The Spell of Rosette (Quantum Enchantment #1) – Kim Falconer
HarperCollins Voyager, 2009
528 pages
RRP: AU$20.99
ISBN: 9780732287719

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

The Spell of Rosette is a great read. A mix of dystopian science fiction and high fantasy, it introduces the interconnected worlds of Gaela and Earth. Near-future Earth is familiar, but technology has failed with the destruction of the environment, causing the breakdown of society. Gaela is an idyllic pseudo-medieval world of magic, travelling bards and swordplay.

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Tymon’s Flight – Mary Victoria (Chronicles of the Tree #1)
Harper Voyager, 2010
576 pages
RRP: AU$22.99
ISBN: 9780732290986

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

Tymon’s Flight is the first in Mary Victoria’s Chronicles of the Tree series, a vaguely steampunk-high fantasy world nestled in the branches of a world-sized Tree. Tymon is the archetypal fantasy hero: an orphan with a rebellious chip on his shoulder, left to be brought up at the Argos seminary by the priests who rigidly stick with their interpretation of religion. While much of the story relies on familiar aspects of the fantasy genre, there are enough twists and turns to pique the reader’s interest.

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Power Unbound – Nicole Murphy
HarperCollins Voyager, 2011
416 pages
RRP: $22.99
ISBN: 9780732291624

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

Paranormal romance/urban fantasy fans will be pleased to see that Nicole Murphy’s Dream of Asarlai trilogy continues with Power Unbound. The story continues on from where we left it at the end of Secret Ones, but we have a new protagonist, Maggie’s friend Ione, and we follow her budding relationship with Stephen as the story arc about Asarlai, a renegade Gadda, and her entanglement with the Forbidden Texts continues.

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Power and Majesty – Tansy Rayner Roberts (Creature Court #1)
Harper Collins Voyager, 2010
500 pages
RRP: AU$22.99
ISBN: 9780732289430

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

Power and Majesty hit my to-read pile a while ago, as I’d read some of Roberts’ fantastic short stories and was intrigued to see what her novel-length work was like. Now it has been nominated for both an Aurealis and a Ditmar award, so it shot to the top of my list with a bullet! After reading, I can see why it’s been so popular: Roberts has created a world which is at the same time magical and dangerous, but disturbingly similar to our own.

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The Scent of Shadows – Vicki Pettersson (The Zodiac #1)
Harper Collins Voyager, 2008
454 pages
RRP: AU$ 20.99
ISBN: 978-0-0072-7021-7

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

The Scent of Shadows begins a series with an interesting take on urban fantasy. The heroine, Joanna, is a ‘chosen one’ of sorts, the child of light and shadow and walking the knifes edge between. Her world, already rocky in the wake of an attack when she was sixteen and the subsequent disappearance of her mother, is thrown into further turmoil on her twenty-fifth birthday when she loses even more than she thought possible.

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Secret Ones – Nicole Murphy (Dream of Asarlai #1)
Harper Collins, 2010
416 pages
RRP: AU$22.99
ISBN: 9780732291617

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

Secret Ones is the first in the Dream of Asarlai trilogy from Australian author Nicole Murphy. It follows Maggie, a teacher who has a talent for annoying the wrong people and a big secret. She’s not quite human. She is one of the Gadda, magical beings who look and seem to be indistinguishable from humans, apart from their amazing and sometimes terrifying talent with magic. Secret Ones starts with Maggie being banished from Sclossin, the Gadda enclave in Ireland, back to her family’s home in Australia. She resigns herself to a long while in banishment, until the arrival of Lucas, an intriguing American stranger who seems to have all the hallmarks of being Gadda, but doesn’t seem to belong to any of the known clans. As they become closer, we find out that there is something much bigger afoot than Maggie’s disgrace: someone is sending magical monsters to harm her grandfather. Can the two work together to save the family, and the Gadda, from this new threat?

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Dead Witch Walking – Kim Harrison
Harper Collins, 2007
432 pages
RRP: AU$20.99
ISBN: 9780007236091

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

Dead Witch Walking is the first in Kim Harrison’s prolific The Hollows series about Rachel Morgan, a witch (and bounty hunter) who lives in an alternate Cincinnati where vampires, ghosts and other interesting paranormal types roam. Rachel’s job is to apprehend paranormal criminals for Inderland Security; we first meet her as she is stalking a tax-evading leprechaun.

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Gladiatrix – Rhonda Roberts
HarperCollins, 2009
592 pages
RRPS: AU$20.99
ISBN: 9780732288556

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

The first novel in the Timestalker series by Rhonda Roberts, Gladiatrix, is an intriguing and fast-paced novel that stands alone very well. It tells the story of Kannon, an Australian girl who has recently lost her foster mother, fighting to find out the truth about her birth. Kannon then discovers evidence to prove she is the daughter of the US Time Warden, Victoria Dupree, jut as Victoria goes missing on a mission to Ancient Rome. After uncovering a plot to kill Victoria, Kannon decides to follow her.

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The Accidental Sorcerer – K. E. Mills
Harper Voyager, 2008
442 pages
RRP: AU$24.99
ISBN: 978-0-7322-8604-0

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

The Accidental Sorcerer is the entertaining story of Gerald Dunwoody, a dangerously accident-prone Third Grade wizard. After losing his job as a public servant after a bit of an explosion, he manages to land a job as Royal Court Wizard in New Ottosland, Ottosland’s isolated colony in the middle of a faraway desert.

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The Two Pearls of Wisdom – Alison Goodman
HarperCollins, 2008
448 pages
RRP: AU$32.99
ISBN: 9780732288006

Reviewed by Kate Smith

Two Pearls of Wisdom was an interesting novel to read but one that had this reader in two minds when considering several aspects of the tale. The story is a very interesting premise and one that to begin with draws the reader in. The first part of the tale, the description of the life of a young girl pretending to be a boy and trying to complete a taxing training regime, is well told. While it may initially feel as though the story is familiar – young girl pretending to be a boy and risking huge penalties if she is discovered – the reader should stay with it and allow the tale to develop. The middle part of the story was not as captivating as the beginning, however, but the ending was good and the reader is well-prepared for the next novel in the series. As a standalone novel the ending was too abrupt and I was frustrated at not being able to continue the story.