McConchie, Lyn
Entry updated 7 August 2023. Tagged: Author.
(1946- ) New Zealand author and farmer long active in Fandom, who began to publish professionally with "The Sar Shan Kelpie" in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy for Winter 1991 and has since been prolific in short fiction. Her first novel-length work was a Tie to Andre Norton's Witch World franchise, The Key of the Keplian (1994); this and its three successors – including The Duke's Ballad (2005), which won New Zealand's Sir Julius Vogel Award – were wholly conceived and written by McConchie though billed as collaborations with Norton. Contributions to Norton's Beast Master sequence are Beast Master's Ark (2002), Beast Master's Circus (2004) and Beast Master's Quest (2006). Of the first two, both Vogel winners, McConchie notes that although again marketed as collaborations, these were "written solely by Lyn from a brief collaborated outline"; this is presumably also true of the third.
McConchie's first non-tied novel was The Questing Road (2010), a portal fantasy somewhat in the Witch World vein and yet another Vogel Award winner. Of greater sf interest is Queen of Iron Years (2012) with Sharman Horwood, initially set in a Dystopian 2035 where a new disease exploits Transgender people as its vector, fatally for their sexual partners; the protagonist attempts to rewrite history by Time Travel to Iron Age Britain (61 CE) and the failed rebellion of Queen Boadicea, here regarded as a vital Jonbar Point; this too won a Vogel Award. Vestiges of Flames (2015) moves into Post-Holocaust territory as a global Pandemic eliminates 99% of humanity; the aftermath blends Survivalist Fiction issues with lesbian romance in a New Zealand setting. Bastet's Daughters (2017) is historical fantasy set in an Alternate History version of Ancient Egypt. Coals and Ash (2018) revisits the global background of Vestiges of Flames to tell a different story, this time located in Australia.
McConchie is a versatile author who has also written non-genre novels and picture-books for children [neither listed below]. A selection of her short sf is Tales from the Marrigan Trade House (coll 1998; exp vt Writers of the Future 1999). [DRL]
Lyn McConchie
born Auckland, New Zealand: 3 April 1946
works (selected)
series
Witch World (various subseries)
- The Key of the Keplian (New York: Warner Aspect, 1994) with Andre Norton [Witch World: The Turning: Secrets: pb/Kevin Johnson]
- Ciara's Song (New York: Warner Aspect, 1998) with Andre Norton [Witch World: Estcarp: hb/Kevin Johnson]
- The Duke's Ballad (New York: Tor, 2005) with Andre Norton [Witch World: Estcarp: hb/Daniel Dos Santos]
- Silver May Tarnish (New York: Tor, 2005) with Andre Norton [Witch World: High Hallack: hb/Daniel Dos Santos]
Beast Master
- Beast Master's Ark (New York: Tor, 2002) with Andre Norton [Beast Master: hb/Allen Douglas]
- Beast Master's Circus (New York: Tor, 2004) with Andre Norton [Beast Master: hb/Allen Douglas]
- Beast Master Team (New York: Tor, 2004) with Andre Norton [omni of the above two: Beast Master: hb/Allen Douglas]
- Beast Master's Quest (New York: Tor, 2006) with Andre Norton [Beast Master: hb/Julie Bell]
individual titles
- The Questing Road (New York: Tor, 2010) [hb/Daniel Dos Santos]
- Queen of Iron Years (place not ascertained, UK: Kite Hill Publishing, 2012) with Sharman Horwood [pb/]
- Vestiges of Flames (Maple Shade, New Jersey: Lethe Press, 2015) [pb/]
- Bastet's Daughters (Cabin John, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2017) [pb/]
- Coals and Ash (Blackwood, South Australia: Altair Australia, 2018) [pb/Rob Bleckly]
collections
- Tales from the Marrigan Trade House (Chippenham, Wiltshire: Piper's Ash, 1998) [coll: pb/]
- Writers of the Future (Chippenham, Wiltshire: Piper's Ash, 1999) [coll: exp vt of the above with 3 added stories: pb/]
links
previous versions of this entry