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Joseph Malik

Goodreads Author

Born

The United States

Website

http://www.josephmalik.com

Twitter

jmalikauthor

Genre

Fantasy, Thriller, Fiction

Member Since

February 2014

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Joseph Malik is an author, adventurer, swordsman, and retired gunslinger for the Illuminati. His debut novel, Dragon’s Trail, sold over 10,000 copies in eighteen months while receiving mainstream critical acclaim, qualifying him for the 2017 and 2018 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Raised in a traditional Blackfeet home in East Glacier Park, MT, he has been a longtime panelist and demonstrator at science fiction and fantasy conventions, sought-after for his expertise in outdoorsmanship, edged weaponry, and warfighting, as well as his personal history of doing all his characters’ stunts–from BASE jumping to blacksmithing. This level of experience and hands-on knowledge have allowed him to create a se Joseph Malik is an author, adventurer, swordsman, and retired gunslinger for the Illuminati. His debut novel, Dragon’s Trail, sold over 10,000 copies in eighteen months while receiving mainstream critical acclaim, qualifying him for the 2017 and 2018 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Raised in a traditional Blackfeet home in East Glacier Park, MT, he has been a longtime panelist and demonstrator at science fiction and fantasy conventions, sought-after for his expertise in outdoorsmanship, edged weaponry, and warfighting, as well as his personal history of doing all his characters’ stunts–from BASE jumping to blacksmithing. This level of experience and hands-on knowledge have allowed him to create a series of military fantasy novels that do for knights in armor what The Hunt for Red October did for the nuclear submarine.

Medically retired from the U.S. Army for combat-related injuries in 2022, his assignments and attachments included USSOCOM, USASOC, Joint Special Operations Task Forces, and the Defense Intelligence Agency. He attended the French Foreign Legion Desert Commando School in the Horn of Africa, and has helped train and advise militaries and intelligence organizations around the world.

Dragon’s Trail became a Kindle #1 bestseller in Epic Fantasy in the U.S., Australia, and Canada, and reached #1 in Kindle Sword and Sorcery in the UK. as well as becoming a Barnes & Noble Nook bestseller. The followup, The New Magic, launched into the Kindle Epic Fantasy Top 50 New Releases and reached #23 on Goodreads’ recommendation list for the 2019 Hugo award.

He holds a B.A. in English from the University of Washington with a linguistics minor, and studied counterintelligence and domestic terrorism at American Military University. He is a full member of SFWA, represented by Sarah Hershman at Hershman Rights Management, NY.

Joseph Malik and his wife homestead on Puget Sound.

His forthcoming book, I Wrote a Novel About a Woke Special Ops Team and Broke the Brains of People who Failed the ASVAB: A Memoir will be out shortly. Be sure to read the review-bombs left on Stonelands for context. ...more

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Joseph Malik’s books

Average rating: 4.14 · 582 ratings · 132 reviews · 3 distinct works • Similar authors

	Dragon's Trail (The Outworlders, #1) 4.12 avg rating — 453 ratings — published 2016 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The New Magic (The Outworlders #2) 4.23 avg rating — 112 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Stonelands 3.82 avg rating — 17 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

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Joseph Malik's Blog

STONELANDS on KINDLE

So I did it. I knuckled under. I capitulated.

I released STONELANDS as a paperback last year, stating that I had no plans to release it as an ebook, primarily due to piracy concerns. This, after finding THE NEW MAGIC on a pirate site with north of 1,900 ratings and something like a 4.6-star average. ITHE NEW MAGIC was pirated almost immediately, and I never made my production costs back.

STONELANDS

Series by Joseph Malik

The Outworlders (2 books)
by

Joseph Malik (Goodreads Author)

4.15 avg rating — 565 ratings

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Joseph’s Recent Updates

Joseph Malik liked Marina's review of Stonelands: "This book is labeled as a military low portal fantasy and I have to agree with that. Only having bookish military expertise I had to reread some parts so the details did not escape me. This world is harsh, violent and captivating. The names for the lan" Read more of this review »
Jul 15, 2026 04:43PM · see review
Joseph Malik is now following Nils Ödlund and Allen Cheesman
Jun 28, 2026 01:57PM
Joseph Malik liked Nils Ödlund's review of Stonelands: "Have you ever heard of hard military isekai? Hard in this case carrying the same meaning as in hard science fiction. No? Haven’t heard of it? Me either – except this. I wouldn’t be surprised if its actually a thing already, with its own fandom of hard" Read more of this review »
Jun 28, 2026 01:57PM · see review
Joseph Malik liked E.G. Stone's review of Stonelands: "Have you ever wondered what would happen if you had modern technology in the world of Game of Thrones? The answer is, as it turns out, quite complicated and fascinating to read. Stonelands by Joseph Malik is part portal fantasy, part technothriller w" Read more of this review »
May 05, 2026 10:38AM · see review
Joseph Malik and 1 other person liked Ellen Saunders's review of Stonelands: "Stonelands is a military portal fantasy the author claims is "guaranteed to piss off the worst people." It'll probably do that; bigots and fanatics will not like it. And as others have said, misogynistic Seals might want to seek their reading elsewhe" Read more of this review »
Nov 20, 2025 08:09PM · see review
Joseph Malik made a comment in the group Goodreads Librarians Group — Bunch of Books Not Mine -- and One that Is topic " Hey, thanks. When/how can I get editing privileges? The page doesn't show the back matter or external review blurbs. Thanks. ...more "
Aug 06, 2025 08:47AM
Joseph Malik joined the group Goodreads Librarians Group
Aug 06, 2025 07:25AM · like

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Hooked on Books : Fabulous Fall BINGO	13	45	Nov 04, 2023 03:30PM
Sword & Sorcery: ...: * What are you currently reading?	3202	722	17 hours, 40 min ago

Joseph’s Quotes

“If you can't annoy somebody, there is little point in writing.”
― Kingsley Amis, Lucky Jim

tags: annoyance, writing

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We PROMOTE Fantasy/Sci-Fi Writers/Authors — 1386 members — last activity Jul 29, 2026 12:13PM
Tweets from @altomov/my-goodreads-com-friends If you need help promoting your work, my Sci-Fi/Fantasy Team can advertise your book in our active Fa ...more

Goodreads Librarians Group — 333188 members — last activity 0 minutes ago
Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra ...more

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Hi there! SFFBC is a welcoming place for readers to share their love of speculative fiction through group reads, buddy reads, challenges, ...more

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Readers, authors, illustrators, and editors aggregate here to discuss Sword & Sorcery books and related media (movies, comics, blogposts, etc.). ...more

Beta Reader Group — 29813 members — last activity 22 hours, 44 min ago
A place to connect writers with beta readers. A cliche is just one of the things to look out for while writing. They can slip in unnoticed and ruin a ...more

Flights of Fantasy — 1216 members — last activity Dec 30, 2025 12:45AM
Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror, and YA/MG. We reads it. As a group, we seek to read BotM that are a little off the beaten paths. We love the Gaimans, Sande ...more

SciFi and Fantasy eBook Club — 3786 members — last activity 17 hours, 18 min ago
This is for those of us whose preferred format is the ebook ... So, Whether you're a Kindle, Nook, Sony, iPad, Google, or whatever person; come on in ...more

Goodreads Reviewers' Group — 13759 members — last activity 13 hours, 52 min ago
This group helps to bring Reviewers and Authors together! Reviewers can make their own thread to post their reviews in, or post their reviews in the r ...more

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Joseph Malik's Blog

STONELANDS on KINDLE

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Joseph Malik’s Followers (71)

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