This article presents lists of literary events and publications in 2003.
The Ragwitch is a young adult horror/fantasy novel by Garth Nix. The book was first published in 1990 by Pan Macmillan. It was again published in 1995 by Tor Books and first published in Great Britain in 2005 by HarperCollins.
Lirael is a fantasy novel by Garth Nix and illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon, first published in 2001. Named for its central female character, Lirael is the second in his Old Kingdom trilogy, preceded by Sabriel and continued in Abhorsen.
Assassin's Apprentice is a fantasy novel by American writer Robin Hobb, the first in her Farseer Trilogy. It was Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden's first book under this pseudonym, and was published in 1995. The book was written under the working title Chivalry’s Bastard. The stories of characters found in the Farseer Trilogy continue in the Tawny Man Trilogy and the Fitz and the Fool Trilogy. Other series, The Liveship Traders and The Rain Wild Chronicles, are set in the same world and in the same timeframe, with some crossover.
Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon were American illustrators of children's books and adult paperback book and magazine covers. One obituary of Leo called the work of the husband-and-wife team "a seamless amalgam of both their hands". In more than 50 years they created more than 100 speculative fiction book and magazine covers together as well as much interior artwork. Essentially all of their work in that field was joint.
Across the Wall: A Tale of the Abhorsen and Other Stories is a collection of short stories by Australian writer Garth Nix, which return to the setting of his popular Old Kingdom series. A hardback edition was released in the UK on November 6, 2006. There are two special editions of this book in the UK, one with "a unique cover" from WH Smith's, the other with a manuscript for a possible prologue and several other notes on the story of Lirael, available from Waterstone's. All UK editions will include an FAQ section with the author, in which he provides "vital answers". All thirteen main stories had been published prior to the release of Across the Wall, usually in magazines or anthologies.
The Golden Duck Awards for Excellence in Children's Science Fiction were given annually from 1992 to 2017. The awards were presented every year at either Worldcon or the North American Science Fiction Convention (NASFiC). In 2018 they were replaced by Notable Book Lists of the same names sponsored by the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA).
Nicholas Stuart Gray was a British actor and playwright, perhaps best known for his work in children's theatre in England. He was also an author of children's fantasy; he wrote a number of novels, a dozen plays, and many short stories. Neil Gaiman has written that Gray "is one of those authors I loved as a boy who holds up even better on rereading as an adult". Many other modern fantasy authors, such as Hilari Bell, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, Kate Forsyth, Cassandra Golds, Katherine Langrish, Sophie Masson, and Garth Nix, cite Gray's work as something they enjoyed as children.
Garden of the Purple Dragon is a children's fantasy novel by Carole Wilkinson, published in September 2005 by Macmillan Publishers. It is the second in the Dragonkeeper series and the predecessor to Dragon Moon. It is set in ancient China, during the Han Dynasty, and continues the story of Ping, slave girl turned dragonkeeper.
The Old Kingdom, or Abhorsen in North America, is a fantasy series written by Australian author Garth Nix. It originated in 1995 with the novel Sabriel and has continued in the novels Lirael (2001) and Abhorsen (2003). The series has continued with the prequel novel Clariel (2014), and the latest installment of the series, Goldenhand, was released in October 2016. The Old Kingdom also consists of the novella The Creature in the Case (2005) and other short fiction.
The King's Buccaneer is a fantasy novel by American writer Raymond E. Feist. It is the second book of the Krondor's Sons series and was published in 1992. It was preceded by Prince of the Blood which was published in 1989.
The Indies Choice Book Award is an American literary award that was inaugurated at BookExpo America 2000. The American Booksellers Association (ABA) rededicated the award in recognition of a new era in bookselling, as well as the important role the Book Sense Picks List has played for independent booksellers in discovering and spreading the word about books of quality to all stores, and readers, nationwide. Throughout the year, Book Sense independent booksellers from across the country nominate for inclusion in the monthly Book Sense Picks the books that they most enjoyed hand-selling to their customers. The books on each list represent a combined national and local staff pick selection of booksellers' favorites from more than 1,200 independent bookstores with Book Sense.
The Necromancer: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is the fourth book of the series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, written by Irish author Michael Scott. It was published in the United States and United Kingdom on 25 May 2010, by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House. A new edition was released on 5 August 2010 featuring a redesigned cover.
Deucalion is a 1995 young adult science fiction novel by Brian Caswell. It follows the story of many settlers who have travelled across space to build a new future on the planet Deucalion. However the future is uncertain for the Elokoi or Icarus people who were settled on the planet first.
King of Foxes is a fantasy novel by American writer Raymond E. Feist, the second book in the Conclave of Shadows trilogy, part of The Riftwar Cycle. It was preceded by Talon of the Silver Hawk and is followed by Exile's Return.
Jonathan L. Howard is a British writer and game designer, known mainly for his novels about Johannes Cabal the Necromancer. He lives with his wife and daughter near Bristol.
Nix is a surname of English origin, which initially indicated that the person so named was the child of a person named Nicholas, traditionally shortened to "Nick". It is therefore closely related to Nixon and Nickson, which are derived from "Nick's son", and also related to Nicholl and Nicholson, derived from another variation of Nicholas.
