Blog Archives
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 latest novel is Pat Gates, universally known as “Pearly”.…
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 form and espousal of post-modernism. He is,…
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 bound to recognise or, at…
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 Fire, Challinor’s 2006 novel, makes sense of this novel’s title. Fire…
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 grind of ideas reflected in the rippling of…
Donato and the Cartege Blade Fiona Jordan Mary Egan Publishing, $25.00, ISBN 9780473437367 1918: Broken Poppies Des Hunt Scholastic, $19.00, ISBN 9781775432821 How Not to Stop a Kidnap Plot Suzanne Main Scholastic, $17.00, ISBN 9781775434801 Dawn Raid Pauline (Vaeluaga) Smith…
Tagged with:
Des Hunt,
Fiona Jordan,
Issue 124,
Mary Egan Publishing,
Pauline (Vaeluaga) Smith,
Scholastic New Zealand,
Summer 2018,
Suzanne Main
Posted in
Children,
Fiction,
Literature,
Review
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 years ago. He is in it. All…
Tane’s War Brendaniel Weir Cloud Ink Press, $30.00, ISBN 9780473415648 Gone to Pegasus Tess Redgrave Submarine, $35.00, ISBN 9780473419196 Rotoroa Amy Head Victoria University Press, $30.00, ISBN 9781776561919 Over the last ten years or so, the number of established New…
Tagged with:
Amy Head,
Brendaniel Weir,
Chris Else,
Cloud Ink Press,
Issue 124,
Submarine,
Summer 2018,
Tess Redgrave,
Victoria University Press
Posted in
Fiction,
Literature,
Review
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 opening some French fiction to discover “sacré…
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, recently returned from the United States to London, and helplessly…