Ustad, Willy
Entry updated 15 September 2026. Tagged: Author.
(1946-2026) Norwegian author of historic novels, sf and fantasy and nonfiction. His first two novels Ulva fra Huldretjernet ["Ulva From the Huldra's Pond"] (1989) and Ulvetid ["Time of the Wolf"] (1990), based on Nordic Mythology, were both gripping portraits of strong, independent female outcasts. After publishing stories in the Norwegian SF Magazine Sirius and the anthology Evigskogen ["The Eternal Forest"] (1990) edited by Ingar Knudtsen Jr, he turned to paperback series for the vast market of popular fiction.
He returned to sf with the series Vokterne eller: Ukjente makter ["The Guardians or: Unknown Forces"] (1998-2003), opening with the novel Vokterne ["The Guardian"] (1998). A nameless boy living in a small town in Troendelag in the middle of Norway discovers an unknown mystery: near his home town is an abandoned peninsula, where inexplicable things are going on. Something happened there in the 1800s, but no one can remember what. The inhabitants are not aware that the empty area is expanding, as they never look in that direction. The series was Willy Ustad's most explicit work of sf.
It should also be noted that three titles in his series of historic novels Fire søsken ["Four Relatives"] have sf elements: #17 Jaget vilt ["Hunted Game"] (1995), about the Roswell UFO mystery; # 24 Mellom himmel og jord ["Between Heaven and Earth"] (1997), about German Nazi UFO "wunderwaffen"; and #28 UFO-alarm ["UFO Alarm"] (1998) about a local UFO observation. He has also written the nonfiction Roswell-mysteriet ["The Roswell Mystery"] (1996), about that famous UFO incident in the US Nevada Desert in 1947. [CPe]
Willy Ustad
born Trondheim, Norway: 16 May 1946
died Inderøy, Norway: 29 March 2026
works (selected)
series
Vokterne
- Vokterne ["The Guardians"] (Oslo, Norway: Cappelen, 1998) [Vokterne: hb/Morten Sætren]
- Vokternes hemmelighet ["Secret of the Guardians"] (Oslo, Norway: Cappelen, 1999) [Vokterne: hb/Håkon Lystad]
- Vokternes fiende ["Enemy of the Guardians"] (Oslo, Norway: Cappelen, 2000) [Vokterne: hb/Håkon Lystad]
- Vokternes kamp ["The Battle of the Guardians"] (Oslo, Norway: Cappelen, 2001) [Vokterne: hb/Håkon Lystad]
- Vokternes vokter ["The Guardian of the Guardians"] (Oslo, Norway: Cappelen, 2002) [Vokterne: hb/Håkon Lystad]
- Vokternes valg ["Choice of the Guardians"] (Oslo, Norway: Cappelen, 2003) [Vokterne: hb/Håkon Lystad]
Fire søsken
- Jaget vilt ["Hinted Game"] (Oslo, Norway: Bladkompaniet, 1995) [Fire søsken: pb/]
- Mellom himmel og jord ["Between Heaven and Earth"] (Oslo, Norway: Bladkompaniet, 1997) [Fire søsken: pb/]
- UFO-alarm ["UFO Alarm"] (Oslo, Norway: Bladkompaniet, 1998) [Fire søsken: pb/]
individual titles
- Ulva fra Huldretjernet ["Ulva From the Huldra's Pond"] (Oslo, Norway: Bladkompaniet, 1989) [hb/]
- Ulvetid ["Time of the Wolf"] (Oslo, Norway: Bladkompaniet, 1990) [hb/Arild Midthun]
nonfiction
- Roswell-mysteriet ["The Roswell Mystery"] (Oslo, Norway: Grøndahl og Dreyer, 1996) [nonfiction: hb/]
links
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