COOK, Hugh (Murray William)

(1957-)

   NEW ZEALAND author, known primarily for his mildly competent and sometimes inventive fantasy series, Chronicles of an Age of Darkness, which seems intended for a young-adult readership. His only sf novel, The Shift (1986 UK), a finalist in the 1985 Young Writers' Competition run by The Times (London) with publishers Jonathan Cape, is a confused tale of deeply undergraduate humour about an alien INVASION and a machine that selectively alters human history.

   PN

   Other works: Plague Summer (1980), not sf; the Chronicles of an Age of Darkness fantasy series, comprising \#1: The Wizards and the Warriors (1986 UK; vt Wizard War 1987 US), \#2: The Wordsmiths and the Warguild, or The Questing Hero (1987 UK; in 2 vols vt The Questing Hero 1987 US and The Hero's Return 1988 US), \#3: The Women and the Warlords (1987 UK; vt The Oracle 1987 US), \#4: The Walrus and the Warwolf (1988 UK; cut vt Lords of the Sword 1991 US), \#5: The Wicked and the Witless (1989 UK), \#6: The Wishstone and the Wonderworkers (1990 UK), \#7: The Wazir and the Witch (1990 UK), \#8: The Werewolf and the Wormlord (1991), \#9: The Worshippers and the Way (1992)and \#10: The Witchlord and the Weaponmaster(1992).