AustLit logo

AustLit

image of person or book cover 2671606352410315877.png
Image sourced from the University of Sydney, Fisher Library
y separately published work icon Out of the Silence : A Romance single work   novel   science fiction   romance  
Issue Details: First known date: 1919... 1919 Out of the Silence : A Romance
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'When two amateur archaeologists in Australia uncover a hidden high-tech tomb they inadvertently awaken a millennia-old superhuman. Does the beautiful Earani mean to save humanity or destroy it?

'A country farmer uncovers remnants of an advanced civilization that contain a woman, asleep in suspended animation for two thousand years. Upon awakening the woman Earani teleports herself into the office of the Australian Prime Minister and reveals her plans to take over the world – through mind control.

'An advanced civilization from the impossibly distant past is about to be resurrected in rural Australia. What dark secrets does it hold? Is it possible for a man to deny the requests of the world's most beautiful and intelligent woman? To fight a relentless and appealing logic no matter how horrific the consequences?

'It's rare that a novel captures a country's soul. How is it possible that a novel written almost a hundred years ago can speak to us so deeply of things that disturb and torment Australians even today? Out of the Silence is the most perplexing of novels, where during the course of the story your expectations and assumptions are turned 180 degrees.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Adaptations

y separately published work icon Out of the Silence Erle Cox , R. Ernest Hicks (illustrator), 1934 7497466 1934 single work graphic novel science fiction

Erle Cox's science-fiction novel adapted (apparently by Cox himself) as a comic strip, which ran simultaneously in at least three major Australian newspapers.

The strip appeared in the same form each week: three to four (most usually four) panels of black-and-white line drawings, each with their own small block of text beneath.

form y separately published work icon Out of the Silence Erle Cox , 1940 Sydney : 2CH , 1940 Z1732446 1940 series - publisher radio play science fiction

Adapted from Erle Cox's lost civilisation novel of the same name.

Notes

  • Dedication: To My Wife
  • Russian translation 'çErminiia' published in Poslednii a novosti (4 April 1929 - 15 May 1929). National Library of Australia holds a photocopy (42 leaves; unsighted).

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1919
Serialised by: The Argus 1848-1957 newspaper (490 issues)
Notes:
Serialised in The Argus in 28 weekly instalments (every Saturday) between 19 April and 25 Oct 1919.
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      John Hamilton ,
      1927 .
      Extent: 319, 32p.p.
      Edition info: A Sundial Edition
      Note/s:
      • Last 32 p. of publisher's advertisement
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Rae D. Henkle ,
      1928 .
      Extent: 310p.
    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Robertson and Mullens , 1932 .
      person or book cover
      Extent: 320p.
      Edition info: 4th ed.
      Note/s:
      • Contains 'Author's Note to the Fourth Edition', Melbourne, June 1932.
    • Mount Waverley, Ashwood - Mulgrave area, Melbourne South East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Chimaera Publications , 2010 .
      image of person or book cover 2152085435140395587.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: iv, 278 p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Introduction by Van Ikin.
      ISBN: 9780975214381 (pbk.)
      Series: y separately published work icon Classic Australian SF Mount Waverley : Chimaera Publications , 2010 Z1755255 2010 series - publisher novel science fiction In these novels of speculative fiction, with new introductions from some of Australia's most notable writers and critics, Chimaera Publications has unearthed and reanimated a series of forgotten classics. Ranging from the 1880s to the 1930s, this selection shows the vital contribution that speculative fiction plays in Australia's literary history - an influence that continues until the present day. (Publisher blurb) Number in series: 6
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Lost Worlds Australia : Early Australian Science Fiction Lost Worlds Australia : 13 Classic Tales; Lost Worlds Australia : 16 Classic Tales London : Roh Press , 2018 15827253 2018 anthology short story science fiction

    'There has been a lot of speculative fiction written about Australia, even before colonization. The first ‘home-grown’ lost civilization story set in Australia was Oo-A-Deen, or, The Mysteries of the Interior Unveiled, published by an unknown author in the Corio Chronicle and Western Districts Advertiser, in 1847. It tells the story of an explorer who discovers a lost utopian society and falls in love with the daughter of the High Priest. With the rise in popularity of the genre thanks to such novels as Haggard’s She and King Solomon’s Mines many imitators soon followed. Thanks to the imagination of many a writer, the unexplored Australian Outback was soon populated by Atlantaeans, Lemurians, Toltecs, Classical Greeks, Ant Men, Bat People, and even the descendants of Alexander the Great’s mighty army.

    'This Early Australian Science Fiction anthology is a collection of 13 tales considered to be among the most influential Australian works in the lost world genre. They are the works most referred to by researchers and academics when they evaluate Australian colonial science fiction. Some have been made available for Kindle for the very first time and are exclusive to ROH Press.'

    Source: Publisher's blurb (2018 ed.)

    London : Roh Press , 2018

Works about this Work

The World of Out of the Silence by Erle Cox Gillian Polack , 2022 single work essay
— Appears in: Aurealis , no. 148 2022;
The Fiction of the Future : Australian Science Fiction Russell Blackford , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Sold by the Millions : Australia's Bestsellers 2012; (p. 128-140)
'According to Russell Blackford 'commercial science fiction is the most international of literary forms.' He observes that 'Australian SF continues to flourish, even if it trails heroic fantasy in mass-market appeal.' Australian SF writers although published internationally, with a dedicated fan followings in USA, UK and Europe, were overlooked for a very long time by Australian multinational publishers. The international editions had to be imported and were then distributed in Australia (Congreve and Marquardt 8). Blackford in his chapter throws light on the history of Australian SF and observes how Australian SF writers, with their concern for the future, achieved a powerful synthesis in form and content. The progress of Australian SF, maturity of style in the work of younger writers, and massive worldwide sales make Blackford optimistic as he asserts that 'the best Australian writers in the genre will be prominent players on the world stage.' (Editor's foreword xii-xiii)
Out of the Silence : Translated and Adapted Erle Cox , 2001 single work review bibliography biography
— Appears in: Notes on Australian Science Fiction 2001; (p. 56-59)
Out of the Silence : The Book Graham Stone , 2001 single work essay review bibliography
— Appears in: Notes on Australian Science Fiction 2001; (p. 50-55)
Out of the Silence Graham Stone , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: Notes on Australian Science Fiction 2001; (p. 47-49)

— Review of Out of the Silence : A Romance Erle Cox , 1919 single work novel
Australian Novel Popular In America 1929 single work review
— Appears in: All About Books , 18 April vol. 1 no. 5 1929; (p. 158)

— Review of Out of the Silence : A Romance Erle Cox , 1919 single work novel
New Leaves for the New Year 1926 single work review
— Appears in: The Home , 1 January vol. 7 no. 1 1926; (p. 3)

— Review of Out of the Silence : A Romance Erle Cox , 1919 single work novel
Out of the Silence 1932 single work review
— Appears in: Northern Affairs , 6 May vol. 2 no. 1 1932; (p. 17)

— Review of Out of the Silence : A Romance Erle Cox , 1919 single work novel
Out of the Silence Graham Stone , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: Notes on Australian Science Fiction 2001; (p. 47-49)

— Review of Out of the Silence : A Romance Erle Cox , 1919 single work novel
Out of the Silence 1932 single work review
— Appears in: The Queenslander , 25 August 1932; (p. 44)

— Review of Out of the Silence : A Romance Erle Cox , 1919 single work novel
What Ten Books Would You Take? Rose Nuttall , 1929 single work criticism
— Appears in: All About Books , 20 May vol. 1 no. 6 1929; (p. 187)
Reviewer Nuttall lists ten books she would take to an isolated island of which three are by Australian authors.
The Novel : Novels of Purpose H. M. Green , 1961 single work criticism
— Appears in: A History of Australian Literature, Pure and Applied : A Critical Review of All Forms of Literature Produced in Australia from the First Books Published After the Arrival of the First Fleet Until 1950, with Short Accounts of Later Publications Up to 1960 1961; (p. 1122-1152)
Romance of a Best Seller Victor Kennedy , Erle Cox , 1932 single work column
— Appears in: Northern Affairs , 15 July vol. 2 no. 3 1932; (p. 16)
Kennedy introduces an article in which Cox describes writing Out of the Silence.
Out of the Silence : The Book Graham Stone , 2001 single work essay review bibliography
— Appears in: Notes on Australian Science Fiction 2001; (p. 50-55)
Out of the Silence : Translated and Adapted Erle Cox , 2001 single work review bibliography biography
— Appears in: Notes on Australian Science Fiction 2001; (p. 56-59)
Last amended 11 Jan 2022 08:51:32
X