Matthew Harffy is a well-known author, celebrated for his historical fiction novels. He is best known for his series, The Bernicia Chronicles, and more recently, the A Time for Swords series. The Bernicia Chronicles, a series of action-packed historical novels, includes nine books with the ninth, Forest of Foes, due for publication in December 2022.
Harffy was raised in Northumberland, an area that greatly influenced him. The ruined castles, rugged terrain, and rocky coastline made it easy for him to imagine the past. Many years later, a documentary on Northumbria’s Golden Age inspired him to create a series of historical fiction books, leading to the birth of The Bernicia Chronicles.
Before becoming a full-time author, Harffy worked in the IT industry, spending most of his days writing and editing, although not the words that most interested him. Prior to that, he lived in Spain, working as an English teacher and translator. His experiences in these fields undoubtedly contributed to his development as a successful author.
Harffy's 2020 novel, Wolf of Wessex, was his first departure from the seventh century. Set a couple of centuries later in the early years of the Viking Age, it tells the tale of an ageing warrior, Dunston, as he tries to find a man's vicious murderers, keep the victim's orphaned daughter alive, and uncover the dark secret that threatens to plunge the kingdom into war. His most recent book, A Night of Flames, is the second in the A Time for Swords series set at the dawn of the Viking Age. It follows the adventures of a monk-turned-warrior, Hunlaf, who witnesses the first attack on the monastery of Lindisfarne and feels compelled to pick up a blade and organize the defense against the Norse raiders.
Matthew Harffy currently resides in Wiltshire, England, with his wife and their two daughters. He continues to captivate readers with his historical fiction, inviting them to immerse themselves in the past and experience the drama and adventure of a bygone era.