Garth Nix

The series was self-published and republished by Text Media in Melbourne. Describe as books for "Very Clever Babies Aged 3–6 Months", they contain such words as ichthyologist, as used by the character Freddy the Fish.

Born in Melbourne, Nix was raised in Canberra. He attended Turner Primary School, Lyneham High School and Dickson College for schooling. While at Dickson College, Nix joined the Australian Army Reserve. After a period working for the Australian government, he traveled in Europe before returning to Australia in 1983 and undertaking a BA in professional writing at Canberra University. He worked in a Canberra bookshop after graduation, before moving to Sydney in 1987, where he worked his way up in the publishing field. He was a sales rep and publicist before becoming a Senior editor at HarperCollins. In 1993 he commenced further travel in Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe before becoming a marketing consultant, founding his own company, Gotley Nix Evans Pty Ltd. From 1999-2002 he worked as a literary agent with Curtis Brown (Australia) Pty Ltd before becoming a full-time author.

Garth Richard Nix (born 19 July 1963) is an Australian writer who specialises in children's and young adult fantasy novels, notably the Old Kingdom, Seventh Tower and Keys to the Kingdom series. He has frequently been asked if his name is a pseudonym, to which he has responded, "I guess people ask me because it sounds like the perfect name for a writer of fantasy. However, it is my real name."