Sean McMullen

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Sean Christopher McMullen
Sean McMullen 2005.JPG
Sean McMullen at the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, August 2005
Born21 December 1948 (1948-12-21) (age 75)
Victoria, Australia
Pen nameRoger Wilcox [1]
OccupationWriter, musician
NationalityAustralian
GenreScience fiction and fantasy
Website
www.seanmcmullen.net.au

Sean Christopher McMullen (born 21 December 1948 in Sale, Victoria) is an Australian science fiction and fantasy author.

Contents

Biography

McMullen is one of Australia's leading science-fiction and fantasy authors and has written over 70 stories and 17 books. In 2011, his novelette "Eight Miles" was the runner-up in the Hugo Awards. He has won the Analog Reader's Award twice, for "Ninety Thousand Horses" in 2013 and "Tower of Wings" in 2002.

His first novel was originally published in Australia as two separate books, Voices in the Light (1994) and Mirrorsun Rising (1995). His first internationally published novel was The Centurion's Empire (1998), which featured a time machine built during the Roman Empire. After this book's success, his first two novels were rewritten and combined for a publication in the US as Souls in the Great Machine (1999), which, in turn, became the first volume of the Greatwinter trilogy, a unique mix of the generally anti-genres steampunk and cyberpunk. This was followed by the Moonworlds series, which saw McMullen blend science and romance in a fantasy setting. His most recent series is the Century War series for young adult readers, set in Melbourne in 1901.

McMullen's non-fiction work includes Strange Constellations: A History of Australian Science Fiction , a history of Australian science fiction jointly written with Van Ikin and Russell Blackford. He also co-wrote the first histories of Australian fantasy and horror with Steven Paulsen.

McMullen has a degree in physics and history from Melbourne University (1974), a postgraduate degree in library and information science, and a PhD in Medieval Literature. [2]

He was a professional musician in the 1970s, concentrating on singing and guitar playing.

McMullen has recently retired from a career in scientific computing to concentrate on his literary work.

He is a fourth dan black belt in karate, teaching at the Melbourne University Karate club.

He is the father of C. S. McMullen, an Australian speculative fiction author.

Bibliography

Novels

Greatwinter series
The Moonworlds Saga series

Warlock's Child series (with Paul Collins)

Short fiction

Collections
Stories [3]
TitleYearFirst publishedReprinted/collectedNotes
The audience2015McMullen, Sean (June 2015). "The audience". Analog Science Fiction and Fact. 135 (6): 92–104.McMullen, Sean (2016). "The audience". In Clarke, Neil (ed.). The best science fiction of the year : volume 1. San Francisco: Night Shade Books.Novelette

Non-fiction

Books
Essays and articles

Awards

Hugo Awards

2011 Runner-up, Best Novelette – "Eight Miles"

Ditmar Awards

1991 Best Australian Short Fiction – While the Gate is Open

1992 Best Short Fiction – Alone in His Chariot; William Atheling Jr. Award for Criticism – Going Commercial

1993 William Atheling Jr. Award for Criticism – Australian SF Art Turns 50

1996 Best Australian Long Fiction – Mirrorsun Rising; William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism – The Hunt for Australian Horror Fiction (together with Steven Paulsen and Bill Congreve)

1998 William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism – Fantasy in Australia (together with Steven Paulsen)

2000 William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism – Strange Constellations (together with Van Ikin and Russell Blackford)

Aurealis Awards

1998 Best Novel – The Centurion's Empire

2001 Best Novel – The Miocene Arrow

2003 Best Short Story – Walk to the Moon

Analog Reader's Award

2002 Best Novelette – Tower of Wings

2013 Best Novelette – Ninety Thousand Horses

Nova Fantastyka Reader's Award

2003 Best Foreign Story – Voice of Steel

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References

  1. "Short Stories by Sean McMullen". seanmcmullen.net.au. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  2. "Sean McMullen". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  3. Short stories unless otherwise noted.
  4. McMullen was "Assistant Editor" along with another Australian SF writer, Steven Paulsen.