Matthew Reilly

"The acquisition of knowledge, the sheer pleasure of finding things out, is the greatest gift in life."

Matthew Reilly is a bestselling Australian author who is primarily known for his thriller novels. He has sold over 7.5 million copies of his novels worldwide and is the author of over a dozen novels and novellas.

Some of his best-known works include Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves, which was the biggest-selling fiction title in Australia in 2011. This was joined by The Seven Ancient Wonders, The Five Greatest Warriors, and The Tournament as best sellers.

Some of his works have been optioned by film studios for series or feature production, and he continues to create works of fiction across all major media platforms, from short stories, through to novellas and screenplays.

Meet Matthew Reilly

Born in Sydney in 1974, Reilly grew up on the lower North Shore of the city and went on to study law at university.

He wrote his very first book, Contest, at just 19. At the time, it was rejected by all of Australia’s major publishers, so he took out a bank loan and self-published 1,000 copies. A commissioning editor from Pan Macmillan eventually found one of these copies in a bookstore, and signed Reilly on for a two-book deal.

For that deal, Reilly first wrote Ice Station – even though he was still a student at the University of New South Wales at the time. This release proved so monumentally popular, that it had to be reprinted six times in its first two years.

Matthew's novels have also - unexpectedly - become a major tool in the fight to get teenagers into reading. While written for a mature readership, Matthew's novels have become very popular with reluctant male readers. This may stem from Matthew's own childhood experience, citing his dislike for set reading projects in high-school as his main inspiration to 'do it better'.

The continued success of his novels has been attributed to not only the accessible, 'storyteller' style of writing, but also the highly charged and kinetic action sequences that take place throughout his works, deliberately making use of his 'unlimited budget' of imagination to create scenes 'too big for Hollywood'.

Reilly now lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife Kate Freeman.