


CHRIS FLYNN Mammoth: extract
In the storeroom of an auction house in New York in 2007, a mammoth and a dinosaur settle in for a chat … At least, their bones do. This unlikely conversation is the premise of Chris Flynn’s entertaining and thought-provoking new novel that ranges from prehistory to...
EMUNA ELON House on Endless Waters. Reviewed by Ann Skea
A successful Israeli writer unexpectedly finds himself dealing with his family’s wartime past in Emuna Elon’s new novel. The image flickered on the wall for just a heartbeat, but even in that fleeting second, Yoel managed to discern that the woman in the...
LAVIE TIDHAR By Force Alone. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Lavie Tidhar reimagines the Arthurian myths in this new novel, foregrounding the quest for power over chivalry and romance. Israeli science fiction and fantasy author Lavie Tidhar has a wide and varied bibliography. He has won and been shortlisted for numerous...
POLLY SAMSON A Theatre for Dreamers. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Polly Samson’s novel imagines life in the artists’ colony on the Greek island of Hydra with Leonard Cohen, George Johnston and Charmian Clift. The boat turned, and there it was! Hey presto, the sudden flourish, conjured from bare rock by the gods and lit...
KARINA KILMORE Where the Truth Lies. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
Shortlisted for the Unpublished Manuscript Award in the 2017 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, Karina Kilmore’s debut has got a lot of Australian crime fiction fans talking. She was slipping away. The further she fell, the closer the clouds seemed to come....
MIRANDI RIWOE Stone Sky, Gold Mountain: extract
Mirandi Riwoe’s second novel (her first, The Fish Girl, was shortlisted for the Stella Prize) is set on the Palmer River goldfields of far north Queensland, and the neighbouring settlement of Maytown. Gold was discovered on the remote Palmer River in 1873, and the...
NK JEMISIN The City We Became. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
NK Jemisin’s new novel is both an urban fantasy and a love letter to New York. NK Jemisin has come off her three-for-three Hugo wins for the Broken Earth trilogy with something completely different. The City We Became firmly puts the urban into urban fantasy,...
KIRSTY MANNING The Lost Jewels. Reviewed by Ann Skea
This new novel from the author of The Jade Lily traverses three continents and features the fabulous jewels of the famous Cheapside Hoard. The Lost Jewels was inspired by a true story. On 18 June 1912, a workman clearing rubble from a cellar in London’s...
CHRIS HAMMER Silver: extract
This week our extract is from Chris Hammer’s second crime novel, Silver. It again features investigative journalist Martin Scarsden, who readers first met in Scrublands where – among other things – he fell for the beautiful Mandalay Blonde in the small Riverina town...
BEM LE HUNTE Elephants with Headlights. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Bem Le Hunte’s third novel explores what happens when Australian mores meet Indian traditions, and old ways collide with new. Siddharth is a successful Delhi businessman. The sort of person who, as Guruji sees, is keen to make it clear that: … he didn’t lead a life of...