About the Author
Long Form Bio
Richard was born in North Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. The son of a schoolteacher and a fighter pilot, he spent most of his early life on Royal Air Force bases, and attended St Peter's School in York as a boarder. From 2007 - 2010 he studied Law at the University of Manchester, and spent the following ten years as a commercial litigator in London.
Between 2015 and 2018, Richard self-published The Art of War trilogy, a sequence of epic military space operas, as well as a number of prequels, novellas and short stories.
Richard's traditionally-published debut fantasy trilogy, The Empire of the Wolf, sold to Orbit Books in a pre-empt in August 2020 for a six-figure sum. The first instalment, The Justice of Kings (2022), was an instant Sunday Times bestseller (5) and has been translated into nine languages. The second and third volumes, The Tyranny of Faith and The Trials of Empire were released in February 2023 and 2024 respectively.
In 2024 Orbit Books announced that they had bought a second trilogy from Richard set 200 years after the events of the Empire of the Wolf series: The Great Silence. The first book, Grave Empire, was released in February 2025 and was another instant Sunday Times bestseller (7). It is currently being translated into German and Czech. The sequel, Steel Gods, will be released in March 2026.
In 2025, Tor Books and Gollancz announced that they had acquired the North American and UK & Commonwealth rights to Richard's new blockbuster science fiction novel The Infinite State (Book 1 of the Decurion Saga), for global release in summer 2026.
Richard is a keen wargamer and has written two short stories for Black Library (Tears of Raphaela and Blood Harvest), with an unannounced Warhammer 40,000 novel to come in summer 2026. He has also written short fiction for Grimdark Magazine (A Reputation for Prudence) and The Scour: An Empire of the Wolf Novella (October 2025).
Richard married his wife Sophia in 2016 and together they have three small boys. They currently live in Sydney, Australia.
Short Form Bio (Press Kit):
Richard Swan is a critically acclaimed British genre writer. He is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling Empire of the Wolf and Great Silence trilogies, the Decurion Saga (2026), and various short fiction for Black Library and Grimdark Magazine. His work has been translated into nine languages.
Richard is a qualified lawyer, and before writing full time spent ten years litigating multimillion pound commercial disputes in London. He currently lives in Sydney with his wife and three young sons.