RAY NAYLER Palaces of the Crow. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Ray Nayler shows his versatility in his latest novel, a historical fantasy exploring war, survival, birdlife, and magic. Ray Nayler is a speculative fiction author who does not remotely do the same thing twice. His first novel, The Mountain in the Sea, was a slightly...
KATIE KITAMURA Audition. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart
The new novel from the author of Intimacies offers different versions of the roles we take on, questioning our assumptions about truth. Shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize, Kitamura’s latest novel contains many things jostling for our attention. The two parts, or...
TOM BARAGWANATH Lucky Thing. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
In Tom Baragwanath’s latest crime novel, Lorraine Henry knows only too well how small towns and close communities are a blessing and a curse. Tom Baragwanath first introduced ‘Lo’ Henry in Paper Cage, a novel about a small but divided community and a string of missing...
GEORGE KEMP Soft Serve. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
Gathered in a McDonald’s as a bushfire races towards their town, the characters in George Kemp’s debut are all on the cusp of change. George Kemp’s novel is a delight, despite its heavy themes. Simply told, it’s a story with universal resonance but a distinctly...
CHRISTINE BALINT A Single Witness. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Christine Balint’s fourth novel takes inspiration from the courage of a teenage girl in a real-life criminal case in 18th-century Italy. ‘It takes seven women to make a single witness.’ Old Venetian Proverb. Anna Maria did not have seven women to turn to for proof,...
VERONICA ROTH Seek the Traitor’s Son. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Set in a future Earth, the first instalment of Veronica Roth’s new science-fiction series imagines the consequences of alien gifts. Veronica Roth is probably best known as the author of the popular YA-pitched Divergent series (and the not-as-popular movie series...
FRANCESCA DE TORES Cast Away. Reviewed by Ann Skea
The new novel from the author of Saltblood again traverses the high seas, this time inspired by a real-life Scottish adventurer. When they leave me on the island, I do not scruple to beg. I chase the last boat into the bay, wading and shouting, ‘Sir, sir, mercy, have...
GABRIELE TERGIT The Effingers: A Berlin Saga. Reviewed by Sandra Hogan
A new translation of this German classic tells the story of a Jewish family in Berlin from the nineteenth to the twentieth centuries. In 1932, Gabriele Tergit’s Berlin publisher asked her to write a novel about a Jewish family because middle-class Jews were the best...
CARI THOMAS Threadneedle and Shadowstitch. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley
The first two instalments of Welsh author Cari Thomas’s bestselling fantasy series are full of magic, danger, coercion and rebellion. In the first volume, Threadneedle, Anna’s future is all planned out for her: study hard to become a doctor and have her magic...
BERNICE BARRY The Names of a Hare. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Set during England’s witch persecutions, Bernice Barry’s novel draws on the magical associations of the hare and tips its hat to Lorna Doone. There are things you’ll be wanting to know and I will tell you most of them, but there’s one thing I will not give and...
FIONA WRIGHT Kill Your Boomers. Reviewed by Naomi Manuell
Poet and essayist Fiona Wright’s funny and furious debut novel tackles generational inequality and Australia’s housing crisis. How did it come to this? As one character puts it in Fiona Wright’s new novel Kill Your Boomers, ‘Do you know anyone, literally...
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RAY NAYLER Palaces of the Crow. Reviewed by Robert Goodman2 June 2026Ray Nayler shows his versatility in his latest novel, a historical fantasy [ … ]
KATIE KITAMURA Audition. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart28 May 2026The new novel from the author of Intimacies offers different versions of the [ … ]
TOM BARAGWANATH Lucky Thing. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm26 May 2026In Tom Baragwanath’s latest crime novel, Lorraine Henry knows only too well how [ … ]