Greenwood Press, 1998
ATHELING AWARD WINNER
The award winning first history of Australian science fiction, written with Dr Van Ikin and Dr Russell Blackford. This is critical history chronicles the first century and a half of science fiction written by Australians. Beginning with the Nineteenth Century utopian ans invasion paranoia novels, it examines the pioneering works by Australians in space opera such as James Walsh’s Vandals of the Void; Norma Hemming’s prophetic feminist stories and plays of the 1950s; the literary quarantine of Australia in the 1940s and 50s; and recognition for Australian science fiction internationally from the 1960s onwards.
“Strange Constellations is as good a work of literary history as one could wish for. The book is concise, judicious in its appraisal of the writers under consideration, and as clearly written as one might expect from a work whose authors all have strong literary as well as scholarly credentials.”
Long Description
His best work as a bibliographical and critical scholar of the fantastic in Australia is found in Strange Constellations … SFE The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
… provides a critical survey of the history of Australian science fiction from its 19th century origins to the present. Topics covered include the rise of traditional science fiction, the growing national recognition of writers and the proliferation of small publishers and genre critics – Fantastic Fiction
