Aurealis #43
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With stories by:

  • Geoffrey Maloney
  • Nathan Burrage
  • Felicity Dowker
  • Bill Congreve

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Aurealis Books

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Classic Australian SF 1: The Crowned Skull

Classic Australian SF 1: The Crowned Skull
by Fergus Hume (with an introduction by Sophie Masson)

What is the secret from the past that is haunting Sir Hannibal Trevick, the rich and landed father of beautiful Dericka Trevick? When John Bowring, an old mining colleague of Sir Hannibal, appears in the quiet Cornwell village, he triggers a torrent of disasters and dangers, intrigues and conspiracies, mysteries and mayhem. Through this exciting narrative course adventuresses, Cornish witches, strange prophecies, hidden identities, dastardly blackmail, insane heirs, secret marriages and murder. Stir in a touch of murky imperialist politics, rampant exploitation in the colonies and an artefact that can drive men mad, and you have the heady brew which is Fergus Hume's The Crowned Skull.

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Classic Australian SF 2: The Shrieking Pit

Classic Australian SF 2: The Shrieking Pit
by Arthur J Rees (with an Introduction by Sean Williams)

The sea mist drifts over a sleepy little English hamlet. There is silence. A small inn, a few houses, and there over in the distance, the remnants of an ancient forest. And a pit. But there is something else. A white clad lady, the victim of some horror in an age long past, laments her fate as she arises shrieking from the pit. If you only hear her, you may live to tell the tale. But...if you see her...

The Shrieking Pit is a classic tale of theft, murder and intrigue in the traditions of...well just about every English crime writer you can imagine, but it also marks the beginning of a few traditions of its own.

 

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Classic Australian SF 3: Vandals of the Void

Classic Australian SF 3: Vandals of the Void
by James Morgan Walsh (with an Introduction by Sean McMullen)

A series of unexplained events in space. A confederation of planets and mysterious aliens that threaten it. An Away Team investigating a spaceship showing no signs of life. A cloaking device using sophisticated enemy technology. Sounds like an episode of Star Trek, doesn’t it? The only thing is Vandals of the Void was published 35 years before the first original Star Trek episode was shown.

Or is it more a precursor to Star Wars? Witness fiction’s first interplanetary space war. Where did these crested invaders come from? And why were they threatening to bring destruction to the three civilised planets? In a breathless world of space pirates and disintegrator rays, Interplanetary Guard Jack Sanders discovers the unexpected during a voyage to Mars: romance with the impressive, alluring Jansca Dirka...and a war of the worlds. Vandals of the Void is space opera on a grand scale.

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Classic Australian SF 4: A Bid for Fortune

Classic Australian SF 4: A Bid for Fortune
by Guy Boothby (with an Introduction by Ian Irvine)

With money in his pocket after making his fortune in the South Seas, Richard Hatteras has London at his feet. Running afoul of the deadly Dr Nikola, however, was the worst thing he could do. Soon, young Dick is swept up into a maelstrom of blackmail, hypnotism, deceit and murder, where his betrothed is in danger, his potential father-in-law’s reputation is on the brink of ruination, and his very sanity is at stake. What can a two-fisted adventurer do against the vast and cold intellect that is Dr Nikola?

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Classic Australian SF 5: A Week in the Future

Classic Australian SF 5: A Week in the Future
by Catherine Helen Spence (with an Introduction by Lucy Sussex)

Emily Bethal is dying. The doctors give her two years at best. It will be two years of increasing pain and dependence. It is probably the dependence that Emily fears the most. She is independent, spirited and wilful. She has strong opinions and she knows the way the world works ... but she also knows how it should work. Is the deal worth it? Yes, she will avoid the two years of suffering and has traded it for for one week of living in the future. And the future she will see? The bright shiny wonderful and miraculous world of 1988. Yes 100 years into her own future takes her back to our recent past. See the wonders that Emily sees as she experiences a world that she just knows must exist for the betterment of all man ... and womankind.

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Classic Australian SF 6: Out of the Silence

Classic Australian SF 6: Out of the Silence
by Erle Cox (with an Introduction by Van Ikin)

An advanced civilisation from the impossibly distant past is about to be resurrected in rural Australia.  What dark secrets does it hold?  Is it possible for a man to deny the requests of the world’s most beautiful and intelligent woman?  To fight a relentless and appealing logic no matter how horrific the consequences?

It’s rare that a novel captures a country’s soul.  How is it possible that a novel written almost a hundred years ago can speak to us so deeply of things that disturb and torment Australians even now? Out of the Silence is the most perplexing of novels, where during the course of the story your expectations and assumptions are turned 180 degrees.  You must read this one to the very end.  Once the climax hits, it will never leave you.

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Classic Australian SF: The Complete Set

Classic Australian SF: The Complete Set
by Various Authors

Welcome to Australia's past and Australia's future!

In these six novels of speculative fiction, Chimaera Publications has unearthed and reanimated a series of forgotten classics. Ranging from the 1880s to the 1930s, this selection shows the vital contribution that speculative fiction plays in Australia's literary history -- an influence that continues until the present day.

With introductions from some of Australia's most notable writers and critics, Aurealis Classic Australian SF is an essential addition to any library. Purchase all six books in the Classic Australian SF series for a reduced price!

[ Find out more]

Latest news:

 Aurealis at WorldCon

Join us for the following Aurealis events at WorldCon on Sunday 5 September:

 

Launch of the Classic Australian SF series
11.00 in Room 203 with Jack Dann master of ceremonies

 

Classic Australian SF Panel
12.00 in Room 217 with Lucy Sussex, Ian Irvine and Sean McMullen

 

20 Years of Aurealis Panel
3.00 in Room 217 with Dirk Strasser, Stephen Higgins, Michael Pryor, Keith Stephenson, Stuart Mayne

 

And come to visit us at the Aurealis table in the Dealer’s Room at any time during the WorldCon (Thursday 2 September to Monday 6 September).

 

Posted: September 2nd, 2010

 Songs for Stories - The Indigenous Literacy Project Benefit Concert 2010

Dan Sultan, Ursula Yovich, Maggie Noonan, Shane Howard and Megan Washington will play the second Songs for Stories benefit concert on Sunday 22 August at 7:30pm at the Melbourne Town Hall, Swanston Street.

Hosted by bestselling children’s author Andy Griffiths, Songs for Stories is a celebration of words and music to raise urgently needed funds for books and literacy resources in remote Indigenous communities.

Songs for Stories is an initiative of The Indigenous Literacy Project (ILP) in association with the Melbourne Writers Festival. Tickets are $65 and available now through the MWF Federation Square Box Office on 03 9999 1199 or online.

Posted: August 7th, 2010

 Chimaera launches trailer for Classic Australian SF series

Have a look at the book trailer for Classic Australian SF http://www.youtube.com/user/MichaelJPryor

 

Posted: August 5th, 2010

 Big Changes on the Aurealis Website

As you will see there are big changes on the front page of the Aurealis website. Chimaera Publications are soon to publish a six book series of Classic Australian SF, which can be pre-ordered via the website. The most notable change will be found within the shopping cart, once you have ordered from the Aurealis website. We now accept online payment of orders only via PayPal. You can still make cheque payments (made out to Chimaera Publications) via mail.

PayPal is a safe, easy way to pay and get paid online in any way they prefer: via credit cards, bank accounts, buyer credit or account balances.

If you don't already have a free PayPal account you can join here.

 

Posted: July 29th, 2010
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