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y separately published work icon Galax-Arena single work   novel   young adult   science fiction  
Issue Details: First known date: 1992... 1992 Galax-Arena
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

In the year 2026, three young Australians, a brother and two sisters, are kidnapped by space pirates and taken to another galaxy to perform for aliens in a futuristic amphitheatre

Exhibitions

23523387
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Notes

  • Also published in Holland 1994 and Denmark 1994 (details not known).
  • Prequel to Terra-Farma.
  • Author's note: The new edition of Galax-Arena (2001) differs slightly from the original Galax-Arena, first published in 1992. It is set a little further into the future and the idea of an international sports acrobatics competition called Contest has been introduced. I have based Terra-Farma on this edition because I wanted to develop the idea of the Contest. - frontmatter Terra-Farma (2001)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • South Yarra, South Yarra - Glen Iris area, Melbourne - Inner South, Melbourne, Victoria,: Hyland House , 1992 .
      image of person or book cover 4747568378013581976.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 138p.
      ISBN: 0947062939
    • London, Ontario,
      c
      Canada,
      c
      Americas,      :       Heinemann ,       1993 .
      Extent: 138p.
      ISBN: 0434965030
    • Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Puffin , 1994 .
      Extent: 138p.
      ISBN: 0140361006
    • London, Ontario,
      c
      Canada,
      c
      Americas,      :       Mammoth ,       1995 .
      image of person or book cover 9103779539432871880.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 138p.
      ISBN: 0749719842
    • Balmain, Glebe - Leichhardt - Balmain area, Sydney Inner West, Sydney, New South Wales,: Ligature , 2013 .
      image of person or book cover 3364300208426791501.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 132p.p.
    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Untapped , 2021 .
      image of person or book cover 271013813516139794.png
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 1v.p.
      ISBN: 9781922730039
Notes:
Also published in Holland 1994 and Denmark 1994 (details not known).
    • New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,      :       Simon and Schuster ,       1995 .
      image of person or book cover 569018705071823010.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 175p.
      ISBN: 068980136X
    • Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Puffin , 2001 .
      Extent: 168p.
      Note/s:
      • Based on the American edition
      ISBN: 0141310243
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Other Formats

  • Also braille.
Find library holdings on Trove

Related Works

Galax-Arena Gillian Rubinstein , 1995 single work drama young adult science fiction
y separately published work icon Terra-Farma Gillian Rubinstein , Ringwood : Viking , 2001 Z896454 2001 single work novel young adult science fiction

'No-one has ever escaped from the Galax-Arena before. Now Project Genesis Five wants to know how Joella, Peter and Liane did it.On the run from the all-seeing, all-knowing Project, the girls find shelter at Terra-Farma, while Peter tries to survive in the outback. But Terra-Farma is not what it seems. Can Joelle escape again?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.
VIEW ALL RELATED WORKS (2)

Works about this Work

Intra-Active : The Child/Animal in Children's SF Naarah Sawers , 2006 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , December vol. 16 no. 2 2006; (p. 23-28) In a close reading of Gillian Rubenstein's Galax-Arena, Sawers examines how children's science fiction novels reflect and mediate the overarching influence of science and biotechnology as an authority on the production of 'new realities' (23). Sawers contends that narratives that engender a particular set of responses to science and its treatment of bodies are fundamentally political and hence, deserve close analysis, particularly as children's bodies are a crucial part of biomedical research. Sawers argues that children's SF is both constitutive of and produced by the biotechnological imaginary and it is through 'literature that challenges the boundaries of science and fiction that the anxieties surrounding the animal-human hybrid are articulated' (27). What needs to be considered and critiqued, says Sawers, is whether such articulations 'simply reinscribe humanist ideology and the division between science and humanities or offer a more responsible engagement with scientific practices' (23).
Untitled Sally Pyvis , 2002 single work review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 16 no. 1 2002; (p. 60-61)
— Review of Galax-Arena Gillian Rubinstein , 1992 single work novel ; Terra-Farma Gillian Rubinstein , 2001 single work novel
Untitled Helen Purdie , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , July vol. 16 no. 3 2001; (p. 37)
— Review of Terra-Farma Gillian Rubinstein , 2001 single work novel ; Galax-Arena Gillian Rubinstein , 1992 single work novel
Representations of the 'Absent Mother' in Australian Adolescent Fiction Diana Beere , 1998 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , December vol. 8 no. 3 1998; (p. 16-24) Beere analyses the ways in which the 'absent mother' is represented in the novel Galax-Arena and the short story 'Andrew', from the collection, Love Me, Love Me Not. (These monograph titles were shortlisted for the Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards in 1992 and 1993 respectively). Beer's argument is that in recent fictions for children and adolescents, representations of the 'absent mother' continue to maintain and support dominant patrirachal constructions of motherhood which fundamentally categorize women within a rigid dualistic system of signification. Beere's reading of Galax-Arena looks at how literal and metaphorical representations of the absent mother - ie. contemporary society as 'bad parent' (19), are closely associated with biological femininity. By contrast, she argues that the short story 'Andrew' offers a more positive representation which challenges prevailing ideologies of motherhood that construct 'absent mothers' as only a negative force in the lives of children (22). Despite signs of resistance in some narratives, Beere concludes that the either/or subject positioning of women as good mothers or bad mothers is part of the post-feminist 'backlash' (22), which continues 'to limit the range of legitimate identities available to women and girls and hence to undermine the achievements of contemporary feminist movements' (17). She ends her critique by questioning the implications of 'conventional normative versions of motherhood' in relation to the judging of children's literature and the awards merited by the Children's Book Council of Australia.
Gillian Rubinstein : 'Playing the Game of Life' John Foster , 1997 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Adolescent Novel : Australian Perspectives 1997; (p. 197-204)
Untitled Ashley Freeman , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , February vol. 37 no. 1 1993; (p. 30)
— Review of Galax-Arena Gillian Rubinstein , 1992 single work novel
Untitled Nola Allen , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , May vol. 8 no. 2 1993; (p. 31)
— Review of Galax-Arena Gillian Rubinstein , 1992 single work novel
Untitled 1994 single work review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 8 no. 1 1994; (p. 40)
— Review of Galax-Arena Gillian Rubinstein , 1992 single work novel
Kicking Goals Cathryn Crowe , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 21 August 1993; (p. 6)
— Review of The Bamboo Flute Garry Disher , 1992 single work children's fiction ; A Long Way to Tipperary Sue Gough , 1992 single work novel ; Looking for Alibrandi Melina Marchetta , 1992 single work novel ; Galax-Arena Gillian Rubinstein , 1992 single work novel ; Belinda Pamela Allen , 1992 single work picture book ; Blabber Mouth Morris Gleitzman , 1992 single work children's fiction ; The Web Nette Hilton , 1992 single work children's fiction ; Where's Mum? Libby Gleeson , 1992 single work picture book ; Rose Meets Mr Wintergarten Bob Graham , 1992 single work picture book
No Easy Consolations Nicola Robinson , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Women's Book Review , March vol. 5 no. 1 1993; (p. 27-28)
— Review of Virtual Realities Claire Carmichael , 1992 single work children's fiction ; Galax-Arena Gillian Rubinstein , 1992 single work novel
The Children's Book Council of Australia Annual Awards 1993 1993 single work criticism
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , August vol. 37 no. 3 1993; (p. 2-8) Judge's report for the 1993 Children's Book Council Book of the Year Award.
A Hero is a Man...??? Gillian Rubinstein , 1993 single work column
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , May vol. 8 no. 2 1993; (p. 5-9)
Intra-Active : The Child/Animal in Children's SF Naarah Sawers , 2006 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , December vol. 16 no. 2 2006; (p. 23-28) In a close reading of Gillian Rubenstein's Galax-Arena, Sawers examines how children's science fiction novels reflect and mediate the overarching influence of science and biotechnology as an authority on the production of 'new realities' (23). Sawers contends that narratives that engender a particular set of responses to science and its treatment of bodies are fundamentally political and hence, deserve close analysis, particularly as children's bodies are a crucial part of biomedical research. Sawers argues that children's SF is both constitutive of and produced by the biotechnological imaginary and it is through 'literature that challenges the boundaries of science and fiction that the anxieties surrounding the animal-human hybrid are articulated' (27). What needs to be considered and critiqued, says Sawers, is whether such articulations 'simply reinscribe humanist ideology and the division between science and humanities or offer a more responsible engagement with scientific practices' (23).
New Words for an Alien World Agnes Nieuwenhuizen , 1992 single work criticism biography
— Appears in: The Age , 9 September 1992; (p. 5)
The Guilt on the Gingerbread Philippa Hawker , 1994 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Written World : Youth and Literature 1994; (p. 48-54)
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Awards

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Last amended 6 Dec 2021 10:44:53
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