Books

(courtesy Penguin Random House) If you’re going to make a fantastical world feel somewhat believable and authentic, and yes, fantasy needs to feel lived-in and humanly possible in some respects for the conceit to really stick its landing with readers, then you need three key things – taut, compelling and Continue Reading

(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers Australia) A lot of people may feel like they don’t have a narrative bone in their body but the truth is, to one degree or another, we are all storytellers. Not necessarily out loud, although the creative types among most definitely are, but within, with the Continue Reading

(courtesy Goodreads) In a field as venerable and well-established as science fiction, with tropes plenty and cliches to burn, it can be challenging, though clearly not impossible as an impressive number of recent new books in the genre attest, to come up with something truly, mesmerisingly new. And even if Continue Reading

(courtesy Hachette Australia) Weaving a mystery into any story is a thing of consummate skill and almost beauty. One wrong foot either way, however, with too much or too little revealed, too early or too late and the entire beguiling narrative, at least the envisaged one, falls into a messy Continue Reading

(courtesy Angry Robot Books) If you are history buff, you will be used to the fact that in recounting events from the near or distant past facts should take precedence over almost anything else, which is right and just and precisely what good history telling should do (this comes with Continue Reading

(courtesy hughhowey.com) There are a great many horrible things about being caught in an apocalypse – any kind; take your pick – zombie, aline, viral, political – but what really strikes you as you watch or read stories about the end of the world is how lonely it must be. Continue Reading