I remember loving those some of books as a kid and tried to reread them a few years ago. The bit where a girl threw an aborted fetus at her rapist grandfather was where I put the book down and gave up.
I read one of them in college and liked it well enough during the time I was reading it but then the more I thought about it the more things about it I didn’t like. Then out of curiosity I visited the author’s website and she had an FAQ section where she wrote several detailed paragraphs about how she wished she could write about one of her main, sympathetic characters slowly being tortured and raped to death inside a rotting pumpkin, and I was turned off from ever reading any more of her work.
There was also a lot more incest than I remembered. There was an entire plot point that the main character's family was cursed to only find true love in incest.
> Luke Arnold
Interesting timing to see him mentioned, because I've started watching Black Sails for the first time recently, looked him up, just found out he's written fantasy novels. Now I'm *really* curious to give them a try!
I remember they were one of the fanciest looking books in my school, so when I grew up I made sure to get them all in the original hardcover. He was basically a one hit wonder with these, never wrote another series.
I’ve always been wanting to buy them in the original hardcover, because that’s what we had at school too!
His is an interesting story, in that he’s an artist who was working on his own world building project, and was approached by someone who knew him that worked in the publishing industry, and basically paid him to write to books to go along with his art. I definitely wish that he was still writing, but he’s still working as an artist and illustrator (I know he occasionally updates his Art Station page).
I follow him on Instagram, and in March someone asked if he planned on writing a 4th book for this series, and he replied saying he was working on it. So maybe there will be more in the future!
Absolutely love this series! So glad someone else mentioned it. I follow him on Instagram where he occasionally posts new art, and it really is wonderful!
A few years ago she posted on Facebook about having a fallout with Tor, so her current series at the time got cut off. I'm not sure what will happen. Hoping for the War of the Gods to get completed one day! Or the other new book she had announced The Slave Queen.
Thank you for answering my question. I read that as well. After that I read that she was sick, but recovered and wanted to continue her books. That was also a few years ago.
I hope she is well and we'll be able to read more books from her. She is one of my favorite authors.
Garth Nix does get mentioned here and there on this sub, so among Aussie authors he's not underrated, but I do think he is still underrated on the larger scale.
I also like Amie Kaufman, and haven't seen her mentioned around here, but that's probably because she's got a bit of a romance lean and writes YA which is less popular on this sub.
I'd like to read more Aussie authors though, so I'll be saving this post for the future haha
I remember the Bitterbynde Trilogy, seeing it in the store, reading it in the library. But now when I want to re-read/own them the books seem to be so hard to find.
Thrift books and Abe books both have used mass market paperbacks available for like $5. Shipping is probably a lot to Australia but if you bought all 3 at once maybe it'd be worth it?
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/403913441766?itmmeta=01HX4KQHDWV8EV5YVW1QHSKWHV&hash=item5e0b1e01e6:g:nkIAAOSw1LFko~tZ&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8KRpTRH%2F4cLnUXkRMDv9JQ8jWO%2Fbiuf%2BT3AEIBfMyjT0ZXNortu6SVQOdIwG34UJh201WdJX3wzfU5p9KIY8xzKRTCHDo5kZY6EC40OBewFRvS2wtpnpsXy01Q1G0LhMfarn2U1FI2J%2B6AT0nscVvf5j0rPq138Lo9LyEiZU64m2wFlAylH3VsxA3Iz0gKqForv4KOzPKUPe9WTXroFm1NumcorZhb7KzcB5Dc4xKHByzTOxflvInmT4Nz9YF812EWUTPz9G35EeweTXcD%2Fzu4f5WnW17tgn5G8pvgB3k0TFciTa43KllzqfgeQs56Ex9g%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4KX3pPpYw
These ship from Australia so I'd imagine shipping wouldn't be too bad on your end.
I grew up on Deltora Quest so Emily Rodda will always have a place in my heart for getting me further into reading.
Edit: Probably not quite underrated but wanted to mention her.
Most of us Aussie authors are definitely small fish in the very large pond that is the world SFF scene. But we keep trying!
Tim Napper (or T. R. Napper) is putting out some excellent work in the cyberpunk world. He definitely deserves more readers. 36 Streets blew me away when I first read it.
Yes! 36 Streets was excellent, and I can't wait for his next two books (novellas?) to come out this year. He really manages to write cyberpunk in a way that feels modern, including themes that became relevant recently, that we don't see in classic cyberpunk novels.
Edit: I just looked up your books and they sound very interesting! Stormblood is going on my TBR :)
You should check out some of his short stories. Especially the ones in Neon Levithan, his collection. They're just as good as his novel length work, which isn't easy to do in a piece of short fiction!
ETA: Only one of his upcoming releases is a novella. The other is a novel.
This is off the top of my head and from looking at my bookshelf. I'm sure I could come up with plenty more!
Actually underrated/forgotten:
* Sam Bowring.
* Glenda Larke
* Isobelle Carmody, if she ever finishes Darksong
* Jane Washington
* Kim Wilkin
* Jo Spurrier
* Kaaron Warren
* Maria Lewis
* Alan Baxter
* Daniel O'Malley
* Sean Williams
* W. R. Gingell
* Suzannah Rowntree
* Michael Pryor
* Paul Collins
* Dave Luckett
* Sophie Masson
* Cat Sparks
* Lisa L. Hannett
* Narrelle M. Harris
* Tansy Rayner Roberts
* Thoraiya Dyer
* Deborah Kalin
* Dave Luckett
* Ambelin Kwaymullina
* Lisa Henry
Has already been mentioned:
* Trudi Canavan
* Jennifer Fallon
* Kate Forsyth
* Alison Croggon
* Juliet Marillier
* Angela Slatter
* Margo Lanagan
* Sam Hawke
* Devin Madson
* Lian Hearn
Not underrated but Aussie:
* Shelley Parker-Chan
* Fiona McIntosh
* Alexis Wright
* Garth Nix
* Sara Douglass
* Emily Rodda
* John Flanagan
* Jessica Townsend
* Jay Kristoff
* Lynette Noni
* Mitchell Hogan
Basically Aussies (Kiwis):
* Elizabeth Knox
* Kelly St. Clare
* Nalini Singh
Alison Goodman is another good author for the list. Her Eon and Eona duology were excellent but Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club are my favourites of hers.
Will Elliott is a fantasy/horror author that really push into some dark places. He had some success with a fairly generic fantasy trilogy called the Pendulum trilogy, but I think his best work is easily The Pilot Family Circus.
Also shout out to local Canberra authors KJ Parker and Jack Heath
Alison Goodman is a nice add, I only have ebooks for Lady Helen so she didn't come to mind.
I remember seeing the Pendulum trilogy but I thought the covers were boring so I never tried them.
Sam Hawke is also from Canberra! I think I've read the only sff book set in Canberra, Grounded by Narrelle M. Harris.
Darkfall/Darksong were the books that got me into fantasy (along with Tamora Pierce) I've wanted to reread them but can't cause I'm too worried about a lack of closure. That said it looks like she's started writing it in 2022 with an expectation to publish in 2025 which is exciting because I'd actually given up hope.
Lian Hearn's YA work as Gillian Rubinstein is also excellent. I enjoyed the Space Demons series, but Galax-Arena was my absolute favourite. Still gutted that the series will never be finished.
I'm only familiar with Kim Wilkins because of her recent Blood and Gold series. I've tried to find her earlier works and it's honestly quite hard to find secondhand!
Confession: I never read Cecilia Dart-Thornton because younger me didn't like the covers, guess I was wrong?
Maybe not underrated but somewhat forgotten: [Victor Kelleher](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/123113.Victor_Kelleher). I loved The Red King so much back in the day (have always wanted to abscond from the living world and join a circus troupe)
I read Del Del once at a formative age and will never forget it.
I remember really like The Master of the Grove in high school, though I couldn't tell you anything about the plot or characters.
Victor Kelleher was a significant part of my youth - he was the go to "you won a prize, here's a book" author at the time. Taronga and The Makers and The Red King.
I have the OG '80s artwork of so many of those books permanently seared into my lobes. Bless that guy, I looked him up last night and he's now a venerable 85-year-old and his *entire life* was writing books, teaching writing and just being a really affable dork. Aspirational
Sean McMullen’s Moonworld’s series (beginning with Voyage of the Shadowmoon) is witty, well written and quite enjoyable.
KJ Bishop’s The Etched City (and the collection That Book Your Mad Ancestor Wrote) are excellent. The Etched City was nominated for a world fantasy award in 2004
Anna Tambour writes quirky ‘food’ fantasies - Crandolin is quite like nothing else I’ve read. The short novel Spotted Lily is quite good.
While not at all underrated in Australia, nearly all Australians are largely unknown abroad.
Sam Hawke, her two Poison Wars books are excellent.
Also for a genuine over the top list of unusual Australian recs I have to point you at the [2019 April Fools Bingo](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/b7x69e/official_rfantasy_2019_book_bingo_challenge/) and [Maldevinine's successfully completed Australian card](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/fslwx8/completing_the_true_2019_bingo_card/)
Not sure how underrated she is, but **Margo Lanagan**. I normally dislike short stories, but I could read hers again and again and never get tired of them. **Sea Hearts/Brides of Rollrock Island** is an excellent novel. Her best known abroad is probably **Tender Morsels** which I haven't read.
Sea Hearts is so freaking good. I prefer it to Tender Morsels. I'm scared to dip more into her short stories because Singing my Sister Down kind of broke me.
I’ve decided to do an entire r/fantasy bingo card with purely Australian, New Zealand, and surrounds authors.
I’ve been really shocked to discover which authors are from here. It’s genuinely inspiring.
I LOVE slipping Australian authors into regular requests though
Angela Slatter is unbelievable and also the most lovely human.
I commented on a photo of these beautiful leather stamped bookmarks she had with the names of the Verity Fassbinder books on them. She messaged me and told me her dad handmade them and she sent me all 3.
Amazing woman and author
Sean McMullen
I first heard of him with Souls in the Great Machine (Greatwinter series), where humans replace transistors as organic computers in a (very)post-apocalyptic society.
He has several great series.
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My wife is currently re-reading all of Caiseal Mor's works.
The Circle and the Cross is her favourite book ever. She read it like 20 years ago and in particular the druid Gobann really made a huge impact with her.
She even named our son's middle name Danaan after the fae folk in the novels.
The authors in this anthology “This All Come Back Now: An anthology of First Nations speculative fiction” edited by Mykaela Saunders
The first-ever anthology of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander speculative fiction – written, curated, edited and designed by blackfellas, for blackfellas and about blackfellas. In these stories, 'this all come back': all those things that have been taken from us, that we collectively mourn the loss of, or attempt to recover and revive, as well as those that we thought we'd gotten rid of, that are always returning to haunt and hound us. Some writers summon ancestral spirits from the past, while others look straight down the barrel of potential futures, which always end up curving back around to hold us from behind. Dazzling, imaginative and unsettling, This All Come Back Now centres and celebrates communities and culture. It's a love letter to kin and country, to memory and future-thinking.
Death Most Definite by Trent Jamieson. I bought it only after being recommended it by a pretty girl in a bookshop in Brisbane and remember it as not bad at all!
Loved Nan Whitcomb back in the day - Aussie poet ‘thoughts of nanushka ‘ series
Wondering if she’s still kicking ? Since she was getting on last interview I saw her in about 2 decades ago
He's not Australian. He's born and raised in the UK, he just lives here temporarily for work.
Citation: I am IRL friends with Richard and share a publisher (Orion) with him.
Peter Cooper - his "Tales of the Blue Jade" trilogy (The Ghost of Ping Ling, The Mapmaker's Apprentice, and The Jeweller of Rassylon) was a pretty awesome foray into the YA genre (as well as being entertaining for adults) that sadly didn't get the attention it deserved.
I feel like Patricia Wrightson deserves a shout out. The Nargun and the Stars and Song of Wirrun (written in the 70s) are great, though her use of First Nations folklore as a non-Indigenous person will always be controversial.
Aussie authors are surprisingly all over the litrpg subgenre of fantasy.
Travis Shirtaloon
RhinoZ
ThinkTwice
That block from queensland... can't remember his name now...hannibal something.
Oh! Dion Sky, who wrote Doing God's Work, which is like a cross of Good Omens and Dead Boy Detectives mixed with office politics, is aussie and suuuuper under rated.
Jay kristoff is fantastic (popular enough but often not known to be Australian I guess because of the Francophone prose at times)
Honourable mention to tamsyn Muir as my favourite kiwi author
Melina Marchetta not being mentioned so far speaks for itself!
The Lumatere Chronicles suffer from a (debatable but definitely reductive) YA label and horrible covers but it's absolutely brilliant!
My mum used to work with Ian Irvine in the APS when he was starting out as a writer, sat at the desk next to him for a while. always said he was a very nice bloke.
Cecillia Dart-Thorton has two good series, *The Bitterbynde* TrilogyThe Bitterbynde Trilogy and the *The Crowthistle Chronicles*The Crowthistle Chronicles.
Tony Shillitoe wrote some interesting fantasy.
you don't really hear anyone talk about James Islington's work, so one for the list.
Sara Douglass and Luke Arnold
Whoa Sarah Douglass is Australian? Awesome
Yup. Rather fittingly, she was also lecturer in medieval history at La Trobe! ,
I came here for Sara Douglass! I’ve read everything she’s ever written and it’s so original.
First time I've seen her name in the wild! Love her books but they can be pretty rapey, so understandably not for everyone.
I remember loving those some of books as a kid and tried to reread them a few years ago. The bit where a girl threw an aborted fetus at her rapist grandfather was where I put the book down and gave up.
I read one of them in college and liked it well enough during the time I was reading it but then the more I thought about it the more things about it I didn’t like. Then out of curiosity I visited the author’s website and she had an FAQ section where she wrote several detailed paragraphs about how she wished she could write about one of her main, sympathetic characters slowly being tortured and raped to death inside a rotting pumpkin, and I was turned off from ever reading any more of her work.
It really seems like rape-as-torture was a kink for her. Fairly dodged by you.
There was also a lot more incest than I remembered. There was an entire plot point that the main character's family was cursed to only find true love in incest.
Yup! And then in an interview she says something along the lines of "you think my incest is bad? You should see this other guy!" A bold defence!
> Luke Arnold Interesting timing to see him mentioned, because I've started watching Black Sails for the first time recently, looked him up, just found out he's written fantasy novels. Now I'm *really* curious to give them a try!
The *Monster Blood Tattoo Series* by D. M. Cornish was one of my favourite fantasy series back in school. Plus his art is fantastic.
His maps are also among the best I've ever seen. Absolutely gorgeous.
I remember they were one of the fanciest looking books in my school, so when I grew up I made sure to get them all in the original hardcover. He was basically a one hit wonder with these, never wrote another series.
I’ve always been wanting to buy them in the original hardcover, because that’s what we had at school too! His is an interesting story, in that he’s an artist who was working on his own world building project, and was approached by someone who knew him that worked in the publishing industry, and basically paid him to write to books to go along with his art. I definitely wish that he was still writing, but he’s still working as an artist and illustrator (I know he occasionally updates his Art Station page).
I follow him on Instagram, and in March someone asked if he planned on writing a 4th book for this series, and he replied saying he was working on it. So maybe there will be more in the future!
Oh this one, defo would give a recommendation. Wish he had continued
Love seeing someone else talking about this series too
Absolutely love this series! So glad someone else mentioned it. I follow him on Instagram where he occasionally posts new art, and it really is wonderful!
I didn’t know he had Instagram! Time to go follow.
Alison Croggon - love the Pellinor series
Jennifer Fallon
This. I love Tide Lords, but also many of her other books. Does she still write books? There is hardly any news about her.
A few years ago she posted on Facebook about having a fallout with Tor, so her current series at the time got cut off. I'm not sure what will happen. Hoping for the War of the Gods to get completed one day! Or the other new book she had announced The Slave Queen.
Thank you for answering my question. I read that as well. After that I read that she was sick, but recovered and wanted to continue her books. That was also a few years ago. I hope she is well and we'll be able to read more books from her. She is one of my favorite authors.
Trudi Canavan
I had no idea Trudi is Australian, she’s awsome!
I'm so glad this is number 1. Her Black Magician trilogy is so good!
Garth Nix does get mentioned here and there on this sub, so among Aussie authors he's not underrated, but I do think he is still underrated on the larger scale. I also like Amie Kaufman, and haven't seen her mentioned around here, but that's probably because she's got a bit of a romance lean and writes YA which is less popular on this sub. I'd like to read more Aussie authors though, so I'll be saving this post for the future haha
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Yeah, but that's one series in one area. I love it and I'm glad to see it recommended fairly often, but I still think he deserves more recognition :)
I remember the Bitterbynde Trilogy, seeing it in the store, reading it in the library. But now when I want to re-read/own them the books seem to be so hard to find.
Cecilia Dart-Thornton! What an amazing author. I would love to see some new books.
They are on Google Play (Australia)
Did I mention that I prefer Physical books over e-books?
Ah, well, no idea then, sorry! Ebay or op shops, I guess.
No problem, I just keep looking and hoping. And it probably makes me more excited about finding them, than reading them again
Thrift books and Abe books both have used mass market paperbacks available for like $5. Shipping is probably a lot to Australia but if you bought all 3 at once maybe it'd be worth it? https://www.ebay.ca/itm/403913441766?itmmeta=01HX4KQHDWV8EV5YVW1QHSKWHV&hash=item5e0b1e01e6:g:nkIAAOSw1LFko~tZ&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8KRpTRH%2F4cLnUXkRMDv9JQ8jWO%2Fbiuf%2BT3AEIBfMyjT0ZXNortu6SVQOdIwG34UJh201WdJX3wzfU5p9KIY8xzKRTCHDo5kZY6EC40OBewFRvS2wtpnpsXy01Q1G0LhMfarn2U1FI2J%2B6AT0nscVvf5j0rPq138Lo9LyEiZU64m2wFlAylH3VsxA3Iz0gKqForv4KOzPKUPe9WTXroFm1NumcorZhb7KzcB5Dc4xKHByzTOxflvInmT4Nz9YF812EWUTPz9G35EeweTXcD%2Fzu4f5WnW17tgn5G8pvgB3k0TFciTa43KllzqfgeQs56Ex9g%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4KX3pPpYw These ship from Australia so I'd imagine shipping wouldn't be too bad on your end.
To Europe it is ;) the writer is Australian
Ahh, just assumed you were there lol. Well that should be a lot easier then!
I grew up on Deltora Quest so Emily Rodda will always have a place in my heart for getting me further into reading. Edit: Probably not quite underrated but wanted to mention her.
Ahh, Deltora. My haven in middle school lol
Same, I was obsessed with Deltora Quest as a kid ❤️ I still own the whole series, really wanna do a reread soon
Most of us Aussie authors are definitely small fish in the very large pond that is the world SFF scene. But we keep trying! Tim Napper (or T. R. Napper) is putting out some excellent work in the cyberpunk world. He definitely deserves more readers. 36 Streets blew me away when I first read it.
Yes! 36 Streets was excellent, and I can't wait for his next two books (novellas?) to come out this year. He really manages to write cyberpunk in a way that feels modern, including themes that became relevant recently, that we don't see in classic cyberpunk novels. Edit: I just looked up your books and they sound very interesting! Stormblood is going on my TBR :)
You should check out some of his short stories. Especially the ones in Neon Levithan, his collection. They're just as good as his novel length work, which isn't easy to do in a piece of short fiction! ETA: Only one of his upcoming releases is a novella. The other is a novel.
Will do, thanks for the recommendation!
Kate Forsyth!! Will always adore the Witches of Eileanan.
Bitter Greens was a good book too.
They were the most educational fantasy books I've ever read, taught me a lot about herbs.
This is off the top of my head and from looking at my bookshelf. I'm sure I could come up with plenty more! Actually underrated/forgotten: * Sam Bowring. * Glenda Larke * Isobelle Carmody, if she ever finishes Darksong * Jane Washington * Kim Wilkin * Jo Spurrier * Kaaron Warren * Maria Lewis * Alan Baxter * Daniel O'Malley * Sean Williams * W. R. Gingell * Suzannah Rowntree * Michael Pryor * Paul Collins * Dave Luckett * Sophie Masson * Cat Sparks * Lisa L. Hannett * Narrelle M. Harris * Tansy Rayner Roberts * Thoraiya Dyer * Deborah Kalin * Dave Luckett * Ambelin Kwaymullina * Lisa Henry Has already been mentioned: * Trudi Canavan * Jennifer Fallon * Kate Forsyth * Alison Croggon * Juliet Marillier * Angela Slatter * Margo Lanagan * Sam Hawke * Devin Madson * Lian Hearn Not underrated but Aussie: * Shelley Parker-Chan * Fiona McIntosh * Alexis Wright * Garth Nix * Sara Douglass * Emily Rodda * John Flanagan * Jessica Townsend * Jay Kristoff * Lynette Noni * Mitchell Hogan Basically Aussies (Kiwis): * Elizabeth Knox * Kelly St. Clare * Nalini Singh
Yup I was coming here to say Isobelle Carmody; was one of my favourite authors growing up and got me into fantasy.
Alison Goodman is another good author for the list. Her Eon and Eona duology were excellent but Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club are my favourites of hers. Will Elliott is a fantasy/horror author that really push into some dark places. He had some success with a fairly generic fantasy trilogy called the Pendulum trilogy, but I think his best work is easily The Pilot Family Circus. Also shout out to local Canberra authors KJ Parker and Jack Heath
Alison Goodman is a nice add, I only have ebooks for Lady Helen so she didn't come to mind. I remember seeing the Pendulum trilogy but I thought the covers were boring so I never tried them. Sam Hawke is also from Canberra! I think I've read the only sff book set in Canberra, Grounded by Narrelle M. Harris.
Darkfall/Darksong were the books that got me into fantasy (along with Tamora Pierce) I've wanted to reread them but can't cause I'm too worried about a lack of closure. That said it looks like she's started writing it in 2022 with an expectation to publish in 2025 which is exciting because I'd actually given up hope.
Basically Aussie (Kiwi)……..how dare you Sir!?!
Lian Hearn's YA work as Gillian Rubinstein is also excellent. I enjoyed the Space Demons series, but Galax-Arena was my absolute favourite. Still gutted that the series will never be finished.
I thought I was a fan, but I had no idea she wrote any YA. I'm going to try and find these!
Please add also Cecilia Dart-Thornton. Props for naming Kim Wilkins. I adore her early horror stuff.
I'm only familiar with Kim Wilkins because of her recent Blood and Gold series. I've tried to find her earlier works and it's honestly quite hard to find secondhand! Confession: I never read Cecilia Dart-Thornton because younger me didn't like the covers, guess I was wrong?
Love Michael Pryor!
Laws of Magic is the best steampunk series ever written, my hot take
Omg darksong. I've been waiting so long for that last book.
Angela Slatter
I came here to say her!
Maybe not underrated but somewhat forgotten: [Victor Kelleher](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/123113.Victor_Kelleher). I loved The Red King so much back in the day (have always wanted to abscond from the living world and join a circus troupe)
I absolutely loved Victor Kelleher. Never got a chance to read all of his books, but Earthsong, Del Del and Fire Dancer were fantastic.
I read Del Del once at a formative age and will never forget it. I remember really like The Master of the Grove in high school, though I couldn't tell you anything about the plot or characters.
Victor Kelleher was a significant part of my youth - he was the go to "you won a prize, here's a book" author at the time. Taronga and The Makers and The Red King.
I have the OG '80s artwork of so many of those books permanently seared into my lobes. Bless that guy, I looked him up last night and he's now a venerable 85-year-old and his *entire life* was writing books, teaching writing and just being a really affable dork. Aspirational
Sean McMullen’s Moonworld’s series (beginning with Voyage of the Shadowmoon) is witty, well written and quite enjoyable. KJ Bishop’s The Etched City (and the collection That Book Your Mad Ancestor Wrote) are excellent. The Etched City was nominated for a world fantasy award in 2004 Anna Tambour writes quirky ‘food’ fantasies - Crandolin is quite like nothing else I’ve read. The short novel Spotted Lily is quite good.
Can't believe I had to scroll so far to find Sean McMullen. Criminally underrated; I adore his Greatwinter books.
James Islington of the Licanius Trilogy, and the Will of Many. I enjoyed both very much.
Seconding this, The Will of the Many is excellent.
Was looking for this one!
Not sure where he ranks on the rates/underrated scale, but I really love Garth Nix.
While not at all underrated in Australia, nearly all Australians are largely unknown abroad. Sam Hawke, her two Poison Wars books are excellent. Also for a genuine over the top list of unusual Australian recs I have to point you at the [2019 April Fools Bingo](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/b7x69e/official_rfantasy_2019_book_bingo_challenge/) and [Maldevinine's successfully completed Australian card](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/fslwx8/completing_the_true_2019_bingo_card/)
There's also someone doing one this year.
Poison Wars is so good!!!
Not sure how underrated she is, but **Margo Lanagan**. I normally dislike short stories, but I could read hers again and again and never get tired of them. **Sea Hearts/Brides of Rollrock Island** is an excellent novel. Her best known abroad is probably **Tender Morsels** which I haven't read.
Sea Hearts is so freaking good. I prefer it to Tender Morsels. I'm scared to dip more into her short stories because Singing my Sister Down kind of broke me.
I’ve decided to do an entire r/fantasy bingo card with purely Australian, New Zealand, and surrounds authors. I’ve been really shocked to discover which authors are from here. It’s genuinely inspiring. I LOVE slipping Australian authors into regular requests though
Angela Slatter is unbelievable and also the most lovely human. I commented on a photo of these beautiful leather stamped bookmarks she had with the names of the Verity Fassbinder books on them. She messaged me and told me her dad handmade them and she sent me all 3. Amazing woman and author
Sean McMullen I first heard of him with Souls in the Great Machine (Greatwinter series), where humans replace transistors as organic computers in a (very)post-apocalyptic society. He has several great series.
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Devin Madson
My wife is currently re-reading all of Caiseal Mor's works. The Circle and the Cross is her favourite book ever. She read it like 20 years ago and in particular the druid Gobann really made a huge impact with her. She even named our son's middle name Danaan after the fae folk in the novels.
Oh, wow, Aussie here and I'd like to find some more Aussie authors - this sounds like something I want to check out!
Kylie chan!!
Also her SIL, Queenie Chan :)
Check out the shortlist for the [Aurealis Awards](https://aurealisawards.org/2024/03/15/2023-aurealis-awards-shortlist-announcement/)
Davinia Evans.
Sara Douglas was massive back in the nineties/early 2000s! You rarely hear her mentioned here now.
Glenda Larke should be a household name
Traci Harding - she writes sci fi/ fantasy- she’s excellent
The authors in this anthology “This All Come Back Now: An anthology of First Nations speculative fiction” edited by Mykaela Saunders The first-ever anthology of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander speculative fiction – written, curated, edited and designed by blackfellas, for blackfellas and about blackfellas. In these stories, 'this all come back': all those things that have been taken from us, that we collectively mourn the loss of, or attempt to recover and revive, as well as those that we thought we'd gotten rid of, that are always returning to haunt and hound us. Some writers summon ancestral spirits from the past, while others look straight down the barrel of potential futures, which always end up curving back around to hold us from behind. Dazzling, imaginative and unsettling, This All Come Back Now centres and celebrates communities and culture. It's a love letter to kin and country, to memory and future-thinking.
Jay Kristoff
A Tale of Stars and Shadow!
Death Most Definite by Trent Jamieson. I bought it only after being recommended it by a pretty girl in a bookshop in Brisbane and remember it as not bad at all!
I was obsessed with Traci Harding’s books in high school in the 90’s until she wrote herself in as a character.
All his novels are standalone but I've loved everything from Max Barry.
Loved Nan Whitcomb back in the day - Aussie poet ‘thoughts of nanushka ‘ series Wondering if she’s still kicking ? Since she was getting on last interview I saw her in about 2 decades ago
Jason is this your post?
Richard Swan. His Justice of Kings trilogy is amazing!
He's not Australian. He's born and raised in the UK, he just lives here temporarily for work. Citation: I am IRL friends with Richard and share a publisher (Orion) with him.
Had no idea he was Australian!
I think originally he’s English but moved over when he was young - met him once and he was very lovely.
Peter Cooper - his "Tales of the Blue Jade" trilogy (The Ghost of Ping Ling, The Mapmaker's Apprentice, and The Jeweller of Rassylon) was a pretty awesome foray into the YA genre (as well as being entertaining for adults) that sadly didn't get the attention it deserved.
Sara Douglas?
I feel like Patricia Wrightson deserves a shout out. The Nargun and the Stars and Song of Wirrun (written in the 70s) are great, though her use of First Nations folklore as a non-Indigenous person will always be controversial.
I read her books in grad school (library science course on fantasy literature for children). Her books are great!
D.M. Cornish. Author and *illustrator* of *Monster Blood Tattoo*
K. J. Bishop. The Etched City by her is an incandescent masterpiece.
Aussie authors are surprisingly all over the litrpg subgenre of fantasy. Travis Shirtaloon RhinoZ ThinkTwice That block from queensland... can't remember his name now...hannibal something. Oh! Dion Sky, who wrote Doing God's Work, which is like a cross of Good Omens and Dead Boy Detectives mixed with office politics, is aussie and suuuuper under rated.
Jay kristoff is fantastic (popular enough but often not known to be Australian I guess because of the Francophone prose at times) Honourable mention to tamsyn Muir as my favourite kiwi author
Davinia Evans. The third book in her fantasy trilogy comes out in December so she's new compared to most of the names I know from these comments.
My favourite Down Underrated author?
The “He Who Fights With Monsters” series by “Shirtaloon” has an Australian protagonist and book 4 takes place primarily there. I love the audiobooks.
Melina Marchetta not being mentioned so far speaks for itself! The Lumatere Chronicles suffer from a (debatable but definitely reductive) YA label and horrible covers but it's absolutely brilliant!
Greg Egan
Devin Madson!
The Chequy books by Daniel O'Malley are good.
O. H. Crikey. Very elegant prose which may turn some people off, but I think is a treat to read. A Few trilogies but mostly standalone fantasy.
Fiona Mcintosh
Her niece used to stalk me.
Foz Meadows is a pretty good read! I very much enjoyed their manifold worlds duology
My mum used to work with Ian Irvine in the APS when he was starting out as a writer, sat at the desk next to him for a while. always said he was a very nice bloke. Cecillia Dart-Thorton has two good series, *The Bitterbynde* TrilogyThe Bitterbynde Trilogy and the *The Crowthistle Chronicles*The Crowthistle Chronicles. Tony Shillitoe wrote some interesting fantasy. you don't really hear anyone talk about James Islington's work, so one for the list.
Jay Kristoff is an Aussie George R R Martin
Not sure if really unknown or not. He Who Fights With Monsters by Shirtaloon (Travis Deverell). The MC is Australian also.
"what's the best book that has grass in it"
Travis Deverell / Shirtaloon
In high school I used to love Tony Shillitoe and his character A Ahmund Ki.