Williams, Sean 1967-

PERSONAL:

Born 1967, in Whyalla, South Australia, Australia; married Amanda Nettelbeck (a professor). Education: Adelaide University, M.F.A., 2005.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. E-mail—mail@seanwilliams.com.

CAREER:

Writer, 1990—. Served as peer assessor for Literature Board of the Australia Council and Arts SA and as judge for Aurealis Awards and Writers of the Future contest. Has worked variously as a distributor of musical instruments, a sound engineer, a petrol station attendant, a pizza delivery driver, an usher, and a retail clerk.

MEMBER:

Australian Society of Authors, South Australian Writers' Centre (chairperson, 2001-03, 2006-07), Science Fiction Writers of America, International Golden Key Honour Society (honorary member).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Aurealis Award for best horror short story, 1996, for "Passing the Bone" and best science fiction novel, 1996, for Metal Fatigue; Ditmar Award for best long fiction, 1998, for The Resurrected Man; Aurealis Award for best horror short story, 1999, for "Atrax"; South Australian Great Literature Award, 2000; Ditmar Award for best collected work, 2000, for New Adventures in Sci-Fi; Aurealis Award for best science fiction novel, 2001, for The Dark Imbalance; Ditmar Award for best novel, 2001, for The Dying Light; Aurealis Award for best fantasy novel, 2002, for The Storm Weaver & the Sand; Ditmar Award for best novel, 2002, for Echoes of Earth; Aurealis Award for best fantasy novel, and Ditmar Award for best novel, both 2004, both for The Crooked Letter; Ditmar Award for best novel, 2005, for Geodesica: Ascent; Aurealis Award for best science fiction short story, 2006, for "The Seventh Letter."

WRITINGS:

Doorway to Eternity (short stories), illustrated by Antoinette Rydyr and Steve Carter, MirrorDanse Books (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 1994.

(With Shane Dix) The Unknown Soldier (novel), Aphelion Publications (North Adelaide, South Australia, Australia), 1995.

Metal Fatigue (novel), HarperCollins (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 1996.

A View before Dying (short stories), Ticonderoga Publications (Nedlands, WA), 1998.

New Adventures in Sci-Fi (short stories), Ticonderoga Publications (Nedlands, WA), 1999.

(With Simon Brown) Butler Codex (limited edition), Gerbil Books, 2003.

The Resurrected Man (novel), Pyr (Amherst, NY), 2005.

Light Bodies Falling (short stories), Altair Australia (Adelaide, South Australia, Australia), 2007.

Cenotaxis, Monkeybrain Books (Austin, TX), 2007.

"EVERGENCE" SERIES; WITH SHANE DIX

The Prodigal Sun, Voyager (Pymble, New South Wales, Australia), 2000.

The Dying Light, Ace Books (New York, NY), 2000.

A Dark Imbalance, Ace Books (New York, NY), 2001.

"BOOKS OF THE CHANGE" SERIES

The Stone Mage & the Sea, HarperCollins (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 2001.

The Sky Warden & the Sun, HarperCollins (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 2002.

The Storm Weaver & the Sand, HarperCollins (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 2002.

"ORPHANS" SERIES; WITH SHANE DIX

Echoes of Earth, Ace Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Orphans of Earth, Ace Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Heirs of Earth, Ace Books (New York, NY), 2004.

"STAR WARS: THE NEW JEDI ORDER: FORCE HERETIC" SERIES; WITH SHANE DIX

Remnant, Ballantine (New York, NY), 2003.

Refugee, Ballantine (New York, NY), 2003.

Reunion, Ballantine (New York, NY), 2003.

"GEODESICA" SERIES; WITH SHANE DIX

Geodesica: Ascent, Ace Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Geodesica: Descent, Ace Books (New York, NY), 2006.

"BOOKS OF THE CATACLYSM" SERIES

The Crooked Letter, HarperCollins (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 2004, Pyr (Amherst, NY), 2006.

The Blood Debt, HarperCollins (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 2005, Pyr (Amherst, NY), 2006.

The Hanging Mountains, HarperCollins (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 2005, Pyr (Amherst, NY), 2007.

The Devoured Earth, HarperCollins (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 2006.

"ASTROPOLIS" SERIES

Saturn Returns, Ace (New York, NY), 2007.

Earth Ascendant, Ace (New York, NY), 2008.

"THE BROKEN LAND" SERIES

The Changeling, HarperCollins (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 2008.

The Dust Devils, HarperCollins (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 2008.

Also author of Sean Williams blog on his home page. Author of The Soap Bubble: A Space Opera. Contributor to anthologies, including Agog! Terrific Tales, edited by Cat Sparks, 2003; and Southern Blood, edited by Bill Congreve, Sandglass Enterprises, 2003. Contributor of book reviews and stories to periodicals, including Eidolon and Star Wars: Insider, and to online journals, including Visions and Antipodean SF.

SIDELIGHTS:

Australian Sean Williams is an award-winning author of speculative fiction. Williams has written steadily since his first sale in 1992, publishing dozens of short stories and novels. The Crooked Letter, part of his "Books of the Cataclysm" series, was the first fantasy novel to win both the Ditmar and Aurealis Awards. Williams often collaborates with Shane Dix, and together they have produced works in the "Evergence," "Orphans," and "Geodesica" series. In an essay posted on his Web log at his home page, Williams wrote, "The exercise of imagination is one we frequently let slip in adulthood, to the detriment of ourselves as individuals and of our species as a whole. Speculation is the juice that fuels our waking dreams, and such dreams can change the world."

The "Evergence" series, a space opera trilogy, is one of Williams's earliest collaborations with Dix. Set thousands of years in the future in a human-dominated galaxy, the series focuses on Morgan Roche, a former intelligence officer for the Commonwealth of Empires. SF Reviews contributor T.M. Wagner stated that Prodigal Sun, the first book in the trilogy, "works well as an actioner, with a backstory that's been laid out with impressive complexity." In their "Orphans" space opera series, Williams and Dix present a group interstellar explorers who make contact with a destructive alien force. "The universe of these books is a chilly, indifferent, and perhaps unintelligible environment," noted Locus reviewer Russell Letson. In the "Geodesica" series, the discovery of an alien artifact offers humans a chance to wrest control of the galaxy from the Exarchs, artificial intelligences whose technology allows them to travel the stars. "Williams and Dix have a flair for combining slam-bang adventures, intriguing characters and cutting-edge scientific and philosophical speculations, resulting in books that elevate your adrenaline and your intellect," noted Paul Di Filippo on SciFi.com.

Williams's "Books of the Change" series, a fantasy trilogy set in a future Australia, concerns Sal Hrvati, a youngster who possesses the ability to use the "Change," a magical power. According to Dark Animus Web site contributor Stephen Dedman, "The strongest point of the series … is the setting. Instead of the usual pseudo-medieval European background of Tolkien imitators, Williams has created a new world of deserts and beaches, camel caravans and bone ships, Stone Mages and Storm Weavers, ghosts and golems, man'kin's and strandbeasts." Cheryl Morgan, writing on the Emerald City Web site, observed that "one of the best things about the entire series is that the world does not need saving," adding: "That doesn't mean to say that there are no bad guys, but Williams has a much more subtle approach to evil than most fantasy writers." Morgan concluded: "Ultimately the story of The Book of the Change is not about the battle between Good and Evil, it is about the battle between stability and change."

With The Crooked Letter, Williams introduces a related fantasy series, the "Books of the Cataclysm." As Williams told John Joseph Adams on SciFi.com, "The Crooked Letter shows where the world comes from; the sequels follow the events triggered in that book, a thousand years earlier, using characters that readers of the "Books of the Change" will recognize." Discussing the works with Rob H. Bedford on sffworld.com, Williams stated: "I wanted to show how the world we live in, which we tend to take for granted and assume will be around forever, is just one part of a long history of change and cataclysm." The author continued: "There are no guarantees, except for there being no guarantees, so the "Books of the Change" and the "Books of the Cataclysm" are stories about the philosophy underpinning the world, as well as what goes on inside it."

Asked by Bedford to describe the relationship between his science fiction and fantasy works, Williams stated: "I do find that writing SF and fantasy can be very different on both a nuts-and-bolts level and in terms of other fundamental perspectives. Fantasy is more overtly about character and landscape, while good SF self-consciously uses science and the scientific method to take us places on wings made of metal, not feathers." The author concluded: "I like both approaches to speculative fiction. It keeps me fresh."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

California Bookwatch, August, 2006, review of The Crooked Letter; December, 2006, review of The Blood Debt.

Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2005, review of The Resurrected Man, p. 156.

Library Journal, January 1, 2003, Jackie Cassada, review of Orphans of Earth, p. 165; April 15, 2006, Jackie Cassada, review of The Crooked Letter, p. 71; September 15, 2006, Jackie Cassada, review of The Blood Debt, p. 55.

Locus, February, 2004, Russell Letson, review of Heirs of Earth; June, 2004, "Sean Williams: The Sweet Sound of SF."

Publishers Weekly, February 20, 2006, review of The Crooked Letter, p. 140; August 21, 2006, review of The Blood Debt, p. 55.

School Library Journal, April, 2005, Matthew L. Moffett, review of The Resurrected Man, p. 162.

ONLINE

Bella Online,http://www.bellaonline.com/ (April 15, 2007), Laura Lehman, reviews of The Resurrected Man and The Crooked Letter.

Burning Void,http://www.burningvoid.com/ (June 20, 2003), review of Echoes of Earth.

Dark Animus,http://www.darkanimus.com/ (April 15, 2007), Stephen Dedman, review of The Storm Weaver & the Sand.

Emerald City,http://www.emcit.com/ (May 10, 2007), Cheryl Morgan, "Weaving the World," review of the "Book of the Change" series; (May 10, 2007), Cheryl Morgan, review of The Crooked Letter.

Infinity Plus,http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/ (January 27, 2007), Edwina Harvey, review of The Stone Mage & the Sea.

SciFi.com,http://www.scifi.com/ (February 24, 2006), John Joseph Adams, "Cataclysm Inspired by Cultures," interview with Sean Williams; (April 15, 2007), Paul Di Filippo, review of Geodesica: Descent.

Sean Williams Home Page,http://www.seanwilliams.com (April 15, 2007).

sffworld.com,http://www.sffworld.com/ (May 17, 2006), Rob H. Bedford, review of The Crooked Letter; (November 19, 2006), Rob H. Bedford, "Interview with Sean Williams," and review of The Blood Debt.

SF Reviews,http://www.sfreviews.net/ (April 15, 2007), T.M. Wagner, review of The Prodigal Sun.

SF Signal,http://www.sfsignal.com/ (June 5, 2005), review of The Resurrected Man.