DUNCAN LAY Valley of Shields: Empire of Bones Two. Reviewed by Folly Gleeson
This fast-paced epic fantasy has plenty of Machiavellian twists and poses some deeper questions. Book Two of Duncan Lay’s Empire of Bones trilogy opens with an emotionally devastated Rhiannon trying to deal with a series of powerful shocks. She has found that the men...DUNCAN LAY The Bridge of Swords; JENNIFER FALLON The Dark Divide. Reviewed by Folly Gleeson
Celtic and Japanese cultures give visual and emotional charge to two recent fantasy novels. There is much richness and complexity on offer in fantasy writing, as well as extraordinarily varied and layered resources available to the writer. Two recently published...
CARLY FINDLAY (ed.) Growing Up Disabled in Australia. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
These stories range widely across different experiences of disability, and question why disabled people must always be the ones to adapt to the world. In her introduction to this remarkable collection of personal essays, Carly Findlay writes that she didn’t identify...
MICHAEL ADAMS They’ll Never Hold Me. Reviewed by Tom Kelly
A charismatic criminal, corrupt cops, and the brutality of Grafton Gaol – the story of Kevin John Simmonds is more than compelling true crime. In 1959 most people in Australia would have known the names ‘Simmonds and Newcombe’. They were the two prisoners who...
KATE KEMP The Grapevine. Reviewed by Sally Nimon
Psychologist Kate Kemp’s debut novel opens with blood spatters and goes on to unravel the secrets of a suburban street in 1970s Australia. The time is 1979. The place (namely Warrah Place) is suburban Canberra. It’s summer and the heat is oppressive, disrupting the...
FINTAN O’TOOLE Shakespeare is Hard, But So is Life. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Fintan O’Toole takes a fresh look at the world’s most famous playwright and the resonances his plays hold for our own time. Fintan O’Toole takes issue with the way Shakespeare has commonly been taught and discussed since the nineteenth century. In particular, he...
LAUREN CHATER The Beauties. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Set in 17th-century London, Lauren Chater’s new novel brings together a royal artist, a young woman’s quest and the real-life Anne Hyde. What do you do if the king invites you to share his bed but you find the idea repulsive? A wave of nausea ripples through her...
CHARLOTTE McCONAGHY Once There Were Wolves. Reviewed by Ann Skea.
Charlotte McConaghy follows up her international bestseller The Last Migration with a story of wolves and the Scottish Highlands. When I was eight, Dad cut me open from throat to stomach. Such a dramatic first line promises a dramatic story and Once There Were Wolves...
Autumn 2021 Giveaway #3
Here are more fabulous books to win in our series of autumn giveaways. To go in the draw to win all four, simply email editors@newtownreviewofbooks.com.au with ‘Autumn 3′ in the subject line and your name and address in the body of the email by midnight tonight,...
Crime Scene: BELINDA BAUER The Beautiful Dead. Reviewed by Derek Dryden
Bauer’s new novel keeps us guessing until the very end. This is the fifth book by Belinda Bauer, the Gold Dagger award-winning author now resident in Wales. Unlike some crime writers who, once they’ve developed a successful character, stick with them...
Recent Posts
2026 Summer Surprise Giveaway12 February 2026Surprise! Here’s a very special giveaway of four recent novels. Take your [ … ]
WRIGHT THOMPSON The Barn: The murder of Emmett Till and the cradle of American racism. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck10 February 2026Wright Thompson’s account of the 1950s murder of a Black teenager in [ … ]
JOSHUA BLACKBURN The Language-Lover’s Lexipedia. Reviewed by Ann Skea5 February 2026Joshua Blackburn has compiled a treasure-trove of the humorous, the obscure, [ … ]
MARIAN WILKINSON Woodside vs The Planet: How a company captured a country. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck3 February 2026Australian governments are addicted to fossil-fuel exports that harm the [ … ]