Allen James Stroud (born 1976/1977)[1] is a researcher and university lecturer at Coventry University. He is currently leading the Creative Futures project, a funded research partnership between Coventry University and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL). Previously, he was Course Leader for the BA Media (Hons) Top Up and BA (Hons) Media and Communications. Before that, he was the course leader for Film and Television Production and the Creative Writing for Publication degrees at Bucks New University.[2][3] Up until the end of 2019, he was the editor of the British Fantasy Society Journal.[4] He also composes instrumental music;[4] however, Stroud is best known for his sci-fi fantasy novels and video game writing. He was the 2017 and 2018 chair of Fantasycon, the annual convention of the British Fantasy Society, which hosts the British Fantasy Awards.
Allen Stroud | |
|---|---|
| Born | Allen James Stroud 1976/1977 Winchester, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupations |
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| Employers | |
| Known for | Sci-fi Fantasy Writing |
| Notable work | Writing for Elite: Dangerous, Chaos Reborn, Phoenix Point |
| Website | www |
In June 2019, Allen Stroud became Chair of the British Science Fiction Association, taking over from Donna Bond.
Early life and education
editStroud was born in Winchester and grew up in Andover, Hampshire.[5] Stroud graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Theatre and Television Studies from the University of Winchester in 1999 and then a Master of Research (MRes) in Creative Writing from the University of Bedfordshire in 2005. He also pursued a Postgraduate Diploma and Certificate at Buckinghamshire New University. Stroud later returned to Winchester, completing a Ph.D. in 2017 titled An Investigation and Application of Writing Structures and World Development Techniques in Science Fiction and Fantasy.[6]
Video games
editStroud first became known for his video game writing with his work on world-building and novelisation of Video games such as Elite: Dangerous.[7] For Elite: Dangerous, he wrote six guidebooks that inform the fictional narrative within the game and also serve to help other writers with the novelisation of their stories within the game's world.[4] He also became a founding and continuing host of Lave Radio, a free podcast related to Elite: Dangerous that started in February 2013.[4][8] His novelisation of the Elite: Dangerous game world began after he completed a successful Kickstarter campaign for the novel, Elite: Lave Revolution.[9] Stroud is now working on a team which is developing a role-playing game set in the Elite: Dangerous game world.[10]
Stroud's next video game world-building and novelisation work occurred with the development of Chaos Reborn.[7] For Chaos Reborn, he worked collaboratively with the game's designer, Julian Gollop, to devise history and lore for the game world.[4]
In 2017, Stroud worked with Gollop and Jonas Kyratzes to develop the dystopian world in the game Phoenix Point.[11] Many of Stroud's short stories for Phoenix Point have been made available to readers for free.[12]
| Year | Video Game | Developer |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Elite: Dangerous | Frontier Developments |
| 2015 | Chaos Reborn | Snapshot Games |
| 2019 | Phoenix Point | Snapshot Games |
| 2020 | Baldur's Gate III | Larian Studios |
Books and stories
editStroud has written for a variety of different short story anthologies. In 2016, his story "The Last Tank Commander" appeared in Crises and Conflicts from Newcon Press. Baen Books Editor David Afshariad selected this for the 2017 edition of The Year's Best Military & Adventure SF.
Stroud's story "Reader" appears in Alice Macklin's 2017 anthology Read This First.
In 2018, Stroud's story "Dancers" was included in 2001: An Odyssey in Words published by Newcon Press. This is an anthology published to commemorate the 100th birthday of the late Arthur C. Clarke and features work by Neil Gaiman, China Miéville, Peter Hamilton, Stephen Baxter (author), Alastair Reynolds and Pat Cadigan amongst others.
In 2020, Grimbold Books publishedForgotten Sidekicks which features Stroud's short story, "Saving Simon" - a spiritual successor to John Wagner's 1981 short story "Sinful Simon".
| Year | Book | Series | Genre | ISBN-10 | ASIN | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | A Bag of Bedtime Tales | N/A | Various | N/A | B006PS20WW | HWS Press |
| 2012 | The Sword of Wisimir | The Wisimir Tales (Book 1) | Fantasy | 1533198853 | B00AO614NW | HWS Press |
| 2012 | The Dragon of Wisimir | The Wisimir Tales (Book 2) | Fantasy | 1535033967 | B00AO6IW0K | HWS Press |
| 2013 | The Lord of Wisimir | The Wisimir Tales (Book 3) | Fantasy | 1535045388 | B00FIOIK2I | HWS Press |
| 2015 | Elite: Lave Revolution | Science fiction | 1910987131 | B010GGFAWK | HWS Press | |
| 2016 | Dreams of Chaos | The Death of Gods Trilogy (Book 1) | Fantasy | 1910987085 | B01GY41FS6 | HWS Press |
| 2016 | Chaos Reborn: The Loremaster's Guide | N/A | Fantasy | 1910987123 | N/A | HWS Press |
| 2016 | ToryTimes: A Collection of Tragic Poems | N/A | Poetry | N/A | B01CAS0IS8 | HWS Press |
| 2017 | The Forever Man | N/A | Fantasy | 1910987123 | B07577M5NT | Luna Press |
| 2020 | Fearless | The Fractal Series Book 1 | Science fiction | 1787585423 | Flame Tree Press | |
| 2022 | Resilient | The Fractal Series Book 2 | Science fiction | 1787587150 | Flame Tree Press | |
| 2023 | Europa | The Fractal Series Episodes 1 | Science fiction | 1787588240 | Flame Tree Press |
References
edit- ^ "Meet Allen Stroud". British Fantasy Society. 9 February 2024. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
- ^ "Bucks Lecturer Allen Stroud introduces Lave Revolution". Bucks Animation Blog. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ^ "Allen Stroud". nineworlds.co.uk. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
- ^ a b c d e Barbini, Francesca T (2 February 2016). "Allen Stroud – From Elite: Dangerous To Chaos Reborn". Sci-fi and Fantasy Network. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ^ "That Was a Week". Allen Stroud. 3 March 2024. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
- ^ "Dr Allen Stroud". Coventry University. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
- ^ a b Smith, Adam (16 March 2017). "Phoenix Point teases horrors, recruits X-COM composer". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ^ "Lave Radio: an Elite Dangerous podcast by John Stabler on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ^ "Elite: Lave Revolution". Kickstarter. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ^ "Elite: Dangerous RPG is a fresh take on the classic space trader game – featured Kickstarter". TrustedReviews. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ^ Network Contributor (12 May 2017). "Phoenix Point Far Beyond Its Goal. Can They Better X-Com?". Sci-fi and Fantasy Network. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
{{cite news}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^ "From X-Com to Phoenix Point". Gamasutra. Retrieved 17 June 2017.