition, with an early review in the American book trade journal Booklist. “It’s very nice to finally see a book of mine in print. It’s a great confidence boost, as Five Star publish only 12 fantasy titles a year,” said Gillan. “It has sold out a couple of times on amazon.com which is great. Hopefully it will do well enough to be released as a mass market edition. ” Envious Gods is the story of the roguish Nicholas Rakehell - actor, playwright, bon vivant – who inhabits a strange world of gods and magic. He uses a run-down theatrical troupe to impersonate a god, but finds himself way over his head in a battle of good and evil played out on a divine scale. Aided by a riotous cast that includes a manic-depressive puppeteer, a lascivious priestess, two egocentric matinee idols, a handful of inbred acrobats, any number of fatuous self-important wizards, scores of demented demons and, of course, one or two envious gods, Rakehell embarks on an adventure of high fantasy, high comedy and higher danger. Gillan is now working on another novel which he describes as “more mainstream”.
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