Sean McMullen


Sean Christopher McMullen 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 seventy stories and seventeen books. In 2011, his novelette "Eight Miles" was the runner-up in the Hugo Awards, and 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 and Mirrorsun Rising. His first internationally published novel was "The Centurion's Empire", which featured a time machine built during the Roman Empire. After the success of "The Centurion's Empire", his first two novels were rewritten and combined for a publication in the US as Souls in the Great Machine, 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.
Sean's non-fiction work includes the non-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, a postgraduate degree in library and information science, and a PhD in Medieval Literature. He was a professional musician in the 1970s, concentrating on singing and guitar playing. Sean has recently retired from a career in scientific computing to concentrate on his literary work. He is s 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.

Novels

Greatwinter
The Moonworlds Saga
Other novels
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
1998 William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism – Fantasy in Australia
2000 William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism – Strange Constellations
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 Novellette – Tower of Wings
2013 Best Novellette – Ninety Thousand Horses
Nova Fantastyka Reader's Award
2003 Best Foreign Story – Voice of Steel