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Fiction Book Reviews
Surveillance by Jonathan Raban
19 December, 2007 Surveillance is a disturbing but immensely readable novel which reflects the uncertainties of our world. Set in Seattle, where Raban now lives, it portrays ordinary people in a seemingly ordinary world where security, mock-terror exercises, surveillance, deception, suspicion and questions of identity increasingly intrude into their lives.
Diary of a Bad Year by J M Coetzee
19 December, 2007 An ageing male writer has been asked to contribute to Strong Opinions, a book of essays by six eminent thinkers from around the world. Encouraged to expound on what is wrong with the world, these essays range in topic from tourism to mathematics, from the state of universities to the effects of intelligent design.
The Children by Charlotte Wood
19 December, 2007 Wood’s first book was superbly polished, her second was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin, so it is no surprise that her third novel, The Children, captivates from the first dramatic paragraph.
Dead Birds by Trevor Shearston
19 December, 2007 A New Guinean tribesman is killed by a spirit with lightning (a white man with a gun). His head is preserved in a jar and it’s from this point of view that the reader experiences the goings-on of the ‘spirits’ onboard a moving animal (boat).
Duet by Kimberley Freeman
19 December, 2007 Under another guise Kimberley Freeman, author of Duet, is better known as Kim Wilkins, writer of several award-winning horror and fantasy novels. The shift in genres is a curious one: the transition from speculative fiction to commercial women’s fiction here is not always smooth.
A History of the Beanbag and Other Stories by Susan Midalia
19 December, 2007 It’s great to see a resurgence of Australian short story collections being published by smaller publishing houses. Recently, both Cate Kennedy’s Dark Roots (Scribe) and Paddy O’Reilly’s The End of the World (UQP) have been published to critical acclaim.
The Low Road by Chris Womersley
19 December, 2007 The publishers of this extraordinary debut novel correctly describe it as ‘part classic film-noir crime-thriller, part modern tale of despair and desperation.’ Lee, a petty-criminal wounded in a botched hold-up, is patched-up by Wild, a disbarred doctor.
Luck in the Greater West by Damian McDonald
28 November, 2007 Luck in the Greater West explores the circumstances and interconnections of a disparate group of inhabitants of the vast suburban sprawl that is greater western Sydney
Natural History by Neil Cross
28 November, 2007 Natural History is an unusual literary thriller set in a failing animal refuge, home to dysfunctional apes which have been rescued from abusive owners.
Ocean Road by Glyn Parry
28 November, 2007 It’s summer, 1976—Frank, Laura and their son Toby are holidaying at a seaside cottage, but this is a summer of uncertain times where a marriage and three lives are changed forever.
The Storm Prophet by Hector Macdonald
28 November, 2007 A tale of shipwreck with a difference, The Storm Prophet is difficult to sum up. It is set in an alternate present, when an election for the position of ‘First Citizen’ is taking place.
Towards Another Summer by Janet Frame
28 November, 2007 For fans of Janet Frame’s work, Towards Another Summer will be another encounter with a much-loved friend. Those unfamiliar with this brilliant and eccentric New Zealander, as famous for her traumatic life story as for her crystalline prose, might start here.
The Six Sacred Stones by Matthew Reilly
22 November, 2007 Six Sacred Stones, the sequel to Seven Ancient Wonders, takes us on the next whirlwind adventure of Jack ‘Huntsman’ West Jr and his motley crew of incredibly intelligent scientists, mathematicians, army-trained combat fighters and genius children, one of whom is his adopted daughter.
A History of the Great War by Peter McConnell
22 November, 2007 A History of the Great War is told through the eyes of Ida Hallam, a dowdy woman with slim prospects who, for all intents and purposes, is ‘left on the shelf’—until she catches the eye of the man she marries, Ralph Mitton.
The Big Score by Peter Corris
22 November, 2007 A good short story is hard to beat. It needs to engage the reader, have enough substance and detail to tell the story and end in a satisfactory and conclusive way, all within a few pages.
Floodtide by Judy Nunn
22 November, 2007 I must admit I started reading this book with a certain degree of scepticism. Although a convert to the underrated talents of Di Morrissey in terms of penning the contemporary Australian epic, I was unsure if Judy Nunn was similarly maligned by those who do literature with a capital ‘L.’
The Memory Room by Christopher Koch
22 November, 2007 In Hobart in the late 1960s, Derek Bradley meets fellow university student Vincent Austin. Austin is slightly older, charismatic and unusually conservative in those radical times. The pair become firm friends. Then one wet winter night, Derek sees Vincent talking to a young woman, and is introduced to Erika Lange.
Remember Me by Derek Hansen
22 November, 2007 When you are young, it’s easy to think that you are at the centre of everything—especially when you are a young writer. Remember Me is a confessional novel sparked by the rediscovery of the ‘essays’ the narrator wrote at school in 1950s Auckland, on topics such as ‘my home’, ‘the burden of responsibility’ and ‘the importance of washing your hands.’
The Riven Kingdom: Godspeaker Book Two by Karen Miller
22 November, 2007 The first thing that struck me is how different the setting is from the first book in the series, Empress of Mijak. Unlike Mijak, which is a bleak land dominated by a strict and bloodthirsty God, Ethrea is a nation instantly recognised by fantasy readers.
Skin and Bone by Kathryn Fox
22 November, 2007 Kathryn Fox’s third crime novel following Malicious Intent and Without Consent does not feature Dr Anya Crichton, the main character in the first two books, but instead centres on detective sergeant Kate Farrar, whom we last met in Malicious Intent.
The Trout Opera by Matthew Condon
22 November, 2007 Wilfred Lampe has experienced a whole century in the Snowy River town of Dalgety. He’s a part of the landscape, its consistencies and its alterations. The Olympic Commitee have him in mind as a representative of the values of Australia. But how can one life, so full of contradictions and challenges, be summed up in one brightly lit ceremony?
Vinyl Inside by Rachel Matthews
22 November, 2007 Vinyl Inside, Rachel Matthews’ debut novel, is the honest and quietly assertive story of Elsie, a middle-aged woman living a simple life with her long-time partner Sterling (a stud in Speedos), in Splashes, a typically Australian caravan park.
The Quiet Girl by Peter Hoeg
5 November, 2007 Peter Hoeg's second novel, Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow, was a huge success and I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed it . The Quiet Girl, however, is very different. It is a strange and confusing story.
The Lost Dog by Michelle de Krester
1 November, 2007 Michelle de Kretser showed us in The Hamilton Case what a gifted writer she is, offering a multilayered and mixed-voice narrative which was at once a rich family history and a cracking good murder mystery.
Landscape of Farewell by Alex Miller
30 October, 2007 Readers familiar with Journey to the Stone Country will feel a comforting sense of deja vu right from the start of Alex Miller’s superb new novella. |
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