Alison Croggon Books In Order

Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.

Publication Order of The Books of Pellinor Books

Publication Order of Newport City Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Poetry Collections

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Alison Croggon is a bestselling and award-winning novelist who is best known for young adult fantasy and particularly the “Books of Pellinor” series. Apart from her flagship series, she is also the author of the Newport series, several single standing novels and several collections. Croggon’s novels, particularly those in the Books of Pellinor series, have won her many awards. “The Bone Queen” that she published in 2016 was a finalist for Best Young Adult Book at the Aurealis Award. His single standing novel “The River and the Book” won the Environmental Writing for Children prize by the Wilderness Society while the NSW Premier Literary Awards had “Black Spring” in the shortlist for the Young People’s Writing Award. Besides being a novelist, she has several collections of poems and has won several prizes and was a 2009 Geraldine Pascall Critic of the Year. She is also a music aficionado and won the Choral/Vocal Work of the Year in 2015 for an opera Libretti she penned alongside lain Grandage. At the 2015 Victorian Premier Literary Awards, she made the shortlist for the Drama Prize for Mayakovsky a libretto. She currently lives in Melbourne, Australia.

As a ten-year-old, Alison Croggon’s biggest ambition was to pen a fantasy novel. She blames it all on her parents that were fighting one night making it impossible to sleep. When they finally slept, she crept out of bed and headed to the kitchen. Her father who was a voracious reader had left a copy of “The Lord of the Rings” on the kitchen table and out of idle curiosity, she got busy reading. She loved it so much that she was up the whole night and the whole of the following day until she finished reading it. Croggon would go back and reread the novel several times until the paperback wore out. When she grew up, the thought of becoming an author gradually faded away as she became a journalist. She got a job with the Melbourne Herald and worked with the paper until she got tired of it. At only 25, she was bored with the job as all she wanted to do was write poetry. She resigned in 1985 to become a poet and soon after was expecting her first child. The birth of Josh made her realize the precariousness of her financial situation and made her take her writing really seriously. Pushing herself harder than ever, she got her first collection of poems published in 1991 by Penguin Books. The book went on to win several awards and gave her the confidence that she could become a professional author.

Croggon never started writing novels until Josh her child started reading “The Lord of the Rings” which she had first loved so much as a child. She remembered that she had always loved fantasy and her ambition to become a fantasy author was back. After reading The Lord of the Rings, she got down and started writing the manuscript for her debut novel “The Gift.” But she did not have any idea if she was doing the right thing. Maerad her lead character of the series just came out of nowhere and soon she had Cadvan and she was off to the races. In fact, Croggon has said that she was amazed that she had the stories all in her head just waiting to be put on paper. Once she had about 80 pages, she sent it to her publisher at Penguin Books asking for some input given that she was unsure if fantasy was something that people still read. Penguin was happy with the draft and offered a contract. She finished the first draft within three months and published the novel in 2001. By 2008 she had four titles in the “Books of Pellinior” series.

“The Gift” by Alison Croggon introduces Maerad, a slave in an unforgiving settlement and in desperate situations. She had been taken to the settlement when her family had all been killed in the war and she had been just a child. What she does not know is that she has a special gift. Maerad can see the world like no other person can which makes her one of the highest-ranking members of the noble school of Pellinor. But since no one knows of her abilities she spends much of her time in squalor until she is discovered by Cadvan. Cadvan is a noble Bard of the Order of Lirigon and his word is highly esteemed and with his help, Maerad’s destiny and true identity can unfold. Alongside her mysterious new teacher, she needs to embark on and tentative and treacherous journey through place and time, where forces of evil exercise paranormal powers. It is a beautiful and unforgettable story that introduces the exceptional gift of the lead that evokes a complex and rich landscape waiting to be discovered.

Alison Croggon’s “The Riddle” starts off where The Gift left off with Maerad and Cadvan managing to escape the mainland by getting on a ship heading to the islands. They manage to make many allies among the islanders but also see heartbreaking omens. It seems that even out on the Edil-Amaranth continent, the agents of darkness particularly the Winterking are looking to do them harm. Maerad is desperate to regain control which is made worse by the fact that she wants to become her teacher’s equal rather than a lowly student. Some of this is due to her nascent powers while a bit is from her competitive nature. Some of what is happening to her is difficult to understand given her upbringing. For instance, she feels cold and warm when Cadvan gazes on her, is bothered when she sees him with other women and takes any kind of criticism from him very personally. But then an accident makes her assume that her mentor is dead and this makes her come into her powers and eventually become the woman she was meant to be.

Croggon’s “The Crow” is the story of Hem the younger brother to Maerad. Hem is in Turbansk with his buddy Saliman when some strange girl named Zelika runs into him and tells him that she is on the run from an enemy. She is grateful for Hem’s hospitality but is still determined to exact revenge on the black family that massacred her entire family. A few weeks later, Hem, Zelika and Saliman together with another friend leave town when another Bard maliciously causes an earthquake. Once they arrive at their destination, an Elemental comes to meet them and informs Hem that a certain ancient Treesong is his heritage and that of his brethren. The novel continues with the theme of the struggle between Dark and Light from previous novels but from a different perspective. It looks at the Dark from inside which gives a better view of its workings.

Book Series In Order » Authors » Alison Croggon