Cool Aussie Authors

[Kayne]

Just sort i'd set up a thread for pple to pimp Aussie spec fic authors,such as this guy:

John Jetty. I recently read his book "The Blessing of Stefan" and was really impressed. When i found out that he was both from Townsville and self-published it, i just had to pimp it. so yeh, it's good and he deserves our support as he went out on a limb and got stuff to happen.

[Mouse]

Rock on Townsville! ;D

I also read Blessings of Stefan, and likewise quite enjoyed it. The first chapter was a bit off, for some reason, but luckily I had nothing else to read so kept going and ended up really liking it. Different to the cyberpunk stuff I usually prefer when it comes to science fiction, but good.

Two other aussie authors I love, mostly because they are probably the two authors that got me into the specfic genre when I was like eleven. Isobelle Carmody's Obernewtyn Chronicles, awesome stuff even if it is a bit adolescent when I read it now. Love it, and she wrote the first book while she was in highschool which is just cool. Also Sara Douglass, the Battleaxe Trilogy, The Crucible Trilogy and Threshold were all fantastic. I didn't enjoy her other stuff as much for some reason. But those ones are definitely worth reading. I went through a stage when I thought I'd never read anything to top the Battleaxe Trilogy.

Of course I read all those books when I was quite young and my tastes have changed a bit since then, but I'd still recommend them. ;D

Oooh, one more blast from the past, the very first specfic I ever read, a book called Magician by an aussie guy whose name I THINK is Alan Bailie. I can't remember exactly... and the name might be off too. Any help on that front would be cool...

AMENDMENT: Just looked it all up, and it was called Magician and was by Allan Bailie. It's now out of print. Bugger.

[marianne]

Hi Kayne,

some of my favourite Aussie authors are:

Terry Dowling, especially his anthology Twilight Beach.
Margo (Lanagan) and Maxine(McArthur), of course.
I love Trent Jamieson's short fiction. His anthology comes out this year and it's called 'Reserved for Travelling Shows'. He writes poetic prose with big ideas. (and I wrote the foreword so I got to rave plenty about how good it is!). Prime books in the US are publishing it.

Richard Harland is a great humourous, macabre writer. You would love 'The Black Crusade.'

Mouse have you read Kate Forsyth?

best
MDP

[Mouse]

I read The Witches of Eileanan a while ago, loved it. I could never decide which of the twins I liked better though. I also read The Dark Edge and... I can't for the life of me remember what it's called but the third book in that eddon and vail series by Richard Harland. Gotta love Vail. I have such an obsession with gutsy heroines.

Ah! Garth Nix! The Old Kingdom Trilogy is awesomeness. Of course has strong female protagonists. I think technically it's YA stuff, but I read the first book (Sabriel) only about a year ago and loved it to pieces so much I got the other ones. I loved the world. Very snifty. ;D

[Cj]

I LOVED SABRIEL its so great i have yet to read Abhorsen though, thats a kicker, i just keep getting other books and never remebering, its been a while since i read Lirael, but i'm sure i could follow it.
I love the stories so far, he writes in such a dramatic way, perfect for me!

[Chirugal]

*blush* I know nothing about any of these authors or their books - although I have noted Sabriel seems to be quite popular.

My only contribution to this, I think is Trudi Canavan. She did the Magician's Guild trilogy, and it's one of the best series I have ever read. Female protagonist, too.

[bluetyson]

I would add Sean McMullen - Eyes of the Calculor, the Miocene Arrow, etc. Far future Australian society, with some technologically induced technological imitations. Plus whales, libraries and human computers. Very cool stuff. Plenty of female protagonists, too. In fact most of them, I think, in general.

[bluetyson]

Sean Williams & Shane Dix - Evergence trilogy.

I haven't read Echoes of Earth trilogy yet, so can't comment on that.


Oh and I liked Joel Shepherd's Cassandra Kresnov novels (2 of them, don't know if there are any more?)

[Sheyana]

I love Kate Forsyth, Starthorn Tree is my favourite so far - her others get annoying if I'm not in the mood.

Garth Nix is great, I liked Lirael better than Sabriel but they are both excellent! I haven't read any of his latest series - any good anyone?

What's Blessings of Stefan about? I'll have to look it up!

Trudi Canavan was one of my 'can't put down' authors - I keep re-reading them!

Go the female protagonist - they always add spice to the story!

Can't think of any other authors at the moment, most of the ones I read are from overseas...pity, I'd like more Aussies - easier to get hold of!

[GrimmRiffer]

sheyana said:

Trudi Canavan was one of my 'can't put down' authors - I keep re-reading them!

Waitaminute... <runs to bookshelf>

Black Magician trilogy!! Finished those quite recently, really cool stuff. Liked the whole two sided angle on ... Oops, mustn't spoil. Well, YOU know. <conspiritorial> (which really isn't a word, surely?)

[cary]

warning - rant ahead

This is a hobby horse of mine. If people live authors so much, they should try and maximise the favourable publicity they recieve. One of the best ways to do this is to ensure they are nominated for and receive a Ditmar (the Australian SF& Fantasy Awards). My interest here is that I co-ordinated this years awards.

Anyone can nominate a work. THis is done to the nominating commitee of the next Australian SF Convention (being held in some hot place at Easter - I expect Marianne will have a link on her main page eventually) when they call for them. Authors that bring out more than one work are often disadvantaged as some people think you can only nominate one work in each category.

To vote you need to be a member (either attending or supporting) of the convention. This means that readers here who are from overseas can vote for their favourite cool Aussie author (see I am on thread). Locals can also vote even if they cannot go.

[Sheyana]

Sounds good Cary, I hadn't heard about that before, I'll have to look into it.

GR - lol, dunno, it just may be...hold on...heeere we go...

according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary;

One entry found for conspiratorial.

Main Entry: con·spir·a·to·ri·al
Pronunciation: k&n-"spir-&-'tOr-E-&l, -'tor-
Function: adjective
: of, relating to, or suggestive of a conspiracy
- con·spir·a·to·ri·al·ly /-E-&-lE/ adverb

Isn't that great to know?? I have faar to much time on my hands I think.

But that trilogy is great, especially the two sided angle on...