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Alan Baxter is one of the award winning authors of the British-Australian descent, who is famous for writing novels based on dark fantasy, urban horror, sci-fi, mystery, and supernatural thriller genres. He is particularly popular for writing the Balance and Alex Caine novel series. Baxter likes to ride motorcycles, and is fond of dogs. In addition to writing thriller and horror novels, he is also involved in teaching Kung Fu. Currently, he lives near the south coast of the beautiful New South Wales, Australia, along with his beautiful wife, his son, and a couple of pet animals. The Alex Caine novels written by him are dark thrillers based on urban fantasy. The series is comprised of 3 novels in total. Baxter’s books are published in Australia, UK, and the US, by different publishing houses. The other book series for which author Baxter is famous for is called the Balance series. This series is also an urban fantasy, consisting of dark settings. The books of this series are published by the Gryphonwood Press. Author Baxter was born on April 18, 1970, in Sussex, UK. During the middle 1990s, he shifted to Australia. He started his writing career in the year 2006 with the release of his debut book called Realmshift. This is a horror thriller/dark fantasy, and was released by an independent publication named Blade Red which was set up by author Baxter himself. In 2008, he re-released the novel along with its sequel novel. Both the books were acquired by the Gryphonwood publication in 2010, which republished them subsequently. Author Baxter has published over 70 short stories which have been released in a variety of anthologies and journals in Australia, France, the US, and the UK. Some of the journals in which he has published include Daily Science Fiction, Beneath the Ceaseless Skies, Postscripts, and Fantasy and Science Fiction, etc. Also, Baxter’s short stories have featured in more than 20 anthologies all over Australia. His first short fiction collection, called as Crow Shine, has been released by the Ticonderoga Publications in the year 2016.
In 2011, author Baxter received a nomination for the Ditmar Award in the category of the Best New Talent. He received one more nomination for the same award in 2013 for one of his short stories. Also, his novels from both his dark fantasy thriller series have been nominated for Ditmar Award. In addition to the novels and short stories, Baxter’s novelette titled The Darkness in Clara has also been nominated for this prestigious award in 2014. Apart from this award, author Baxter was also nominated for a couple of awards in the category of short stories at the Shadows Awards of Australia in 2014. He was able to win one of these nominations also. In 2015, Baxter won the Paul Haines Prize at the same award function. Author Baxter is also involved in writing dialogues and narrative arcs for the video games. He also has a range of freelance works, including feature articles, reviews, opinions, etc. Baxter is associated with Thirteen O’ Clock as a co-founder and editor. He also hosts a podcast called AuthorCast. Baxter’s success as a novelist has allowed him the chance to become a member of various writers’ association such as the AHWA, the ITW, the HWA, etc. In his spare times, he likes to be involved in martial arts training at his academy called Illawarra, located in NSW. Author Baxter is known to be an effective personal trainer of different forms of martial arts.
One of the popular dark fantasy novel series written by Alan Baxter is called as The Balance. This series is comprised of only 2 books so far. Both the books feature plots that revolve around the life of the central protagonist named Isiah. With the progression of the series, a number of other important secondary characters get added to the plots that run hand in hand with Isiah’s character. The first in the series is entitled ‘Realmshift’. It was first released in 2006 and then republished by Gryphonwood in 2011. At the beginning of this novel, author Baxter has depicted that Isiah is going through a tough time in his life. He faces a lot of difficulties from the Devil. A character named Samuel Harrigan is shown as a low life murderer, who has become successful in escaping a deal with this Devil with the use of an old black magic. Being free, Samuel is on the hunt for a crystal skull which, according to him will help him in his efforts of evading the Lucifer. However, Lucifer desperately needs the soul of Samuel Harrigan so as to attain eternity. He cannot wait for even a second more for it. Isiah is tasked with protecting Samuel and keeping the Devil at large. He wants Samuel to continue with his trail of the skull for humankind’s sake. Overall, the novel seems to be an engrossing story with its dark fantasy and thriller set up. It describes the fascinating exploration of belief’s nature and the effect that it has of the functioning of the world. Author Baxter has very well included action, intrigue, and magic in this book, which seem to have moved through the dank streets of the city up to the hell’s depth and beyond.
The next book to feature in this exciting series is known as ‘Magesign’. The Gryphonwood publishers released it in 2010, after its initial release in 2009. Once again, Baxter has described Isiah at the center of the plot, with the Devil and Samuel Harrigan in supporting roles. The book opens by depicting that 3 years have passed since the time when Isiah had a run-in with Samuel and Devil. Isiah is believed to have some time left with him, which gives him a good opportunity in tracking down the mentor of Samuel Harrigan called the Sorcerer. He hopes that it will be a pretty simple task in tracking him, but what Isiah fails to imagine is the fact that there are a number of followers of the Sorcerer. Also, the followers seem to have plotted a big plan that could not have been dreamed by anyone. Therefore, Isiah takes the help of some newly made powerful friends and continues with his search to get the Sorcerer. It becomes important for Isiah to get him before his blood cult go on to bring a drastic change in the world. Once again author Baxter has tried to maintain a blistering intensity and breathless pace with the demons, humans, and gods. These elements make the novel a gripping magical conflict. On the whole, the book appears to be a well written urban fantasy which was equally well received by the critics and the readers worldwide.
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