British · b. 1975
Giles Kristian (born 1975) is an English novelist known for historical adventure fiction set in the Viking and Anglo-Saxon worlds. Born in Leicestershire to a Norwegian mother and an English father, he grew up steeped in Norse sagas before a detour into pop music: in the 1990s he was lead singer of the boy band Upside Down, which scored three UK top-twenty singles. He turned to writing in the 2000s, debuting with Raven: Blood Eye (2009), the first of a trilogy following a young Viking raider, which drew praise from Bernard Cornwell. He followed it with the Rise of Sigurd prequel trilogy -- God of Vengeance, Winter's Fire, and Wings of the Storm -- tracing the origins of the Raven saga's warlord. Kristian has also written English Civil War and Arthurian historical fiction, and in 2015 co-wrote Golden Lion with Wilbur Smith, continuing Smith's Courtney series. His novels are known for visceral battle scenes and close attention to the material culture of early medieval Scandinavia and Britain.