Australian Fiction

[GOLLUM]

Oh that's great news - Celia and Fiona at the Convention! I shall have to bring one of their books in the hope of getting it signed - or is that done for only new books?

Strange I thought it was only going to be a Science Fiction Convention

No, my experience at Cons and author signings are that they are happy to sign any book or even some people have posters, napkins etc.. signed if they don't have any books or forgotten to bring books by a specific author etc. It's not like a standard author signing/appearance where sometimes it's a part of a promo tour and the expectation is more that people are there to have the latest book/series signed etc. In other words it's pretty flexible as per what occurred when I was in Japan for WorldCon '07

NO WorldCon has always been for both SF and Fantasy but with a greater emphasis on SF but there's still a decent % of Fantasy represented in various activities and author appearances etc.. Whats not strongly represented is the third main leg of Speculative Fiction, namely Horror. The have their own conventions for that. Then of course there's the graphic novels and comics which are represented in a sense by the artists who attend WorldCon incl. an exhibition/gallery of work people are invited to take a look at and usually the prints etc. are for sale. That's often housed in the Dealers room where you also find the SFF booksellers. The comic people have their own major convention in Comicon.

I hope that makes things a little clearer.

 

[Rosemary]

Thank you Precioussss! Perfectly clearer now thank you! I suppose it was just that the authors that have been advertised as being there are all Science Fiction writers, which is probably where I got that idea from

I shall be bringing one of Celia's books then!

If there's a Book Selling Room, I'm glad I bought another suitcase

(Sorry for leading the thread astray a little)

 

[GOLLUM]

If there's a Book Selling Room, I'm glad I bought another suitcase

Don't joke. When I was in Japan, at least half my suitcase became filled with books. What most people do on a book buying holiday is to get books sent back in crates/bulk etc. especially when away from home. On my last visit to Sydney via Perth I sent a couple of crates back home.

Your comments were still on topic w.r.t Australian authors and this year's WorldCon in Melbourne.

 

[kurzon]

The last two Australian authors I read were Garth Nix and Sylvia Kelso.

Garth Nix writes (primarily) young adult fantasy (and I must go pick up the last of the Keys series). Thoroughly enjoyable author.

Sylvia Kelso writes fantasy and sf (the main fantasy series begins with "Everran's Bane" ). Very densely lyrical books and - due warning - you may find that getting into them is like staring at one of those 'magic eye' posters - you'll have to adapt to the style. But when you get there they're powerful reads. She's not only an Australian author, she uses Australian landscapes in her fantasy, so you'll find gum trees and billabongs behind the neologisms.

 

[GOLLUM]

Sylvia Kelso writes fantasy and sf (the main fantasy series begins with "Everran's Bane" ). Very densely lyrical books and - due warning - you may find that getting into them is like staring at one of those 'magic eye' posters - you'll have to adapt to the style. But when you get there they're powerful reads. She's not only an Australian author, she uses Australian landscapes in her fantasy, so you'll find gum trees and billabongs behind the neologisms.

Now that is interesting. I can't confess to having knowledge of this particular Australian author but that's the kind of thing that interests me in particular w.r.t this thread. SF and Fantasy and fiction more generally within a uniquely Australian context.

If Wikipedia is to be believed Sylvia's texts are densely lyrical as you say but also in a similar vein to Patrica McKillip, who is one of my favourite contemporary authors.

I note that you are fairly new here, so welcome abroad. You may at your discretion wish to introduce yourself more formally over in the Introductions thread. I hope you enjoy your stay.....

 

[kurzon]

Thanks! I'm always glad to find a place which will actually talk about _books_. And ones I've read even!

 

[GOLLUM]

Thanks! I'm always glad to find a place which will actually talk about _books_. And ones I've read even!

Off-topic: Well, I don't know how widely your reading interests range but we've more recently been having discussions/listings regarding World Literature and by that I mean focusing on fiction containing a predominantly fantastic or supernatural element to it that is mainly although by no means exclusively sourced from non-English speaking cultures e.g. Arabic, African, South American, Asian, European etc. and by writers viewed more within a mainstream 'literary' context v.s so-called Speculative fiction such as Noble Laureates, major mainstream award winners etc. To this end you may be interested in perusing the following:

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/525909-fantasy-outside-of-the-genre.html

I'll be starting to post more detailed reviews than what I've recently placed in the Monthly reading thread (located at the top of this General Books subforum) in a seperate thread relating to World Lit; deeper into April and hopefully encouraging other members to do the same.

Then of course there's also the Recommendation threads, also located at the top of this sub-forum that can prove quite a useful resource.

Cheers.....

 

[kurzon]

(Remembers another recently-read Australian author)

Michael Pryor has a cool "early 1900s" fantasy series about the British Prime Minister's son-who-is-a-mage. Have four of them so far, and fun reads.

 

[Diggler]

I picked up a couple of Aussie SF novels while I was on the other side of the country (have been for the past 2 weeks).

I snapped up.

Human Stock by Vaughan Whitlock (a PA novel based in Australia)
Zones by Damien Broderick and Rory Barnes
Dreaming Down-Under: Book 1 edited by Jack Dann

Unluckily I still haven't finished Australian SF. I forgot to take it with me. So it's been sitting on a shelf collecting dust.

 

[Snowdrift124]

I just discovered this site and thread today and have only skimmed the multiple pages here. Even so, I am most impressed with the passion and respect given to the genre as well as the knowledge and level of intellectual discussion.

I found the thread interesting as I started looking for Australian authors of the genre just recently. While I am well aware that I am no writer myself and I do respect the unique talent and skill required. I became tired of the sloppy Language of some of the young writers, which was ruining my enjoyment of the content and flow of their creative work. I wondered whether Language was being taught differently and a more casual approach to Grammar and Punctuation was changing the traditions of Written English. So I looked for a few Australian authors.

Those I found and enjoyed were Trudi Canavan, Karen Miller/K.E. Mills and Kate Forsyth/Humphrey. I am now looking for Trudi's, "Angel of Storms".

Thank you all for the information on Aussie authors, I will certainly check some of them out.

 

[The Procrastinator]

Pop. Just found this thread, had missed it before. Great thread Precious! Heaps of authors I haven't read unfortunately, but quite a few I have as well (agree about Cecilia Dart-Thornton's forest descriptions btw), and some great recommendations.

Had never heard of Sylvia Kelso before but "densely lyrical" sounds right up my alley, and maybe that book "The Etched City" as well, though I really have to be in the mood for dark and violent...

Would also like to point out, from an artist's perspective, two of the children's classics already mentioned, The Magic Pudding and Snugglepot and Cuddlepie are not only amazing stories but also absolutely crawling with the most beautiful, magical, evocative illustrations (both by the authors). Highly, highly recommended for imaginative children (of all ages).

 

[GOLLUM]

Indeed..thank you for bumping this. I must confess I've neglected this thread of late due to personal circumstances but hope to be posting some more content before the end of the year.

Lindsay's The Magic Pudding in particular has always remained one of my favourite Australian stories and comes highly recommended for anyone interested in Australian Children's literature.

 

[Riselka]

I don't think I've seen Sean McMullen mentioned here yet.

Sean McMullen

I've not read any of his SFF, but I do have his Greatwinter Trilogy in my TBR pile. It's a steampunk series which seems to be primarily set in Australia. It looked fascinating to me. I've asked about it here in the past, but it would seem no one here is familiar with it.

Greatwinter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[oneredfrog]

Read the Andrakis series by Tony Shillitoe some years and realy really enjoyed it to start with. Unfortunately I felt the story fell away towards the end and left me feeling really disappointed. It had such potential and then.....