“The Agreement” is an Australian future western in the tradition of Mad Max, but with a more organized post-apocalyptic society. It’s a simple plotline. Archie is a bounty hunter. He takes Fiona on as an apprentice, and they go off having adventures together. The story breaks into three parts. Their first two assignments could almost […]
“Straya” by Anthony O’Connor
Australians have a rather tenuous connection to the English language. They even have a name for their particular dialect, “Strine.” The nice thing about Strine for the rest of us is that it’s almost intelligible. When you see it written down, it’s quite possible, and even fun, to try to figure out where those words […]
“Source Mage” by William Stacey
“Source Mage” is a tightly written, fast paced action adventure set in a post-apocalyptic world of declining military resources and increasing magical influence. This writer knows his weapons and his modern battle terminology, and he accomplishes the difficult blend between the mundane and the supernatural and keeps the conflict realistic. It’s a tightrope walk, making […]
“Cynetic Wolf” by Matt Ward
This is a Post-Apocalyptic Action Fantasy with everything but the kitchen sink thrown in. It is the story of a suppressed majority in rebellion against an authoritarian government that controls the population by the traditional Orwellian mixture of propaganda, subterfuge and armed force. The population is made up of several different offshoots of the human […]
“Killer Domes and the Chosen One” by Gibbo Gibbs
An individualistic writing style is achieved through variations from the norm. In other words, it is created through the rules the writer breaks. However, if the writer breaks too many rules, the reader begins to wonder whether this is stylistic intention or a lack of writing experience. With this book, it’s hard to tell. The […]
We Call it Monster” by Lachlan Walter
“Monster” is not really a novel and not really a book of short stories, but something in between. It is a set of events that take place as the world (specifically Australia) gradually slips into chaos due to the attack of monstrous creatures from inside the planet, which destroy human society and fight each other […]
“Scavenged” by Scott Arbuckle
REVIEW This is top-notch Science Fiction. More-than-human characters stride across well-conceived and artfully described post-apocalyptic landscape: former humans enhanced and augmented in various ways by enigmatic aliens who are mankind’s saviours or destroyers; it’s uncertain which. There is conflict on internal, interpersonal, external, environmental and galactic levels, all tied together by two main characters whose love has a lot […]
“Aftan Whispers” by Phil Williams
“Aftan Whispers” takes place in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic society, where Tyler, a tradesman with a Pollyanna approach to human nature teams up with a Deni, cynical, self-destructive former slave to save…well…something: themselves, the world, who knows? Thus the success of the story revolves around the two characters, and the conflict is based on their different […]
“Midlight” – Autumn Grace
“Midlight” is a dystopian fantasy about a post-atomic-war world where the population has become nocturnal because of the radiation levels in the sunlight. And the relationships seem to have faded into the dark as well, with dysfunction being the order of the day. Or lack of order, in this case. And this lack of […]