Aurealis #87

by Dirk Strasser (Editor, Contributor), Sean Monaghan (Contributor), Ian Bell (Contributor)

Aurealis starts off the year in supernova mode and intends to ramp up. Aurealis #87, the first global issue, has even more science fiction and fantasy. Dirk Strasser points out the dangers of treating people like Orcs. Sean Monaghan opens with ‘The Root Bridges of Haemae’, a resonant off-world story featuring a truly alien culture. Just when you’ve recovered from the breakneck SF/fantasy/military fiction hybrid that is Ian Bell’s ‘Elven Blades', brace yourself for Deborah Sheldon’s nail-biting ride through the white wastelands of Antarctica, ‘Across the White Desert’.


We interview Trudi Canavan, whose career has sky-rocketed from Aurealis Art Director to best-selling fantasy author. Gillian Polack looks at Nevil Shute’s science fiction novels. Michael Pryor uncovers the life of Clifford Menelaus, giving us another slice of Secret History of Australia. There are the usual reviews of the latest releases, and to top it all off Deanne Sheldon-Collins will have readers salivating as she looks at The Year Ahead in Australian Speculative Fiction.

ebook

First published February 1, 2016

About the author

Dirk Strasser has won multiple Australian Publisher Association Awards and a Ditmar for Best Professional Achievement. His mythic fantasy series, The Books of Ascension, has been republished by Macmillan Momentum, this time including Eclipse – The Lost Book of Ascension for the first time in English. His novels and short stories have been translated into a number of languages. He also founded the Aurealis Awards and has co-edited and co-published Aurealis magazine for over twenty years.

Reviews

[Deborah Sheldon · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I have a story in this collection, 'Across the white desert', which I'll leave out of this review.) Aurealis #87 is a terrific mix of fiction and non-fiction. In particular, I loved the original artwork. Hats off to Andrew Saltmarsh and Andrew J. McKiernan for their beautiful pictures, among other artists.

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

EDIT: Had some time to kill this arvo, had a bunch of Aurealis issues to read so picked this one... forgetting I had already read it. So have my thoughts on it changed? No, exactly the same. But the piece on Nevil Shute reminds me I really have to read him.

ORIGINAL: After the editorial and first story I didn't have high hopes for the rest of this issue, but the next two stories picked up the pace immeasurably, with Deborah Sheldon's "Across the White Desert" being the highlight, a cracking tale of pulpy adventure set in Antarctica. Worth the price of admission alone.