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

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

author.

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 The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

. 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 Sean Christopher McMullen (born 21 December 1948 in Sale, Victoria) is an Australian science fiction and fantasy author. Biography McMullen is one of Australia's leading science-fiction and fantasy authors and has written over 70 stories and ...

'' (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 Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or ...

and

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyber ...

. 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 Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and history from Melbourne University (1974), a postgraduate degree in

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

and

information science Information science (also known as information studies) is an academic field which is primarily concerned with analysis, collection, Categorization, classification, manipulation, storage, information retrieval, retrieval, movement, dissemin ...

, and a PhD in Medieval Literature. 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

*''Voices in the Light'' (1994) *''Mirrorsun Rising'' (1995) *''The Centurion's Empire'' (1998) *''The Ancient Hero'' (2004, part of the '' Quentaris Chronicles'') *''Before the Storm'' (2007) ;Greatwinter series *''Souls in the Great Machine'' (1999, a rewritten version of ''Voices in the Light'' and ''Mirrorsun Rising'') *'' The Miocene Arrow'' (2000) *'' Eyes of the Calculor'' (2001) ;The Moonworlds Saga series *''Voyage of the Shadowmoon'' (2002) *''Glass Dragons'' (2004) *''Voidfarer'' (2006) *''The Time Engine'' (2008)

Short fiction

;Collections *''Call to the Edge'' (1992) *''Walking to the Moon'' (2007) *''Ghosts of Engines Past'' (2013) *''Colours of the Soul'' (2013) ;Stories *"At the Focus" (1986 with Paul Collins) in ''

Eidolon (Australian magazine) Eidolon Publications was a small press publisher based in North Perth, Western Australia. The company previously published the speculative fiction magazine ''Eidolon'' which ran from 1990 to 2000 and published books under the name of Eidolon Boo ...

'' Spring 1990 (ed. Jeremy G. Byrne) *"The Deciad" (1986) in ''Call to the Edge'' *"The Colors of the Masters" (1988) in ''

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher a ...

'' March 1988 (ed.

Edward L. Ferman Edward Lewis Ferman (born March 6, 1937) is an American science fiction and fantasy editor and magazine publisher, known best as the editor of ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'' (F&SF). Ferman is the son of Joseph W. Ferman, the publi ...

) *"While the Gate Is Open" (1990) in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' February 1990 (ed. Edward L. Ferman) *" Alone in His Chariot" (1991) in ''Eidolon'' Summer 1991 (ed. Jeremy G. Byrne) *"The Dominant Style" (1991) in ''

Aurealis ''Aurealis'' is an Australian speculative fiction magazine published by Chimaera Publications, and is Australia's longest running small-press science-fiction and fantasy magazine. The magazine is based in Melbourne. History and profile ''Aureali ...

'' No. 4 (ed. Stephen Higgins, Dirk Strasser) *"The Eyes of the Green Lancer" (1992) in ''Call to the Edge'' *"Destroyer of Illusions" (1992) in ''Call to the Edge'' *"The Porphyric Plague" (1992) in ''Intimate Armageddons'' (ed.

Bill Congreve Bill Congreve is an Australian writer, editor and reviewer of speculative fiction. He has also published the work of Australian science fiction and horror writers under his MirrorDanse imprint. Biography Congreve's first work was published in 1 ...

) *"Pax Romana" (1992) in ''Call to the Edge'' *"The Devils of Langenhagen" (1992) in ''Call to the Edge'' *"An Empty Wheelhouse" (1992) in ''

Analog Science Fiction and Fact ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...

'' January 1992 (ed.

Stanley Schmidt Stanley Albert Schmidt (born March 7, 1944) is an American science fiction author and editor. Between 1978 and 2012 he served as editor of ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' magazine. Biography Schmidt was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and graduate ...

) *"Souls in the Great Machine" (1992) in ''Universe 2'' (ed. Karen Haber,

Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Grand ...

) *"The Glasken Chronicles" (1992) in ''Eidolon'' Autumn 1992 (ed. Jeremy G. Byrne) *"Pacing the Nightmare" (1992) in ''Interzone'' May 1992 (ed. David Pringle, Lee Montgomerie) *"A Greater Vision" (1992) in ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' October 1992 (ed. Stanley Schmidt) *"The Way to Greece" (1993) in ''Eidolon'' Winter 1993 (ed. Jeremy G. Byrne, Jonathan Strahan) *"Charon's Anchor" (1993) in ''Aurealis'' No. 12 (ed. Stephen Higgins, Dirk Strasser) *"The Miocene Arrow" (1994) in ''Alien Shores: An Anthology of Australian Science Fiction'' (ed.

Peter McNamara Peter McNamara (5 July 1955 – 20 July 2019) was an Australian tennis player and coach. McNamara won five singles titles and nineteen doubles titles in his career. A right-hander, McNamara reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 14 March ...

, Margaret Winch) *"The Blondefire Genome" (1994) in ''The Lottery: Nine Science Fiction Stories'' (ed. Lucy Sussex) *"A Ring of Green Fire" (1994) in ''Interzone'' November 1994 (ed. David Pringle, Lee Montgomerie) *"Lucky Jonglar" (1996) in '' Dream Weavers (ed. Paul Collins) *"The Weakest Link" (1996, written as Roger Wilcox) in ''Dream Weavers'' (ed. Paul Collins) *"Slow Famine" (1996) in ''Interzone'' May 1996 (ed. David Pringle) *"Queen of Soulmates" (1998) in ''

Dreaming Down-Under ''Dreaming Down-Under'' is a 1998 speculative fiction anthology edited by Jack Dann and Janeen Webb. Background ''Dreaming Down-Under'' was first published in Australia in November 1998 by Voyager Books in trade paperback format. In 1999 and ...

'' (ed.

Jack Dann Jack Dann (born February 15, 1945) is an American writer best known for his science fiction, an editor and a writing teacher, who has lived in Australia since 1994. He has published over seventy books, in the majority of cases as editor or co-edit ...

, Janeen Webb) *"Chronicler" (1998) in ''Fantastic Worlds'' (ed. Paul Collins) *"Rule of the People" (1998) in ''Aurealis'' #20/21, (ed. Stephen Higgins, Dirk Strasser) *"Souls in the Great machine" (1999) an excerpt in ''The Centurion's Empire '' *"New Words of Power" (1999) in ''Interzone'' August 1999 (ed. David Pringle) *"Colours of the Soul" (2000) in ''Interzone'' February 2000 (ed. David Pringle) *"Unthinkable" (2000) in ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' June 2000 (ed. Stanley Schmidt) *"Mask of Terminus" (2000) in ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' October 2000 (ed. Stanley Schmidt) *"Voice of Steel" (2001) *" Tower of Wings" (2001) in ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' December 2001 (ed. Stanley Schmidt) *"SVYAGATOR" (2002) in ''Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine'' No. 3 (ed. Ian Nichols) *" Walk to the Full Moon" (2002) in ''

'' December 2002 (ed.

Gordon Van Gelder Gordon Van Gelder (born 1966) is an American science fiction editor. From 1997 until 2014, Van Gelder was editor and later publisher of ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', for which he has twice won the Hugo Award for Best Editor Shor ...

) *"The Cascade" (2004) in ''

Agog! Smashing Stories ''Agog! Smashing Stories'' is a 2004 Australian speculative fiction anthology edited by Cat Sparks. Background ''Agog! Smashing Stories'' was first published in Australia in 2004 by Agog! Press in trade paperback format. It was a short-list nomi ...

'' (ed.

Cat Sparks Catriona (Cat) Sparks (born 11 September 1965, Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian science fiction writer, editor and publisher. Publishing As manager and editor of Agog! Press with her partner, Australian horror writer Rob Hood, Sp ...

) *"The Empire of the Willing" (2005) in ''Future Washington'' (ed. Ernest Lilley) *"The Engines of Arcadia" (2006) in ''Futureshocks'' (ed.

Lou Anders Lou Anders is the author of the ''Thrones & Bones'' series of middle grade fantasy novels. Anders is a Hugo Award-winning American editor, a Chesley Award-winning art director, an author and a journalist. Early life Lou Anders is originally f ...

) *"The Twilight Year" (2008) in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' January 2008 (ed. Gordon Van Gelder) *"The Constant Past" (2008) in '' Dreaming Again'' (ed. Jack Dann) *"The Spiral Briar" (2009) in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' April–May 2009 (ed. Gordon Van Gelder) *"The Art of the Dragon" (2009) in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' August–September 2009 (ed.

) *"Mother of Champions" (2009) in "Interzone" No. 222 (ed. Andy Cox) *"Eight Miles" in "Analog" September 2010 (ed. Stanley Schmidt) *"Enigma" in "Analog" Jan/Feb 2010 (ed. Stanley Schmidt) *"Spacebook" in "Anywhere But Earth" 2011 (ed. Keith Stevenson) *"Ninety Thousand Horses" in "Analog" Jan/Feb 2012 (ed. Stanley Schmidt) *"Electrica" in "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction" March/April 2012 (ed. Gordon Van Gelder) *"Steamgothic" in "Interzone" July/August 2012 (ed. Andy Cox) *"Hard Cases" in '' Light Touch Paper, Stand Clear'' 2012 (ed. Edwina Harvey and Simon Petrie) *"The First Boat" in "Aurealis" March 2012 (ed. Michael Pryor) *"Running Invisible" in "Trust Me Too" 2012 (ed. Paul Collins) *"Culverelle" in "The Feathered Edge" 2012 (ed. Deborah J. Ross) *"Lost Faces" in "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction" March/April 2013 (ed. Gordon Van Gelder) *"The Firewall and the Door" in "Analog" March 2013 (ed. Trevor Quachri) *"Acts of Chivaltry" in "Tales of Australia – Great Southern Land" 2013 (ed. Stephen C. Ormsby) *"Technarion" (2013) in "Interzone" Sept/Oct 2013 (ed. Andy Cox)

Non-fiction

;Books * '' The MUP Encyclopaedia of Australian Science Fiction & Fantasy'' (1998, assistant editor with Paul Collins)McMullen was "Assistant Editor" along with another Australian SF writer,

Steven Paulsen Steven Paulsen (born 1955) is an Australian writer of science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction whose work has been published in books, magazines, journals and newspapers around the world. He is the author of the best selling children's book, ...

. *'' Strange Constellations: A History of Australian Science Fiction'' (1999 with Russell Blackford and

Van Ikin Van Ikin (born 25 November 1951) is an academic and science fiction writer and editor. A professor in English at the University of Western Australia, he retired from teaching in 2015 and is now a senior honorary research fellow. He has acted as ...

) ;Essays and articles *Beyond Our Shores (1990) in ''Eidolon'' Winter 1990 *The High Brick Wall (1990) in ''Eidolon'' Spring 1990 (ed. Jeremy G. Byrne) *Not in Print but Worth Millions (1991) in ''Eidolon'' Winter 1991 (ed. Jeremy G. Byrne) *Book Review (1991) in ''Aurealis'' No. 5 (ed. Stephen Higgins, Dirk Strasser) * Going Commercial and Becoming Professional (1991) in ''Eidolon'' Spring 1991 (ed. Jeremy G. Byrne) * Australian SF Art Turns 50 (1992) in ''Eidolon'' Summer 1992 (ed. Jonathan Strahan, Jeremy G. Byrne) *Far from Void: The History of Australian SF Magazines (1992) in ''Aurealis'' #7 (ed. Stephen Higgins, Dirk Strasser) *Skirting the Frontier (1992) in ''Eidolon'' Autumn 1992 (ed. Jeremy G. Byrne) *Showcase or Leading Edge: Australian SF Anthologies 1968–1990 (1992) in ''Aurealis'' #9, (ed. Stephen Higgins, Dirk Strasser) *From Science Fantasy to Galileo (1992) in ''Eidolon'' Spring 1992 (ed. Jeremy G. Byrne, Jonathan Strahan) *Australian Content: The State of Quarantine (1993) in ''Eidolon'' Summer 1993 (ed. Jeremy G. Byrne, Jonathan Strahan) *Australian Content: Suffering for Someone Else's Art (1993) in ''Eidolon'' Autumn 1993 (ed. Jonathan Strahan, Jeremy G. Byrne) *Protection, Liberation and the Cold, Dangerous Universe: The Great Australian SF Renaissance (1993) in ''Aurealis'' #11, (ed. Stephen Higgins, Dirk Strasser) *No Science Fiction Please, We're Australian (1993) in ''Eidolon'' Winter 1993 (ed. Jeremy G. Byrne, Jonathan Strahan) *The Quest for Australian Fantasy (1994, with

) in ''Aurealis'' No. 13, (ed. Stephen Higgins, Dirk Strasser) *Australian Content: The Great Transition (1994) in ''Eidolon'' Winter 1994 (ed. Jonathan Strahan, Jeremy G. Byrne) *

The Hunt for Australian Horror Fiction ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

(1994, with

) in ''Aurealis'' No. 14 (ed. Stephen Higgins, Dirk Strasser) *A History of Australian Horror (1995, with Bill Congreve and Steve Paulsen) in ''Bonescribes: Year's Best Australian Horror: 1995'' (ed. Bill Congreve,

Robert Hood Robert Hood (born 1965 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American electronic music producer and DJ. He is a founding member of the group Underground Resistance as a 'Minister of Information' with Mad Mike Banks and Jeff Mills. He is often conside ...

) *SF in Australia (1995, with Terry Dowling) in '' Locus'' January 1995 (ed.

Charles N. Brown Charles Nikki Brown (June 24, 1937 – July 12, 2009) was an American publishing editor, the co-founder and editor of ''Locus (magazine), Locus'', the long-running news and reviews magazine covering the genres of science fiction and fantasy litera ...

) *Australian Content: Recognition Australian Style (1995) in ''Eidolon'' Summer 1995 (ed. Jeremy G. Byrne) * Australia: Australian Contemporary Fantasy (1997, with

) *George Turner and the Nova Mob (1997) in Eidolon, Issue 25/26 Spring 1997 (ed. Jonathan Strahan, Jeremy G. Byrne, Richard Scriven) *The Road to 1996 (1998, with Terry Dowling) in ''Nebula Awards 32'' (ed. Jack Dann) *The British Benchmark (1999) in ''Interzone'' August 1999 (ed. David Pringle) *Time Travel, Times Scapes, and Timescape (2000, with Russell Blackford,

Alison Goodman Alison Goodman (born 12 August 1966) is an Australian writer of books for young adults. Goodman's debut novel ''Singing the Dogstar Blues'' (published in Australia 1998, subsequently released in several foreign editions) won an Aurealis Award f ...

Damien Broderick Damien Francis Broderick (born 22 April 1944) is an Australian science fiction and popular science writer and editor of some 74 books. His science fiction novel ''The Dreaming Dragons'' (1980) introduced the trope of the generation time machine ...

, Aubrey Townsend,

Gregory Benford Gregory Benford (born January 30, 1941) is an American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is professor emeritus at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. He is a contributing editor of ''Reason ...

) in ''

The New York Review of Science Fiction ''The New York Review of Science Fiction'' is a monthly literary magazine of science fiction that was established in 1988. It includes works of science fiction criticism, essays, and in-depth critical reviews of new works of fiction and scholarship ...

'' August 2000, (ed.

Kathryn Cramer Kathryn Elizabeth Cramer (born April 16, 1962) is an American science fiction writer, editor, and literary critic. Early years Kathryn Cramer is the daughter of physicist John G. Cramer. She grew up in Seattle and graduated from Columbia Univ ...

David G. Hartwell David Geddes Hartwell (July 10, 1941 – January 20, 2016) was an American critic, publisher, and editor of thousands of science fiction and fantasy novels. He was best known for work with Signet, Pocket, and Tor Books publishers. He was also no ...

, Kevin J. Maroney) *25 (Celebrating 25 Years of Interzone) (2007) in ''Interzone'' September–October 2007 (ed. Andrew Hedgecock, Jetse de Vries,

Andy Cox Andrew Cox (born 25 January 1956) is a British guitarist, who along with Dave Wakeling, formed ska band the Beat in 1978. The Beat achieved eight Top 40 singles and three hit albums in the UK before announcing their break up in 1983. Some of t ...

)

Awards

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

Ditmar Awards The Ditmar Award (formally the Australian SF ("Ditmar") Award; formerly the "Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award") has been awarded annually since 1969 at the Australian National Science Fiction Convention (the "Natcon") to recognise a ...

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

and Bill Congreve) 1998 William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism – Fantasy in Australia (together with

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

Aurealis Awards The Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual literary award for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award. History The Aurealis Award was established in 1995 b ...

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 Novellette – Tower of Wings 2013 Best Novellette – Ninety Thousand Horses Nova Fantastyka Reader's Award 2003 Best Foreign Story – Voice of Steel

References

* Festivale Online Magazine, Summer 2008–09, ISSN 1328-8008

External links

Homepage of Sean McMullen
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McMullen, Sean 1948 births Living people Analog Science Fiction and Fact people Australian fantasy writers Australian science fiction writers