Books

  Once again the worlds have come to an end. No, that is not a typo – I do indeed mean multiple worlds; for in Anne Corlett’s impressive debut novel The Space Between the Stars – the title is a reference to hearing the voice of “god”, however you interpret Continue Reading

  What makes you happy? Kind of stumped for an answer? Don’t worry. it’s a question that leaves a lot of people flat-footed, including the first-person protagonist of David Machado’s illuminating novel The Shelf Life of Happiness which beautifully and blisteringly honestly examines what makes us happy. Or given this Continue Reading

  I don’t care who you are – getting a book published is a pretty damn big, ridiculously-exciting, thrilling and amazingly good thing to happen! Even if you’re the famed Duplass Brothers, who have given us films like Safety Not Guaranteed and Skeleton Twins, and TV shows like Togetherness and Continue Reading

  Alex Woods is a quirky guy. A very quirky guy. But then that’s what makes the protagonist of The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence such an endearing, affecting delight. Struck by a 2kg meteorite at the age of 10 when it comes hurtling, rather destructively, through the Continue Reading

  First Contact in science fiction storytelling is normally an eminently serious undertaking, with the meeting of alien and human usually presaging some great generation-defining moment that may be good or bad but is never less than gravely portentous. In Kylie Chan’s Scales of Empire, a sci-fi novel and the Continue Reading

  Who hasn’t, at one time or another, wished for a little more magic in their lives? In Robert Dinsdale’s The Toymakers, there is fantastically magical realism in abundance but you end up questioning much of the time, even in a book as beautiful as this often but not always Continue Reading

  There is a tendency to see comedians are endlessly, blissfully happy people, full to the brim with bonhomie and good cheer, their minds, and souls, a captivating whirl of good thoughts, humourous observations and pithy, funny oneliners. But as Robin Williams proved all too devastatingly, that is often far Continue Reading

  Ah humanity, you are a contrary and wondrously messed-up beast. Ream upon ream is written is written by adventure-hungry mortals seeking a life far bigger and more exciting than the one already possessed, film upon film lifts supposed nothings out of the banal trappings of the everyday only to Continue Reading

  We live in an often cruel and unforgiving world. Thankfully in the midst of all the Darwinian madness and the transgressions of fallible humanity, both our own and those of our fellow human beings, there are kind and generous people who understand that what might be needed is less Continue Reading

  Life isn’t very good with second chances. We wish it was, and many is the time we reflect back on an incident, big or small, innocuous or catastrophic and wish we could have said something different, done something unexpected, or frankly, not gone through the whole thing. But life Continue Reading