tooth soup

photo credit: postaletrice

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey–

I very nearly didn’t get past the first chapter of this book. That’s usually not something an author wants to hear about their novel, but Craig, if you’re reading this, don’t fret; it wasn’t because I didn’t like it. Rather, it was because I almost couldn’t bear to keep reading the heartbreaking events that were written there. Silvey shines a sometimes-harsh light on the realities of country towns, before diffusing out to the blossoming relationship between the awkwardly intelligent Charlie and his ‘Hepburn-like’ companion, and Charlie’s best mate Jeffrey’s burgeoning cricket career. The banter between Charlie and Jeffrey can occasionally be a little too perfect, but that’s forgivable given the many laugh-out-loud instances it produces. The ending, too, was perhaps a little too much, but apart from that, it’s a very accomplished piece of writing. Recommended.

2012: An Anthology of the Near Future edited by Alisa Krasnostein and Ben Payne–

My prize for placing in Dan Simpson‘s first reverse inspiration challenge (there’s another one up now, so get your entries in!). Published by the rapidly growing Perth-based independent publishing house Twelfth Planet Press, this is a very tight collection of short stories concerning the premise of the just-around-the-corner. From water shortages and scientific breakthroughs of “Watertight Lies” by Deborah Biancott and “The Last Word” by Dirk Flinthart, to the more subtle social shifts expounded by Sean McMullen in “Oblivion”, this is a collection that will leave you alternately breathless and encouraged for the future. Absolutely highly recommended for those who are already fans of the speculative fiction genre, and equally so for the few remaining that haven’t checked it out yet. Seriously, go order a copy now, and support a local press!

The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall:

It’s been a long time since I read a book like this, one based upon the intricate exploration of a single idea. That single idea in Hall’s debut novel is that animals could evolve from single-celled thoughts to exist as conceptual predators in the streams of thought and language humankind creates every day. It’s an intriguing concept, and one that would stand on its own as a psychological thriller if Hall hadn’t chosen to expertly weave in the story of a grieving man between its fibres. This is a novel that merits a good deal of thought as to how much of what you’re reading is the real story. I haven’t read House of Leaves, but I imagine it finds a partner here.

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