Rjurik Davidson is a writer and speaker.
He has written short stories, essays, reviews and screenplays.
Rjurik writes imaginative fiction, speculative fiction, science fiction, surrealism, magic realism and fantasy. His unique and radical speculative fiction has seen him nominated for or win a number of awards. He has been compared with China Mieville, J.G. Ballard, Jeff Vandermeer, Ursula K. Le Guin and Samuel R. Delany.
He is also an accomplished professional and educational writer.
His novel, Unwrapped Sky, was published by Tor Books in April 2014. Sci Fi Now claims it can “go toe-to-toe with China Miéville’s best.” Kirkus Reviews calls it “Impressively imagined and densely detailed.” Newtown Review of Books says it’s “one volume you cannot ignore.”
His novel, The Stars Askew Was released in 2016. Kirkuk reviews says, "there’s no doubting the quality of the imagination on display here." Smash dragons says it's "a story that both delights and challenges your thinking." Pop Mythology says, "The Stars Askew does not disappoint."
Rjurik's screenplay The Uncertainty Principle (co-written with Ben Chessell) is currently in development.
Rjurik teaches literature and creative writing. He is available for workshops on request.
Rjurik has lived in Australia, France. The US, and Finland.
He loves: Interesting strangers. Ideas which make you see the world in entirely new ways. Long conversations especially at exotic meals in hidden-away restaurants. Animals. Laughing at the universe. Friends. The rain and mist when you're inside in front of a fire. Traveling to places he's never been. Unusual strangers. Kung Fu. Watching films all day.
Writing
Speaking
Editing
Teaching
The publisher describes this novel as an example of the New Weird, and it does echo the imaginative scope of some of the best authors of that school, such as Jeff VanderMeer. Davidson (The Library of Forgotten Books) is an award-winning writer with a huge amount of talent, excelling at description and complex characters. Although the mix of high and low tech could be smoother, every aspect of his worldbuilding is exciting. This full-length debut marks Davidson as an author to watch.
Founder of am author
Extraordinary collection containing two sort of alt-history tales, one set in France of the 60's and one in an Australia with an inland sea that made it a superpower in the late 40's and early 50's and then the pieces of resistance, four stories set in the Caeli-Amur milieu of cities with rival houses that have magicians and geneticists - including the title story set in Varenis a totalitarian rival of Caeli-Amur.
Founder of am author
To attempt to summarise the plot of Unwrapped Sky would be to do it a disservice. There are too many important strands that would have to be left out in any kind of summary. You may as well try to sum up real life, and that’s the complexity that Davidson is reaching for here. The story moves from personal struggle and tragedy to history-changing events and upsets and back again, cataloguing triumphs, defeats, reversals and bitter ironies.
Founder of am author
Unwrapped Sky is a good pick for fantasy buffs who enjoy a meatier read, and a novel that wrestles with concepts of power, social injustice, fate, and discovering the consequences of doing the right thing.
Founder of am author
Rjurik Davidson's debut, Unwrapped Sky, is ... a very beautiful novel that was obviously constructed with a lot of care. The world-building is phenomenal; there is enough detail given to make the city of Caeli-Amur feel like a real place, yet enough gaps are left to allow expansion in further writings. The pseudo-Greek mythology used to construct the city doesn't feel like mythology...it feels almost weirdly natural, like a half-memory or potential path that was never taken. This in turn allows the reader to relate to the characters, which is advantageous, as in this situation there are three.
