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Tom Rynosseros #1
Rynosseros
Come to Australia....
Journey through a bizarre and beautiful world where great sand-ships are the main form of travel, and the inhabitants of the richly-cosmopolitan coastal cities can only marvel at the strang Ab'O societies of the interior.
Visit a future where terraforming, genetic engineering and formidable mental sciences are commonplace, and tribal satellites look down on unending wars between rival Ab'O States. Travel with Tom Tyson through a land of merging cultures and philosophies, of myth and dream made real, a land of absolute possibility....
"Think of an imagination steeped in the stories of Cordwainer Smith, J.G.Ballard, and Jack Vance, then grant that Terry Dowling has his own formidable intelligence, and you'll get a notion of the riches this book offers ... Rynosseros places Dowling among the masters of the field." - LOCUS
"For richness of social and textual detail, Dowling's work rivals that of Jack Vance and Gene Wolfe ... Rynosseros is an intricate and fascinating work of Australian SF." - SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY BOOK REVIEW ANNUAL
"Rynosseros accomplishes what the very best spec-ulative works achieve: it creates a world so alluring that you ache to go there yourself, not to escape the rigours of life, but in order to participate more thoroughly." - SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
Journey through a bizarre and beautiful world where great sand-ships are the main form of travel, and the inhabitants of the richly-cosmopolitan coastal cities can only marvel at the strang Ab'O societies of the interior.
Visit a future where terraforming, genetic engineering and formidable mental sciences are commonplace, and tribal satellites look down on unending wars between rival Ab'O States. Travel with Tom Tyson through a land of merging cultures and philosophies, of myth and dream made real, a land of absolute possibility....
"Think of an imagination steeped in the stories of Cordwainer Smith, J.G.Ballard, and Jack Vance, then grant that Terry Dowling has his own formidable intelligence, and you'll get a notion of the riches this book offers ... Rynosseros places Dowling among the masters of the field." - LOCUS
"For richness of social and textual detail, Dowling's work rivals that of Jack Vance and Gene Wolfe ... Rynosseros is an intricate and fascinating work of Australian SF." - SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY BOOK REVIEW ANNUAL
"Rynosseros accomplishes what the very best spec-ulative works achieve: it creates a world so alluring that you ache to go there yourself, not to escape the rigours of life, but in order to participate more thoroughly." - SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
6 people are currently reading
238 people want to read
About the author
Terry Dowling
105 books56 followersTerence William (Terry) Dowling -
“Who’s the writer who can produce horror as powerful and witty as the best of Peter Straub, SF as wondrously byzantine and baroque as anything by Gene Wolfe, near-mainstream subtly tinged with the fantastic like some tales by Powers or Lansdale? Why Terry Dowling, of course.” Locus (Nov 1999)
Born in Sydney in 1947, Terry Dowling is one of Australia’s most awarded, versatile and internationally acclaimed writers of science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy and horror. He is author of Rynosseros (1990), Blue Tyson (1992), Twilight Beach (1993) and Rynemonn (2007) (the Ditmar award-winning Tom Rynosseros saga, which, in his 2002 Fantastic Fictions Symposium keynote speech, US Professor Brian Attebery called “not only intricate and engaging, but important as well”), Wormwood (1991), The Man Who Lost Red (1994), An Intimate Knowledge of the Night (1995), Antique Futures: The Best of Terry Dowling (1999), Blackwater Days (2000) and Basic Black: Tales of Appropriate Fear (2006) (which earned a starred review in Publishers’ Weekly in May 2006 and won the 2007 International Horror Guild Award for Best Collection). He is editor of the World Fantasy Award-winning The Essential Ellison (1987/ revised 2001), Mortal Fire: Best Australian SF (1993) and The Jack Vance Treasury (2007).
Dowling has outstanding publishing credentials. As well as appearances in The Year’s Best Science Fiction, The Year’s Best SF, The Mammoth Book of Best New SF, The Year’s Best Fantasy, The Best New Horror and The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror (a record eight times; he is the only author to have had two stories in the 2001 volume, one chosen by each editor), his work has appeared in such major anthologies as Centaurus: The Best of Australian Science Fiction, The Dark, Dreaming Down Under, Gathering the Bones and The Oxford Book of Australian Ghost Stories and in such diverse publications as the prestigious SciFiction, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Interzone, Oceans of the Mind, Ténèbres, Ikarie, Japan’s SF and Russia’s Game.Exe. His fiction has been translated into many languages and has been used in a course in forensic psychology in the US.
“Here is Jack Vance, Cordwainer Smith and Tiptree/Sheldon come again, reborn in one wonderful talent…you’ll purr and growl with delight.” – Harlan Ellison
Terry has also written and co-designed three best-selling computer adventures: Schizm: Mysterious Journey (2001) (aka US Mysterious Journey: Schizm) (www.schizm.com/schizm1/), Schizm II: Chameleon (2003) (aka US Mysterious Journey II: Chameleon) (www.schizm2.info) and Sentinel: Descendants in Time (2004) (aka Realms of Illusion) (www.dormeuse.info) (based on his 1996 short story, “The Ichneumon and the Dormeuse”), which have been published in many foreign language editions. He has reviewed for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Bulletin, and was the science fiction, fantasy and horror reviewer for The Weekend Australian for nineteen years under four different literary editors: Barry Oakley, James Hall, Murray Waldren and Deborah Hope.
Terry holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Western Australia (the first such degree to be granted and completed at that university), an MA (Hons) in English Literature and a BA (Hons) in English Literature, Archaeology and Ancient History, both from the University of Sydney. He has won many Ditmar and Aurealis Awards for his fiction, as well as the William Atheling Jr Award for his critical work. His first computer adventure won the Grand Prix at Utopiales in France in 2001 and he has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award twice.
“Who’s the writer who can produce horror as powerful and witty as the best of Peter Straub, SF as wondrously byzantine and baroque as anything by Gene Wolfe, near-mainstream subtly tinged with the fantastic like some tales by Powers or Lansdale? Why Terry Dowling, of course.” Locus (Nov 1999)
Born in Sydney in 1947, Terry Dowling is one of Australia’s most awarded, versatile and internationally acclaimed writers of science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy and horror. He is author of Rynosseros (1990), Blue Tyson (1992), Twilight Beach (1993) and Rynemonn (2007) (the Ditmar award-winning Tom Rynosseros saga, which, in his 2002 Fantastic Fictions Symposium keynote speech, US Professor Brian Attebery called “not only intricate and engaging, but important as well”), Wormwood (1991), The Man Who Lost Red (1994), An Intimate Knowledge of the Night (1995), Antique Futures: The Best of Terry Dowling (1999), Blackwater Days (2000) and Basic Black: Tales of Appropriate Fear (2006) (which earned a starred review in Publishers’ Weekly in May 2006 and won the 2007 International Horror Guild Award for Best Collection). He is editor of the World Fantasy Award-winning The Essential Ellison (1987/ revised 2001), Mortal Fire: Best Australian SF (1993) and The Jack Vance Treasury (2007).
Dowling has outstanding publishing credentials. As well as appearances in The Year’s Best Science Fiction, The Year’s Best SF, The Mammoth Book of Best New SF, The Year’s Best Fantasy, The Best New Horror and The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror (a record eight times; he is the only author to have had two stories in the 2001 volume, one chosen by each editor), his work has appeared in such major anthologies as Centaurus: The Best of Australian Science Fiction, The Dark, Dreaming Down Under, Gathering the Bones and The Oxford Book of Australian Ghost Stories and in such diverse publications as the prestigious SciFiction, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Interzone, Oceans of the Mind, Ténèbres, Ikarie, Japan’s SF and Russia’s Game.Exe. His fiction has been translated into many languages and has been used in a course in forensic psychology in the US.
“Here is Jack Vance, Cordwainer Smith and Tiptree/Sheldon come again, reborn in one wonderful talent…you’ll purr and growl with delight.” – Harlan Ellison
Terry has also written and co-designed three best-selling computer adventures: Schizm: Mysterious Journey (2001) (aka US Mysterious Journey: Schizm) (www.schizm.com/schizm1/), Schizm II: Chameleon (2003) (aka US Mysterious Journey II: Chameleon) (www.schizm2.info) and Sentinel: Descendants in Time (2004) (aka Realms of Illusion) (www.dormeuse.info) (based on his 1996 short story, “The Ichneumon and the Dormeuse”), which have been published in many foreign language editions. He has reviewed for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Bulletin, and was the science fiction, fantasy and horror reviewer for The Weekend Australian for nineteen years under four different literary editors: Barry Oakley, James Hall, Murray Waldren and Deborah Hope.
Terry holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Western Australia (the first such degree to be granted and completed at that university), an MA (Hons) in English Literature and a BA (Hons) in English Literature, Archaeology and Ancient History, both from the University of Sydney. He has won many Ditmar and Aurealis Awards for his fiction, as well as the William Atheling Jr Award for his critical work. His first computer adventure won the Grand Prix at Utopiales in France in 2001 and he has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award twice.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 12, 2025
Read this book physically, which is probably the first time in a long while for a non-english class book. Fun fact the paperback versions of this book go for like 30-60 dollars, but I managed to get it for $10 which is pretty sweet.
I struggle to put into words exactly how I feel about this book, because on paper I feel like I should hate it. However, I absolutely loved this book. Literally nothing is ever explained, which I normally despise, but here it is done in such a way that it feels enjoyable. It was like I'm actively exploring a mystery of what this haunted Australia and wider world is, and that process was really fun to me. Additionally, so much of the book focuses on philosophical ramblings, which I've definitely criticized books for in the past, but I feel like these genuinely resonated with me as ramblings with real meaning rather than nonsense.
The book takes an anthology form, which I am quickly discovering I'm a huge fan of, and the setting is a Sci-Fi future Earth Australia. However, the ideas within it are really fascinating and not something I can ever clearly remember seeing before. The world is both heavily apocalyptic, with most of Australia covered in sand and horrible storms, yet the world is so much more futuristic than that premise would elude to with there being even things like space lasers. Despite this there are taboos around using almost any of this technology (besides the space lasers SOMETIMES), which leads to really interesting conflicts where people are constantly toeing the line of what is allowed. Its frankly a hard thing to explain the world without experiencing the writing yourself, but I truly found it really enjoyable to learn about this world.
If any of this sounds interesting to you I managed to find a place to get an ebook copy of this book and the sequel for 4 dollars here: https://pspublishing.co.uk/the-comple...
I heavily recommend it! I will caution though the experience is dramatically improved by a close reading, so if that is not your thing you may want to avoid it.
I struggle to put into words exactly how I feel about this book, because on paper I feel like I should hate it. However, I absolutely loved this book. Literally nothing is ever explained, which I normally despise, but here it is done in such a way that it feels enjoyable. It was like I'm actively exploring a mystery of what this haunted Australia and wider world is, and that process was really fun to me. Additionally, so much of the book focuses on philosophical ramblings, which I've definitely criticized books for in the past, but I feel like these genuinely resonated with me as ramblings with real meaning rather than nonsense.
The book takes an anthology form, which I am quickly discovering I'm a huge fan of, and the setting is a Sci-Fi future Earth Australia. However, the ideas within it are really fascinating and not something I can ever clearly remember seeing before. The world is both heavily apocalyptic, with most of Australia covered in sand and horrible storms, yet the world is so much more futuristic than that premise would elude to with there being even things like space lasers. Despite this there are taboos around using almost any of this technology (besides the space lasers SOMETIMES), which leads to really interesting conflicts where people are constantly toeing the line of what is allowed. Its frankly a hard thing to explain the world without experiencing the writing yourself, but I truly found it really enjoyable to learn about this world.
If any of this sounds interesting to you I managed to find a place to get an ebook copy of this book and the sequel for 4 dollars here: https://pspublishing.co.uk/the-comple...
I heavily recommend it! I will caution though the experience is dramatically improved by a close reading, so if that is not your thing you may want to avoid it.
December 14, 2020
Terry Dowling gets compared to Cordwainer Smith and Jack Vance quite a bit. I don't feel qualified to comment on Smith as I've not read a huge amount of his work, but I can safely say that Jack Vance's influence is present on almost every page. Dowling's far future Australia almost immediately brings to mind Vance's Tschai; the wheeled sandships that patrol it's interior recollect the Fabulous Riverboats or the grass yachts of The Gray Prince; the vivid colours, the taciturn heroes, the manners and rituals, bear comparison to almost anything Vance ever wrote. But, for me, there's another Great Dowling resurrects, as Rynosseros is suffused with melancholy and an almost hopeless Romanticism (which are, of course, also recognised Vance tropes): Ray Bradbury - because his Mars or parts of his Mexico, his awareness of what Past means to Present and, of course, Future, are prominent ingredients in this rich fruitcake of assembled tales.
Recommended. Suddenly, for me, there's not just Matthew Hughes who could take up the mantle.
Recommended. Suddenly, for me, there's not just Matthew Hughes who could take up the mantle.
July 18, 2015
A haunting futuristic dreamtime Australia.
November 9, 2017
Simply put, I couldn't get into this book because it felt like it wasn't the first in the series. Maybe it isn't. I could quite figure out whether it was or not. Either way, I felt like I needed far more explanation than I was getting to enjoy it. Nothing offended me, but the writing was simple and, without further explanation, unenjoyable. Sorry, I'm out.
April 16, 2025
great collection of scifi (borderline fantasy) short stories...most set in worlds the author already created, but still a great read (from someone who hasn't read those other works)
May 12, 2025
Man this is an amazing book; literary with beautiful writing. An amazing alt-universe with a series of stories that slowly, subtly build into a fascinating world view.
August 30, 2016
“Australia in the future is a bizarre, beautiful land of cosmopolitan coastal cities and strange Ab’O societies that dominate the interior… a place where great sand-ships are the main form of travel, where satellites spy on warring tribes and where – through cryogenics, genetic engineering and formidable mental sciences – humanity has evolved into a very different species, struggling to survive its own alienness”. So says the jacket cover and for once it is right. The first in the Tom Tyson series of books, this is a series of short stories linked by the central character. Very enjoyable, set in an alien and yet familiar Australia, and taking quite a bit of time to come to grips with. I actually read it after the other two books though probably should not have. Explains quite a bit more than the others about the general background but all three (now four) need to be read for a full understanding. Highly recommended and a great read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews