Sean sold his first stories in the late 1980s and has become one of Australia's top Science Fiction and Fantasy authors. In the late 90s he established himself in the American market, and his work has been translated into Polish, French, Japanese and other languages. The settings for Sean's work range from the Roman Empire, through Medieval Europe, to cities of the distant future. His work is a mixture of romance, invention and adventure, while populated by dynamic, strange and often hilarious characters. Sean's venture into Young Adult science fiction, Before the Storm, won immediate critical acclaim when it was published by Ford Street in July 2007. Described as The Terminator meets the Bronte sisters, it is a time travel novel set in the Melbourne of 1901. Sean received his interdisiplinary PhD (mainly in Medieval Fantasy) from Melbourne University in August 2008. Changing Yesterday, the sequel to Before the Storm, is due to be published in July 2011.
CHANGING YESTERDAY
When writing any young adult book I think one should always try to teach something. You have the readers' attention, after all, so it's a great opportunity. With Changing Yesterday (and its predecessor, Before the Storm) there was a chance to say a lot about Australian history and society. The setting is 1901, after all, and the plot involves two time travelers, Liore and Fox, who are trying to stop a war that will destroy the world in their future.
These cadets from the Twenty-First Century have to be taught all about Australia in 1901, so as the cadets learn what is going on, and how things are done, so do the readers. This is actually a great feature of time travel stories. We are currently in the year that Liore and Fox came from, and although they were from an alternate future, we also have big problems. Suddenly both novels can also be about what young people can do when faced with issues that seem far to big for them.
Four Melbourne teenagers, Daniel, Emily, Barry and Muriel have to help Liore and Fox save the world, but without tellin
g the police, the army, or even their parents. In Before the Storm they prevent the bombing of Australia's parliament, and Barry even makes twenty pounds out of saving the world. The dreamy but intelligent Daniel starts the dating the beautiful artist Muriel, and his sister Emily learns that girls do not have to accept the roles that society thinks they should fit into.
Changing Yesterday starts with a lesson that is rather sad but all too true: even good things can fall apart very quickly. Daniel comes home from school to discover that Muriel has dumped him and run away with Fox. He loses interest in life, so his rich parents send him to an English boarding school for a bit of good, old-fashioned discipline. Barry steals a weapon from Liore that can sink battleships, and sets off for England on the same ship as Daniel. He hopes to sell the weapon to the king. Liore is understandably angry, and goes after Barry on another ship. So do the Lionhearts, a British terrorist organisation. They would like to use the weapon to start a war with Germany.
Changing Yesterday is mostly set aboard ships, and this let me show readers that life in 1901 was slow and unwired compared to now. A ship at sea was completely cut off from the world, and the voyage to Britain took six weeks. To my surprise, I had to learn a lot about dances, popular music, games, and general social life on ships in 1901, because entertainment was a big issue for the hundreds of very bored passengers. I resisted the temptation to sink the ship for a bit of excitement, but I think that the end still has as much excitement as anyone could want.
Changing Yesterday was released by Ford Street Publishing on 1 July.
For more information,
Sean McMullen's website
Great story. Enjoyed it a log.
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