RJURIK DAVIDSON Unwrapped Sky. Reviewed by Keith Stevenson
This debut weaves a prodigious tapestry around its drowned world; the result is an example of the best of contemporary Australian fantasy writing. The city of Caeli-Amur was born out of the imagination of Australian writer Rjurik Davidson in 2005 with his Ditmar...
JO SPURRIER North Star Guide Me Home: Children of the Black Sun, Book Three. Reviewed by Folly Gleeson
Through cruelty to transcendence: the third book of this powerful series delivers both. This final instalment of the Children of the Black Sun trilogy opens with three damaged mages – Rasten, Sierra and Isidro – reeling in the aftermath of the events of Book Two,...
DAVID M HENLEY The Hunt for Pierre Jnr. Reviewed by Folly Gleeson
This future world takes the ethical dilemmas and tendencies of our own time on some scary trajectories. In the earth of the far future, a world of 20 billion inhabitants who are living under domes and experiencing a life controlled by the World Union, Peter Lazarus is...
MARIANNE DE PIERRES Peacemaker. Reviewed by Keith Stevenson
Sci-fi, crime, the supernatural and a savvy female ranger – Marianne de Pierres mixes them all in this first instalment of a new series. In the future Australia of Peacemaker we seem to be managing. There have been ructions, wars and incidents due to water shortages,...
JOANNE M HARRIS The Gospel of Loki. Reviewed by Folly Gleeson
From Chaos to Asgard: in this novel by the author of Chocolat the notorious Scandinavian trickster, Loki, gets a chance to tell his story. The tales of the Norse pantheon must float near the top of the reservoir of myth, so many writers and artists have made use of...
DUNCAN LAY Wall of Spears: Empire of Bones, Book Three. Reviewed by Folly Gleeson
An intricate and well-plotted narrative, full of incident, ends the Empire of Bones trilogy with a flourish. In this final book, the complex developments of the first two books in the Empire of Bones series are brought to the point of an epic battle. Wall of Spears...
ANN LECKIE Ancillary Justice. Reviewed by Keith Stevenson
Immersive, layered and compelling: this standout science fiction debut rewards persistence. Ancillary Justice, the debut novel from American author Ann Leckie, has been garnering a fair bit of buzz around the speculative fiction community over the past few months and...
TERRY PRATCHETT Raising Steam. Reviewed by Folly Gleeson
This new novel is an exuberant celebration of the endlessly changing Discworld. In Raising Steam, Terry Pratchett’s 40th book set on the Discworld, Ankh-Morpork, the most exciting and vibrant – but grubby – city on the Disc, is nearly a decade older than when we last...
ANDREW MACRAE Trucksong. Reviewed by Keith Stevenson
This debut is a fresh – and refreshing – addition to the tradition of Australian dystopian fiction. Oh, and there’s trucks. Post-apocalyptic dystopian stories have been popular for a long time now and seem increasingly so. They allow us to play out our worst...JO SPURRIER Black Sun Light My Way: Children of the Black Sun, Book Two. Reviewed by Folly Gleeson
The second volume of this epic fantasy is a clever and engrossing tale exploring cruelty, enslavement, magic and power. In Winter Be My Shield, Book One of the Children of the Black Sun series, we were introduced to the Blood-Mage, who controls a form of...STEPHEN BAXTER Proxima. Reviewed by Keith Stevenson
Alien technology, interplanetary travel, Artificial Intelligence and the origin of the universe are among the many ideas explored in this complex and entertaining novel. Analog Science Fiction and Fact was my magazine of choice as a teenager. Often it featured stories...
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