Richard A. Knaak is the author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 of Dragonlance

Dragonlance

Dragonlance is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of popular fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived Dragonlance while driving in their car on the way to TSR for a job application...

novels, Dragonrealm, six novels for Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded on February 8, 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of UCLA, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce and currently owned by French company Activision Blizzard...

's Diablo

Diablo (series)

Diablo is an action role-playing game franchise owned and produced by Blizzard Entertainment. , the series has sold over 18.5 million copies worldwide.-Story:...

series, and nine works in the Warcraft

Warcraft

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans is a real-time strategy game , developed by Blizzard Entertainment and published by Blizzard and Interplay Entertainment. The MS-DOS version was released in November 1994 and the Macintosh version in late 1996. Sales were fairly high, reviewers were mostly impressed, and the...

 universe. He has also written five non-series fantasy books.

Biography

Knaak attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...

, studying rhetoric

Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...

, and earned a bachelor's degree.

After reading Andre Norton

Andre Norton

Andre Alice Norton, née Alice Mary Norton was an American science fiction and fantasy author under the noms de plume Andre Norton, Andrew North and Allen Weston...

's Storm over Warlock, he eventually sold his first short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 in 1986, and it was published in 1987. He has listed several of his influences, and even a few of his favorite fellow authors, those being Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...

, Robert E. Howard

Robert E. Howard

Robert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....

, Glen Cook

Glen Cook

Glen Cook is a contemporary American science fiction and fantasy author, best known for his fantasy series, The Black Company. Cook currently resides in St. Louis, Missouri.-Biography:...

, L. Sprague de Camp

L. Sprague de Camp

Lyon Sprague de Camp was an American author of science fiction and fantasy books, non-fiction and biography. In a writing career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and notable works of non-fiction, including biographies of other important fantasy authors...

, Lawrence Watt-Evans

Lawrence Watt-Evans

Lawrence Watt-Evans is one of the pseudonyms of American science fiction and fantasy author Lawrence Watt Evans...

, Harry Turtledove

Harry Turtledove

Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...

, Jennifer Roberson

Jennifer Roberson

Jennifer Mitchell Roberson is an author of fantasy and historical literature.Roberson has lived in Arizona since 1957. She grew up in Phoenix, but in 1999 relocated to Flagstaff. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in journalism from Northern Arizona University in 1982 as an adult student...

, Laurell K. Hamilton

Laurell K. Hamilton

Laurell Kaye Hamilton is an American fantasy and romance writer. She is the author of two series of stories. Hamilton is known for her New York Times-bestselling Anita Blake series, featuring a professional zombie raiser/supernatural consultant for the police as the protagonist in a world where...

, Harry Harrison

Harry Harrison

Harry Harrison is an American science fiction author best known for his character the Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! , the basis for the film Soylent Green...

, and Robert Sawyer

Robert J. Sawyer

Robert James Sawyer is a Canadian science fiction writer. He has had 20 novels published, and his short fiction has appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Amazing Stories, On Spec, Nature, and many anthologies. Sawyer has won over forty awards for his fiction, including the Nebula Award ,...

.

He splits living in Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 and Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

.

Dragonlance

1. Series
   1. The Legend of Huma
      The Legend of Huma
      The Legend of Huma is the first in the Heroes Sextet of Dragonlance novels. It was written by Richard A. Knaak, based on characters and settings from Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Dragonlance Chronicles series...
      
      (1988), ISBN 0-88038-548-0
   2. Kaz the Minotaur (1990), ISBN 0-88038-910-9
   3. Land of the Minotaurs (1996), ISBN 0-7869-0472-0
   4. Reavers of the Blood Sea (1999), ISBN 0-7869-1345-2
   5. The Citadel (2000), ISBN 0-7869-1683-4
2. Minotaur Wars
   1. Night of Blood (2003), ISBN 0-7869-2938-3
   2. Tides of Blood (2004), ISBN 0-7869-3251-1
   3. Empire of Blood (2005), ISBN 0-7869-3733-5
3. Ogre Titans
   1. The Black Talon (2007)
   2. The Fire Rose (2008)
   3. The Gargoyle King (2009)

Dragonrealm

1. 1. Firedrake (1989), ISBN 0-445-20940-2
   2. Ice Dragon (1989), ISBN 0-445-20942-9
   3. Wolfhelm (1990), ISBN 0-445-20966-6
   4. Shadow Steed (1990), ISBN 0-445-20967-4
   5. The Crystal Dragon (1993), ISBN 0-446-36432-0
   6. Dragon Crown (1994), ISBN 0-446-36464-9
   7. The Horse King (1997), ISBN 0-446-60353-8
2. Origins
   1. The Shrouded Realm (1991), ISBN 0-446-36138-0
   2. Children of the Drake (1991), ISBN 0-446-36153-4
   3. Dragon Tome (1992), ISBN 0-446-36252-2
3. PDF Series
   1. Past Dancer (2002)
   2. Dragon Master (2002)
   3. Skins (2003)
   4. A Wolf in the Fold (2003)
   5. Storm Lord (2003)
   6. The Still Lands (2004)

Diablo

1. Diablo series
   1. Legacy of Blood (2001), ISBN 0-671-04155-X
   2. Kingdom of Shadow (2002), ISBN 0-7434-2692-4
   3. Moon of the Spider (2006), ISBN 0-7434-7132-6
2. The Sin War
   The Sin War (series)
   The Sin War is a trilogy of novel series set in Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo universe, written by Richard A. Knaak. It tells the story of Uldyssian as he is drawn into the battle between the Temple of the Triune, run by the Primus under Mephisto and the Cathedral of Light run by the rebel angel...
   
    series
   1. Birthright
      Birthright (Diablo novel)
      Birthright is a 2006 novel written by Richard A. Knaak and is the first novel in the Diablo trilogy, The Sin War. The novel introduces Lilith.- Plot introduction :Birthright takes place before the games Diablo, and Diablo II take place...
      
      (2006)
   2. Scales of the Serpent
      Scales of the Serpent
      Scales of the Serpent is a 2007 novel written by Richard A. Knaak and is the second novel in the Diablo trilogy, The Sin War. It continues the story from Birthright and is followed by The Veiled Prophet.-Plot summary:...
      
      (2007)
   3. The Veiled Prophet (2007)

Warcraft

1. Series
   1. Day of the Dragon (2001), ISBN 0-671-04152-5
   2. Night of the Dragon (2008), ISBN 0-7434-7137-7
2. War of the Ancients
   Warcraft: War of the Ancients Trilogy
   Warcraft: War of the Ancients Trilogy is a book trilogy written by Richard A. Knaak set in Blizzard Entertainment's popular video game universe, Warcraft....
   
   
   1. The Well of Eternity (2004), ISBN 0-7434-7119-9
   2. The Demon Soul (2004), ISBN 0-7434-7120-2
   3. The Sundering (2005), ISBN 0-7434-7121-0
3. Sunwell Trilogy
   Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy
   Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy is a collection of three volumes of OEL manga, written by Richard Knaak, illustrated by Kim Jae-hwan, and published by Tokyopop...
   
   
   1. Dragon Hunt (2005), ISBN 1-59532-712-6
   2. Shadows of Ice (2006), ISBN 1-59532-713-4
   3. Ghostlands (2007), ISBN 1-59532-714-2
4. Independent Books
   1. "Stormrage" (2010), ISBN 1-4165-5087-9
   2. "Wolfheart" (2011), ISBN 1-4516-0575-7

Age of Conan

1. The God in the Moon (2006), ISBN 0-441-01422-4
2. The Eye of Charon (2006), ISBN 0-441-01445-3
3. The Silent Enemy (2006), ISBN 0-441-01452-6

Independent

1. King of the Grey (1993), ISBN 0-446-36463-0
2. Frostwing (1995), ISBN 0-446-60149-7
3. The Janus Mask (1995), ISBN 0-446-60150-0
4. Dutchman (1996), ISBN 0-446-60151-9
5. Ruby Flames (1999), ISBN 0-671-03266-6
6. Beastmaster:Myth (2009)

External links

• Official site
• Richard A. Knaak's SFF page
• Interviews on Blizzplanet