Serpent's Gate Key

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Lore & Background

Born in Melbourne, Nix was raised in Canberra. He attended Turner Primary School, Lyneham High School and Dickson College for schooling. While at Dickson College, Nix joined the Australian Army Reserve. After a period working for the Australian government, he traveled in Europe before returning to Australia in 1983 and undertaking a BA in professional writing at University of Canberra. He worked in a Canberra bookshop after graduation, before moving to Sydney in 1987, where he worked his way up in the publishing field. He was a sales rep and publicist before becoming a senior editor at HarperCollins. In 1993 he commenced further travel in Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe before becoming a marketing consultant, founding his own company, Gotley Nix Evans Pty Ltd. From 1999 to 2002 he worked as a literary agent with Curtis Brown (Australia) Pty Ltd before becoming a full-time author. In addition to his work as a fantasy novelist, Nix has written a number of scenarios and articles for the role playing field, including those for Dungeons & Dragons and Traveller. These have appeared in related publications such as White Dwarf, Multiverse and Breakout!. He has also written case studies, articles and news items in the information technology field, his work appearing in publications such as Computerworld and PC World. Nix was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2025 King's Birthday Honours. Nix currently lives in Sydney with his wife Anna McFarlane, a publisher, and their sons Thomas and Edward.

In Their Own Story

Nix's bibliography includes the Old Kingdom series (Sabriel, 1995; Lirael, 2001; Abhorsen, 2003; Clariel, 2014; Goldenhand, 2016; Terciel and Elinor, 2021), the Seventh Tower series (The Fall, 2000; Castle, 2000; Aenir, 2001; Above the Veil, 2001; Into Battle, 2001; The Violet Keystone, 2001), and the Keys to the Kingdom series (Mister Monday, 2003; Grim Tuesday, 2004; Drowned Wednesday, 2005; Sir Thursday, 2006; Lady Friday, 2007; Superior Saturday, 2008; Lord Sunday, 2010). He co-wrote the Troubletwisters series with Sean Williams (Troubletwisters, 2011; The Monster, 2012; The Mystery, 2013; The Missing, 2014) and the Have Sword, Will Travel series with Sean Williams (Have Sword, Will Travel, 2017; Let Sleeping Dragons Lie, 2018). His standalone novels include The Ragwitch (1990), Shade's Children (1997), A Confusion of Princes (2012), Newt's Emerald (2015), Frogkisser! (2017), Angel Mage (2019), and We Do Not Welcome Our Ten-Year-Old Overlord (2024). He also wrote the Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz series of stories for adults, collected in Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz: Stories of the Witch Knight and the Puppet Sorcerer (2023).

Reader's Guide

Nix's works for younger readers include the picture book series Very Clever Baby, which was self-published and republished by Text Publishing. Described as books for "Very Clever Babies Aged 3–6 Months", they contain such words as ichthyologist, as used by the character Freddy the Fish. The series includes Very Clever Baby's First Reader (1988), Very Clever Baby's Ben Hur (1988), Very Clever Baby's Guide to the Greenhouse Effect (1992), and Very Clever Baby's First Christmas (1998). He also wrote the collection One Beastly Beast: Two Aliens, Three Inventors, Four Fantastic Tales (2007), a book of short stories for younger readers containing "Serena and the Sea Serpent", "Bill the Inventor", and "Blackbread the Pirate". His short fiction includes "Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case" (2005), a novella produced for World Book Day and originally entitled "The Creature in the Case", and "To Hold the Bridge", a novella originally published in the Legends of Australian Fantasy anthology edited by Jack Dann and Jonathan Strahan.

Did You Know?

• Garth Nix was born on 19 July 1963 in Melbourne.
• He joined the Australian Army Reserve while at Dickson College.
• He worked as a senior editor at HarperCollins before becoming a full-time author.
• Nix was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2025 King's Birthday Honours.
• He currently lives in Sydney with his wife Anna McFarlane and their sons Thomas and Edward.