Five Buck Fantasy Sci-fi Australia

Five Buck Fantasy Sci-fi Australia Endless fantasy & sci-fi. New or old, common or obscure, pristine or crinkled, all $5 a book.

Get in touch if youre looking for a particular book, or if you have a list. And keep an eye on our page for new and interesting books posted every day.

SOLD M. J. Engh’s Wheel of the Winds is a thoughtful science fiction novel set on an alien world where human colonists h...
17/06/2026

SOLD M. J. Engh’s Wheel of the Winds is a thoughtful science fiction novel set on an alien world where human colonists have adapted to a society very different from the one they originally left behind. As the story unfolds, questions of culture, power, and survival become intertwined with the challenges of understanding a world that has evolved along unexpected lines.

Unlike action-driven space opera, the novel focuses on anthropology and social change, exploring how societies develop and how individuals are shaped by the cultures they inhabit. Engh pays particular attention to issues of gender, belief, and the assumptions people bring with them when encountering unfamiliar ways of life.

The book is often noted for its intelligence and subtlety, sitting alongside the more reflective science fiction of writers such as Ursula K. Le Guin. Rather than relying on spectacle, Wheel of the Winds builds its impact through ideas, atmosphere, and the gradual revelation of a fascinating and believable alien society.

A couple copies up for grabs. $5 each plus postage.

If it does not say SOLD at the top of this post then I probs still have copies.

Send your book wish lists to [email protected] to get notified if something comes in with a match.

SOLD I predict these books will last for approximately 4 seconds.Jack Vance is one of the true giants of speculative fic...
17/06/2026

SOLD I predict these books will last for approximately 4 seconds.

Jack Vance is one of the true giants of speculative fiction, a writer whose imagination and distinctive style influenced generations of fantasy and science fiction authors. Over a career spanning more than six decades, he produced an extraordinary body of work ranging from planetary adventures and science fiction classics to some of the most elegant and original fantasy ever written.

He is perhaps best known in fantasy for the Lyonesse books and The Dying Earth stories, the latter giving rise to the term “Vancian magic”, a system of spellcasting later adopted by Dungeons & Dragons and countless fantasy worlds that followed. His science fiction includes celebrated works such as The Demon Princes series and The Languages of Pao, all marked by his rich imagination, dry humour, and unforgettable prose.

What makes Vance unique is his voice. His dialogue is witty and precise, his characters are often eccentric or morally ambiguous, and his worlds feel strange, colourful, and completely unlike anyone else’s. He avoided the straightforward good-versus-evil conflicts common in fantasy, preferring intrigue, irony, and the peculiarities of human nature.

Though never as commercially dominant as Tolkien or Asimov, Vance’s influence on the genre is immense. Writers ranging from Gene Wolfe to George R. R. Martin and Neil Gaiman have acknowledged his importance, and many readers consider him one of the finest stylists ever to work in speculative fiction.

$5 each plus postage.

If it does not say SOLD at the top of this post then I probs still have copies.

Send your book wish lists to [email protected] to get notified if something comes in with a match.

I said it’d be a Donaldson kinda week and here’s smore. Stephen Donaldson’s Mordant’s Need books are many people’s favou...
17/06/2026

I said it’d be a Donaldson kinda week and here’s smore.

Stephen Donaldson’s Mordant’s Need books are many people’s favourite Donaldson books (mine are still to come later this week). They kick off with The Mirror of Her Dreams, and they show a very different side of the author best known for The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. While still intellectually ambitious and psychologically rich, these novels are more accessible and far less confrontational than his earlier work.

The story follows Terisa Morgan, a lonely woman from our world who is drawn into the kingdom of Mordant, where mirrors are not just reflective surfaces but powerful tools capable of shaping reality itself. Caught in a web of political intrigue, assassination attempts, and competing agendas, she must learn whom she can trust while coming to terms with her own doubts and insecurities.

Donaldson uses the fantasy setting to explore themes of perception, identity, and self-worth, but with a lighter touch than the Thomas Covenant books. The result is a richly layered tale of court politics and magical mystery, built around one of the most original magical concepts in fantasy.

Many readers who struggle with the challenges of Thomas Covenant find Mordant’s Need easier to embrace, and for some, it represents Donaldson at his most enjoyable and emotionally satisfying.

The series is a duology and I have three sets available. $5 a book, plus postage.

If it does not say SOLD at the top of this post then I probs still have copies.

Send your book wish lists to [email protected] to get notified if something comes in with a match.

SOLD Jack Vance’s Lyonesse books are widely regarded as one of the great achievements of modern fantasy, combining Arthu...
16/06/2026

SOLD Jack Vance’s Lyonesse books are widely regarded as one of the great achievements of modern fantasy, combining Arthurian legend, Celtic folklore, and Vance’s unmistakable wit into a world that feels both ancient and wonderfully strange. Set in the Elder Isles, a mythical archipelago off the coast of Europe, the series follows kings, sorcerers, rogues, and adventurers as politics, magic, and ambition intertwine.

Beginning with Suldrun’s Garden, the trilogy unfolds through a rich cast of characters whose schemes and desires shape the fate of Lyonesse and the surrounding kingdoms. Vance brings a distinctive elegance to the prose, mixing court intrigue and high adventure with dry humour and sharply observed dialogue.

Unlike many epic fantasies, Lyonesse avoids straightforward battles between good and evil. Its characters are complex, often self-interested, and frequently caught in webs of deception and competing loyalties. Magic is powerful and mysterious, but it exists alongside human vanity, greed, and folly.

For many readers and writers, Lyonesse represents Jack Vance at the height of his powers. Its influence can be seen in later fantasy authors who sought to combine literary style with imaginative world-building, and it remains one of the genre’s most distinctive and rewarding series.

Full set here. $5 each plus postage.

If it does not say SOLD at the top of this post then I probs still have copies.

Send your book wish lists to [email protected] to get notified if something comes in with a match.

SOLD Stephen Donaldson’s Chronicles of Thomas Covenant is one of the most important and influential fantasy series ever ...
16/06/2026

SOLD Stephen Donaldson’s Chronicles of Thomas Covenant is one of the most important and influential fantasy series ever written, but it’s also one of the most challenging. Beginning with Lord Foul’s Bane, the books broke away from the traditional heroic fantasy mould and introduced readers to a protagonist who was deeply flawed, angry, and often difficult to like.

Thomas Covenant is a l***r from our world who is transported to a magical realm known simply as the Land. Refusing to believe the experience is real, he struggles with guilt, disbelief, and self-loathing, creating a central tension unlike anything most fantasy readers had encountered before. Donaldson deliberately forces readers to wrestle with uncomfortable questions about responsibility, redemption, and the nature of reality.

The series is renowned for its rich world-building and emotional depth, but it demands patience. The prose is dense, the themes are heavy, and Covenant himself remains one of the most divisive protagonists in fantasy. For some readers, that makes the books frustrating. For others, it is precisely what elevates them into the front rank of the genre.

Few fantasy series have been as ambitious in their treatment of morality and psychology, and the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant helped pave the way for the darker, more complex fantasy that would follow in later decades. Love it or struggle with it, its importance to the development of modern fantasy is difficult to overstate.

Stephen Donaldson has this amazing ability to create characters that make you feel conflicted. It’s why I love and appreciate his work. There’s more to come from him this week, but here are four full sets of the First and Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.

$5 a book as always, plus postage.

If it does not say SOLD at the top of this post then I probs still have copies.

Send your book wish lists to [email protected] to get notified if something comes in with a match.

This interesting duo still up for grabs. Don’t see these often
15/06/2026

This interesting duo still up for grabs. Don’t see these often

Trade paperback copy still available
15/06/2026

Trade paperback copy still available

These hardcovers are in great nick.
15/06/2026

These hardcovers are in great nick.

SOLD Whitley Strieber’s Communion books occupy a unique place between horror, memoir, and speculative fiction. Beginning...
15/06/2026

SOLD Whitley Strieber’s Communion books occupy a unique place between horror, memoir, and speculative fiction. Beginning with the hugely influential Communion, the series explores Strieber’s claimed encounters with mysterious beings he referred to as “the Visitors”, experiences that sparked decades of debate and helped shape modern alien abduction mythology.

Rather than presenting straightforward science fiction, the books blur the line between autobiography and the unknown, examining memory, consciousness, and the possibility that humanity may be interacting with intelligences beyond our understanding. Strieber approaches the subject less as a storyteller and more as someone trying to make sense of profoundly unsettling experiences.

The original Communion, with its famous cover image of that alien, became an international bestseller and had a major impact on popular culture. Its sequel, Transformation, continues the exploration, moving beyond simple questions of extraterrestrial contact into broader ideas about reality, perception, and the nature of consciousness.

Whether read as memoir, speculative philosophy, or modern folklore, the Communion books remain among the most influential and controversial works associated with UFO and alien encounter literature.

$5 each plus postage.

If it does not say SOLD at the top of this post then I probs still have copies.

Send your book wish lists to [email protected] to get notified if something comes in with a match.

SOLD We don’t talk enough about Janny Wurts. She’s one of fantasy’s most under-rated authors, and imo is even responsibl...
15/06/2026

SOLD We don’t talk enough about Janny Wurts. She’s one of fantasy’s most under-rated authors, and imo is even responsible for the great Raymond Feist’s best books when she co-wrote the Empire series with him.

Her Cycle of Fire books, beginning with Stormwarden, showcase many of the qualities that would later make her Wars of Light and Shadow sequence so highly regarded. The trilogy follows Jaric, a young prince forced into exile after betrayal destroys his world, setting him on a path that will test his courage, identity, and mastery of powerful magic.

As Jaric struggles to understand his abilities, he becomes entangled in conflicts that stretch far beyond his personal survival. Wurts builds the story around themes of responsibility, self-discovery, and the burden of inheritance, with magic portrayed as something both wondrous and dangerous.

While smaller in scope than some epic fantasy sagas, the Cycle of Fire books combine vivid world-building with strong emotional stakes and a tightly focused narrative. Readers familiar with Wurts’ later work will recognise her gift for atmosphere and consequence, as well as her ability to create characters whose greatest battles are often as much internal as external.

The trilogy remains a favourite among readers who enjoy character-driven epic fantasy with rich prose and a strong sense of wonder.

Full set here. $5 each plus postage.

If it does not say SOLD at the top of this post then I probs still have copies.

Send your book wish lists to [email protected] to get notified if something comes in with a match.

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