The Prince of Soul and The Lighthouse, by Swedish writer Fredrik Brouneus, won the Sir Julius Vogel Award for excellence in science fiction, fantasy and horror at the National Science Fiction Convention in Wellington last month.
''I'm over the moon about it,'' Mr Brouneus (42) said last night.
''I originally started writing it in Swedish and it was based in Sweden, because I hadn't been here long and felt I didn't know New Zealand well enough.
"But my publisher [Stephen Minchin, of Steam Press] wanted it to be set in New Zealand and the story and the land formed the perfect match.''
The Swedish author started the book soon after emigrating to Dunedin in 2009 when his wife, Dr Karen Brouneus, was appointed a lecturer at the University of Otago National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies.
The Prince of Soul and The Lighthouse is set in Otago and Southland and follows the adventures of a high school pupil who learns he may be responsible for the end of the world.
''A lot of it is set around Taiaroa Head and the disappearing gun. After I'd been here for a couple of years, I felt more confident about basing it in New Zealand. I've probably seen more of the South Island than Sweden now. I love this place.''
Mr Brouneus has previously written three books in Sweden and is also a qualified pharmacist, working as a communication researcher at the university Pharmacovigilance Research Centre.
Millers Flat writer Kyle Mewburn won the Te Kura Pounamu Award in Wellington last night for his Te Reo Maori book Ko Meru at the 2013 New Zealand Library Association LIANZA Children's Book Awards.
