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

General Fiction

Saturation by William Lane

Reviewed by Rod McLary Dystopian novels – and there are many of them from Brave New World to The Road to The Handmaid’s Tale – all attempt to anticipate the future and of course we have no way of telling whether they are or will be accurate.  Some assume huge scientific advances, others a cataclysmic

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Historical Fiction

My Name is Emilia del Valle by Isabel Allende

Reviewed by Clare Brook My Name is Emilia Del Valle is the latest historical-fiction novel by Isabel Allende set in nineteenth century Chile.  Written in the first person, it reads like a memoir.  However, Emilia del Valle is a fictional character who is determined to overcome her impoverished background and the societal conventions of the

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History

Charles Todd’s Magnificent Obsession by David Dufty

Reviewed by Richard Tutin When someone wishes to pursue a momentous project at all costs they are often regarded as being obsessive. If they manage to complete it well, they are then called visionary. Such is the situation with Charles Todd whose greatest achievement was the completion of the Overland Telegraph in 1872. David Dufty

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The Age Book of the Year Awards 2025

The Age Book of the Year Awards 2025 Twelve books have made the shortlists for this year’s entries in The Age Book of The Year awards. The six books on the fiction shortlist have been described as particularly exciting in “eclecticism and range” by the judges, author and critic Bram Presser, and The Age and Sydney Morning Herald’s Canberra bureau

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NSW Literary Awards 2025

NSW Literary Awards 2025  The NSW Literary Awards are held annually. They are the richest and longest running state-based literary awards in Australia and cover all genres of writing. The Awards provide an opportunity to highlight the importance of literacy and to encourage everyone to enjoy and learn from the work of our writers. These

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Literary Fiction

I Want Everything by Dominic Amerena

Reviewed by Rod McLary Psychologists say that a white lie is a small, socially acceptable untruth told – among other reasons – to avoid embarrassment.  It can also be a lie of omission; that is, when something incorrect is said and there is no attempt made to correct the error.  But as with so much

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General Fiction

Weathering the Storm by Mandy Magro

Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Weathering the Storm is the latest book by Queensland writer Mandy Magro who has been producing books in the romance genre since 2011.  She writes with authority using insights from her own previous adventures.  As a passionate woman and a romantic at heart, Mandy loves writing about soul-deep love, the Australian

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Crime/Mystery

Burning Mountain by Darcy Tindale

Reviewed by Rod McLary There is something about rural noir which immediately engages the hearts and minds of Australian readers.  Whether it is the immersion in the landscape, the laconic dialogue of the characters, or the familiarity of those characters, the novels in this genre – think Jane Harper, Chris Hammer, Jack Heath and others

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Crime/Mystery

Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts

Reviewed by Ian Lipke This is vintage Nora Roberts – with the odd strength and certainly weakness thrown in. It is a novel about an injured cop who fights to bring down a pair of twisted killers. Natural Resources police officer, Sloan Cooper, and her partner had just taken down three men preying on hikers

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If you would like to contact the coordinator of the Queensland Reviewers Collective, either to enquire about becoming a reviewer, to offer a book to review, or to make a comment on the blog generally, please use the form.

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