Davide Mana

Davide Mana (1967-2024) was an Italian author, translator, and blogger, born in Turin, who worked professionally as a paleontologist and researcher in ecological statistics while writing pulp-inflected fantasy and adventure fiction in his spare time. He wrote the sword-and-sorcery series Aculeo & Amunet, beginning with The Hand of Isfet, set in a fantastical version of ancient Rome and Egypt, and contributed tie-in fiction for the Descent: Journeys in the Dark board-game setting, including The Raiders of Bloodwood and Dreams of Fire. Through his long-running blog Karavansara he was also a noted commentator on pulp fiction, adventure literature, and the history of genre publishing, describing himself as an "orientalist anonymous" with wide-ranging interests spanning East Asian and Middle Eastern settings.