5 Great Australian Fantasy and Sci Fi Authors
There seems to be a weird misconception out there that there isn’t much of a market for fantasy and Sci Fi books in Australia and (therefore) aren’t any good genre writers from here either. This short article is aimed and blowing that Deathstar out of the sky. Here are 5 great Australian Fantasy and Sci Fi authors doing amazing things in their home country and around the world.
Did someone say New York Times Bestselling author? Amy Kaufman is a bad ass Aussie writer, that has tackled high concept Sci Fi, YA Fantasy, Middle Grade Fantasy and more. Her Illuminae Files trilogy collaboration with Jay Kristoff in particular has been a runaway hit around the world. Amie and Jay have just launched a new YA Sci Fi trilogy as well - The Aurora Cycle, so there’s another stack of books to add to your must read pile. You can find Amy’s latest books on Amazon here.
#stabstabstab
It makes sense following Amie Kaufman to talk about Melbourne metal head writer Jay Kristoff. He also stands tall when it comes to writing across genres. Apparently Mister Kristoff stands tall in general too, at 6’7’’. Jay’s recent Nevernight Chronicles exploded onto the dark fantasy scene in a shower of blood and has been praised by fellow NY Times Bestsellers like VE Schwab for it’s originality and trope smashing prowess. Read Schwab’s classic review on Goodreads for a giggle. As a side note, the cover art on the Nevernight series is up there with the best I’ve seen recently as well. You can get the first book on Amazon Australia here.
Book nerd readers might be thinking right now, huh, doesn’t Fiona McIntosh write historical romance novels? True. But she also writes a mean high fantasy story too. Both the Quickening and Trinity trilogies are amazing reads. If you want to talk cross genre she also does crime novels and children’s fantasy. No biggie. Get onto McIntosh’s writing and you won’t be disappointed. Find here work on Amazon Oz here.
Sean Williams is a bestselling writer of over 100 short stories and 50 award-winning novels. Never heard of him? You might have heard of a little series he writes for — Star Wars. Yup. That franchise has seen him hit bestselling lists the world over multiple times. If you want to dip your eyeballs in the water and read some short fiction by Williams, head over to Daily Scifi where he’s a regular. Oh yeah, Sean also writes excellent fantasy, in case the cover above threw you off. Check out his Star Wars stuff here.
I can’t write a list about great Australian Fantasy authors without mentioning one of Aussie speculative fiction’s founding foremothers, Sara Douglas. Her Crucible series had me enthralled as teenager, being the first historical fantasy books I’d read at the time. Sara also won the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 1996 and 2001 . She now has an Aurealis Award named in her memory after dying of cancer in 2011. Just one other reason I wish that disease would piss right off.
These are just 5 of the many, many amazing Australian Fantasy and Sci Fi writers out there right now. If your own favourite didn’t appear here, throw them into the mix by commenting below.
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