rec160

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rec160: Neon Leviathan

COLLECTION

Author: TR Napper

Title: Neon Leviathan

Publisher: Grimdark Magazine, 2019

Aussie Napper’s excellent 36 Streets won a Ditmar award at a recent Canberra convention, where I picked up this handsomely presented collection of 12 stories offering similar Asian-infused cyberpunk goodness (two original to this volume, the longer penultimate piece thoroughly Orwellian). The stories range from the 2030s to a dystopia more than a century on, revolving around battlers of various ilks trying to keep their heads up, street criminals and soldiers trying to stay alive. Memory, (virtual) reality and identity are common themes in the gritty collection that notably draws on Napper’s experience in Australia and Asia – Vietnam in particular is a strong influence. As Adrian Tchaikovsky notes in his forward, several conjure a familiarity through the common use of the evolving Kandel-Yu device and memory pins, and characters also reappear. While a couple of stories lighten the mood with touches of sly humour and surrealist elements, the collection presents a satisfying journey through the dark roads of the future.

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rec160: Dream Weaver

NOVEL

Title: Dream Weaver

Author: Steven Paulsen

Publisher: IFWG, 2023

In which fellow Ballarat-based writer Steven Paulsen draws on his own travels, a tonne of research and a well-honed imagination to conjure a thrilling chase across a chunk of 1400s Anatolia. Ali is a poor youth with a valuable gift – a gift he barely understands but drops him into the centre of a bloody power struggle. To survive he must fulfil a quest that involves unexpected allies and merciless pursuers, the prize a sheer delight. The story is pitched at a YA audience but rewards the older reader, even if some of the turns and reveals may not be too unexpected. The characters are enjoyable, the setting well detailed, and moments of magic are beautifully entwined in the historical period in what must draw references to the Arabian Nights. There’s an earthiness, a darkness, the flavours and scents of the food and the landscape, that keep the flights of fancy grounded while giving the story plenty of lift. Good fun.

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rec160: The Hidden Keystone

NOVEL

Title: The Hidden Keystone

Author: Nathan Burrage

Publisher: IFWG, 2023

The first book of the Salt Lines duology, in which history gets an occult makeover. Set in two timelines, the story imagines a hidden purpose to both the fall of Jerusalem in 1099 and the French destruction of the Templars in 1307. There’s a large cast (blessed be the character list), taking in the two sides competing for an artefact of Biblical proportions, with would-be ruler of Jerusalem Godefroi and newly minted Templar Bertrand at the forefront. Burrage, not unused to this terrain, finds contrast in the heat of the Holy Land and foggy, rainy France, the intersection of the two storylines no doubt to be made in book 2, due out in 2024. Bertrand and his trusty bodyguard make for an engaging duo, being dropped into the conspiracy as they are pursued across France, while driven Godefroi takes the role of hunter in the desert. The supernatural slips easily into the well-drawn historical elements, making this an entertaining read.

NOTE: I’ll have the pleasure of helping Nathan launch The Hidden Keystone at Conflux in Canberra on Sunday 1 October 2023.

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rec160 – The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies

NOVEL

Title: The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies

Author: Alison Goodman

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2023

This Regency romp marks a departure of sorts for Goodman, in that there is not a whiff of the fantastical to be had as the Colebrook twins set about righting some wrongs while maintaining the appropriate social graces. Broken into a series of cases, the narrative is held together by ongoing storylines – a caddish brother, the health of stoic Julia and the burgeoning attraction of the bold Augusta to fallen nobleman Evan Belford, himself not without a mystery fit for the unravelling. What starts out as a favour gathers momentum as the unmarried duo take on increasingly challenging rescues of women in peril. Underpinning the adventure is Goodman’s (PhD-stamped) eye for historical detail, ear for a fetching turn of phrase, and consummate skill with characterisation, plot and pace. While Goodman’s YA series appeal equally to older readers, this is her first novel for adult readers since 2007’s Killing the Rabbit, and it doesn’t disappoint. We await book 2 with anticipation.

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rec160: Talk To Me

FILM

Talk to Me, 2022

Directors: Danny and Michael Philippou

Starring: Sophie Wilde, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Miranda Otto

Has there been a better Australian horror film since the Babadook? This debut feature from the Philippous is intelligent filmmaking, twisting the notion of a séance or Ouija board into a gripping teen drama that manages to balance gore and suspense with nary a jump scare in sight. Mia is something of a loner, having lost her mother under tragic circumstances and relying on the company of Jade and her younger brother Riley. Enter the party trick of using a supernatural hand to invite spirits to possess bodies while the gang films the excitement on their mobile phones. Of course things get, ahem, out of hand. It’s a wonderfully contained story, ramping up the stakes without going overboard; well filmed, well acted, with enough backstory to help us care for the characters and understand their relationships. It’s worth seeing on the big screen because the sound direction absolutely nails it, whether it’s creaking, moaning or a haunting lullaby. Highly recommended.