Back in the day, Chris Else
Tane’s War Brendaniel Weir, Cloud Ink Press, $30.00 Gone to Pegasus Tess Redgrave, Submarine, $35.00 Rotoroa Amy Head, Victoria University Press, $30.00, Over the last ten years or so, the number of...
View ArticleSport and sexuality, Bill Hastings
Broken Play Nicholas Sheppard RSVP, $35.00, ISBN 9780994140814 Grant Robertson, our minister of finance, has a picture in his office of a rugby team called the Krazy Knights. The photo was taken 20...
View ArticleGiving them what they want, Linda Burgess
Donato and the Cartege Blade Fiona Jordan Mary Egan Publishing, $25.00, ISBN 9780473437367 1918: Broken Poppies Des Hunt, Scholastic, $19.00, How Not to Stop a Kidnap Plot Suzanne Main, Scholastic,...
View ArticleWhere perspectives collide, John McCrystal
The Imaginary Lives of James Pōneke Tina Makereti Vintage, $38.00, ISBN 9780143771562 You don’t have to be a good old-fashioned structuralist to look into the patterns of history and see the tectonic...
View ArticleBalancing pathos, Janet Wilson
This Mortal Boy: A Novel Fiona Kidman Penguin Random House, $38.00, ISBN 9780143771807 In This Mortal Boy (with its subtle, sad echo of Brendan Behan’s novel, Borstal Boy), Fiona Kidman gives a...
View ArticleSpeculating on the speculative, Annabel Gooder
Te Kōrero Ahi Kā: To Speak of the Home Fires Burning Grace Bridges, Lee Murray and Aaron Compton (eds) SpecFicNZ, $25.00, ISBN 9780473428341 “Ahi Kā”, the opening to this speculative fiction anthology,...
View ArticleWriting in circles, Kate Duignan
Caroline’s Bikini Kirsty Gunn Faber and Faber, $33.00, ISBN 9780571339334 Caroline’s Bikini is a text written by Emily Stuart, in which she “takes dictation” from her oldest friend, Evan Gordonston,...
View ArticleFathoms deep, James Robins
The New Ships Kate Duignan Victoria University Press, $30.00, ISBN 9781776561889 It’s a deeply distressing thing to find the word “bugger” on the first page of a New Zealand writer’s novel. Rather like...
View ArticleBack in the day, Chris Else
Tane’s War Brendaniel Weir, Cloud Ink Press, $30.00 Gone to Pegasus Tess Redgrave, Submarine, $35.00 Rotoroa Amy Head, Victoria University Press, $30.00, Over the last ten years or so, the number of...
View ArticleSport and sexuality, Bill Hastings
Broken Play Nicholas Sheppard RSVP, $35.00, ISBN 9780994140814 Grant Robertson, our minister of finance, has a picture in his office of a rugby team called the Krazy Knights. The photo was taken 20...
View ArticleGiving them what they want, Linda Burgess
Donato and the Cartege Blade Fiona Jordan Mary Egan Publishing, $25.00, ISBN 9780473437367 1918: Broken Poppies Des Hunt, Scholastic, $19.00, How Not to Stop a Kidnap Plot Suzanne Main, Scholastic,...
View ArticleWhere perspectives collide, John McCrystal
The Imaginary Lives of James Pōneke Tina Makereti Vintage, $38.00, ISBN 9780143771562 You don’t have to be a good old-fashioned structuralist to look into the patterns of history and see the tectonic...
View Article“Lashings of empathy”, Tina Shaw
From the Ashes Deborah Challinor HarperCollins, $37.00, ISBN 9781460754122 What You Wish For Catherine Robertson Black Swan, $38.00, ISBN 9780143772811 Discovering that From the Ashes is a sequel to...
View ArticleA complicated relationship, Thom Conroy
The Ice Shelf Anne Kennedy Victoria University Press, $30.00, ISBN 9781776562015 What role does a book invite me to accept as its reader? I need not comply with a book’s request, of course, but I’m...
View ArticleHuman error, Stephanie Johnson
A Mistake Carl Shuker Victoria University Press, $30.00, ISBN 9781776562145 Carl Shuker is a writer who is not afraid to take risks. His previous four novels were all hailed for their innovation in...
View ArticlePlaying at home, John McCrystal
Pearly Gates: A Novel Owen Marshall Vintage, $38.00, ISBN 9780143773153 “Pride goeth before a fall”, so the proverb runs, “and an haughty spirit before destruction”. The prideful one in Owen Marshall’s...
View ArticleBlank spaces, Tim Grgec
The Farewell Tourist Alison Glenny Otago University Press, $27.50, ISBN 978198853129 All of Us Adrienne Jansen and Carina Gallegos Landing Press, $22.00, ISBN 9780473451684 Louder Kerrin P Sharpe...
View ArticleDoors and mirrors, Alex Mitcalfe Wilson
The Chosen One Joy H Davidson DHD Publishing, $27.00, ISBN 9780473448301 Harsu and the Werestoat Barbara Else Gecko Press, $35.00, ISBN 9781776572199 The World of Greek Mythology Ben Spies Spies...
View ArticleKeeping it in the family, Tina Shaw
Necessary Secrets Greg McGee Upstart Press, $38.00, ISBN 9781988516639 Loving Sylvie Elizabeth Smither Allen and Unwin, $37.00, ISBN 9781988547114 Two recently-published novels explore...
View ArticleMarking time, Maggie Trapp
When It All Went To Custard Danielle Hawkins HarperCollins, $35.00, ISBN 9781775541417 The Julian Calendar William Henry Marsilio Press, $35.00, ISBN 9780958235556 What a difference a year can make....
View Article