CATHERYNNE M VALENTE The Past is Red. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Catherynne M Valente’s new novel focusses on hope and resilience while asking what future generations will make of our wasteful ways. Just when you think the post-apocalyptic narrative might have become a bit stale, along comes Catherynne M Valente to blow it...
LEIGH BARDUGO Rule of Wolves. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley
Leigh Bardugo continues to enthral with the latest in her series of novels set in the world of the magical Grisha. In this, her seventh Grishaverse novel, a sequel to King of Scars, Leigh Bardugo captures the heart and imagination anew as she expands further on the...
CLARE MOLETA Unsheltered. Reviewed by Linda Godfrey
Clare Moleta’s novel canvases big questions as a mother searches for her child in a hostile landscape. The opening scene of Clare Moleta’s debut novel describes two farmers standing in the rain. Their daughter runs towards them – she’s scared; she’s five years...
ANDRZEJ SAPKOWSKI The Tower of Fools, Book 1 of the Hussite Trilogy. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley
The bestselling author of the Witcher novels turns to history in The Tower of Fools, the first instalment of his latest epic series. Andrzej Sopkowski’s new historical fantasy trilogy is set in fifteenth-century Eastern Europe during the Hussite wars (the Hussites...
MAX BARRY The 22 Murders of Madison May. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley
The author of Lexicon returns with a new novel of multiple murders and multiple worlds. ‘I hate that you make me do this’, he said, and even as she struggled, she could see that he did indeed look regretful, like a man forced to put down a pet dog, one he’d loved that...
MARIA LEWIS The Rose Daughter. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley
Aurealis award-winner Maria Lewis has created an imaginative world that is both compelling and addictive. ‘All the best characters have scars…not just the villains.’ Set in a fantasy universe shared with her other novels, but still satisfying as a standalone read, The...
KAZUO ISHIGURO Klara and the Sun. Reviewed by Paul Anderson
Kazuo Ishiguro’s latest novel is as much about what it is to be human as it is about artificial intelligence. Klara and the Sun is Kazuo Ishiguro’s first novel since he was awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature. He touches on AI towards the end of his Nobel...
DAN FREY The Future is Yours. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Dan Frey’s novel is both a critique of Silicon Valley and an exploration of what it might mean if we really could see into the future. Time travel is one of the most persistent and fun tropes in science fiction. The list of time travel books, TV shows and movies...
BRANDON SANDERSON Rhythm of War: Stormlight Archive Book 4. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley.
Brandon Sanderson’s epic fantasy series encompasses battles both mental and physical. A thousand quotes from noted scholars leapt to her mind. Accounts of what it was like to be in war. She’d read hundreds; some so detailed, she’d been able to smell the blood in...
JONATHAN LETHEM The Arrest. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
In his twelfth novel Jonathan Lethem delivers a post-apocalypse story that is also a commentary on the genre. It seems everyone wants to write post-apocalyptic fiction at the moment. But Jonathan Lethem cannot be accused of just jumping on the bandwagon in his twelfth...
From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Forty writers celebrate the lesser known characters and corners of the Star Wars universe with this celebration of the blockbuster sequel. The Empire Strikes Back is one of the most famous sequels in cinema history, and arguably still the best of the Star Wars films....
Recent Posts
LYNNE OLSON The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück. Reviewed by Ann Skea10 July 2025Lynne Olson documents how, within the horror of a Nazi concentration camp, the [ … ]
SARAH GILBERT Unconventional Women: The story of the last Blessed Sacrament Sisters in Australia. Reviewed by Suzanne Marks8 July 2025Sarah Gilbert’s account of this religious order offers a rare insight into the [ … ]
JENNIFER MILLS Salvage. Reviewed by Robert Goodman3 July 2025The new novel from the author of Dyschronia and The Airways is climate fiction [ … ]
BELINDA LYONS-LEE The Haunting of Mr and Mrs Stevenson. Reviewed by Ann Skea1 July 2025The new novel from the author of Tussaud imagines what might have inspired [ … ]