Angel Rising – Dirk Flinthart
Twelfth Planet Press, 2008
53 pages
RRP: AU$10
ISBN: 978-0-9804841-1-3

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

Angel Rising is a novella set in the world of New Ceres, a human colony that has embraced the social rules of 17th Century Earth, and rejected or at least regulated all modern technologies. However, no prior knowledge of this world is necessary for enjoyment of Flinthart’s contribution to the New Ceres group story.

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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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Chasing the Dragon – Justina Robson
Hachette Livre Gollancz, 2010
400 pages
RRP: AU$32.99
ISBN: 978-057-508562-6

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

This is the fourth instalment in Justina Robson’s Quantum Gravity series. I enjoyed the first two, but missed #3, Going Under. When reading Chasing the Dragon, I noticed quite a few story arcs and characters that would be confusing to the new entrant to the series or if you missed one or more of the novels. If you enjoy a mix of SF and fantasy, cyberpunk mixed with magic and dragons, you’ll enjoy reading the whole series.

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Soulless – Gail Carriger
Orbit, 2009
384 pages
RRP: US$7.99
ISBN: 9780316056632

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

Soulless is the first in a series of steampunk whodunits, The Parasol Protectorate, set in an alternate Victorian era, where werewolves and vampires have their own niches in Society just like the rest, and where the rules of etiquette apply to them just as much as everyone else. The heroine of Soulless is Alexia Tarabotti, is a spinster of the advanced age of twenty-six, whose prize possession is her trusty brass (but silver-tipped) parasol.

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Heart’s Blood – Juliet Marillier
Pan Macmillan, 2009
410 pages
RRP: AU$32.99
ISBN: 978-1-4050-3943-7

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

Heart’s Blood is an enjoyable fantasy story, loosely based on Beauty and the Beast, set in Medieval Ireland. Since B&B has always been my favourite fairy tale, I jumped at the chance to read this novel written by Western Australian author Juliet Marillier. I’d only read Marillier’s young adult titles before (Wildwood Dancing and Cybele’s Secret), so I didn’t have many preconceptions about what I would find. I ended up staying up almost all night to finish it, so it’s safe to say that this was a great read.

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Sharp Shooter – Marianne Delacourt
Allen & Unwin Arena, 2009
313 pages
RRP: AU$29.99
ISBN: 978-1-74175-931-0

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

I’d been looking for a copy of this book for a while – even though it is set in Perth, Sharp Shooter isn’t that easy to come across here yet. When I finally ran it to earth, it was in no less than the bookshop in the international airport! I snapped it up, along with my water and muesli bar to keep me company to Dubai. It was the perfect airplane read – fast-paced, interesting and lively heroine, and set in the city I was just leaving!

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The Poison Throne (The Moorehawke Trilogy #1) – Celine Kiernan
Allen & Unwin, 2009
468 pages
RRP: AU$19.99
ISBN: 978-1-74175-868-9

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

The Poison Throne is the beginning of a fantastic (in all senses of the word) trilogy from Celine Kiernan. It follows fifteen-year-old Wynter Moorehawke, an apprentice carpenter and daughter of Lord Protector Lorcan Moorehawke. The story starts as Wynter and Lorcan return from a five-year sojourn in the Northlands at the king’s request.

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The Spy Who Haunted Me – Simon Green
Hachette Gollancz, 2009
327 pages
RRP: AU$32.99
ISBN: 978-0-575-07947-2

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

As the title implies, The Spy Who Haunted Me has a definite James Bond flavour, but in a paranormal world. Eddie Drood, aka Shaman Bond, is the hero of Simon Green’s Secret Histories series. The Spy Who Haunted Me is centred around a “Greatest Race” through the world and the otherworlds, where the final spy standing will win the retiring Independent Agent’s cache of secrets.

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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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