Welcome to the Discover Aussie Fantasy event for 2013!

All throughout July I  featured books written by Aussie speculative fiction authors for all ages – not just fantasy.

Don’t forget, you can always see a great selection of books by Aussie authors by going to my reviews page and choosing “Aussie” from the tag list!

Why Fantasy?

Fantasy is my favourite genre to read, write and watch. It allows an escape from the pressures of every day life and allows imagination free reign.

In the foreword to his collection of interviews with fantasy authors, The Wand in the Word, Leonard S Marcus writes:

Fantasy is storytelling with the beguiling power to transform the impossible into the imaginable, and to reveal our own “real” world in a fresh and truth-bearing light.

For the purposes of this feature I’m including high fantasy, romantic fantasy, paranormal fantasy and a dash of dystopia. I’m also hoping to include adult, young adult and middle grade age groups in the mix.

Why Australian?

While reorganising my to-read list, I realised that there were quite a few books by Aussie authors sitting on my shelves that I hadn’t actually read. I looked a little further and found there is a wealth of fantasy out there written by Aussie authors.

When asking a few people if they’d be interested in joining in with an Aussie fantasy month they said “Oh, but I don’t know any fantasy books by Aussie authors.” Well my friends, there are plenty. I’m hoping to show you a few over the next few weeks. I hope you find something to add to your to-read list!

Reviews

• July 2: The Scrivener’s Tale, Fiona McIntosh – High fantasy
• July 4: Blind Sight: Through the Eyes of Leocardo Reyes, Ermisenda Alvarez – YA Urban Fantasy
• July 9: Dragonkeeper, Carole Wilkinson – Middle-grade fantasy set in ancient China
• July 11: Mudlark, Chris Matthews – NA High Fantasy
• July 15: Burn Bright, Marianne de Pierres – YA science fiction
• July 16: The Brides of Rollrock Island (or Sea Hearts), Margo Lanagan – YA paranormal fantasy (mermaids, of a sort)
• July 18: Long Lost Song, Stephen C Ormsby – Paranormal thriller
• July 22: The Four Seasons of Lucy McKenzie, Kirsty Murray – children’s time-travel fantasy
• July 25: Aurora: Darwin, Amanda Bridgeman – military sci-fi
• July 26: The Wild Girl – interview with Kate Forsyth (or read my review)
• July 29: Shadows, Paula Weston – Paranormal YA fantasy with angels and demons
• July 30: Banish, Nicola Marsh – YA Paranormal thriller, witches and ghosts

The Giveaway

No special feature would be complete without a giveaway, so during this month I will be offering two lucky winners a book of their choice from the list of books reviewed for the Aussie Fantasy feature, as listed above. Some of these will be available as e-book only, while some may be shipped from the Book Depository.

Some of the books may not be available outside of Australia just yet – sadly I can’t offer a hard-copy of these books to international winners – prices of postage are just crazy these days! You can see a list of full conditions below.

Details:

• There will be two winners. Each winner can choose a book of their choice from the list of books reviewed during July on The Oaken Bookcase.
• I will attempt to get a copy of the chosen books to the winners from either the publisher, Book Depository, Amazon (if in the Amazon.com regions), or other sources if available. If the chosen book is unavailable or the price is over A$20, the winner/s may choose another book. I’ll do my best to get something to you, if all else fails!
• The giveaway is open internationally, as long as the Book Depository ships to your country (go here to check).
• The giveaway will run until the end of July.
• The winners will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Discover Australian Fantasy in 2012

Did you know that 2012 was the Australian National Year of Reading? The theme for July was “Discover”, so Angelya and some intrepid guest posters read and reviewed some Fantasy books by Australian Authors.

Reviews

• July 2 – Winter Be My Shield, Jo Spurrier – adult epic fantasy
• July 4 – Finnikin of the Rock, Melina Marchetta – young adult fantasy
• July 9 – Dragonclaw, Kate Forsyth (Witches of Eileanan #1) – epic fantasy
• July 12 – Destiny of the Light, Louise Cusack – with interview! – adult epic romantic fantasy
• July 14 – Memory’s Wake, Selina Fenech – young adult fantasy
• July 17 – Shadowfell, Juliet Marillier – young adult fantasy
• July 18 – Embrace, Jessica Shirvington – guest review from Philippa of Tea, Daydreams and Fairytales – young adult paranormal fantasy
• July 21 – Return of the Ancients, Greig Beck – sci-fi/fantasy for teens
• July 23 – Foundling (Monster Blood Tattoo #1), D. M. Cornish – middle grade/teens fantasy
• July 25 – The Undivided, Jennifer Fallon – guest review from Steph – epic fantasy
• July 26 – Little Fur: The Legend Begins, Isobelle Carmody – children’s fantasy
• July 27 – Mister Monday (Keys to the Kingdom #1), Garth Nix – middle grade fantasy
• July 28 – A Shadow on the Glass, Ian Irvine – epic fantasy
• July 30 – Fire in the Sea, Myke Bartlett – YA fantasy set in Perth

Other Articles

• July 1 – Welcome post
• July 4 – Cover Reveal: A Corner of White, Jaclyn Moriarty
• July 5 – Meeting Isobelle Carmody (and the giveaway announcement)
• July 6 – Five for Friday: Five reasons to get excited about Stormdancer – a guest post from Rebecca of Reading Wishes
• July 7 – An Interview with Jay Kristoff
• July 11 – Fantastic Australian Cities – a guest post from author Gillian Polack
• July 19 – Dream cast for Embrace, Jessica Shirvington – a guest post from Lisa, the Badass Bookie
• July 20 – Five for Friday: Five Fantastic Fantasy Authors – a guest post from Shannon of Giraffe Days
• July 24 – The Obernewtyn Chronicles, Isobelle Carmody – a guest post from Bree of All the Books I Can Read

The Giveaway

We have a great selection of books to give away during July! All the details can be found further down on this page.

The Banner

The gorgeous artwork in the banner above is called Floating Lights and the artist, the awesome Selina Fenech, kindly allowed me to use it to promote this feature. You can see more of Selina’s beautiful fantasy artwork and books at her site, selinafenech.com.

The 2012 Giveaway

I have a fantastic collection of books to give away during July! There will be two prize packs, and two lucky winners. All of these titles are by Australian Fantasy authors and will either be reviewed or featured on The Oaken Bookcase this month.

You can enter via the Rafflecopter form below the giveaway details. I’ve tried to make it easy by only including a few extra entries – they’re only to help spread the word and help out the lovely people who donated prizes.

Good luck! Thanks very much to those who donated prizes!

Prize Pack 1: Paper Book Pack

• A signed copy of Obernewtyn, Isobelle Carmody
• One more hard copy book of the winner’s choice from the list of books reviewed during July on The Oaken Bookcase. A list of reviews is further up on this page!*
• A fairy bookmark featuring artwork by Selina Fenech!
• I am planning to add more things to this pack – check back for updates later in the month.

Prize Pack 2: Enormous Book Pack

• E-book copy of Destiny of the Light, Louise Cusack – donated by Momentum Books
• E-book copy of Valkeryn: Return of the Ancients, Greig Beck – donated by Momentum Books
• Paper copy of Embrace, Jessica Shirvington shipped from Book Depository – donated by Philippa of Tea, Daydreams & Fairytales
• Paper copy of Obernewtyn, Isobelle Carmody shipped from Book Depository – donated by Bree of All The Books I Can Read

(This giveaway is no longer active)