Lene Kaaberbøl (1960-) Biography

(Lene Kaaberbol)

Personal

Born 1960, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Education: Århus University, degree (English, drama). Hobbies and other interests: Playing pentanque.

Addresses

Office—Phabel & Plott ApS, Laksegade 12, St.th, DK-1063 Copenhagen K, Denmark.

Career

Novelist. Formerly worked as a high school teacher, copy writer, publishing company editor, cleaning assistant, and riding teacher. Phabel & Plott ApS, Copenhagen, Denmark, owner and writer.

Honors Awards

Best Disney Novel Writer of the Year award, Disney Worldwide Artist Convention, 2001, for five "W.I.T.C.H." series novels.

Writings

"TINA" SERIES

Den forste bog om Tina og hestene (title means "The First Book about Tina and the Horses"), Tommeliden, 1975, revised as Tina og Sunny (title means "Tina and Sunny"), Klematis, 1989.

Den anden bog om Tina og hestene (title means "The Second Book about Tina and the Horses"), Tommeliden, 1975, revised as Tina og Handsome Joy (title means "Tina and Handsome Joy"), Klematis, 1989.

Tinas hestepensionat (title means "Tina's Boarding Stables"), Tommeliden, 1976, revised Klematis, 1990.

Tinas rideskole (title means "Tina's Riding School"), Tommeliden, 1976, revised, Klematis 1990.

Books have been translated into Norwegian and Swedish.

"KATRIONA" SERIES

Solvhesten (title means "Silverhorse"), Klematis, 1992.

Sermelinen (title means "Ermine"), Klematis, 1994.

Isfuglen (title means "Kingfisher"), Klematis, 2000.

"KRISTIAN" SERIES

Den nat Kristian blev til (title means "The Night Christian Was Made"), illustrations by Susanne Dyhre-Poulsen, Klematis, 1993.

(With Eva Kaaberbøl) Det a°r Kristian fik en lillesøster (title means "The Year Sarah Came Along"), illustrations by Susanne Dyhre-Poulsen, Klematis, 1994.

"SHAMER CHRONICLES" SERIES

Skammerens datter, Forum Forum (Copenhagen, Denmark), 2000, translated as The Shamer's Daughter, Hodder (London, England), 2002, Holt (New York, NY), 2004.

Skammerertegnet, Forum (Copenhagen, Denmark), 2001, translated as The Shamer's Signet, Hodder (London, England), 2003, Holt (New York, NY), 2005.

Sklagends gave (title means "The Serpent Gift"), Forum Forum (Copenhagen, Denmark), 2001.

Skammerkrigen (title means "The Shamer's War"), Phabel Forum (Copenhagen, Denmark), 2003.

"W.I.T.C.H. ADVENTURES" SERIES

Salamanderens hjerte, Egmont Litas (Copenhagen, Denmark), 2002, translated as The Salamander's Heart, Tempo (London, England), 2002.

Stilnerens musik, Egmont Litas (Copenhagen, Denmark), 2002, translated as Brimstone Music, Tempo (London, England), 2002, published as Enchanted Music, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2005.

Havens Ild, Egmont Litas (Copenhagen, Denmark), 2002, translated as Merefire, Tempo (London, England), 2002.

Grøn magi, Egmont Litas (Copenhagen, Denmark, 2002, translated as Green Magic, Tempo (London, England), 2002.

Den Grusomme Kejserinde, Egmont Litas (Copenhagen, Denmark), 2002, translated as The Cruel Empress, Tempo (London, England), 2002, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2006.

Books translated into Japanese, Dutch, Swedish, French, German, Turkish, Norwegian, Russian, Lithuanian, Faeroese, and Polish.

"BROKEN ORB" SERIES

Stenfalken (title means "Stone Falcon"), Litas, 2003.

Ørnekløer (title means "The Talons of the Eagle"), Litas, 2003.

Uglens skygge (title means "The Shadow of the Owl"), Litas, 2003.

Den gyldne føniks (title means "The Golden Phoenix"), Litas, 2003.

Books translated into Swedish, German, Norwegian, Romanian, and other languages.

OTHER

Morgenlandet (adult novel; title means "The Morning Land"), Centrum, 1988.

Jagten pa° den gyldne trøffel (title means "The Quest for the Golden Truffle"), illustrations by Bo Odga°rd Iversen, Klematis, 1994.

Et kongeligt balletbarn (title means "A Royal Ballet Child"), photographs by Torkel Dyrting, Klematis, 1994.

(Editor with Hanne Ullerup) Soldiers Don't Go Mad (anthology), Klim, 2000.

Contributor to fiction anthologies, including Pa° Fatansiens Vinger, Høst & Søn, 2002, and Hjertevirus, 2002; translated stories anthologized in Dark Voices III: The Pan Book of Horror, 1991.

Adaptations

Many of Kaaberbøl's novels have been adapted as audiobooks.

Sidelights

At age fifteen Danish author Lene Kaaberbøl was already a published author, having penned two novels about a girl named Tina and her horses. Continuing her "Tina" series through her high-school years, Kaaberbøl completed two more volumes in the series before discovering the works of British writer J. R. R. Tolkien and moving into the fantasy genre where many of her more recent novels have found success. The "Katronia" series follow a twelve-year-old girl who becomes a talented horsewoman after being banished from her family's village after her stepfather decides he has had enough of her unruliness, while the "Shamer Chronicles" and "Broken Orb" series are pure fantasy. The Disney-sponsored "W.I.T.C.H. Adventures" series, published in numerous languages, focuses on five teenage girls, each of whom controls one of the five elements of nature and together fight threats to peace. While many of the author's works have been translated into various European languages, novels in her popular "Shamer Chronicles" and "W.I.T.C.H. Adventures" series are available in English translation.

The first book in the "Shamer Chronicles" series, The Shamer's Daughter introduces the concept of the Shamer, a person with the gift of reading a person's soul. As the daughter of the local shamer, Dina has inherited her mother's ability to uncover a person's darkest kept secrets simply by looking into his or her eyes. While eleven-year-old Dina has grown to despise her "gift" over the years because of the growing isolation from her fellow villagers that it has caused, she eventually learns to accept her ability, using it to aids in solving a murder case in which her mother's life hangs in the balance. In The Shamer's Signet Dina's older brother, Davin, must come to the aid of both his mother and his sister, comes to harm, while further volumes find the shamer's avaricious husband returning to claim his gifted children, and Dina's kingdom threatened by Drakan, a powerful man who, totally without shame despite his many ruthless deeds, has dedicated himself to destroying all shamers. The first two books in the series have been published in English translation.

Praising the first volume in the "Shamer Chronicles," a Kirkus contributor wrote that "a different kind of magic gives spark to this series opener." Anita L. Burkam, writing in Horn Book, also enjoyed The Shamer's Daughter, commenting that the novel's "plot is expertly constructed" and "each twist is unexpected," leading readers to a "final climactic rescue." A Publishers Weekly critic wrote that Kaaberbøl's "multidimensional fantasy" "stands on its own and offers a satisfying conclusion even as it provides an intriguing setting and mythology for further adventures."