Read on Twitter
As one of the living NZ authors, this was undeniably disappointing. However, it gives me an excuse to talk about all the living NZ SFF authors you do not know. https://twitter.com/nameshiv/status/1290041436620984320
Let's start with @StephMatuku, who writes awesome MG and YA books for kids. I reviewed "Flight of the Fantail" at Strange Horizons when it came out, and it is a creepy, cinematic tale of kids lost in the bush, where weird things start to happen. https://huia.co.nz/huia-bookshop/authors/author/220
Or @WHereaka, whose recent time travel book "Legacy," wherein 17 year old Riki is catapulted back to the Māori Contingent of his ancestor during WW1, won Best YA at the NZ Book Awards in 2019. https://huia.co.nz/huia-bookshop/bookshop/legacy/
Or @JCHart, whose novel "Butcherbird" is due out from Huia next year. She may also be the loveliest, kindest person in all of NZ SFF, and you can find her website here: https://just-cassie.com/
Then there's @understatesmen, whose debut novel "The Dawnhounds," which I describe as Ankh-Morepork meets Ambergris, won best novel at the Sir Julius Vogel awards this year. I reviewed this for Landfall, and it is EXCELLENT. LGBT+ mycopunk. https://www.littlehook.co.nz/?page_id=28
And @andicbuchanan, who won the Sir Julius Vogel for best novella, for their "From a Shadow Grave," which reimagines a historic Wellington murder to give better options for its teenage victim. I can't tell you how outstanding this is! https://paperroadpress.co.nz/product/fasg_pb/
Or @AJFitzwater, who when not writing pirate capybara stories, is producing beautiful speculative novellas about NZ land girl experiences during WW2. Their work shows SUCH variety, it's monstrously impressive: https://paperroadpress.co.nz/product/no-mans-land-by-a-j-fitzwater-paperback/
Or @TinaMakereti, whose story collection "Once Upon a Time in Aotearoa" is required reading for speculative fiction in NZ as far as I'm concerned! http://www.tinamakereti.com/
Or @ElizabethKnoxNZ, whose giant fantasy "The Absolute Book" has I believe been picked up for American publication now, given it the wider audience it deserves - yay, Elizabeth! https://vup.victoria.ac.nz/the-absolute-book/
Or @hg_parry who has recently had incredible success with her wonderful debut novel "The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep." Her second book, "A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians" is just come out too! https://hgparry.com/books/
Or @leemurraywriter, who has more Bram Stoker nominations than any other Kiwi ever, as I understand it, and whose short story collection "Grotesque: Monster Stories" has only very recently been published! https://www.leemurray.info/
Or @rabarts, who writes awesome short stories and who also collaborates with Lee on novels such as the Path of Ra series, which is a "crime noir/horror mash-up set in a near-future dystopian Auckland." How can you not want to read that?! http://dan.rabarts.com/about-me/
Or @faewriter, who writes Wellington-set urban fantasy and stories about sunflower zombies that follow the sun. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/18304513
Or @CaseyLucasQuaid who does a weekly web serial called "Into the Mire" and writes beautiful short stories - you may have heard her reading from one of them at CoNZealand! http://intothemire.com/
Or @MelHardingShaw, who writes heaps of short stories and has a real gift for flash fiction (which is so fucking hard to write, guys, Mel is essentially a genius): https://www.melaniehardingshaw.com/shortfiction
Or @toniwaiaroha, who is also really great at flash - you may have heard her talking about her WIP flash series at CoNZealand. Seriously, read this perfect, creepy little thing recently published in @takahemagazine, you won't regret it: https://www.takahe.org.nz/t96/t96-toni-wi/
Or @Tabatha_Writes, who's another Wellington writer producing eerie, unsettling work about life in our capital city. Want to read about strange creatures lurking in back of the Beehive (insert politician joke here)? You can in "Dark Winds Over Wellington." https://tabathawood.com/dark-winds-over-wellington/
I suppose there's also me. My cli-fi novel "The Stone Wētā" came out recently, you could buy that. https://paperroadpress.co.nz/product/the-stone-weta-by-octavia-cade-paperback/
I have missed a heap of people I know. (I'm sorry! Add yourselves or others in.)
My point is there are lots of us! We are speculative legion down here, so please try one of us instead of someone who has been dead for decades.
My point is there are lots of us! We are speculative legion down here, so please try one of us instead of someone who has been dead for decades.
There's a Year's Best series of NZ short speculative fiction come out of @PaperRoadPress if you want a sampler of the stuff NZ writers produce: https://paperroadpress.co.nz/product/yb01_pb/
Also, sorry @nameshiv, for hijacking your tweet, but I suspect you won't really mind.
Bonus non-kiwi content: Shiv's story "And Now His Lordship is Laughing" was up for a Hugo this year. It's outstanding and you've probably all read it, but just in case: http://strangehorizons.com/fiction/and-now-his-lordship-is-laughing/
Bonus non-kiwi content: Shiv's story "And Now His Lordship is Laughing" was up for a Hugo this year. It's outstanding and you've probably all read it, but just in case: http://strangehorizons.com/fiction/and-now-his-lordship-is-laughing/
Ooh, ooh, and check out @gracikim, who has a MG book "The Last Fallen Star" due out next year from Disney Hyperion under the Rick Riordan Presents series, which is an INCREDIBLE achievement and we are all so proud of her! https://www.gracikim.com/
There's also @lancasterwrites, another Wellington writer who fae romance series, which starts with "The Lord of Stariel" and has THE MOST BEAUTIFUL COVERS EVER. You can read the first chapters for free here: https://ajlancaster.com/books/the-stariel-series/lord-of-stariel/the-lord-of-stariel-chapter-one/
And everyone knows @tazmuir at this point (bones! skeletons!! dead things!!!) but in case you've been living under a rock, "Gideon the Ninth" and The Locked Tomb series are waiting to amaze you: http://tamsynmuir.com/
You may have seen @GinaColeWriter talking about her current WIP - Fijian women in space!!! - during CoNZealand, and I am certain that you are as desperate for this book as I am. https://huia.co.nz/huia-bookshop/authors/author/190
There's also Maurice Gee, whose sff books for kids are set in NZ and were a staple of my childhood, because I could actually go to the places they described! Also he has my undying love for answering child-me's fan letter. https://www.penguin.co.nz/authors/maurice-gee
Another elder of NZ lit is Patricia Grace. Her novel "Baby No-Eyes" is 30 odd years old now: a horrifying, heartbreaking story that combines a child ghost, colonialism, land rights and medical experimentation. Read it!!! https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/baby-no-eyes-9780143011613
@clemmieauthornz has reminded me - thank you! - to add @NaliniSingh, who has writes lots of fun paranormal romance books (and who has creeped me out with the Psy while doing so): https://nalinisingh.com/
And @darusha, who was nominated for a Nebula(!!!) for their excellent "The Martian Job," an interactive novel about safecracking on Mars! (There aren't enough exclamation marks in the world for this.) https://www.choiceofgames.com/martian-job/
There's also @eileenmuellernz, who is an award-winning writer for kids and YA audiences - and who loves writing about dragons! https://www.eileenmuellerauthor.com/books-by-eileen-mueller-kids-and-young-adult-fiction/
@alfvaen has reminded me (thank you very much!) to add @kehealey, who is another of our wonderful YA writers! Check out "While We Run" and its take on cryonics here: http://www.karenhealey.com/books/while-we-run/
There's also @pamelamofficial, whose debut YA novel "Hello Strange," about artificial emotional intelligence, I am currently reviewing for Strange Horizons! https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/hello-strange-9780143773856
And @StephMatuku has reminded me (thanks, Steph!) to also add @RachaelCraw, whose YA sci-fi series comprising "Spark," "Stray," and "Shield," has recently been optioned for film! Wow, that's incredible. Go Rachael! https://rachaelcraw.com/author/
There's also @seanmmonaghan who writes both books and short stories. A year or two back we both had a story in the same issue of Asimov's, which might have made it the most Kiwi issue ever! Sean's story was "Crimson Birds of Small Miracles." https://seanmonaghan.com/
And @Sally_McLennan, who writes YA and who has had a novel, "Somewhere Else," about a girl swept from a sheep farm to hero school, just very newly published! http://www.sallymclennan.com/
And @timjonesbooks, who writes really excellent NZ-based climate fiction, such as "Where We Land." https://www.timjonesbooks.co.nz/where-we-land/
Talking of climate fiction, let's not forget @LawrncePatchett, whose recent novel "The Burning River," is set in NZ after significant climate change has seriously altered the country: https://vup.victoria.ac.nz/the-burning-river/
And @hroethgar has kindly reminded me - thank you very much! - that this list is incomplete without A.J. Ponder, who writes lovely children's books, most especially The Sylvalla Chronicles series. The first book is "Quest," btw. https://ponderbooks.com/my-books/the-sylvalla-prophecies-quest/
@freezingkiwi has reminded me - thank you! - that we also have @KerryDonovanBro, who wrote "Lamplighter," set in a tiny coastal settlement in NZ's South Island: https://vup.victoria.ac.nz/lamplighter/
And then there's @MacDibble who writes awesome stuff for young people, and I particularly want to read "How to Bee," about kids who have to hand-pollinate trees after the bee population collapses. (We share her with Australia.) http://www.macdibble.com/news.html
We also have @davidbishop, a Kiwi comic writer and novelist - and this year's Sir Julius Vogel award winner for Best Dramatic Presentation!!! For Doctor Who, which absolutely delights me and should delight you too. https://dvbishop.com/
And, as suggested by @MelHardingShaw (thanks, Mel!) @MaruNihoniho, who makes games like SPARX, which is designed to combat depression in Maori, as well as the @GuardianMaia game. https://ngaitahu.iwi.nz/our_stories/maruhaeremuri-nihoniho-creator-of-digital-worlds-tk82/
We also have @Kiwimrsmac, who has a time travel trilogy available in audio as well as print. Kirsten is also a horror author - one of her books, "Painted," is described as "Caravaggio meets Poltergeist" which makes me want to read it immediately! https://www.kirstenmckenzie.com/allbooks/painted
And @ghostfinder, who's a comic and novel writer. Adam has a Star Wars novel coming out next year, which is great incentive for me to finish watching The Mandalorian before his book is out! http://www.adamchristopher.co.uk/
There's also @insanemapboy, who has won several Sir Julius Vogel awards for his fantasy trilogy Broken Man, and is also a mapmaker (putting that PhD in geography to great use)! https://insanemapboy.com/
@insanemapboy has reminded me (thank you, Russell!) to add @helenl0we, the multiple award winning author of "Thornspell" and The Wall of Night series: http://helenlowe.info/index.html
There's also Juliet Marillier, who writes gorgeous historical fantasy and is also a Sir Julius Vogel winner. I can see her book "Den of Wolves" on my bookshelf right now... I haven't read it yet, but I'm looking forward to it! https://www.julietmarillier.com/
And @MAdamsVictoria, who won the Sir Julius Vogel for best novel for "Samiha's Song" back in 2012 - lucky you, it's part of a series so there's more to read! That series is Chronicles of the Tree: https://maryvictoria.co.uk/
And there's @PhilippaJane, who writes the super fun Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series, amongst other things! NZ likes steampunk, and if you do too you should visit Oamaru next time you're here: http://www.pjballantine.com/
And @astrokiwi has reminded me (thank you, Michele!) to add Ken Catran, a prolific YA novelist - including the scifi trilogy Deepwater Black - and screenwriter, who won the Margaret Mahy medal. https://www.read-nz.org/writer/catran-ken/
There's also Philip Temple, who wrote "Beak of the Moon," one of the most famous pieces of SFF I read growing up. I always thought of it as being like Watership Down but with kea - NZ alpine parrots that are far more interesting than rabbits. https://philiptemple.com/
And Witi Ihimaera, with lovely novels like "Whale Rider" and "Skylark." (You may not know he also wrote the libretto for "Galileo: A Millennium Opera," reimagining historical event for a modern audience. Which is not so much SFF but still fascinating.) https://www.penguin.co.nz/authors/witi-ihimaera/books
And we have @Wanderlustin, who writes games and does podcasts and it's great to see Kiwi writers with such a variety of output and interests! Check out "Tourist" here, and follow the links to more great stuff! https://wanderlustin.itch.io/tourist
Also, @upwithgravity has reminded me (thank you very much!) of @discorobot, who writes excellent short stories and has won not one but TWO Sir Julius Vogel awards for best short story here in NZ. What an achievement is that?! https://grant-stone.com/
We also have @IsaPearlRitchie, who has a PhD in social science and writes both for adult and young readers. She has recently published the latest in her Dreamweavers fantasy series for kids, "Into the Labyrinth" and you can find her here: http://isaritchie.com/
And Phillip Mann, who writes science fiction and founded NZ's first drama studies programme back in 1970 at Victoria University. The ReadNZ site tells me that the giant hammer in his book "Master of Paxwax" was inspired by our native insect the weta! https://www.read-nz.org/writer/mann-phillip/
@IsaPearlRitchie has reminded me (thank you very much!) to add @laniwendtyoung, who among her many awesome books has written the YA fantasy series TELESĀ: http://laniwendtyoung.com/books-2/
@JennyKayNZ reminded me (thank you very much!) to add @sportingcryptid, another of NZ's excellent flash fiction writers. Jack was nominated for a Sir Julius Vogel award for "Work and Income Gothic," which you can read here: https://www.flash-frontier.com/december-2019-spec-fic/#work
