Sebastien de Castell

Sebastien de Castell
Born
Pointe Claire, Quebec, Canada
OccupationAuthor
Writing career
GenreFantasy
Websitedecastell.com

Sebastien de Castell is a Canadian fantasy writer, best known for his series Greatcoats and Spellslinger.

History

Sebastien de Castell has been nominated for several science fiction and fantasy awards, starting with his first novel, Traitor's Blade, being nominated for the Astounding Award for Best New Writer and the David Gemmell Awards for Fantasy. Two novels in his Spellslinger series would see him nominated for Grand prix de l'Imaginaire and the Sunburst Award, as well as the winner of the Elbakin.net Award. De Castell has stated his interest in writing "optimistic but flawed heroes", saying that it was the type of heroes he enjoyed reading about as a kid, but placed "in an environment that had some of the depth and darkness".

All five of his series are set in the same multiverse. The Greatcoats and The Court of Shadows series are set on the same continent as each other (Tristia) with overlapping characters; The Spellslinger and Argosi series are likewise set on the same continent as each (Eldrasia) other with overlapping characters but also on the same world as the other two series. No characters overlap between those sets of series. The Fifth series takes place on a different plane of existence; but people originating in Eldrasia cross over into that world. It is not mentioned when the 3 sets of series happen in relation to each other.

De Castell has at various times worked as a full-time musician, an interaction designer, teacher, project manager, fight choreographer, actor and more. Before publishing his first novel, de Castell worked at the Vancouver Film School.

Awards

Year Nominee Award Category Result Ref
2014 Traitor's Blade Goodreads Choice Award Best Fantasy Semi-Finalist
2015 David Gemmell Awards for Fantasy Morningstar Award for Best Debut Finalist
2016 Astounding Award for Best New Writer Finalist
Prix Imaginales Foreign Translation Finalist
2018 Spellslinger Elbakin.net Best translated fantasy YA Won
2019 Spellslinger, Shadowblack Grand prix de l'Imaginaire Best Foreign Young Adult Finalist
Spellslinger Sunburst Award Young Adult Award Finalist

Bibliography

Novels

YearTitleSeries
2014 Traitor's Blade The Greatcoats series
2014 Knight's Shadow The Greatcoats series
2016 Saint's Blood The Greatcoats series
2017 Tyrant's Throne The Greatcoats series
2017 Spellslinger The Spellslinger series
2017 Shadowblack The Spellslinger series
2018 Charmcaster The Spellslinger series
2018 Soulbinder The Spellslinger series
2019 Queenslayer The Spellslinger series
2019 Crownbreaker The Spellslinger series
2021 Way of the Argosi The Argosi series
2021 The Fall of the Argosi The Argosi series
2023 The Malevolent Seven The Malevolent series
2023 The Fate of the Argosi The Argosi series
2023 Crucible of Chaos The Court of Shadows series
2024 Play of Shadows The Court of Shadows series
2025 The Malevolent Eight The Malevolent series
2026 Our Lady of Blades The Court of Shadows series
2027 Persophone (co-author with Kristi Charish)

Collections

Uncollected Short stories

References

  1. ↑ "Summary Bibliography: Sebastien de Castell".
  2. ↑ "Vancouver fantasy writer signs blockbuster book deal". 18 July 2015.
  3. ↑ decastell (2020-08-19). "I'm Sebastien de Castell, author of the GREATCOATS and SPELLSLINGER series, and inventor of the squirrel cat. I'm here in support of The Pixel Project's work to End Violence Against Women. AMA!". r/Fantasy. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  4. ↑ "An Interview with Sebastien de Castell". 12 February 2014.
  5. ↑ "Author Sebastien de Castell on the low demand for Canadian science fiction and fantasy lit". 23 September 2016.
  6. ↑ "Announcing the Goodreads Choice Winner in Best Fantasy!". Goodreads.
  7. ↑ Glyer, Mike (June 1, 2015). "Voting Opens for 2015 David Gemmell Awards".
  8. ↑ Says, Scryde ru (December 29, 2015). "2016 Hugo Awards".
  9. ↑ "Prix Imaginales 2016" [2016 Imaginal Awards] (in French). 2 May 2016.
  10. ↑ "Elbakin.net Association Présentation" [Elbakin.net Association Presentation] (in French).
  11. ↑ "Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire 2019" [Grand Prix of the Imaginary 2019] (in French). 7 October 2019.
  12. ↑ "2019 Sunburst Winners". 9 June 2019.
  13. ↑ McClellan, Rob (2026-06-29). "Persephone | Sebastien de Castell". Retrieved 2026-07-25.
  14. ↑ "Title: Tales of the Greatcoats". www.isfdb.org. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  15. ↑ "Firewood (Spellslinger, #2.1)". Goodreads. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  16. ↑ "Title: The Fox and the Bowman". www.isfdb.org. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  17. ↑ "The King's Letters". Goodreads. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  18. ↑ "The Dowager Magus (Spellslinger, #1.1)". Goodreads. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  19. ↑ "Title: The Sword of Seven Tears". www.isfdb.org. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  20. ↑ McClellan, Rob (2021-05-28). "The Red Lily | Sebastien de Castell". decastell.com. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  21. ↑ McClellan, Rob (2021-08-18). "The Obsidian Worm | Sebastien de Castell". decastell.com. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  22. ↑ "Title: Six-String Demon". www.isfdb.org. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  23. ↑ "Publication: Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, February 2022". www.isfdb.org. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  24. ↑ "Shapers of Worlds Volume III: Science fiction and fanta…". Goodreads. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  25. ↑ "X". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2023-12-01.
  26. ↑ decastell (2025-04-05). "A Knight of Five Souls | Sebastien de Castell". Retrieved 2026-07-25.