Jeremy Szal (born May 31, 1995) is an Australian

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes Space warfare in science fiction, space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, i ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

author. He often describes his work as "spacepunk" or gothic space opera. His first novel, ''Stormblood'', was published by Gollancz in 2020, with the sequel ''Blindspace'' following in 2021. He has published forty short stories, and his work has appeared in eleven languages.

Personal

Jeremy Szal was born in Sydney, Australia, where he has lived almost all his life. He has a BA in Film Studies and Creative Writing from the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

. From 2014 to 2020, he was the fiction editor and audio producer for the Hugo-winning podcast

StarShipSofa ''StarShipSofa'' is a science fiction audio magazine and podcast from the United Kingdom hosted by Tony C. Smith. It publishes audio short fiction, commentary, essays, and anthologies of transcribed material. StarShipSofa was the first ever pod ...

. Authors he's worked with on the show include George R. R. Martin, Harlan Ellison, and William Gibson. He is of Middle-Eastern and Slavic descent.

Writing career

Szal is the author of The Common Saga. The books are published by Gollancz in the UK and

Hachette Hachette may refer to: * Hachette (surname) * Hachette Livre, a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing ** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary ** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm See also * Hachette Fil ...

in Australia and New Zealand. Stormblood, the first novel, was accepted for publication in 2018, when Szal was 23 years old, and was published in 2020, followed by Blindspace in 2021. The series heavily features stormtech, a drug made from the DNA of an extinct alien race, making users permanently addicted to adrenaline and aggression. This drug was injected into people to turn them into elite super soldiers called Reapers. The series follows Vakov Fukasawa, a Reaper, who has walked away from a war, only to discover that his former squadmates are being killed by someone close to him. The central narrative takes place on Compass, a giant hollowed-out asteroid, established as a galactic commonwealth, populated by various aliens, nomadic warriors, drug-dealers, cyberneticists, cultists, smugglers, and bounty hunters. Szal's work regularly addresses themes of trauma and violence and power, justice and injustice, drug addiction, abuse, familial relationships, brotherhood, and masculinity. Stormblood was described in The Guardian as a book that "boasts gloriously described alien worlds, mammoth starships, exotic weaponry and bizarre extraterrestrials – but Szal doesn’t stint on the human element." Szal cites among his influences authors such as

Pierce Brown Pierce Brown (born January 28, 1988) is an American science fiction author who writes the ''Red Rising'' series, consisting of '' Red Rising'' (2014), '' Golden Son'' (2015), '' Morning Star'' (2016), '' Iron Gold'' (2018), '' Dark Age'' (2019), ...

Joe Abercrombie Joseph Edward Abercrombie (born December 31, 1974) is a British author of epic fantasy books and a film editor. He is the author of '' The First Law'' and '' The Age of Madness'' trilogies, as well as other fantasy books in the same setting, an ...

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948) also known by the initials G.R.R.M. is an American author, television writer, and television producer. He is best known as the author of the unfinished series of Hi ...

Karen Traviss Karen Traviss is a science fiction author from Wiltshire, England. She is the author of the '' Wess'Har'' series, and has written tie-in material based on ''Star Wars'', '' Gears of War'', '' Halo'', '' G.I. Joe'' and the newest ''Nomad'' Series ...

Alastair Reynolds Alastair Preston Reynolds (born 13 March 1966) is a Welsh science fiction author. He specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. Early life Reynolds was born in Wales and spent his early years in Cornwall before moving back to Wales, ...

Dan Simmons Dan Simmons (born April 4, 1948) is an American science fiction and horror writer. He is the author of the Hyperion Cantos and the Ilium/Olympos cycles, among other works that span the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres, sometimes ...

, and

Iain M. Banks Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, which is derived from the Hebrew given name ( Yohanan, ') and corresponds to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. This name is a po ...

. He has also cited the influence of video games on his writing, such as

Halo HALO, halo, halos or haloes may refer to: Most common meanings * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head * ''Halo'' (franchise), a sci-fi video game series (2001–2021) Arts and en ...

, Mass Effect, The Witcher, Dark Souls, and Bioshock. Although he writes diverse characters and sets his stories in global locations, Szal says he is "less interested in drawing the lines at borders and is more invested in seeing what the whole world has to offer". His short stories, nonfiction articles and essays on science-fiction genre have appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines, including Nature, Lightspeed Magazine, Strange Horizons. He was a Special Guest at the 81st Worldcon in Chengdu, China, where he accepted the

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...

for Adrian Tchaikovsky for his "Children of Time" series.

Bibliography

The Common Saga

# Stormblood (2020) # Blindspace (2021) # Wolfskin (2025)

Short fiction

*"The Galaxy’s Cube" in ''Abyss and Apex'', Issue 58, 2016 *"Walls of Nigeria" in ''Nature'', August 11, 2016 *"When There's Only Dust Left" in ''Nature,'' May 11, 2017 *"House of Dolls" in ''Tales to Terrify, Episode 277.'' *"Ark of Bones" in ''StarShipSofa, No 509'' *"Dead Men Walking" in Abyss & Apex, 2018 *"Traumahead" in ''Nature'', June 28, 2018 *"The dataSultan of Streets and Stars" in ''Where the Stars Rise: Asian Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories'', 2018 *"Inkskinned" in ''Shades Within Us: Tales of Migrations and Fractured Borders,'' 2018 *"The Cloud Heart" in ''Nature,'' 2019. *"Tomorrow, the Sunset Will Be Blue" in ''Nature,'' 2019 *"Shipmaster's Scalp" in ''Nature,'' 2019. *"A Love Like Bruises" in ''Kaleidotrope'', Summer 2020 *"Scream in Blue" in ''London Centric: Tales of Future London'', 2020 *"Oceans Like Neurons" in ''Nature'', October 22, 2021 *"Beneath a Bicameral Moon" in ''Shapers of Worlds II: Volume II,'' 2021 *"The Black Horse" in ''The King Must Fall,'' 2022. *"Metal Empathy" in ''Broken Stars'', 2024

Collections

* Broken Stars (2024)

References

External links

Jeremy Szal
at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
Jeremy Szal at the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
{{DEFAULTSORT:Szal, Jeremy 1995 births Living people Australian science fiction writers Australian male novelists Writers from Sydney Australian male short story writers Australian fantasy writers 21st-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian short story writers Australian podcasters Cyberpunk writers Military science fiction writers