Philip Purser-Hallard (born 1971 as Philip Hallard) is a fantasy, science fiction and crime author described by the British Fantasy Society as "the best kept secret in British genre writing". His Devices Trilogy, beginning with The Pendragon Protocol, is an urban fantasy thriller series which combines Arthurian myth with issues of modern British politics and identity. The British Fantasy Society said that the first novel's "writing is crisp and clever, the plotting devoid of flab and the cast of characters appealing, interesting and consistent", and that it was based on "that rarest of fantasy beasts – an original idea".