List Of Writers

WALLEY, CHRIS

12 Hendrefoilan Road, Sketty, Swansea SA2 9LS
Email: chrisw@chrisw.net
Website: www.chriswalley.net

Chris Walley was born in Wales in 1954 but grew up in northern England. He studied geology at university, gaining a BSc from Sheffield University, and moved back to Wales to do his PhD at University of Wales, Swansea. He taught at the American University of Beirut (AUB) in Lebanon from 1980–84, where he met his wife and where their two sons were born.

From 1984–94, Chris was based in Swansea, where he was a consultant for the oil industry. He did fieldwork in a number of African and Asian countries and wrote numerous synthesis volumes on the geology of different countries. During his travel he would tend to pick up books at the airport bookshop and very soon decided that, in many cases, he could do better. He started writing a contemporary thriller Heart of Stone, under the pseudonym of John Howarth. This, and its sequel, Rock of Refuge, were published in the UK and the USA, and also translated into German and Swedish.

In 1994, Chris was asked to return to Lebanon to rebuild the Department of Geology at AUB and the family lived there from 1994 to 98. During that time Chris not only taught and did research but was also involved in setting up a large environmental project in the Bekaa with A Rocha Lebanon.

In 1998, Chris and his family returned to the UK to find a dearth of geology jobs. As a result he began to make a new career in writing and editing, in particular for the Christian market, though he retained his geological interests, and led field trips for Wheaton College, Illinois

Chris ghosted/co-wrote a number of books with the evangelist J. John, particularly The Life: A Portrait of Jesus, Marriage Works and Ten: Living the Ten Commandments in the 21st Century. He kept up his interest in fiction and telling a good story, and started a science fiction/fantasy series The Lamb Among the Stars. The first two volumes were published in the UK and the USA, and have just been relaunched in the States under the title The Shadow and Night; the second volume, The Dark Foundations was published at the end of October 2006.

In September 2004 Chris started teaching again, at Gorseinon College, Swansea. He now teaches geology and environmental science there full-time and attempts to find spare time to write. Chris is a Member of Academi.

Reviews:

Amazon readers have said about The Lamb Among the Stars:

"…As a work of fiction [The Shadow at Evening] is both exciting and gripping. … This book raises crucial questions about the nature of existence of evil and good…"

"…The first book was awesome. I was wondering how the sequel [The Power of the Night] would be, and this book does not disappoint. Even better than the first one, the cast of characters expands and the array of enemies widens to quite an impressive amount of unique creatures. Take my word for it, Walley breaks the mould of boring clichéd science fiction and offers a thrilling new experience full of intrigue and suspense…"

Selected Publications:

Fiction
Heart of Stone (Monarch UK, 1988) (as John Howarth)
Rock of Refuge (Monarch UK, 1989) (as John Howarth)
The Shadow at Evening (Authentic UK, 2002; Tyndale USA, 2004)
The Power of the Night (Authentic UK, 2003; Tyndale USA, 2004)
The Shadow and Night (Tyndale USA, 2006)
The Dark Foundations (Tyndale USA, 2006)
The Infinite Day (Tyndale, 2008)

Contributed to:

Non-Fiction
The Life: A Portrait of Jesus (co-writer) (Authentic, 2003)
Walking with God (co-writer) (Authentic, 2002)
Marriage Works (co-writer) (Authentic, 2002)
Ten: Living the Ten Commandments in the 21st Century (editor) (Kingsway, 2000)





The Shadow and Night (Tyndale USA, 2006)
Imagine a world that today’s generation can only dream of. A trillion people live under the gentle rule of the Assembly on over a thousand Made Worlds. Peace and stability have reigned for nearly twelve thousand years, and war and evil are merely ancient history. But all that is about to change.

On Farholme – a world at the edge of the Assembly – strange and troubling things are happening. Slowly, incredulously, a handful of men and women come to recognise the unthinkable: evil has returned once more, and it must be fought. Forester Merral D’Avanos and his friends are entrusted with the daunting task of confronting their world’s elusive enemy.

Now isolated from the rest of the Assembly, Farholme must fight its battles alone. It falls to Merral to lead the untried forces of Farholme to war against opponents well-hidden and armed with strange powers. Yet even as he faces extraordinary and terrifying foes, Merral finds he has an unexpected enemy – himself.

The Dark Foundations (Tyndale USA, 2006)
Far beyond the tranquillity of the Assembly worlds, Nezhuala, Lord-Emperor of the Dominion, is preparing a merciless and crushing attack on Farholme as a prelude to an onslaught on the Assembly.

Back on Farholme, Commander Merral D’Avanos recovers from his wounds after the battle at Fallambet where the intruders were destroyed. Yet even as Merral dreams of a return to peace, he receives a warning of imminent war on a scale he cannot ignore.

Amid the urgent preparations for battle, Merral and his friends realise the inadequacy of their defences. Then, with weeks to spare before the predicted eve of war, Merral receives an offer of assistance from the strangest of sources. But can it be trusted?

As the wave of war finally crashes over Farholme, Merral must find the answer to other questions in the heat of battle: Can Farholme survive the growing internal strains? Who will pay the price for victory? Will his own weaknesses undo both him and his world?