RF KUANG Katabasis. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
The bestselling author of Yellowface returns to dark fantasy with her new novel set amid university life – and Hell. RF Kuang burst into the global literary scene with her satirical work Yellowface. But for some she was already there, following a debut trilogy of...
KELL WOODS Upon A Starlit Tide. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley
Kell Woods blends history, folklore and fairytales in her second novel set on the French coast in eighteenth-century Saint Malo. I know what it is to cry and have no one but the sea there to listen. Lucinde de Leon has always loved the sea. Whenever she can, she...
JOHN WISWELL Someone You Can Build a Nest In. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
John Wiswell gives an outsider’s view of human behaviour in this novel of a shape-shifting monster told with violence and dark humour. John Wiswell must be in the running for title of the year for his debut fantasy novel Someone You Can Build a Nest In. The title not...
ASTRID SCHOLTE League of Liars. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley
Melbourne-based Astrid Scholte’s new novel pits its characters against injustice. Liars … recount their stories perfectly. As though they’ve memorised the story from start to finish. However, the truth is organic. Details are remembered in bits and pieces....
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...
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...CHINA MIÉVILLE Railsea. Reviewed by Folly Gleeson
China Miéville continues to give a poetic and intelligent edge to the fantasy genre. This new book is an absolute joy. Miéville’s writing in Railsea is full of clever allusions, sly glances at popular culture and the work of other writers, wit, and warmth. As...TERRY PRATCHETT and STEPHEN BAXTER The Long Earth. Reviewed by Folly Gleeson
The master of Discworld enters a new dimension. People who buy a new Terry Pratchett usually do so in the hope of finding themselves in the comfortable, funny and wise purlieus of Discworld; full of well-known characters with personalities hovering on the edge of...KATE FORSYTH Bitter Greens. Reviewed by Jean Bedford
An imaginative interweaving of magic, fairytale and history. Kate Forsyth is well known for her conventional fantasy novels – particularly for the Witches of Eileanan and Rhiannon’s Ride series. She’s also a poet, an author of several children’s fantasy books and a...ROBIN HOBB City of Dragons, Book Three of the Rain Wild Chronicles. Reviewed by Jean Bedford
The dragons and their attendants have found Kelsingra, but can they keep it? Robin Hobb’s The Rain Wild Chronicles series began as a one-off novel, Dragon Keeper (2009), which was cut into two, producing Dragon Haven (2010) as well. City of Dragons was meant to...
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