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April Spec Fic Round-up, mostly adult titles

The past month has been fairly eventful for speculative fiction. Not only did we receive 26 new AWW reviews, but the Ditmar Awards and the Australian Shadows Awards were presented with several AWW writers taking home awards.

perfections-mcdermottThe Australian Shadows Awards are given out by Australian Horror Writers Association and this year Kaaron Warren took out both the Long Fiction (novella) category with “Sky” and the Collected Work category with Through Splintered Walls, the collection in which “Sky” appeared (reviewed by Sean). Kirstyn McDermott took out the Novel category with her creepy Perfections, about two sisters with an unusual relationship (reviewed by me).

seaheartsThe Ditmar Awards and a few others were given out at Conflux, this year’s National Science Fiction Convention, in Canberra this past weekend. The ever popular Margo Lanagan took home the Best Novel Award and the Norma K Hemming Award (for “excellence in the exploration of themes of race, gender, sexuality, class and disability in the form of science fiction and fantasy or related artwork or media”) for Sea Hearts, reviewed this month by Emma @ My Book Corner and Belinda Hopper. through-splintered-walls-kaaron-warrenKaaron Warren again took home the Novella and Collected Work Awards with “Sky” and Through Splintered Walls (also reviewed by me). Thoraiya Dyer, whose new collection Asymmetry, is excellent and was reviewed by Alexandra, took home the Best Short Story award for “The Wisdom of Ants”, which you can read or listen to here. You can read full list of Ditmar Award winners, including art and fan awards, here.

one-small-stepAs for the other books AWW participants reviewed this month, I’ll continue with my cycling genre headings, but I want to first mention one book that doesn’t quite fit into only one genre. One Small Step, a new anthology of speculative fiction, edited by Tehani Wessely of FableCroft Publishing, is the first all-female Australian anthology. It’s a great showcase of a broad collection of Australian spec fic authors (my review).

Horror

IshtarAs well as the award winners mentioned above, this month saw the review of two volumes of shorter works. Ishtar, edited by Amanda Pillar and containing three novellas by Kaaron Warren, Deborah Biancotti and Cat Sparks. The collection tells the story of the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of love and war, Ishtar, in the past, the present and the future (my review). The other was a collection by Joanne Anderton, The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories, containing many creepy and macabre stories that deal with death, magic, cats and the meaning of being human (my review).

Fantasy

across-the-nightingale-floor-lian-hearnWe had a large haul of reviews in fantasy this month. Ellen Gregory reviewed Lian Hearn’s Across the Nightingale Floor. She writes, “At heart it’s a simple story about revenge, duty, betrayal and forbidden love, exquisitely executed with writing that is both spare and elegant.” Ellen also reviewed Shadow Queen by Deborah Kalin, which she enjoyed a lot, saying:

shadow-queenThere’s stuff to think about while reading this book, as Kalin explores the power of psychological manipulation as a key theme — and reader sympathy gets tugged to and fro with Matilde’s. Other themes include trust (and its antithesis), power, friendship, family and self-preservation.

prickle-moon-Marillier-JulietStephanie Gunn reviewed Prickle Moon, a short story collection by Juliet Marillier. She highly recommends it “if you’re a fan of Marillier in general, if you love fairy tales, if you love myth and truly amazing storytelling.” Mark Webb reviewed The Accidental Sorcerer by K E Mills (a pseudonym of Karen Millar). He writes:

I enjoyed the alternate world aspect, especially examining how society might progress if magic was real and pervasive. The “mother country/colony” dynamic was explored, which has particular resonance for an Australian audience constantly battling with our own cultural cringe. It had that very British sensibility that I always enjoy.

what-night-hidesAlexandra reviewed What Night Hides by Kate Smith, a urban fantasy novel she enjoyed reading with “a lot of banter and discussion of shoes in between dealing with vampires, were-creatures, and other, less immediately recognisable, supernatural critters.”

Science Fiction

diamond-eyesOn the science fiction front, we have a little more variety this month. Nalini Haynes reviewed Diamond Eyes and Hindsight by A A Bell. Of the first in the series, she says:

Diamond Eyes is a riveting read although sometimes it’s frighteningly realistic. The science fiction element is Mira’s ability to see through time and Freddie’s ability to hear through time, while the realism comes from Bell’s experience working in a mental health facility and living in a family with experience of vision loss.

ThePortalGilchristThey sound like riveting reads and I’m glad I already have them waiting on my shelf. Lauren @ The Australian Bookshelf reviewed The Portal by S E Gilchrist, a science fiction romance, which she enjoyed but found too short, even for a supposed novella. She says “If you’re after a bite-size scifi story with a quick romp, then The Portal may be for you.” Finally, I reviewed the latter two instalments of Andrea K Höst’s Touchstone Trilogy, Lab Rat One and Caszandra, which rounded out a very enjoyable trilogy.

~~~

About Me

I’m Tsana Dolichva and I’ve been reading and enjoying Australian speculative fiction since I first started reading “grown up” books (back before YA was its own genre). More recently, I’ve been blogging my reviews over at the creatively titled Tsana’s Reads. I irregularly blog about science in science fiction over at the Science Fiction Writers’ Guide to Space. When not reading or writing, I’m probably working towards my PhD in astrophysics.

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by Tsana on May 3, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Speculative, Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Science Fiction

Posted by Tsana on May 3, 2013

http://australianwomenwriters.com/2013/05/03/april-spec-fic-round-up-mostly-adult-titles/

Short Stories Roundup Jan-April 2013

As there are fewer reviews of collections of short stories, and individual short stories, than in other genres, we’ve scheduled the roundups of these for every few months.  However, in the nearly-four months of this year, there have been 38 reviews of short stories, which is half of the number reviewed last year!  It’s great to see so much enthusiasm for the form.

Like-a-house-on-fire-kennedyOf the books reviewed, the most popular was Cate Kennedy’s Like a House on Fire, with five reviews.  This book has already done well in the prize lists, with a shortlisting for the Stella Prize, and longlistings for the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal and the Kibble award for established women writers.  Kathy from Play, Eat, Live, Learn  ‘connected deeply with Kennedy’s stories and her characters,’ finding them ‘unbearably moving, some thought-provoking, some peppered with humour (although on the whole, these are not funny stories) but none heavy handed or contrived.’  Janine of Resident Judge, who isn’t a fan of the genre, became a convert (at least with this collection), writing that ‘Every single one of [the stories] is memorable, and for me that’s a big thing.  All too often I find myself reading the next story in a collection because the last one has been too insubstantial.’  Denise on Goodreads found the stories easy to read, but their subject matter was hard to stomach as so much of it was about loss and lack.  I also enjoyed the collection, and reviewed it here.  If Not, Read, who is familiar with Kennedy’s work, found the collection inconsistent, commenting that ‘Kennedy’s skillful writing comes through in some stories but several pieces fall well short of her usual precise story-telling ability.’  It’s always refreshing to read a variety of responses to a work, as literature is fiercely subjective and reviews should reflect this.

inheritedOther collections of short literary fiction included reviews of individual stories from Barbara Baynton’s collection Bush Studies.  Sue of Whispering Gums analysed Baynton’s masterful use of the Gothic in ‘A Dreamer’, and of her use of humour as a screen for the less savoury aspects of early bush life, such as misogyny, in ‘Scrammy ‘and’.  Kate Rizzetti penned a review of Fire, edited by Western Australian academic Delys Bird, and referred to it as an ‘important piece of work, reminding us that we live in a dangerous time in our history and we are less in control of our surroundings than we believe ourselves to be.’  The work also needs to be consumed slowly, she writes, like very dark chocolate.  Marisa wrote that Amanda Curtin, in Inherited, ‘will drag you into the landscape of her stories,’ while the writing in Jess Huon’s The Dark Wet was the loveliest I’ve read in ages.

asymmetrySpeculative Fiction was the most popular genre, making up nearly half of the reviews (17 in total).  A number of books in the Twelve Planets series, which consists of twelve books of speculative fiction by Australian women writers, were covered.  Kaaron Warren’s Through Splintered Walls, which consists of three short stories and a novella, was reviewed by  Tsana. She describes the short stories as ‘almost the kind of creepy tales you might tell around a camp fire at night’ whereas the novella was unsettling, and seems to feature a cat food factory grinder (I’m glad I got the heads up on that one).  Sean also reviewed the collection, and recommended it to those who enjoy ‘good, understated horror, horror in the everyday’.  Meanwhile, Tansy Rayner Roberts’ Love and Romanpunk was reviwed by Mel at Subversive Reader, who has found the Twelve Planets series to be ‘a great way to be introduced to Australian speculative fiction.’  Asymmetry by Thoraiya Dyer is the most recently published book, contributing to the Twelve Planets series’ extremely positive reception.  Alex from Randomly Yours describes the theme of its stories as ‘a lack of balance, especially in power; sometimes, also, a lack of balance in an individual’s life, making them particularly vulnerable to direct manipulation or simply life’s vicissitudes’ while Tsana found the stories complex and innovative, dealing with different ways of belonging.

Green Monkey DreamsOther speculative fiction titles that were reviewed include two by the prolific Isobelle Carmody: Green Monkey Dreams (which Mel at MelReviewsBooks really enjoyed and Metro Winds (also reviewed by Mel), while fairy stories and myths also made an appearance in Prickle Moon by Juliet Marillier, reviewed by Stephanie, and in Fairy Tales for Freya by Georgina Ann Taylor, reviewed by Lynxie at Goodreads.

Valentine's DatesRomance also featured in reviews of Christmas Wishes and Valentine’s Dates by Lauren at The Australian Bookshelf, who enjoyed both of them.  Lauren also reviewed Room Service, which ‘didn’t quite dish up what was on the menu.’  Sally from Oz found Loretta Hill’s One Little White Lie ‘fast paced, light and entertaining read,’ while ShelleyRae from Book’d Out reviewed Margaret Lynette Sharp’s Long and Short Australian Stories, describing it as a ‘congenial, mellow short story collection and an easy read for a quiet evening.’

There were quite a few other collections reviewed that I don’t have the space to refer to here.  If you’d like to see what else is being reviewed, or if you need some ideas for reading, head over to the 2013 Short Stories page.

About Me

JessI’m Jessica White, a writer and researcher.  I have a PhD from the University of London and have published two novels with Penguin, A Curious Intimacy (2007) and Entitlement (2012).  My short stories have been published in Overland, Island, Southerly and the Review of Australian Fiction.  You can find more information about me at my website.  I’m also on Twitter @ladyredjess.

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by ladyredjess on April 29, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Book review, Literary, Classic, Romance, Short stories, Speculative, Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Science Fiction

Posted by ladyredjess on April 29, 2013

http://australianwomenwriters.com/2013/04/29/short-stories-roundup-jan-april-2013/

March 2013 (mostly adult) Speculative Fiction Round-up

Since my last round up just over a month ago, we’ve had 26 new reviews of 23 books in speculative fiction generally, including children’s and YA. The Aurealis and Ditmar shortlists have also been announced recently — see our posts here and here — and before I move into the usual round-up, I’d like to draw your attention to some shortlisted AWW books that have not yet been reviewed.

From the Aurealis lists, no one has reviewed Fantasy Novel candidate Flame of Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier, or Children’s Fiction novel Princess Betony and the Unicorn by Pamela Freeman, and YA Novel candidate Dead, Actually by Kaz Delaney has only been reviewed once (by Imelda). Unsurprisingly, the Ditmar shortlisted books fare better with each being reviewed a few times, since the Ditmars are a fan-voted award. But if you’re looking for some quality speculative fiction to read, why not start with one of those shortlisted novels?

Science Fiction

the last cityHappily, a few more science fiction books were reviewed this month than in the first two months of the year. Huzzah! Interesting to note that all the reviewed science fiction books this month have either been shortlisted for awards or their authors have been for another work. Take from that what you will.

Nina D’Aleo’s Aurealis shortlisted The Last City was reviewed by Holly, who called it “an intense combination of fantasy and sci-fi with a touch of noir”. The Sunlit Zone by Lisa Jacobson is a near-future verse novel which has been shortlisted for the inaugural Stella Award. I notice several readers have reviewed it, all with slightly different genre classifications. Jessica Wilkinson writes a long and thoughtful review, putting The Sunlit Zone into context among other Australian verse novels. Bronwyn Lovell writes in her review:

Jacobson, The sunlit zoneThis is an incredibly hard-hitting piece of writing, yet achingly delicate at the same time. Quite honestly, I felt a little battle-weary after reading it. If it were a film I had emerged from, I would be in the good company of a throng of other women in the cinema toilets, wiping away the mascara stains from our cheeks in a ritual of solidarity. But since it is a novel, I am left alone in meditative silence, while the story’s characters haunt my mind like gentle ghosts.

Whereas I approached my review from firmly spec fic perspective.

Black_GlassBlack Glass by Meg Mundell — shortlisted in both Science Fiction and YA categories on last year’s Aurealis Awards — earned a new review from Mark Webb, who writes: “If you like William Gibson (especially the Blue Ant series) and love speculative fiction set in an Australian context, you’re going to like Black Glass.“

asymmetryAsymmetry by Thoraiya Dyer is the latest of Twelve Planet Press’s series of Twelve Planets collections, show casing female Australian spec fic authors. I was thoroughly impressed by Dyer’s four stories, which cover a range of subgenres and all address identity and belonging but in wildly different ways. The last science fictional book reviewed this month is Stray by Andrea K Höst, again by me. Stray, written in diary form, follows a Sydney teenager as she accidentally stumbles onto an alien planet, meets psychic space ninjas and gets into all sorts of amusing almost-dying trouble.

Horror

perfections-mcdermottOnly one horror novel was reviewed this month: the multi-award nominated Perfections by Kirstyn McDermott. Tansy Rayner Roberts says of it in her review notes the

realist, cynical tone and themes to do with women’s careers and quiet household despair mixed with sneaky supernatural, magic and horror bits…

Perfections is a sharp, creepy and deeply discomfiting novel full of awkward truths and raw emotions.

Let’s see some more horror reviewing, people!

Fantasy

stone-key-carmodyAs will come as little surprise to most people, fantasy is again the most popular of the speculative fiction genres (although science fiction was only one author and two books behind).

Isobelle Carmody again gathered a few reviews this month. Mel @ Mel Reviews Books reviewed her collection Metro Winds and Becky Nosiara reviewed The Stone Key, saying “The story and characters of this book were definitely its strongest point.” Belle’s Bookshelf reviewed Margo Lanagan’s Sea Hearts, saying “It’s intense, but never too heavy.” Stained Glass Monsters by Andrea K Höst (self-published)Leonie Rogers reviewed Stained Glass Monsters by Andrea K Höst and found it “All in all … an enjoyable read.”

Glenda Larke recently re-released her first novel, Havenstar, as an ebook and it garnered reviews from my husband and Jason Nahrung. Jason says:

havenstar-larkeIn this standalone fantasy, Glenda Larke shows the world building, characterisation and thematic grist that make her one of my favourite fantasy writers.

… One of the themes of the story is the debate between law and chaos, restraint and free rein, and both are presented in shades of grey.

shattered-city_thumbTansy Rayner Roberts’ multi-award nominated The Shattered City was reviewed by Narrelle M Harris who thought:

The Shattered City manages to recreate everything that is so compelling about Power and Majesty and then bloom like fireworks from that starting point. And yes, I am aware of the hyperbole, but seriously? SERIOUSLY? Hyperbole is necessary.

opposite-of-life-thumbAnd finally I reviewed Narrelle M Harris’s two Melbourne vampire books, The Opposite of Life and Walking Shadows, about a librarian who teams up with a vampire to solve crimes. I particularly enjoyed her version of vampirism, which had the vampires’ brains slow down and stop making new connections after death, leading to them keeping humans around for their ideas and logistical skills.

~~~

About Me

I’m Tsana Dolichva and I’ve been reading and enjoying Australian speculative fiction since I first started reading “grown up” books (back before YA was its own genre). More recently, I’ve been blogging my reviews over at the creatively titled Tsana’s Reads. I irregularly blog about science in science fiction over at the Science Fiction Writers’ Guide to Space. When not reading or writing, I’m probably working towards my PhD in astrophysics.

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by Tsana on April 3, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Speculative, Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Science Fiction

Posted by Tsana on April 3, 2013

http://australianwomenwriters.com/2013/04/03/march-2013-mostly-adult-speculative-fiction-round-up/

Ditmar Awards Ballot Announced

It’s currently awards season in the speculative fiction world (see our post on the recently announced Aurealis Awards if you haven’t already) and the short list/ballot for the Ditmar Awards has just been announced. The Ditmar awards are Australia’s answer to the Hugos; fan-nominated and -voted with the winners announced at the annual NatCon (this year it will be Conflux over the ANZAC Day long weekend). This post is going to focus on the fiction (rather than art or fan) categories, but you can read the full official ballot here.

This year, several books by Aussie women writers have been shortlisted, including some books which have been very popular with AWW reviewers. I’ve included links to some AWW reviews in the list below. You can always look up more reviews on our review list pages (2012, 2013).

Best Novel

Best Novella or Novelette

  • “Flight 404”, Simon Petrie, in Flight 404/The Hunt for Red Leicester (Peggy Bright Books)
  • “Significant Dust”, Margo Lanagan, in Cracklescape (Twelfth Planet Press) — see below for collection reviews
  • “Sky”, Kaaron Warren, in Through Splintered Walls (Twelfth Planet Press) — see below for collection reviews

Best Short Story

  • “Sanaa’s Army”, Joanne Anderton, in Bloodstones (Ticonderoga Publications)
  • “The Wisdom of Ants”, Thoraiya Dyer, in Clarkesworld 75
  • “The Bone Chime Song”, Joanne Anderton, in Light Touch Paper Stand Clear (Peggy Bright Books)
  • “Oracle’s Tower”, Faith Mudge, in To Spin a Darker Stair (FableCroft Publishing)

Note an entirely AWW category for short stories and all the collected works have at least one AWW editor and all contain some (if not all) AWW stories.

Best Collected Work

  • Cracklescape by Margo Lanagan, edited by Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press) — reviews from Mel @ Adventures of a Subversive Reader and Dave Versace
  • Epilogue, edited by Tehani Wessely (FableCroft Publishing)
  • Through Splintered Walls by Kaaron Warren, edited by Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press) — reviews from Mark Webb and Tsana (me)
  • Light Touch Paper Stand Clear, edited by Edwina Harvey and Simon Petrie (Peggy Bright Books)
  • Midnight and Moonshine by Lisa L. Hannett and Angela Slatter, edited by Russell B. Farr (Ticonderoga Publications)
  • The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2011, edited by Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene (Ticonderoga Publications)

cracklescape through-splintered-walls-kaaron-warren

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by Tsana on March 28, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in News, Speculative, Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Science Fiction, Young Adult - speculative fiction

Posted by Tsana on March 28, 2013

http://australianwomenwriters.com/2013/03/28/ditmar-awards-ballot-announced/

Announcement of the 2012 Aurealis Awards Finalists

Hi guys! The finalists for the latest Aurealis Awards have been announced! First, a little bit of history:

Established in 1995 by Chimaera Publications, the publishers of Aurealis magazine, these annual awards recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror writers for both novel-length works and short stories. The Aurealis Awards are distinguished from other awards, like the Annual Australian National Science Fiction Convention’s Ditmar Awards and the Australian Children’s Book Council Awards, in that they divide works into categories according to sub-genre and target age group.

The awards were originally split into four categories: ‘Science Fiction’, ‘Fantasy’, ‘Horror’, and ‘Young Adult’, with the ‘Children’s Fiction’ category (ages 8 – 12 years) being added in 2001, and in 2008 the ‘Best Anthology and Collection’, and ‘Best Illustrated Work or Graphic Novel’ categories were introduced. The first five categories two separate awards, one for novels and one for short fiction.

Without further ado: the 2012 Aurealis Awards Finalists (female authors have been highlighted)

Fantasy Novel

  • Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth (Random House Australia)
  • Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff (Tor UK)
  • Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin)
  • Flame of Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier (Pan Macmillan Australia)
  • Winter Be My Shield by Jo Spurrier (HarperVoyager)

Fantasy Short Story

  • “Sanaa’s Army” by Joanne Anderton (Bloodstones, Ticonderoga Publications)
  • “The Stone Witch” by Isobelle Carmody (Under My Hat, Random House)
  • “First They Came” by Deborah Kalin (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 55)
  • “Bajazzle” by Margo Lanagan (Cracklescape, Twelfth Planet Press)
  • “The Isles of the Sun” by Margo Lanagan (Cracklescape, Twelfth Planet Press)

Science Fiction Novel

  • Suited by Jo Anderton (Angry Robot)
  • The Last City by Nina D’Aleo (Momentum)
  • And All The Stars by Andrea K Host (self-published)
  • The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina (Walker Books)
  • Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix (Allen & Unwin)
  • The Rook by Daniel O’Malley (Harper Collins)

Science Fiction Short Story

  • “Visitors” by James Bradley (Review of Australian Fiction)
  • “Significant Dust” by Margo Lanagan (Cracklescape, Twelfth Planet Press)
  • “Beyond Winter’s Shadow” by Greg Mellor (Wind Chrome, Ticonderoga Publications)
  • “The Trouble with Memes” by Greg Mellor (Wind Chrome, Ticonderoga Publications)
  • “The Lighthouse Keepers’ Club” by Kaaron Warren (Exotic Gothic 4, PS Publishing)

Horror Novel

  • Bloody Waters by Jason Franks (Possible Press)
  • Perfections by Kirstyn McDermott (Xoum)
  • Blood and Dust by Jason Nahrung (Xoum)
  • Salvage by Jason Nahrung (Twelfth Planet)

Horror Short Story

  • “Sanaa’s Army” by Joanne Anderton (Bloodstones)
  • “Elyora” by Jodi Cleghorn (Review of Australian Fiction)
  • “To Wish Upon a Clockwork Heart” by Felicity Dowker (Bread and Circuses)
  • “Escena de un Asesinato” by Robert Hood (Exotic Gothic 4)
  • “Sky” by Kaaron Warren (Through Splintered Walls)

Young Adult Novel

  • Dead, Actually by Kaz Delaney (Allen & Unwin)
  • And All The Stars by Andrea K. Host (self-published)
  • The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Amberlin Kwaymullina (Walker)
  • Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin)
  • Into That Forest by Louis Nowra (Allen & Unwin)

Young Adult Short Story

  • “Stilled Lifes x 11″ by Justin D’Ath (Trust Me Too)
  • “The Wisdom of Ants” by Thoraiya Dyer (Clarkesworld 12/12)
  • “Rats” by Jack Heath (Trust Me Too)
  • “The Statues of Melbourne” by Jack Nicholls (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 56)
  • “The Worry Man” by Adrienne Tam (self-published)

Children’s Fiction (told primarily through words)

  • Brotherband: The Hunters by John Flanagan (Random House Australia)
  • Princess Betony and the Unicorn by Pamela Freeman (Walker)
  • The Silver Door by Emily Rodda (Scholastic)
  • Irina the Wolf Queen by Leah Swann (Xoum)

Children’s Fiction (told primarily through pictures)

  • Little Elephants by Graeme Base (author and illustrator) (Viking Penguin)
  • The Boy Who Grew Into a Tree by Gary Crew (author) and Ross Watkins (illustrator) (Penguin Group Australia)
  • In the Beech Forest by Gary Crew (author) and Den Scheer (illustrator) (Ford Street)
  • Inside the World of Tom Roberts by Mark Wilson (author and illustrator) (Lothian Children’s Books)

Illustrated Book/Graphic Novel

  • Blue by Pat Grant (author and illustrator) (Top Shelf Comix)
  • It Shines and Shakes and Laughs by Tim Molloy (author and illustrator) (Milk Shadow)
  • Changing Ways #2 by Justin Randall (author and illustrator) (Gestalt)

Anthology

  • The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2011, edited by Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene (Ticonderoga Publications)
  • Bloodstones edited by Amanda Pillar (Ticonderoga Publications)
  • The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 6 edited by Jonathan Strahan (Night Shade)
  • Under My Hat edited by Jonathan Strahan (Random House)
  • Edge of Infinity edited by Jonathan Strahan (Solaris)

Collection

  • The Book Your Mad Ancestor Wrote by K.J. Bishop (self-published)
  • Metro Winds by Isobelle Carmody (Allen & Unwin)
  • Midnight and Moonshine by Lisa L. Hanett and Angela Slatter (Ticonderoga)
  • Living With the Dead by Martin Livings (Dark Prints)
  • Through Splintered Walls by Kaaron Warren (Twelfth Planet)

Winners will be announced on May 18, 2013 at the annual Aurealis Awards ceremony at the Independent Theatre in North Sydney, Australia. Details at the Aurealis Awards website.

Happy Reading,

Shaheen @ Speculating on SpecFic

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by speculatef on March 22, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in News, Speculative, Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Science Fiction, Young Adult - speculative fiction

Posted by speculatef on March 22, 2013

http://australianwomenwriters.com/2013/03/22/announcement-of-the-2012-aurealis-awards-finalists/

Jan-Feb Speculative Fiction Round-up

We’ve already had many speculative fiction reviews submitted to AWW. So far this year, more than 50 reviews of more than 45 books by over 20 reviewers. A great effort in less than two months. Those statistics include YA speculative fiction, but I’m mostly covering “adult” speculative fiction in my round-ups. For YA spec fic, check out Shaheen’s posts, the first of which can be found here.

Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of spec fic books reviewed have fallen into the fantasy genre, but only a few science fiction and horror books have been reviewed. I’ve personally challenged myself to read more Australian SF and horror this year because there’s some really great stuff out there that I worry I’ll overlook otherwise. Perhaps others may want to join me.

Fantasy

skeleton-key-mossThe most reviewed speculative fiction authors in 2013 so far are Isobelle Carmody, Tara Moss and Margo Lanagan with four reviews apiece. Writereaderly has been making their way through Carmody’s Obernewton series, reviewing books 4–6, The Keeping Place, The Stone Key and The Sending. Of The Stone Key, Writereaderly says:

“In the full thousand pages there was not a superfluous word, the plotting was complicated but tightly controlled, characters were given nuances and emotions sorely lacking in the previous four books, and I was most impressed overall.”

Green Monkey DreamsMeanwhile, Mel @ Mel Reviews Books has reviewed Carmody’s short story collection, Green Monkey Dreams, calling it “an amazing collection of short stories”. Lanagan’s collection Cracklescape out from Twelfth Planet Press, was reviewed by Dave Versace and Mel @ Adventures of a Subversive Reader. Her novel Sea Hearts, recently announced to be on the inaugural Stella Prize longlist was reviewed by Kathy and Faith (and by many people last year). Tara Moss’s most recent paranormal fantasy, The Skeleton Key, was reviewed by Writenote1, who found it fun, Sally from Oz, who didn’t like it as much as the earlier books but still enjoyed it a lot, and Shaheen, who found it “just as quirky and fun as the previous books” and also reviewed the second book in the series.

scriveners-tale-fiona-mcintoshAs far as more traditional type fantasy goes — and I use the word “traditional” very loosely here since if there’s one thing Aussie fantasy writers are good at it’s writing unconventional settings and characters — Nalini Haynes has reviewed Eon and Eona by Alison Goodman, a duology set in a China-inspired world with dragons and explorations of gender. Fiona McIntosh’s latest tome The Scrivener’s Tale, was reviewed by Monique Mulligan who called it “an extraordinary read set in a vivid and well-constructed realm”. Jessie reviewed A Blight of Mages, the prequel to Karen Miller’s Kingmaker, Kingbreaker duology. I reviewed KJ Taylor’s Fallen Moon trilogy — The Dark Griffin, The Griffin’s Flight and The Griffin’s War — about griffins, racism and slavery.

small-shen-chanCombining traditional text story telling with graphic novel story telling was Small Shen written by Kylie Chan and illustrated by Queenie Chan. It was reviewed by Australasian Educator who called it “an excellent example of the promise graphic prose storytelling has for readers.” Emma @ My Book Corner reviewed Black Spring by Alison Croggon, a fantastical retelling of Wuthering Heights, which she says “has harnessed the gothic mood of its original, before taking it to a wonderful new level.” love-roman-punkOn the romantic fantasy front, Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out reviewed For the Love of a Goblin Warrior by Shona Husk, the third book in the series but which Shelleyrae suggests could easily be read standalone. Love and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner Roberts rev by Mel @ Adventures of a Subversive Reader who recommends it “to history lovers, of course, but also to people who aren’t usually interested in speculative fiction, but would like to dip their toes in a bit.” On the urban fantasy front, Chaos Born by Rebekah Turner was reviewed by Kat @ Book Thingo who says of it:

“A fast-paced, well-written urban fantasy with a flawed but charming heroine. There isn’t much romance in this book, but if you like a lot of action and aren’t put off by a high body count—usually by decapitation—then Chaos Born is a promising start to a new series.”

treespeakerFinally, three self-published fantasy books were reviewed in January and February. Brenda reviewed Erich’s Plea by Tracey Alley and enjoyed it enough to pick up the next in the series. Leonie Rogers reviewed Treespeaker by Katie W Stewart and says that the author “has done a wonderful job of creating a believable and interesting world.” Lastly, Lynxie reviewed Fairy tales for Freya by Georgina Anne Taylor and laments that the stories in the collection do not last long enough although the characters are masterfully painted.

Science Fiction

dark-spaceOf the few science fiction books reviewed the only non-YA book was Dark Space by Marianne de Pierres, the first book in the Sentients of Orion space opera quartet, reviewed by Mark. He says:

With three unsympathetic main characters you’d think the story would be in trouble, but the way the storylines interact really works. You see glimpses of the potential for growth in Mira and Trinder, and Tekton is so self centred and devious I found myself cheering for him. So while the characters were not sympathetic, I found them compelling. Just as good in my books.

Singing the Dogstar BluesI also want to mention two YA SF books. Singing the Dogstar Blues by Alison Goodman was reviewed by Nalini Haynes who says it’s “entertaining while exploring coming-of-age and teen-conflict-with-authority-figures tropes with humour and heart.” The other YA SF book reviewed was And All the Stars by Andrea K Höst which Heidi @ Bunbury in the Stacks says evoked the full gamut of emotions and which Erin Golding found captivating from the first page.

walking-treeHorror

A handful of horror books were reviewed as part of AWW, which is great to see. Kaaron Warren garnered the most reviews, with Vikzwrites reviewing her dark fantasy novel Walking the Tree, in which she found “Warren’s focus on illness and disability particularly interesting,” and Sean the Bookonaut and myself reviewing her excellent four story collection, Through Splintered Walls. Sean found that it was the mundane situations (rather than the paranormal) in these stories that effect him the most, in human duskand I though the first three stories would be perfect to tell around a campfire.

In-Human by Anna Dusk was reviewed by Michael Jongen who confesses he didn’t buy it for the Catholic school he was working at when it was released because of the cover, and “felt wrung out after finishing it.” Perfections, by Kirstyn McDermott, a book high up on my want to read list, was reviewed by Mark Webb who says:

perfections-mcdermottThe horror is more subtle, with less “jump in your seat” moments and more “stays with you and creeps you out at unexpected times in the future” moments. …. Even in the sections of the book that are describing relatively mundane life, there is something about the way things are described that adds to the sense that there is something wrong, that things aren’t quite right.

after-the-darknessAnd finally, I reviewed After the Darkness by Honey Brown which is marketed as mainstream contemporary fiction, but which contains the “creeping dread” that I associate with good horror writing.

Hopefully, this has given you some ideas of some great spec fic books to read by Aussie women writers. I’ll be back in a month with the next spec fic round-up.

~~~

About Me

I’m Tsana Dolichva and I’ve been reading and enjoying Australian speculative fiction since I first started reading “grown up” books (back before YA was its own genre). More recently, I’ve been blogging my reviews over at the creatively titled Tsana’s Reads. I irregularly blog about science in science fiction over at the Science Fiction Writers’ Guide to Space. When not reading, I’m probably working towards my PhD in astrophysics.

3 Comments
by Tsana on February 25, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Speculative, Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Science Fiction, Uncategorized

Posted by Tsana on February 25, 2013

http://australianwomenwriters.com/2013/02/25/jan-feb-speculative-fiction-round-up/

2012 AWW Challenge Speculative Fiction Wrap-up

Speculative fiction is in a unique position in Australia in that women are fairly well-represented, at least in the fantasy genre. Slightly more books were published by female authors than male in 2011 (if you’re interested, I compiled some pie charts — one, two — in 2012). However, that doesn’t mean speculative fiction books by women garner a lot of reviews. Enter the Australian Women Writers Challenge.

A lot of excellent books were reviewed in the spec fic genre over the course of 2012. This post is not meant to be a comprehensive list. You can, however, find a list of all the spec fic books reviewed as part of the challenge, over at our companion site. I know I’ve added some books to my TBR (to be read pile) after browsing through other people’s reviews.

Sea Hearts final Aus cover-132-200Some of the most popular books in AWW2012 were released during the year or towards the end of 2011. Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan, a story about selkies, was enjoyed by many, including some people who don’t usually read fantasy (review from Krissy Kneen, review from Mark Webb), as were a few older Margo Lanagan books. Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth is a historical fantasy take on the story of Rapunzel and also transcended genre boundaries (review from Shaheen including an interview with the author, review from Angela @ Literary Minded). Tansy Rayner Roberts’ Reign of Beasts was released in 2012, completing the primal fantasy Creature Court trilogy and exploring gender roles in a thought-provoking way. It garnered some attention both for itself (review from Nalini Haynes) and the earlier books in the series (review of Power and Majesty from Stephanie Gunn, and of The Shattered City from Sean).

when-we-have-wings-156-244Debris, début novel by Jo Anderton, came out in late 2011 and there has been much discussion as to whether it’s science fiction or fantasy (I’m firmly on the side of fantasy) due to its innovative magic system (review from Jason Nahrung, review from Dave Versace). A more conclusively science fictional book that generated much talk in the spec fic community and won both the Aurealis and Ditmar Awards and made the Tiptree Award Honour List is The Courier’s New Bicycle by Kim Westwood. A gender-bending story set in a dystopic future Melbourne it was reviewed (among others) by David Golding and Ju Transcendancing. Finally, Claire Corbette’s debut, When We Have Wings, about a near future in which people have angel-style wings surgically implanted on their backs, also gathered much attention and crossed genre boundaries (review from C. A.R. Torres V, review from Ann-Marie).

Twelve Planets collection from Twelfth Planet PressA series of books that I feel bears mentioning is the Twelve Planets series of collections from Western Australian based Twelfth Planet Press. The idea behind the project is to publish twelve collections of four(-ish) stories each, from twelve Australian women writing speculative fiction. Seven have been released so far and they’re a great way of sampling work by new (to you) writers and have been popular as part of the Challenge. Out so far are: Nightsiders by Sue Isle (my review), Love and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner Roberts (review from Jenny Schwarz), Thief of Lives by Lucy Sussex (review from Sean), Showtime by Narrelle M Harris (review from Bree), Bad Power by Deborah Biancotti (review from Narelle Harris), Through Splintered Walls by Kaaron Warren (review from Mark Webb) and Cracklescape by Margo Lanagan (review from Marg).

There are a few more authors and books that I want to mention in a bit of a rapid-fire round.

traitor-queen

  • Trudi Canavan had a final book in a trilogy released in 2012 (The Traitor Queen, review from Sean);
  • Isobelle Carmody has long been a staple of Australian fantasy (review of Obernewtyn from Bree);
  • Rowena Cory Daniells had a whopping four books and one novella come out in 2012 (my review of Besieged);
  • The third instalment of Tara Moss’s paranormal series came out in 2012 (The Skeleton Key review from Paula Grunseit);
  • coyote-robertsRhonda Roberts had books two and three of her time-travelling detective series come out in 2012 (my review of Coyote);
  • Jenny Schwartz’s novellas are the only Australian-set steampunk I’ve come across (Wanted: One Scoundrel review from Coleen Kwan);
  • Glenda Larke re-released her long out of print first novel, Havenstar, towards the end of 2012 (review from Sean);
  • Veteran fantasy author Fiona McIntosh had a new standalone book come out (The Scrivener’s Tale review from Shelleyrae);

winter-be-my-shield

  • Winter Be My Shield was an excellent but overlooked debut by Jo Spurrier (review from Shaheen);
  • Kylie Scott broke new ground with her zombie apocalypse, threesome romance novel (no zombies involved in the threesome), Flesh (review from Sean);
  • Ember and Ash by Pamela Freeman won the Aurealis Award for best fantasy novel (my review);
  • mistification-warrenKaaron Warren spun a bleak tale in her latest book, Mistification (review from Mark Webb);
  • The Last City by Nina D’Aleo appeared first in Apple’s Editor’s Choice SFF picks (review from Dave Versace);
  • KJ Taylor had a new griffin book come out, The Shadow’s Heir, the first of a new trilogy (review from Shaheen);
  • K E Mill’s (aka Karen Miller) fourth Rogue Agent book came out, Wizard Undercover (review from Sean);
  • Meg Mundell’s Black Glass, presenting a chilling near-future Melbourne, garnered many reviews (one from Janine Rizzetti).
  • The second book of Jennifer Fallon’s Rift Runners trilogy, The Dark Divide, came out (review from Nalini Haynes)

As I said at the start, this is by no means a comprehensive list of female Australian speculative fiction books and authors. More than 260 spec fic reviews were submitted to us as part of the challenge; an excellent result and well done to everyone who participated. I hope many of you reading this will consider taking part in the 2013 challenge and reading some excellent speculative fiction while you’re at it.

———————

About Me

I’m Tsana Dolichva and I’ve been reading and enjoying Australian speculative fiction since I first started reading “grown up” books (back before YA was its own genre). More recently, I’ve been blogging my reviews over at the creatively titled Tsana’s Reads. I irregularly blog about science in science fiction over at the Science Fiction Writers’ Guide to Space. When not reading, I’m probably working towards my PhD in astrophysics.

14 Comments
by Tsana on January 4, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Speculative, Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Science Fiction

Posted by Tsana on January 4, 2013

http://australianwomenwriters.com/2013/01/04/2012-aww-challenge-speculative-fiction-wrap-up/

‘A book you can’t put down’ – Isolde Martyn reviews The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller

Note: Cross-posted from Australian Women Writers on Blogger. (This blog is still in draft mode, but will be taking over as the official AWW challenge site before the end of this year.)

Part of this year’s challenge has been to rediscover good books by Australian women which may have been overlooked. Rita Award-winning historical fiction author Isolde Martyn has chosen to review a fantasy novel from 2005: The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller, the first in the “Kingmaker, Kingbreaker” series. Martyn writes:

It is always a delight to review a book you cannot put down, especially when it is written by a local author, too.

The central character is Asher, a young Olken fisherman who journeys to the biggest city in the land and becomes first a stable hand and then aide and advisor to Prince Gar, the King’s son. Of course, this is just not accidental, for there are other deeper forces at work.

Gradually Asher changes from a rough-spoken country lad into an accomplished administrator. The reader mentally applauds as he deals skillfully both with the snobbery that surrounds him and the distrust between the Doranen, who run the country, and the Olken, the land’s original inhabitants.

Gar, the scholarly prince, faces challenges, too. He is perceived as crippled by the Doranen because he lacks the magic skills that the rest of the royal family possess and this is an affliction for him since it is the duty of the king and his heir to use their magic to protect the boundaries of the kingdom. As evil forces conspire against the royal family and the sense of disaster begins to build and build, can the friendship between Asher and the prince survive? And so much more is at stake.

The dialogue in this novel is rich with gorgeous humour and I especially loved the male banter that underscores the growth of trust between Asher and Gar. Some authors are either afraid or inept when it comes to using humour but Karen Miller manages it so skillfully. This is a book is a ‘keeper’, one that will forever stay on my bookshelf and be read again and again.

 ~

Isolde Martyn writes historical novels set in turbulent times. Her debut novel The Maiden and the Unicorn (published in Australia as The Lady and the Unicorn) won top awards in America and Australia and is shortly to be reissued as an e-book. Her latest novel, Mistress Shore, about King Edward IV’s most famous mistress, will be available in Australian bookshops in February 2013.

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by Elizabeth Lhuede on October 5, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Book review, Speculative, Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Science Fiction
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Posted by Elizabeth Lhuede on October 5, 2012

http://australianwomenwriters.com/2012/10/05/1103/

2012 releases reviewed for AWW: What’s in a genre?

(Originally posted on Blogger)

In the past week, this blog has posted several lists of reviews written by participants in the Australian Women Writers challenge of books released this year (2012). These lists have been organised as follows:

  • Literary works (including some nonfiction)
  • Crime
  • Speculative Fiction/Fantasy/Horror/Paranormal/Sci-Fi
  • Historical Fiction
  • Memoir/Biography/History
  • Romance/novels with “romantic elements”
  • Contemporary/Popular/Mainstream/Women’s Fiction

The intention wasn’t to exclude books from the “literary” category. Rather it was to organise titles so readers could find reviews of books that were likely to interest them, and to invite challenge participants to identify books of literary merit which deserve to be regarded as possible future prize winners, despite having “generic” qualities. (This is in keeping with The Stella Prize’s aim of including a wider net than what some might deem purely “literary”.)

Bookbloggers and publishers were approached for their views on which books they consider literary; invitations for readers and authors to comment were posted on Twitter, Facebook and in the list posts themselves. The aim was to try to identify and include many more books than those published by recognisable literary imprints.

Despite these efforts, some books slipped through the net and at least one author expressed dismay at having her book connected to the label “women’s fiction”.

My apologies. It’s an imperfect system, but it’s by far from being prescriptive. It’s open to correction and relies on community input. If there are any other titles that should go on the “literary” page, please let me know.

On another point of contention: an author of Young Adult (YA) fiction commented a while ago on the blog, expressing bemusement as to why YA books appear on a separate tab on this website. Many YA books have more in common with the various genres listed above than with each other, and appeal to adult as well as young adult audiences. With this in mind, rather than compiling a separate list of YA books, I ask YA authors and readers to nominate which tally recent (2012) YA releases should appear on. If you can help, please add your comment.

Just for the record. Paddy O’Reilly has accepted an invitation to write a blog post for AWW explaining why she objects to the label “women’s fiction”. I’ll keep you posted.

9 Comments
by Elizabeth Lhuede on July 23, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Article, Crime, mystery, detective, thriller, suspense, Romance, Speculative, Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Science Fiction
Tagged , , , , , ,

Posted by Elizabeth Lhuede on July 23, 2012

http://australianwomenwriters.com/2012/07/23/2012-releases-reviewed-for-aww-whats-in-a-genre/

Speculative Fiction, Fantasy, SciFi, Horror: tally 2012

(Imported from Blogger; formatting glitches need to be fixed)

Of the 70 books categorised by AWW reviewers during January to June as either Speculative Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror or Paranormal, 17 are 2012 releases.* These include a self-published novel, as well as several novels from small presses. Because the distinction between Young Adult (YA) and “adult” Speculative Fiction books is not always mentioned by reviewers, and both categories are equally likely to attract awards, both have been tallied here.

Should any of the following books have been included in the list of literary works posted previously? Are there other recent titles in this genre that have not yet been reviewed for the challenge? 

* Disclaimer: some books may be reprints of earlier editions. If that’s the case for any of the following, please let me know.

Tally: 17 books, 16 authors, 44 reviews, 29 reviewers, 11 publishers.

Publishers: HarperCollins: 6 books; Allen & Unwin: 2; Pan Macmillan: 1; Penguin 1; Random House: 1; Text: 1; Twelfth Planet Press: 1; ClanDestine Press: 1; Orbit: 1; Walker Books: 1; self-published: 1.

Links to reviews appear on the line(s) after the title.

2012 releases

~ ~ ~

What do you think about self-published books like Doll House by Anya Allyn being reviewed alongside books by award-winning writers like Margo Lanagan?

Not reviewed for the challenge during this period:

More titles (suggested by Shelleyrae of Book’d Out blog):

5 Comments
by Elizabeth Lhuede on July 20, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Speculative, Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by Elizabeth Lhuede on July 20, 2012

http://australianwomenwriters.com/2012/07/20/speculative-fiction-fantasy-scifi-horror-tally-2012/

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