Russell Kirkpatrick

Russell Kirkpatrick (1961 - 26 June 2026) was a New Zealand novelist, geography lecturer, cartographer and photographer. He contributed to a number of notable atlases, and completed two fantasy trilogies. He is a three-time winner of the award for best novel (adult category) at New Zealand's Sir Julius Vogel Awards. His books were first published in Australia and in the mid-2010s he moved to Canberra, where from 2022-2026 he lectured at the University of Canberra.

Life and career Kirkpatrick was born in Christchurch in 1961, and lived there until 1999, when he and his family moved to Hamilton.

He became interested in maps and mapmaking at primary school, and in the 1990s was noted as having New Zealand's largest collection of Lego. He holds a PhD in geography from the University of Canterbury, obtained in 1991, and lectured at the University of Waikato in Hamilton from 2000 until 2014.

Of his passion for maps, Kirkpatrick has said: and as author of the Contemporary Atlas of New Zealand (1999), which had sold more than 20,000 copies . He wrote and provided photographs for a book about New Zealand waterfalls, Walk to Waterfalls (2011). He has said his favourite waterfall in New Zealand is Marokopa Falls.

Kirkpatrick's first novel, Across the Face of the World, was published in Australia in 2004, and was the best-selling fantasy novel in Australia in that year, as well as topping the Dymocks bestseller list for over four weeks. Gerard Campbell for The Press described it as "a solid fantasy world that is worth a look for fans of the genre". In 2008, Across the Face of the World was published in the USA and was the best-selling science fiction or fantasy debut in that year.

Each of the three novels of Kirkpatrick's Husk trilogy has won the award for best novel (adult category) at the Sir Julius Vogel Awards: Path of Revenge in 2008, and Beyond the Wall of Time in 2010. Jason Nahrung, reviewing Path of Revenge for The Courier-Mail, noted the praise Kirkpatrick has received for his mapmaking, and said he "has managed to not only paint a working, believable world in this, the first of a new series, but inhabit it with real people as well". Kirkpatrick has described his second trilogy as darker than the first, noting that at the time of writing the first he was training to be a pastor.

Silent Sorrow (2020), the first novel in his planned The Book of Remezov trilogy, was shortlisted for the best novel award at the 2022 Sir Julius Vogel Awards.

he was based in Canberra, Australia, and working as a sessional lecturer at the University of Canberra.

Russell Kirkpatrick died of complications from melanoma on June 26, 2026. A memorial service to celebrate his life, with friends and family, was held at the Margaret Whitlam Pavilion, National Arboretum Canberra, on 2 Aug 2026.

Selected works

Fire of Heaven trilogy Across the Face of the World (2004) In the Earth Abides the Flame (2005) The Right Hand of God (2006)

Husk or Broken Man trilogy The Husk trilogy was published as the Broken Man trilogy in the United States and United Kingdom. Path of Revenge (2006) Dark Heart (2008) Beyond the Wall of Time (2009)

The Book of Remezov trilogy Silent Sorrow (2020)

Non-fiction New Zealand Historical Atlas (1998, deputy editor, with editor Malcolm McKinnon) Degrees of Deprivation in New Zealand: An Atlas of Socioeconomic Difference (2000) Contemporary Atlas of New Zealand (1999, 2nd edition 2004, author) Rural Canterbury, Celebrating its History (2001, co-editor with Garth Cant) Walk to Waterfalls (2011, author and photographer)