reads, Recent Reads

The Copper Promise

I recently read The Copper Promise, the first novel in The Copper Cat Trilogy by UK author Jen Williams. The Copper Promise follows the unlikely group of adventurers, the female mercenary Wydrin of Crosshaven (the infamous Copper Cat), Sir Sebastian Carverson (an exiled knight) and Lord Frith (a crippled nobleman, dispossessed of his lands). Lord… Continue reading The Copper Promise

Recent Reads

The City of Brass

The City of Brass is the first installment in the debut fantasy series The Daevabad Trilogy by American author S. A. Chakraborty based on early Islamic folklore and legends. The City of Brass follows female protagonist Nahri, a con-woman and thief who grew up an orphan on the Cairo streets during Ottoman-French occupation. Nahri has… Continue reading The City of Brass

Recent Reads

Dead Beat

I recently read Dead Beat by Jim Butcher, the seventh novel in the Dresden Files. Harry Dresden is Chicago private detective and professional wizard, struggling to make a living and control the powerful magic he wields. Dead Beat is set three days before Halloween when Märvra, vampire Queen of the Black Court and Harry's enemy,… Continue reading Dead Beat

Recent Reads

The Paper Menagerie & Other Stories

I read The Paper Menagerie and other stories by American author Ken Liu after having the great pleasure to listen to several panel sessions and meet him at Continuum in Melbourne. I was unfamiliar with his writing until hearing an excerpt from the first story in The Paper Menagerie, “The bookmaking habits of select species”.… Continue reading The Paper Menagerie & Other Stories

Recent Reads

Godsgrave

Godsgrave is the second volume in the adult dark fantasy The Nevernight Chronicles by Jay Kristoff. Continuing from the dramatic conclusion of Nevernight, Mia Corvere is now a Blade in the Red Church and with Mr Kindly and Eclipse, she becomes suspicious of a single patron repeatedly requesting her services. After the attacks against the… Continue reading Godsgrave

Recent Reads

Catching Teller Crow

The YA supernatural mystery, Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina, explores Australian history, indigenous legends and cultural understanding through the characters of three young Aboriginal women.Catching Teller Crow follows Beth Teller, a recently deceased Aboriginal girl who has remained as a ghost, trying to stop the grief consuming her father by urging him… Continue reading Catching Teller Crow

reads, Recent Reads

Trail of Lightning

From the Blurb: “Maggie Hoskie is a Dinétah monster hunter, a supernaturally gifted killer. When a small town needs help finding a missing girl, Maggie is their last best hope. But what Maggie uncovers about the monster is much more terrifying than anything she could imagine. Maggie reluctantly enlists the aid of Kai Arviso, an… Continue reading Trail of Lightning

Recent Reads

Beauty in Thorns

I just finished reading historical fiction novel, Beauty in Thorns by Australian author Kate Forsyth. Beauty in Thorns was inspired by the Pre-Raphaelite movement during the mid-to-late 1800s. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was initially founded by the painters William Holman-Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti in the late 1840s. The movement expanded to later… Continue reading Beauty in Thorns

Recent Reads

Nevernight

Nevernight is the first instalment in an adult Fantasy series The Nevernight Chronicle by best-selling author Jay Kristoff. Nevernight is a complex book with many wonderful aspects and qualities revealed amid the violence inherent to the story. It is told on a grand scale and never pretends to be anything else. Mia Corvere is the… Continue reading Nevernight

events, Writing

Aurealis Awards 2018

On May 4 2019, I attended the 2018 Aurealis Awards in Melbourne, an annual awards ceremony for works published that year from members of the Australian speculative fiction community. This was my first Aurealis Awards and I was thrilled to be part of the iconic Australian Speculative Fiction Awards. My self-published Fantasy novel Bone Arrow was entered and… Continue reading Aurealis Awards 2018