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James Riley (writer)

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James Riley
Riley in front of a poster of his cover to ONCE UPON ANOTHER TIME in 2022.
Riley in front of a poster of his cover to ONCE UPON ANOTHER TIME in 2022.
Born (1977-05-09) May 9, 1977 (age 47)
Connecticut
OccupationWriter
LanguageEnglish
Alma materGeorgetown University[1]
GenreFantasy
Years active2010–present
Notable worksStory Thieves
Website
jamesrileyauthor.com

James Michael Riley (born May 9, 1977) is an American novelist, most famous for the fantasy series Story Thieves.[2][3][4][5] His other works include the Half Upon a Time trilogy and the Revenge of Magic series.[6] Sixteen of his novels have been published by Aladdin, an imprint owned by Simon & Schuster.

Early life

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James Riley was born in Connecticut on May 9, 1977. He majored in English at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Before becoming a writer, he considered a career as an attorney, worked as a travel editor, and worked at Disney.

In 2014, he moved from Los Angeles, California, to Virginia.[7]

Writing career

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Half Upon a Time trilogy

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James Riley's first published novel, Half Upon a Time, was released on September 7, 2010.[8][9] It is a fantasy novel centered around a boy named Jack, the fictional son of the main character from the children's story Jack and the Beanstalk, and a girl named May who is from our nonfictional world. The novel incorporates plot points from various Brothers Grimm fairy tales, including Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White. This is Riley's first story centered around the idea that the fictional and nonfictional worlds are connected, a common theme in his first eight novels and his last three.

The two other books in the trilogy, Twice Upon a Time (published April 24, 2012)[10] and Once Upon the End (published May 7, 2013),[11] expand upon May and Jack's adventures as they seek to thwart the main antagonist, known as the Wicked Queen.[12][13]

Half Upon a Time was included on the 2014–2015 Sunshine State Young Readers Award Middle School Master List,[14] was a Mark Twain Readers Award finalist,[15] and was listed as a NCTE/CLA Notable Children's Book in the English Language Arts.[16] Once Upon the End was included on the MSTA Reading Circle List.[17]

In 2022, He published a spinoff of Half Upon a Time called Once Upon Another Time.

Story Thieves series

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James Riley launched his second series with the release of the novel Story Thieves on January 20, 2015.[18] The novel centers around Owen, a nonfictional boy from our world, and Bethany, a half-fictional girl. The duo works to stop a fictional wizard named the Magister from the Kiel Gnomenfoot series (a parody of Dumbledore from the Harry Potter series), as he angrily reacts to the realization that he is a fictional character.[19][pages needed]

James Riley covers a number of different genres in the Story Thieves series. Story Thieves: The Stolen Chapters (published January 19, 2016)[20] is a mystery novel.[21][pages needed] Story Thieves: Secret Origins (published January 17, 2017)[22] is a superhero novel with occasional comic book-style pages.[23] Story Thieves: Pick the Plot (published September 26, 2017)[24] is James Riley's first gamebook, but unlike most gamebooks, it is not set in second person. Pick the Plot makes a substantial attempt to break the fourth wall, not only in its gamebook genre but also due to its plot twist in which Owen discovers that the fictional and nonfictional worlds originated from the same universe before the Big Bang.[25] The final book in the series, Story Thieves: Worlds Apart (published March 20, 2018)[26] returns to the original Story Thieves' fantasy genre, and sees Owen and Bethany work to foil the ambitions of the main antagonist, Nobody.[27]

Story Thieves appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list for twenty-three consecutive weeks,[28] as well as on the Publishers Weekly bestsellers list.[29]

The Revenge of Magic series

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The Revenge of Magic, the first book in Riley's third series, was released on March 5, 2019,[30] almost a year after his previous work. Shortly after an attack on Washington, D.C., by magical giants and his father's resulting death, Fort Fitzgerald is recruited to a government-run school for magic. Here, Fort encounters an "Old One", an otherworldly being which vaguely resembles characters of the same name from the Cthulhu Mythos.[citation needed] Fort and other children from the school eventually use magic to banish the Old One before it can summon others of its race to their reality.[31]

Later books in the series include The Revenge of Magic: The Last Dragon, published on October 8, 2019,[32] The Revenge of Magic: The Future King, published on March 3, 2020,[33] The Revenge of Magic: The Timeless One, published on October 3, 2020, and The Revenge of Magic: The Chosen One, published on March 2, 2021. As with the Story Thieves series, the cover art for the Revenge of Magic series is by Vivienne To.

The film rights for The Revenge of Magic were acquired by Greg Silverman's Stampede Ventures, an independent film company, in August 2018.[34]

Once Upon Another Time trilogy

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Once Upon Another Time, the first book in James Riley's fourth series was released in 2022. It serves as a spinoff for Half Upon a Time.

Later books include Tall Tales (2022) and Happily Ever After (2023). The Cover art for Once Upon Another Time is by Vivienne To.

The Dragon's Apprentice series

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In his newsletter, Riley announced that he was working on another series called The Dragon's Apprentice, which will probably not be the final name.[citation needed] The story will be about a 12 year old girl.

In 2024, he announced on his tumblr that The Dragon's Apprentice would be released in Spring 2025, and also confirmed the title.

References

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  1. ^ Georgetown University Yearbook 1999 (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University. 1999.
  2. ^ "Story Thieves | Kirkus Reviews". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
  3. ^ "The Stolen Chapters | Kirkus Reviews". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
  4. ^ "Secret Origins | Kirkus Reviews". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
  5. ^ Maughan, Shannon (September 15, 2016). "'Story Thieves' Captures Readers". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
  6. ^ "James Riley | Official Publisher Page | Simon & Schuster". Simon & Schuster.
  7. ^ "James Riley Books, Author Biography, and Reading Level". Scholastic.
  8. ^ Riley, James (September 7, 2010). Half Upon a Time. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781416995951.
  9. ^ Riley, James (2010). Half Upon a Time (1st Aladdin hardcover ed.). New York: Aladdin. ISBN 9781416995951 – via Internet Archive.
  10. ^ Riley, James (April 24, 2012). Twice Upon a Time. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781416995982 – via Internet Archive.
  11. ^ Riley, James (May 7, 2013). Once Upon the End. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781442474239.
  12. ^ Riley, James (2012). Twice Upon a Time (1st Aladdin hardcover ed.). New York: Aladdin. ISBN 9781416995982 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ^ Riley, James (2014). Once upon the end (1st Aladdin pbk. ed.). New York: Aladdin. ISBN 9781442474215.
  14. ^ "2014-2015 Sunshine State Young Readers Award Middle School Master List, Previous Master Lists - Sunshine State Young Readers Award, Books". Barnes & Noble.
  15. ^ Riley, James (September 13, 2011). Half Upon a Time | Book by James Riley | Official Publisher Page | Simon & Schuster. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781416995944.
  16. ^ "NCTE/CLA Notable Children's Book in the English Language Arts | Book awards". LibraryThing.
  17. ^ Riley, James (January 7, 2014). Once Upon the End | Book by James Riley | Official Publisher Page | Simon & Schuster. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781442474215.
  18. ^ Riley, James (January 20, 2015). Story Thieves. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781481409216.
  19. ^ Riley, James (2015). Story Thieves. New York: Aladdin. ISBN 9781481409209 – via Internet Archive.
  20. ^ Riley, James (January 19, 2016). The Stolen Chapters. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781481409247.
  21. ^ Riley, James (2016). Story Thieves: The Stolen Chapters. New York: Aladdin. ISBN 9781481409230 – via Internet Archive.
  22. ^ Riley, James (January 17, 2017). Secret Origins. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781481461276.
  23. ^ Riley, James (2017). Story Thieves: Secret Origins. New York: Aladdin. ISBN 9781481461252.
  24. ^ Riley, James (September 26, 2017). Pick the Plot. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781481461306.
  25. ^ Riley, James (2017). Story Thieves: Pick the Plot. New York: Aladdin. ISBN 9781481461283.
  26. ^ Riley, James (March 20, 2018). Worlds Apart. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781481485760.
  27. ^ Riley, James (2018). Story Thieves: Worlds Apart. New York: Aladdin. ISBN 9781481485746.
  28. ^ "Children's Middle Grade Paperback". The New York Times.
  29. ^ Riley, James (December 15, 2015). Story Thieves. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781481409209.
  30. ^ Riley, James (March 5, 2019). The Revenge of Magic. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4814-8579-1.
  31. ^ Riley, James (March 5, 2019). The Revenge of Magic. Aladdin. ISBN 9781481485777.
  32. ^ Riley, James (October 8, 2019). The Last Dragon. Aladdin. ISBN 9781534425729.
  33. ^ Riley, James (March 3, 2020). The Future King. Aladdin. ISBN 9781534425750.
  34. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 17, 2018). "Stampede Taps JP Sarni As WW Content Acquisitions Head; Snaps Up Novels 'Revenge Of Magic' & 'Star-Crossed'". Deadline. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
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