Anna Smith Spark

Anna Smith Spark (born 1978 or 1979) is a British fantasy fiction writer and civil servant from Bishop's Stortford. She wrote a trilogy titled Empires of Dust as well as several other standalone works, and has been styled the "Queen of Grimdark".

Biography
Spark is from Bishop's Stortford, where she was educated at The Hertfordshire and Essex High School. Academically she has a BA, an MA, and a PhD, focused on classical and cultural history. As well as authoring fantasy literature she works in the civil service.

The Court of Broken Knives, Spark's first novel and the first in the Empires of Dust trilogy, was released in 2017. Focused on four protagonists, the story is a grimdark fantasy about an attempt to overthrow the Sekemleth Empire. It was released to positive critical reception, with Kirkus magazine stating that it should "appeal to grimdark fans looking for the extreme edge", but that "others may well find it nasty, brutish, and not short enough". The sequel, The Tower of Living and Dying, was released in 2018. The previous protagonist, Marith Altrersyr, becomes king and leaves behind a "trail of violent death". A review in Publishers Weekly states that Spark "fascinates and entertains", with no sign of "middle-book sag". The concluding novel in the "blood-spattered" trilogy, The House of Sacrifice, was released in 2019.

In 2023 Spark published A Woman of the Sword. Set in the same world as the Empires of Dust, the novel is character-led, focusing more on "grunt" characters, including from a feminist perspective and addressing PTSD and the trials of motherhood. A review in Grimdark magazine stated that the book "hurts to read", but is "unputdownable at times". Also released in 2023 was the novel A Sword of Bronze and Ashes, about a retired warrior, Kanda, who is now a wife and mother living peacefully until ancient foes return and threaten the agrarian existence of herself and her family. It was described by Liz Rourke of Locus Magazine as a "peculiar, ambitious novel" that recalls "oral epic poetry" and is reminiscent of the Táins.

Awards
In 2018 Spark's novel The Court of Broken Knives was nominated for both a David Gemmell award and a British Fantasy Award.