Nina Allan Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Publication Order of Five Stories High Books Books

Publication Order of Imaginings Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Nina Allan is a British author of fiction.

Born on May 27, 1966, Nina Allan is an author you may have heard of before. She is known for writing speculative fiction, something which she has a huge love of that extends to gothic, strange, science fiction, and ghost-centered fiction. She has written several books of short stories, a novella, and a few novels. She says that she is interested in work that test genre boundaries, savors language, plays with philosophical ideas, and experiments with form. Writers that have inspired her include Ali Smith, Paul Auster, Joyce Carol Oates, M. John Harrison, Iris Murdoch, and Alasdair Gray.

She has had her stories published in a variety of places, including the magazines Crimewave, Black Static, and Interzone.

She was born in London’s East End in Whitechapel and spent her childhood growing up in the Midlands and also West Sussex. She would attend the University of Reading and then the University of Exeter, where she chose to study Russian language and literature. She would then go to Oxford to attend Corpus Christi College, where she pursued a Master’s in literature.

She would leave Oxford and go on to work for a record store with an independent chain as a buyer for the Exter-based stores. She would then move to London, working as a book seller there. She currently lives in Rothesay, on the Isle of Bute.

She also wrote for Interzone, which ran her column “Nina Allan’s Time Pieces”. The first time she saw her name in print was for her first story in 2002, which was published in Dark Horizons, a British Fantasy Society journal. She has had her stories featured in Best Horror of the Year, The Year’s Best Science Fiction, and The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime. Allan was named one of the ‘Fresh Voices’ by Guardian under ’50 Writers You Should Read Now’.

Allan has won awards for her work. including the Novella Award. the British Science Fiction Award, the Grand Prix de L’Imaginaire, and the Kitschies Red Tentacle.

The author also enjoys running and participated in a 10,000-meter race in England. She says that running means a lot to her and the practice of running is one that gives her great joy. The hobby is her main hobby, and she describes it as something she enjoys and does for herself, with no point to it other than to try and enjoy the simple experience of running. She’s not that competitive over her running but does want to always try and beat her time the next year.

Nina says that running was one of the things that was able to keep her ‘sane’ while the pandemic went on. She could rely on running at a certain time every day to be the consistent thing and it felt like everything was normal listening to her music and feeling aware about her body as a living thing while running on the coast. She frequently thinks about a group of older runners in Kyiv who would go on their daily run out, seeing it as solidarity with others that they exist, and she often wonders how they are doing while she runs.

Nina also thinks about her writing while she runs, questions and problems with her writing that need to be worked on. She finds that they unravel on their own and are solved without too much effort on her side. She loves the precious grounding things of the landscape, weather, and how the air feels, tastes, and smells. She loves them as part of her feeling free, and thus considers her running a necessity instead of an act that she is simply committed to.

When the author first started school, she had a visual impairment. Because of that, it was thought that she couldn’t participate in sports. The issue did not much matter to Allan at the time, she didn’t have any worry or regret about not doing sports since she was doing so well academically. Team sports that were offered at school at the time were off limits because many of the team sports that needed depth perception and judging speed distances, and she did not have binocular vision, as those who have been with her and watching her go down steps can attest. She would not be overly involved in PE class as a result.

Allan may not have been good at PE or team sports, but she was a good swimmer from a young age and enjoyed cross country running. She says that she had good stamina and core strength as well as breath control. Sadly, these athletic features went unnoticed. Perhaps it was a result of attending school in the seventies, when things were different. Now she knows that she can still find athletic things to enjoy and knows that she has an aptitude for sports, something that she initially believed she did not thanks to her vision. She says that it is only a matter of finding an activity or sport that is suited to one’s own abilities and disabilities should not be a factor.

Although she had difficulties playing sports growing up, Allan has always liked watching television and following sports there. She has enjoyed watching Formula 1 racing as well as Wimbledon, which she got into early when players like McEnroe and Wade were younger. She also enjoyed watching the Olympics (her first viewing was the 1976 Montreal Olympics), and Champions League football. Watching Gabi Szabo, a Romanian athlete, win the gold medal at the 2000 Olympics for the 5,000 meters made the author sit up and take notice, inspired by the athlete.

From then on, the author decided that she wasn’t going to let running be something she could not do. She laced up her Adidas sneakers and began running around the block. From there, she began running greater distances as she had more stamina. She credits running with benefitting every aspect of her life and gives her a rest from writing.

Nina Allan’s novellas include the 2013 novella Spin, the 2015 novella The Harlequin, and the 2016 novella The Art of Space Travel.

Her 2014 novel The Race is a book that you should definitely pick up if you want a fun new science fiction story! The science fiction novel was a best nominee for the John W. Campbell memorial award.

When a child is abducted, the ripple effect from the kidnapping stands to create consequences that go across worlds. Meanwhile, a writer goes into the past to find out more about a murder that is possible and find out the truth once and for all.

At the same time a distance away, a young woman gets ready for a future that is anything but certain. The reader will be taken along on this unforgettable journey that is bound to have you turning the pages to find out how this story ends!

The Rift is a 2017 novel by Nina Allan. It was nominated for a John W. Campbell Memorial book as best novel and is a noted ‘Best Book’ by British Crime Fiction.

Sisters Julie and Selena have been close ever since they were children. Then they were the best of friends, but as they grow older, they find there is a rift between the two of them.

It’s a great shock to Selena when her sister is missing at just 17 years old. She never saw it coming, and it will be two decades before she meets her sister again. Nor is she ready for what her sister has to tell her. Julie divulges that she’s been on another planet for all this time.

Selena must believe her and all that she says or take a critical eye and believe her sister is falling prey to delusions or some mental health issue. This novel delves into reality and all that comes with it through Selena and Julie’s eyes. Pick up The Rift to find out how it ends!