R. J. Barker

R. J. Barker
Born	Leeds, England
Occupation	Author
Language	English
Genre	Fantasy
Notable works	Wounded Kingdom trilogy Tide Child trilogy
Website
www.rjbarker.com

R. J. Barker (or, RJ Barker) is a British author of fantasy literature. He is best known for his Wounded Kingdom trilogy and the Tide Child trilogy.

Career

Barker is from Leeds, England. He played in a band for many years before realizing he "was never a very good musician", after which he turned to literature. ^[1]

Barker served as a judge for the 2018 James White Award. ^[2]

In 2021, Barker sold a new fantasy series the Forsaken trilogy to Orbit Books. ^[3]

Personal life

Barker has Crohn's disease. He has used his personal experiences to explore the presentation of disabled characters in fantasy literature. ^[4]

Reception and awards

Awards and honors

Year	Work	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2018	Age of Assassins	British Fantasy Award	Best Novel	Shortlisted	[5]
			Best Newcomer	Shortlisted	[5]
		Morningstar Award	Best Fantasy Newcomer	Finalist	[6]
2020	The Bone Ships	British Fantasy Award	Best Novel	Won	[7]
2024	Gods of the Wyrdwood	RUSA CODES Reading List	Fantasy	Won	[8]

Bibliography

Wounded Kingdom trilogy

• Age of Assassins (2017)
• Blood of Assassins (2018)
• King of Assassins (2018)

Tide Child trilogy

• The Bone Ships (2019)
• Call of the Bone Ships (2020)
• The Bone Ship's Wake (2021)

Forsaken trilogy

• Gods of the Wyrdwood (2023)
• Warlords of the Wyrdwood (2024)
• Heart of the Wyrdwood (2025)

References

1. Timy (27 Feb 2020). "Interview with RJ Barker". Queen's Book Asylum. Retrieved 7 Aug 2022.
2. "2018 James White Award shortlist". Locus. 20 Jul 2018. Retrieved 7 Aug 2022.
3. "RJ Barker's Forsaken Trilogy goes to Orbit". Johnson & Alcock. 2 May 2021. Retrieved 8 Aug 2022.
4. R.J. Barker (28 Nov 2017). "Disabling Stereotypes". Medium. Retrieved 7 Aug 2022.
5. "2018 British Fantasy Awards Winners". Locus. 22 Oct 2018. Retrieved 7 Aug 2022.
6. "2018 Gemmell Awards Winners". Locus. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 7 Aug 2022.
7. "2020 British Fantasy Awards Winners". Locus. 22 Feb 2021. Retrieved 7 Aug 2022.
8. "The Reading List". RUSA Update. Retrieved 6 Aug 2025.

External links

RJ Barker at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database