Latest Reviews

History

Queensland Reviewers Collective (QRC) is the new name for an initiative that began eighteen years ago. Up until November 2016 it was known as M/C Reviews. In December 2015, the M/C Reviews website had a major security breach that took it down, and the editor of the book reviews section and some of the reviewers responded by starting a blog as a temporary site for book reviews until the website could be repaired. Unfortunately, it eventually became apparent that the website was not able to be restored, thus ending its long and illustrious presence as a place for the lively engagement with books and film through reviewing.

Once again, the editor and a small group of book reviewers decided they valued M/C Reviews enough to enable its rebirth as the Queensland Reviewers Collective. It no longer has an association with the Queensland University of Technology.

The website that M/C Reviews was initially a part of was M/C – Media and Culture, founded in 1998 as, according to the History section, ‘a place of public intellectualism, analysing and critiquing the meeting of media and culture’. It was meant as a place where the popular and the academic could meet, and ‘debates may have some resonance with wider political and cultural interests’.

The website was initiated and developed at the University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia; since 2004, it has been hosted by the Creative Industries Faculty at the Queensland University of Technology in Kelvin Grove. The first publication was the M/C Journal, still thriving today, followed by M/C Reviews, and then M/Cyclopedia of New Media.

Acknowledgement of Country

In the spirit of reconciliation Queensland Reviewers Collective acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.

Other Reviews

Non-Fiction

Alice ™ by Stuart Kells

Reviewed by Norrie Sanders Rethinking the world financial system is not something most of us are capable of. Even understanding the world financial system is no picnic. This is a story of two Australians who not only understood, but who set out to shake things up. Their extensive research and experience led them to conclude

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General Fiction

Shock Waves by Fleur McDonald

Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Fleur McDonald first introduced readers to Detective Dave Burrows in the early 2000s when he was the main character in her novel. Since then, he has appeared as a secondary character in sixteen contemporary novels. In this story, Shock Waves, he is the main character but at a time when he

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Paul Auster

Death of Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (3 February 1947 – 30 April 2024) was an American writer and film director. His notable works include The New York Trilogy (1987), Moon Palace (1989), The Music of Chance (1990), The Book of Illusions (2002), The Brooklyn Follies (2005), Invisible (2009), Sunset Park (2010), Winter Journal (2012), and 4 3 2 1 (2017). His most recent book was Baumgartner [2024]. His books have

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Stella Prize 2024

Stella Prize 2024 Alexis Wright has won the $60,000 Stella Prize for her fourth novel, Praiseworthy (Giramondo). Wright becomes the first author to win the Stella Prize twice, having previously won the 2018 prize for Tracker (Giramondo). A proud member of the Waanyi Nation, Wright has won numerous awards, including the 2007 Miles Franklin Literary Award for Carpentaria. At the 2023 Queensland Literary Awards, Praiseworthy won

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Historical Fiction

The Lost Lover by Karen Swan

Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Among the many books written by Karen Swan (20 books – two a year) is her Wild Isle series which tells of the dramatic evacuation of St Kilda in 1930.  St Kilda, two and a half miles off the mainland of Scotland is a cliff-walled island in the North Atlantic that

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General Fiction

All the Beautiful Things You Love by Jonathan Seidler

Reviewed by Rod McLary The Walker Brothers once sang ‘breaking up is so very hard to do’ and those of us who have broken up with a loved one will know exactly what the Brothers mean. In his debut fiction novel, Jonathan Seidler explores the break-up of a marriage.  As with much else in life,

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History

Sister Viv by Grantlee Kieza

Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Sister Viv is the latest novel written by Grantlee Kieza OAM. He held senior editorial positions at The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and The Courier-Mail for many years and was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his writing. He once said that Australian children were not being

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Fantasy/Science Fiction

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

Reviewed by Ian Lipke The novel Iron Flame about Violet Sorrengail and her boyfriend Xaden continues on from Rebecca Karros’s story called Fourth Wing published in 2022. This novel was a raging success. It was anticipated that Iron Flame would be just as successful. However, with a different premise, and a different focus, a story

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