Background

"The Sword of God" was first published in Australia in 1996 in Paul Collins

Paul Collins (fantasy writer)

Paul Collins is an Australian writer and editor who specializes in science fiction and fantasy.Collins has written many books for younger readers...

' Dream Weavers

Dream Weavers (anthology)

Dream Weavers is a 1996 fantasy anthology edited by Paul Collins.-Background:Dream Weavers was first published in September 1996 by Penguin Books in trade paperback format. It was a short-list nominee for the 1997 Ditmar Award for best long fiction but lost to Lucy Sussex' The Scarlet Rider. Dream...

by Penguin Books

Penguin Books

Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...

. It was published alongside 12 other stories by the authors Tony Shillitoe

Tony Shillitoe

Tony Shillitoe started writing professionally in 1992 when Pan Macmillan published the novel Guardians, the first of the successful Andrakis fantasy series, recently republished by Altair Books Pty Ltd under new titles with some minor editorial alterations...

, Melinda Ross, Sean McMullen

Sean McMullen

Sean Christopher McMullen is an Australian science fiction and fantasy author.-Biography:McMullen has a degree in physics and history from Melbourne University , a postgraduate degree in library and information science, and a PhD in Medieval Literature...

, Jane Routley

Jane Routley

Jane Routley is an Australian writer of fantasy fiction.-Biography:Routley was born in Melbourne, Australia. In 1996 Routley's first book was released in the U.S., entitled Mage Heart which is the first book in the Mage Heart series. She has since released two more novels in the series. In 2000 all...

, Cadmus Evans, Shannah Jay, Howard Goldsmith, Paul Collins, Isobelle Carmody

Isobelle Carmody

Isobelle Jane Carmody is an Australian writer of science fiction, fantasy, children's literature, and young adult literature.-Biography:Carmody began work on the highly acclaimed Obernewtyn Chronicles at the age of fourteen...

, Beverley MacDonald, Ian Hayward Robinson and Keith Taylor

Keith Taylor (author)

Keith John Taylor is an Australian science fiction and fantasy writer.-Biography:Born in Tasmania, Taylor now resides in Melbourne, Australia. Getting his start in Ted White's Fantastic magazine, Taylor went on to collaborate with Andrew J. Offutt on two novels based upon the Robert E. Howard...

. In 1997 it was republished in The Years' Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy 1996 edited by Jonathan Strahan

Jonathan Strahan

Jonathan Strahan is an editor and publisher of science fiction. His family moved to Perth, Western Australia in 1968, and he graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts in 1986....

, Jeremy G. Byrne. In 2003 Wakefield Press

Wakefield Press

Wakefield Press is an independent book publishing company in Australia, based in the Adelaide suburb of Kent Town, South Australia. They publish an eclectic list diverse in subject, tone and point, with strong suits in true stories, gastronomy, history, literature and gift books.-History:Wakefield...

 and Aphelion Publications published it in Forever Shores, edited by Margaret Winch, Peter McNamara, and in 2004 it was released again in The Best Australian Science Fiction: A Fifty Year Collection, edited by Rob Gerrand

Rob Gerrand

Rob Gerrand is an Australian writer of science fiction - Books :* Transmutations ,* Fortress * Rewrite Your Life! ,...

 and published by Black Inc. "The Sword of God" won the 1996 Aurealis Award for best fantasy short story

Aurealis Award for best fantasy short story

The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and SpecFaction NSW to published works in order to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers"...

 and the 1997 Ditmar Award

Ditmar Award

The Ditmar Award has been awarded annually since 1969 at the Australian National Science Fiction Convention to recognise achievement in Australian science fiction and science fiction fandom...

for best Australian short fiction.