Bell, Hilari 1958-

Personal

Born 1958, in Denver, CO. Education: Graduated from college. Hobbies and other interests: Camping, reading, board and fantasy gaming.

Addresses

Home—Denver, CO.

Career

Writer. Part-time reference librarian, until 2005.

Awards, Honors

Best Books for Young Adults selection, American Library Association (ALA), and Best Book for the Teen Age selection, New York Public Library, both 2002, both for A Matter of Profit; Best Books for Young Adults selection, and Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults selection, both ALA, both 2004, both for The Goblin Wood; Best Books for Young Adults selection, ALA, 2009, for The Last Knight.

Writings

NOVELS

Navohar, New American Library (New York, NY), 2000.

Songs of Power, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2000.

A Matter of Profit, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2001.

The Goblin Wood, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2003.

The Wizard Test, Eos (New York, NY), 2005.

The Prophecy, Eos (New York, NY), 2006.

"FARSALA" NOVEL TRILOGY

Flame, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2003, published as Fall of a Kingdom, 2004.

Rise of a Hero, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2005.

Forging the Sword, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2006.

"SHIELD, SWORD, AND CROWN" NOVEL TRILOGY

Shield of Stars, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2007.

Sword of Waters, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2008.

"KNIGHT AND ROGUE" NOVEL SERIES

The Last Knight, Eos (New York, NY), 2007.

Rogue's Home, Eos (New York, NY), 2008.

Sidelights

Hilari Bell has written a number of highly regarded science fiction and fantasy novels, including The Goblin Wood The Prophecy, and the works in the "Farsala" trilogy. In contrast to many books in those genres, Bell's tales are notable for their absence of clear heroes and villains; her characters and societies are drawn with distinct shades of gray and are often motivated by political considerations rather than honor or duty. Bell is "a master at crafting distinctive societies and characters," Sally Estes wrote in Booklist. Bell's books frequently feature multiple, well-developed cultures, including goblin, alien, and even whale societies.

Born in 1958 in Denver, Colorado, Bell developed an interest in literature at an early age. "The first chapter book I ever read was the Book of Three, by Lloyd Alexander," the author stated in an interview on the HarperCollins Web site. "I was in first grade when I read it, and I spent the next few years living more in Prydain than I did in Denver, Colorado. Fantasy has been a favorite genre ever since. I got into science fiction when I read Anne McCaffrey's The Ship Who Sang. But I also read a lot of mysteries, and some historical fiction as well—if my first favorite book had been a mystery, I might be a mystery writer today." Bell began writing seriously after college, but it took seventeen years before she sold her first novel. "I'm the poster child for persistence," she remarked on her home page.

Bell's first published novel, Navohar, was written for an adult audience. The book is set in the future, after humans have successfully prevented an alien invasion of Earth with the help of a genetically engineered virus. However, this triumph turns out to be Pyrrhic: the virus has also infected the human population, causing millions of children to be born with altered genes that lead them to develop a fatal, incurable disease. One such child is Irene Olsen's nephew, Mark. These two are among the astronauts traveling the universe, searching for human populations who have not been exposed to the virus. Thus far, most of the formerly colonized planets where their crew has landed no longer have living human inhabitants, the colonizers having been wiped out by various alien diseases. However, when they land on Navohar, they discover a group of nomadic humans that has been driven out of their former colony by the Kong aliens, now lives in the deserts where the Kong do not like to go. A cure for the virus does seem to exist on Navohar, but the descendants of the colonists worry about what will happen to their planet if millions of Earth's children come there seeking it. "The story moves briskly," commented T.M. Wagner in SF Reviews.net, and "Bell's writing … is most amiable." This "easygoing, accessible writing style," the reviewer explained, "gives the book a certain degree of light-reading appeal." Plus, as Fred Cleaver wrote in the Denver Post, "the desert society and the interesting aliens are a delight."

Bell's first novel for young readers, Songs of Power, combines science-fiction and fantasy. The story is set in a technologically advanced future, but it is the main character's ability to do magic that drives the plot. Imina was taught some spiritual talents by her great-grandmother, an Inuit shaman, but the woman passed away when Imina was still a child. Now the girl lives with her parents in a research station at the bottom of the sea. Terrorists have released a virus that is rapidly destroying all land-based plants, so "technocrats" are working on developing a way to grow food in the oceans. The research station is plagued by technical problems, which the technocrats blame on sabotage by the terrorists, but Imina recognizes these problems as magical. Eventually, with the help of a skeptical classmate, she discovers that whales are using their magic to try to prevent humans from encroaching on their territory. "Bell's depiction of life in the habitat and her feisty main character, Imina, make for a suspenseful read," a reviewer commented in Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal contributor John Peters called Songs of Power "a whale of a debut."

Bell's novels A Matter of Profit and The Goblin Wood offer an inclusive message about treating other sentient species as equals and being open to receiving their wisdom. In the first book, Ahvren is a young warrior who is sickened by the battles he has seen. Hoping to serve the emperor in other ways, Ahvren is tasked with getting to the bottom of an alleged plot on the emperor's life. To do this, he must understand the way of thinking of the T'Chin Confederation, whose forty planets recently surrendered without firing a shot when Ahvren's Vivitare race came to conquer them. A bibliogoth, an exceptionally wise member of the T'Chin who is scholar and happens to look something like an ant, helps Ahvren understand why the T'Chin surrendered: their philosophy is always to maximize profit, and it was more profitable to come into the Vivitare Empire than to resist it. "Both the bibliogoth's wise mentorship and Ahvren's gradual and believable conversion to the T'Chin way of thinking are distinctively and engagingly handled," Anita L. Burkam wrote in Horn Book. School Library Journal contributor Mara Alpert praised the book as "well-written, thought-provoking, and exciting," further commenting: "It's got cool weapons and weird aliens, but it's also got some meat to it." Similarly, Infinity Plus reviewer John Grant found it "highly praiseworthy" that in A Matter of Profit "some pretty tough issues are tackled head-on in a way not normally associated with novels for this age-group." Noting Bell's ability to create believable characters and alien cultures, Estes dubbed A Matter of Profit "one of the best youth sf tales to come along in many years."

In The Goblin Wood Bell "illuminates the sometimes spider-thin lines that prevent cultures from living together in peace," wrote a Publishers Weekly reviewer. Makenna, the heroine of the tale, learns to respect goblins when both she and they are caught up in a decision to ban certain forms of magic. Makenna's mother, a hedgewitch, is executed, and Makenna flees into the woods. There, she allies herself with the goblins, whom the Hierarch is also trying to wipe out. For five years, these allies resist the Hierarch together, until a knight named Tobin is sent to eliminate Makenna. Instead of capturing or killing the young woman, Tobin falls in love with her, and the two work together to try to make the world safe for both humans and goblins. Several reviewers praised Bell for giving the Hierarch realistic, sympathetic reasons for cracking down on magic so harshly: he is only trying to stop an invasion of his realms. "The addition of political motivations to a genre mostly dominated by a good/evil dichotomy is a pleasing surprise," Burkam commented in Horn Book, while School Library Journal contributor Sharon Grover noted that Bell's exploration of "the gray areas … makes for some interesting and thought-provoking reading." As Hilary Williamson noted in BookLoons.com, The Goblin Wood is also "great fun."

The "sweeping fantasy" of Bell's "Farsala" trilogy "draws its underpinnings from ancient Persian poetry … and the relentless march of the Roman army," Sharon Grover explained in a School Library Journal review of the first book in the series, Flame. More-recently retitled Fall of a Kingdom, the novel finds the Persian side of the conflict represented by the country of Farsala, which is attempting to repulse an invasion by the Hrum. The tale is told through the interlocking stories of three young Farsalans: Soraya, the fifteen-year-old daughter of the Farsalan army commander; Jiann, the illegitimate, half-peasant son of the same commander; and Kavi, a traveling peddler who is being blackmailed into spying for both sides. As in Bell's earlier books, "the cast is fully formed: the bad guys aren't entirely bad, the good guys not entirely good," commented a Publishers Weekly reviewer. Although the Hrum are bent on world domination, they treat their conquered subjects as citizens with full rights, while Farsala society maintains a sharp distinction between the noble deghans and the oppressed peasants. A Kirkus Reviews contributor praised Bell's treatment of these issues of class and culture, commenting that they "are interwoven so well with adventure and archetypal resonance that depth arrives unannounced."

In Rise of a Hero, the second entry in the "Farsala" trilogy, Soraya, Jiann, and Kavi work to expel the occupying Hrum army. While Soraya disguises herself as a servant to gain access to the Hrum camp, Jiann takes command of his father's remaining forces, and Kavi ignites a guerrilla resistance movement. "The characters maintain their distinctive identities here," remarked Estes, who also noted the "palpable sense of danger" in the narrative. "The details of military strategy and the clever, Scarlet Pimpernel-style ruses of the resistance

make for entertaining reading," Burkam stated. Forging the Sword brings the trilogy to a conclusion. Knowing that the Hrum army will withdraw if Farsala can resist the onslaught for a year, the three protagonists evoke the memory of Sorahb, a legendary Farsalan hero, to rally the citizens of the nation. Estes described the work as "an edge-of-the-seat finale," and a critic in Kirkus Reviews found Forging the Sword to be "memorable for its individual characters and extensively detailed cultures."

Bell explores themes of loyalty and honor in The Wizard Test. Set in the walled city of Tharn, the work concerns Dayven, a warrior in training who discovers that he possesses magical powers. Raised in a society that distrusts wizardry, Dayven is apprenticed to Reddick, an apparently buffoonish master, and later recruited by Lord Enar to spy on both the wizards and the neighboring Cenzars. The apprentice soon learns, however, that the motives of his own people may not be entirely honorable. In The Wizard Test, remarked Kliatt reviewer Paula Rohrlick, Bell "asks readers to consider issues from different viewpoints, and this gives the story added depth and appeal." Writing in School Library Journal, Sharon Grover remarked that "hard questions are asked and answered in a … book that will find a wide audience and spark much discussion."

In The Prophecy, scholarly Prince Perryn uncovers an ancient scroll that describes how to slay the black dragon that ravages his kingdom. According to prophecy, Perryn must locate a true bard, a unicorn, and a magical sword to restore peace to the land, but the prince's efforts are hindered by the king's advisor, a traitor to the crown. Bell "layers the breathtaking action with a cast of fully realized magical creatures and universal coming-of-age questions," observed Booklist contributor Gillian Engberg, and Rohrlick stated that the author "blends humor and adventure effectively in this brief, fast-moving, and entertaining coming-of-age tale."

Shield of Stars, the first book in Bell's "Shield, Sword, and Crown" trilogy, concerns fourteen-year-old Weasel, a former pickpocket who now clerks for the respected Justice Holis. When his employer is arrested for plotting to overthrow a corrupt regent, Weasel joins forces with Arisa, a girl with surprising talents, to search for the Falcon, an outlaw freedom fighter. "Bell's trademark shades of gray help shift readers' perceptions of the characters and their motivations," observed School Library Journal contributor Beth L. Meister.

In Sword of Waters, the second work in the trilogy, Arisa helps her mother, a powerful military commander who shares power with Holis, maneuver through troubled political waters. Along with Weasel and young Prince Edoran, Arisa uncovers a dangerous conspiracy that threatens the fragile peace that exists in Deorthas, their kingdom. "This middle installment picks up speed and delicious suspense," noted a contributor in Kirkus Reviews.

The exploits of a knight errant and a con artist are the subject of The Last Knight, the debut title in Bell's "Knight and Rogue" series. After Sir Michael and his reluctant squire, Fisk, rescue a damsel in distress—only to learn she is suspected of murder—they must survive a number of hair-raising adventures to recapture the prisoner. "Bell's plot is nicely inventive, and she writes with a robust cheer and peppery sense of irony," Deirdre F. Baker stated in Horn Book, and Kliatt reviewer Claire Rosser deemed the work an "intricate, intelligent story, told for amusement."

In Rogue's Home Fisk must help his family reclaim its honor after a mysterious villain ruins the reputation of the squire's brother-in-law. The novel "has the appeal of a dashing mystery-adventure," Baker observed, "but the deeper elements of friendship and family loyalty give it substance." A contributor in Kirkus Reviews also praised the work, stating that Bell's "writing is great: lots of humor, likable people, mystery and suspense aplenty."

As Bell stated on the HarperCollins Web site, "I'm not sure this is a life motto, but it's what I say to myself

[Image not available for copyright reasons]

when I tackle a novel and am contemplating how much work writing all those hundreds of pages actually entails: If you keep pushing it, it will fall over."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, February, 2001, Tom Easton, review of Navohar, p. 133.

Booklist, August, 2001, Sally Estes, review of A Matter of Profit, p. 2116; June 1, 2003, Sally Estes, review of The Goblin Wood, p. 1758; September 1, 2003, Sally Estes, review of Flame, p. 122; February 1, 2005, Jennifer Mattson, review of The Wizard Test, p. 957; July, 2005, Sally Estes, review of Rise of a Hero, p. 1922; June 1, 2006, Gillian Engberg, review of The Prophecy, p. 58; December 15, 2006, Sally Estes, review of Forging the Sword, p. 48; May 15, 2007, Jennifer Mattson, review of Shield of Stars, p. 62; October 1, 2007, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Last Knight, p. 46; August 1, 2008, Carolyn Phelan, review of Rogue's Home, p. 61.

Denver Post, June 25, 2000, Fred Cleaver, review of Navohar and Songs of Power, p. G2.

Horn Book, January-February, 2002, Anita L. Burkam, review of A Matter of Profit, p. 76; May-June, 2003, Anita L. Burkam, review of The Goblin Wood, p. 339; September-October, 2003, Anita L. Burkam, review of Flame, p. 607; July-August, 2005, Anita L. Burkam, review of Rise of a Hero, p. 464; July-August, Anita L. Burkam, review of The Prophecy, p. 435; September-October, 2007, Deirdre F. Baker, review of The Last Knight, p. 566; September-October, 2008, Deirdre F. Baker, review of Rogue's Home, p. 577.

Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2003, review of Flame, p. 1171; January 15, 2005, review of The Wizard Test, p. 116; May 1, 2005, review of Rise of a Hero, p. 534; November 1, 2006, review of Forging the Sword, p. 1121; March 1, 2007, review of Shield of Stars, p. 217; August 15, 2008, review of Rogue's Home; October 15, 2008, review of Sword of Waters.

Kliatt, May, 2003, Paula Rohrlick, review of A Matter of Profit, p. 23; September, 2003, Paula Rohrlick, review of Flame, p. 6; September, 2004, Samatha Musher, review of The Goblin Wood, p. 27; March, 2005, Paula Rohrlick, review of The Wizard Test, p. 6; May, 2005, Paula Rohrlick, review of Rise of a Hero, p. 6; July, 2006, review of The Prophecy, p. 7; November, 2006, Paula Rohrlick, review of Forging the Sword, p. 6; July, 2007, Claire Rosser, review of The Last Knight, p. 8.

Publishers Weekly, June 12, 2000, review of Songs of Power, p. 74; March 24, 2003, review of The Goblin Wood, p. 76; October 27, 2003, review of Flame, p. 70; March 7, 2005, review of The Wizard Test, p. 68; March 19, 2007, review of Shield of Stars, p. 63; September 24, 2007, review of The Last Knight, p. 74.

School Library Journal, May, 2000, John Peters, review of Songs of Power, p. 166; October, 2001, Mara Alpert, review of A Matter of Profit, p. 148; July, 2003, Sharon Grover, review of The Goblin Wood, p. 123; November, 2003, Grover, review of Flame, p. 134; March, 2005, Sharon Grover, review of The Wizard Test, p. 206; October, 2006, Sharon Grover, review of The Prophecy, p. 148; March, 2007, Sharon Grover, review of Forging the Sword, p. 203; May, 2007, Beth L. Meister, review of Shield of Stars, p. 129; December, 2008, Genevieve Gallagher, review of Sword of Waters, p. 119.

Teacher Librarian, February, 2004, Ruth Cox, "Grief and Acceptance," review of The Goblin Wood, p. 37.

Voice of Youth Advocates, April, 2004, review of Flame, p. 20.

ONLINE

BookLoons.com,http://www.bookloons.com/ (October 3, 2004), Hilary Williamson, review of The Goblin Wood.

HarperCollins Web site,http://www.harpercollins.com/ (November 1, 2007), "Hilari Bell."

Hilari Bell Web site,http://www.sfwa.org/members/bell/ (February 1, 2009).

Infinity Plus Web site,http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/ (August 4, 2001), John Grant, review of A Matter of Profit.

SF Reviews.net,http://www.sfreviews.net/ (November 1, 2007), T.M. Wagner, review of Navohar.

BELL, Hilari 1958-

PERSONAL: Born 1958, in Denver, CO. Hobbies and other interests: Camping, reading, board and fantasy gaming.

ADDRESSES: Home—Denver, CO. Agent—c/o Author Mail, HarperCollins, 10 East 53rd St., New York, NY 10022.

CAREER: Part-time reference librarian; writer.

AWARDS, HONORS: Best Books for Young Adults selection, American Library Association, and Best Book for the Teen Age selection, New York Public Library, both 2002, both for A Matter of Profit; best science fiction, fantasy, and horror of 2003 citation, Voice of Youth Advocates, and top fantasy book for youth citation, Booklist, both 2004, both for Flame.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Navohar, New American Library (New York, NY), 2000.

Songs of Power, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2000.

A Matter of Profit, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2001.

The Goblin Wood, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2003.

Flame ("Book of Sorahb" trilogy), Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2003, published as Fall of a Kingdom (first volume in "Farsala" trilogy), 2004.

The Wizard Test, Eos (New York, NY), 2004.

Rise of a Hero (second volume in "Farsala" trilogy), Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2005.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Forging the Sword, the third installment in the "Farsala" trilogy.

SIDELIGHTS: Hilari Bell has written several science-fiction and fantasy novels for adults and children. In contrast to many books in those genres, Bell's tales are notable for their absence of clear heroes and villains; her characters and societies are drawn with distinct shades of gray and are often motivated by political considerations rather than honor or duty. She is "a master at crafting distinctive societies and characters," as Sally Estes wrote in Booklist. Her books frequently feature multiple, well-developed cultures, sometimes all human, and she sometimes includes goblin, alien, and even whale societies.

Bell's first published novel, Navohar, was written for an adult audience. The book is set in the future, after humans have successfully prevented an alien invasion of Earth with the help of a genetically engineered virus. However, this triumph turns out to be Pyrrhic: the virus has also infected the human population, causing millions of children to be born with altered genes that lead them to develop a fatal, incurable disease. One such child is Irene Olsen's nephew, Mark. These two are among the astronauts traveling the universe, searching for human populations who have not been exposed to the virus. Thus far, most of the formerly colonized planets where their crew has landed no longer have living human inhabitants, the colonizers having been wiped out by various alien diseases. However, when they land on Navohar, they discover a group of nomadic humans, driven out of their former colony by the Kong aliens, living in the deserts where the Kong do not like to go. A cure for the virus does seem to exist on Navohar, but the descendants of the colonists worry about what will happen to their planet if millions of Earth's children come there seeking it. "The story moves briskly," commented a contributor to SF Reviews.net, and "Bell's writing . . . is most amiable." This "easygoing, accessible writing style," the reviewer explained, "gives the book a certain degree of light-reading appeal." Plus, as Fred Cleaver wrote in the Denver Post, "the desert society and the interesting aliens are a delight."

Bell's first novel for children, Songs of Power, is a combination of the science-fiction and fantasy genres. The story is set in a technologically advanced future, but it is the main character's ability to do magic that drives the plot. Imina was taught some spiritual talents by her great-grandmother, an Inuit shaman, but the older woman passed away when Imina was still a child. Now the girl lives with her parents in a research station at the bottom of the sea. Terrorists have released a virus that is rapidly destroying all land-based plants, so "technocrats" are working on developing a way to grow food in the oceans. However, the research station is plagued by technical problems, which the technocrats blame on sabotage by the terrorists, but Imina recognizes as magical. Eventually, with the help of a skeptical classmate, she discovers that whales are using their magic to try to prevent humans from encroaching on their territory. "Bell's depiction of life in the habitat and her feisty main character, Imina, make for a suspenseful read," a reviewer commented in Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal contributor John Peters called Songs of Power "a whale of a debut."

Bell's next two books, A Matter of Profit and The Goblin Wood, both offer an inclusive message about treating other sentient species as equals and being open to receiving their wisdom. In the first book, Ahvren is a young warrior sickened by the battles he has seen. To serve the emperor in other ways, Ahvren is tasked with getting to the bottom of an alleged plot on the emperor's life. To do this, he must understand the way of thinking of the T'Chin Confederation, whose forty planets recently surrendered without firing a shot when Ahvren's Vivitare race came to conquer them. A bibliogoth, a member of the T'Chin who is an exceptionally wise scholar and happens to look something like an ant, helps Ahvren understand why the T'Chin surrendered: their philosophy is always to maximize profit, and it was more profitable to come into the Vivitare empire than to resist it. "Both the bibliogoth's wise mentorship and Ahvren's gradual and believable conversion to the T'Chin way of thinking are distinctively and engagingly handled," Anita L. Burkam wrote in Horn Book. School Library Journal contributor Mara Alpert praised the book as "well-written, thought-provoking, and exciting" and commented, "It's got cool weapons and weird aliens, but it's also got some meat to it." Similarly, Infinity Plus reviewer John Grant found A Matter of Profit "highly praiseworthy that some pretty tough issues are tackled head-on in a way not normally associated with novels for this age-group." Noting the author's ability to create believable characters and alien cultures, Booklist reviewer Estes dubbed A Matter of Profit "one of the best youth sf tales to come along in many years."

In The Goblin Wood Bell "illuminates the sometimes spider-thin lines that prevent cultures from living together in peace," wrote a Publishers Weekly reviewer. Makenna, the heroine of the tale, learns to respect goblins when both she and they are caught up in a decision to ban certain forms of magic. Makenna's mother, a hedgewitch, is executed, and Makenna flees into the woods. There, she allies herself with the goblins, whom the Hierarch is also trying to wipe out. For five years, they resist the Hierarch together, until a knight named Tobin is sent to eliminate Makenna's threat. Instead of capturing or killing Makenna, Tobin falls in love with her, and the two work together to try to make the world safe for both humans and goblins. Several reviewers praised Bell for giving the Hierarch realistic, sympathetic reasons for cracking down on magic so harshly: he is only trying to stop an invasion of his realms. "The addition of political motivations to a genre mostly dominated by a good/evil dichotomy is a pleasing surprise," Burkam commented in Horn Book, while School Library Journal contributor Sharon Grover noted that Bell's exploration of "the gray areas . . . makes for some interesting and thought-provoking reading." As Hilary Williamson noted in BookLoons.com, The Goblin Wood is also "great fun."

Bell launched a trilogy, "The Book of Sorahb," in 2003 but changed the name of the trilogy to "Farsala." The "sweeping fantasy . . . draws its underpinnings from ancient Persian poetry . . . and the relentless march of the Roman army," Sharon Grover explained in a School Library Journal review of the first book in the series, Flame. Retitled Fall of a Kingdom, the novel finds the Persian side of the conflict represented by the country of Farsala, which is fighting off an invasion by the Hrum. The tale is told through the interlocking stories of three young Farsalans: Soraya, the fifteen-year-old daughter of the Farsalan army commander; Jiann, the illegitimate, half-peasant son of the same commander; and Kavi, a traveling peddler who is being blackmailed into spying for both sides. As in Bell's earlier books, "the cast is fully formed: the bad guys aren't entirely bad, the good guys not entirely good," commented a Publishers Weekly reviewer. Although the Hrum are bent on world domination, they treat their conquered subjects as citizens with full rights, while Farsala maintains a sharp distinction between the noble deghans and the oppressed peasants. A Kirkus Reviews contributor praised Bell's treatment of these issues of class and culture, commenting that they "are interwoven so well with adventure and archetypal resonance that depth arrives unannounced." Booklist contributor Estes also praised Fall of a Kingdom, concluding that young adults "will eagerly await the promised future installments." A second "Farsala." volume, Rise of a Hero, appeared in 2005

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, February, 2001, Tom Easton, review of Navohar, p. 133.

Booklist, August, 2001, Sally Estes, review of A Matter of Profit, p. 2116; January 1, 2002, review of A Matter of Profit, p. 764; June 1, 2003, Sally Estes, review of The Goblin Wood, p. 1758; September 1, 2003, Sally Estes, review of Flame, p. 122; April 15, 2004, Sally Estes, "Top Ten Fantasy Books for Youth," p. 1455.

Denver Post, June 25, 2000, Fred Cleaver, review of Navohar and Songs of Power, p. G2.

Horn Book, January-February, 2002, Anita L. Burkam, review of A Matter of Profit, p. 76; May-June, 2003, Burkam, review of The Goblin Wood, p. 339; September-October, 2003, Burkam, review of Flame, p. 607.

Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2003, review of Flame, p. 1171.

Kliatt, May, 2003, Paula Rohrlick, review of A Matter of Profit, p. 23; September, 2003, Rohrlick, review of Flame, p. 6; September, 2004, Samatha Musher, review of The Goblin Wood, p. 27.

Publishers Weekly, June 12, 2000, review of Songs ofPower, p. 74; March 24, 2003, review of The Goblin Wood, p. 76; October 27, 2003, review of Flame, p. 70.

School Library Journal, May, 2000, John Peters, review of Songs of Power, p. 166; October, 2001, Mara Alpert, review of A Matter of Profit, p. 148; July, 2003, Sharon Grover, review of The Goblin Wood, p. 123; November, 2003, Grover, review of Flame, p. 134.

Teacher Librarian, February, 2004, Ruth Cox, "Grief and Acceptance" (review of The Goblin Wood), p. 37.

Voice of Youth Advocates, April, 2004, review of Flame, p. 20.

ONLINE

BookLoons.com,http://www.bookloons.com/ (October 3, 2004), Hilary Williamson, review of The Goblin Wood.

HarperCollins Web site,http://www.harpercollins.com/ (October 3, 2004), "Hilari Bell."

Hilari Bell Web site,http://www.sfwa.org/members/bell (October 3, 2004).

Infinity Plus Web site,http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/ (October 3, 2004), John Grant, review of A Matter of Profit.

SF Reviews.net,http://www.sfreviews.net/ (October 3, 2004), review of Navohar.

BELL, Hilari 1958-

Personal

Born 1958, in Denver, CO. Hobbies and other interests: Camping; reading; board and fantasy gaming.

Addresses

Home— Denver, CO. Agent— c/o Author Mail, Harper-Collins, 10 East 53rd St., New York, NY 10022.

Career

Part-time reference librarian; writer.

Awards, Honors

Best Books for Young Adults selection, American Library Association, and Best Book for the Teen Age selection, New York Public Library, 2002, both for A Matter of Profit.

Writings

Navohar, New American Library (New York, NY), 2000.

Songs of Power, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2000.

A Matter of Profit, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2001.

The Goblin Wood, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2003.

Flame (part of "Book of Sorahb" trilogy), Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2003.

Wheel (part of "Book of Sorahb" trilogy), Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2004.

The Wizard Test, HarperCollins (New York, NY), in press.

Work in Progress

The third installment in the "Book of Sorahb" trilogy.

Sidelights

Hilari Bell has written several science fiction and fantasy novels for adults and children. She is "a master at crafting distinctive societies and characters," Sally Estes wrote in Booklist. Bell's books are also notable for their absence of clear heroes and villains; her characters and societies are drawn with distinct shades of gray and are often motivated by political considerations rather than honor or duty.

Bell's first novel for children, Songs of Power, is a combination of the science fiction and fantasy genres. The story is set in a technologically advanced future, but it is the main character's ability to do magic that drives the plot. Imina was taught some spiritual talents by her great-grandmother, an Inuit shaman, but the older woman passed away when Imina was still a child. Now the girl lives with her parents in a research station at the bottom of the ocean. Terrorists released a virus that is rapidly destroying all land-based plants, so "technocrats" are working on developing a way to grow food in the oceans. However, the research station is plagued by technical problems, which the technocrats blame on sabotage by the terrorists but Imina recognizes as magical. Eventually, with the help of a skeptical classmate, she discovers that whales are using their magic to try to prevent humans from encroaching on their territory. "Bell's depiction of life in the habitat and her feisty main character, Imina, make for a suspenseful read," a reviewer commented in Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal contributor John Peters called the book "a whale of a debut."

Bell's next two books, A Matter of Profit and The Goblin Wood, both offer an inclusive message about treating other sentient species as equals and being open to receiving their wisdom. In the first book, Ahvren is a young warrior sickened by the battles he has seen. To serve the emperor in other ways, Ahvren is tasked with getting to the bottom of an alleged plot on the emperor's life. To do this, Ahvren must understand the way of thinking of the T'Chin Confederation, whose forty planets recently surrendered without firing a shot when Ahvren's Vivitare race came to conquer them. A bibliogoth, a member of the T'Chin who is an exceptionally wise scholar and happens to look something like an ant, helps Ahvren understand why the T'Chin surrendered: their philosophy is always to maximize profit, and it was more profitable to come into the Vivitare empire than to resist it. "Both the bibliogoth's wise mentorship and Ahvren's gradual and believable conversion to the T'Chin way of thinking are distinctively and engagingly handled," Anita L. Burkam wrote in Horn Book. School Library Journal contributor Mara Alpert praised the book as "well-written, thought-provoking, and exciting" and commented, "It's got cool weapons and weird aliens, but it's also got some meat to it." Noting the author's ability to create believable characters and alien cultures, Booklist 's Estes found A Matter of Profit "one of the best youth sf tales to come along in many years."

In The Goblin Wood, Bell "illuminates the sometimes spider-thin lines that prevent cultures from living together in peace," wrote a Publishers Weekly reviewer. Makenna, the heroine of the tale, learns to respect goblins when she and they are both caught up in a decision to ban certain forms of magic. Makenna's mother, a hedgewitch, is executed, and Makenna flees into the woods. There, she allies herself with the goblins, whom the Hierarch is also trying to wipe out. For five years, they resist the Hierarchy together, until a knight named Tobin is sent to eliminate Makenna's threat. But instead of capturing or killing Makenna, Tobin falls in love with her, and the two work together to try to make the world safe for both humans and goblins. Several reviewers praised Bell for giving the Hierarch realistic, sympathetic reasons for cracking down on magic so harshly: he is only trying to stop an invasion of his realms. "The addition of political motivations to a genre mostly dominated by a good/evil dichotomy is a pleasing surprise," Anita L. Burkham commented in Horn Book, while School Library Journal contributor Sharon Grover noted that Bell's exploration of "the gray areas … makes for some interesting and thought-provoking reading."

Bell launched a trilogy, "The Book of Sorahb," in 2003. The "sweeping fantasy … draws its underpinnings from ancient Persian poetry … and the relentless march of the Roman army," Sharon Grover explained in a School Library Journal review of the first book in the series, Flame. The Persian side of the conflict is represented by the country of Farsala, which is fighting off an invasion by the Hrum. The tale is told through the interlocking stories of three young Farsalans: Soraya, the fifteen-year-old daughter of the Farsalan army commander; Jiann, the illegitimate, half-peasant son of the same commander; and Kavi, a traveling peddler who is being blackmailed into spying for both sides. The trilogy takes its name from the legend of Sorahb, a mythical warrior who will supposedly return to save the Farsalan people; his legend is also woven into the tale, in offset italic chapters. As in Bell's earlier books, "the cast is fully formed: the bad guys aren't entirely bad, the good guys not entirely good," commented a Publishers Weekly reviewer. Although the Hrum are bent on world domination, they treat their conquered subjects as citizens with full rights, while Farsala maintains a sharp distinction between the noble deghans and the oppressed peasants. A Kirkus Reviews contributor praised Bell's treatment of these issues of class and culture, commenting that they "are interwoven so well with adventure and archetypal resonance that depth arrives unannounced." Booklist 's Sally Estes also praised the book, concluding that young adults "will eagerly await the promised future installments."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, February, 2001, Tom Easton, review of Navohar, p. 133.

Booklist, August, 2001, Sally Estes, review of A Matter of Profit, p. 2116; June 1, 2003, Sally Estes, review of The Goblin Wood, p. 1758; September 1, 2003, Sally Estes, review of Flame, p. 122.

Denver Post (Denver, CO), June 25, 2000, Fred Cleaver, review of Navohar and Songs of Power, p. G-02.

Horn Book, January-February, 2002, Anita L. Burkam, review of A Matter of Profit, pp. 76-77; May-June, 2003, Anita L. Burkam, review of The Goblin Wood, p. 339; September-October, 2003, Anita L. Burkham, review of Flame, p. 607.

Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2003, review of Flame, p. 1171.

Kliatt, May, 2003, Paula Rohrlick, review of A Matter of Profit, p. 23; September, 2003, Paula Rohrlick, review of Flame, p. 6.

Publishers Weekly, June 12, 2000, review of Songs of Power, p. 74; March 24, 2003, review of The Goblin Wood, p. 76; October 27, 2003, review of Flame, p. 70.

School Library Journal, May, 2000, John Peters, review of Songs of Power, p. 166; October, 2001, Mara Alpert, review of A Matter of Profit, p. 148; July, 2003, Sharon Grover, review of The Goblin Wood, p. 123; November, 2003, Sharon Grover, review of Flame, p. 134.

ONLINE

Hilari Bell Web site, http://www.sfwa.org/members/bell/ (January 11, 2004).*