Rod Jones’ first novel, Julia Paradise, in 1988 won the Fiction Award in the South Australian Premier's Awards, and was runner-up for the Femina Etranger Prize in Paris. It has been translated into ten languages and published throughout the world. Julia Paradise was described by the New York Times as ‘. . . utterly original . . . a remarkable accomplishment’.

His second novel, Prince of the Lilies, interweaves Minoan archaeology and life in contemporary Greece.

Billy Sunday, Jones’s third novel, was winner of the 1995 Age Book of the Year Award for Fiction and the 1996 National Book Council Banjo Award for Fiction. The Boston Globe called Billy Sunday, 'The Great American Novel'.

His fourth novel, Nightpictures, was shortlisted for the 1998 Miles Franklin Award and published in France under the title Images de la Nuit(Albin Michel).

Jones's fifth novel, Swan Bay, (Actes Sud) is published in France under the title La Baie des Cygnes.

"Jones should be counted amongst Australia's most interesting and talented novelists."

"Each of his novels is wonderfully written; each explores, with an unflinching eye, key themes of sex and death, life and loss, power and abuse. Jones should be counted amongst Australia's most interesting and talented novelists."

Citation: Williams, Michael 2003. Frantic Swans. Review of "Swan Bay" by Rod Jones. 'Australian Book Review', No 250, April, 36.