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

Techno Humans and Technology by Marcus Smith

Reviewed by Richard Tutin Not a day goes by when the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI) comes up in either the media or conversation. Yet, as Marcus Smith explains in this book it is only one form of what can be called “Techno” – a shortening of the word technology. Technology has become a very

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Crime/Mystery

The Drowned by John Banville

Reviewed by Rod McLary John Banville is one of the world’s finest living writers.  He has won numerous awards including the Booker Prize and is believed to be a contender for the Nobel Prize for Literature.  In 2006, he began writing crime novels under the non-de-plume of Benjamin Black and has written seven novels featuring

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General Fiction

Dusk by Robbie Arnott

Reviewed by Rod McLary A common theme of Robbie Arnott’s two earlier novels – The Rain Heron and Limberlost – is the interrelation between humans and nature, their connectedness.  This theme continues in Dusk where nature or the natural environment dominates the foreground of the novel to the extent that the humans seem to be

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History

Kosciuszko by Anthony Sharwood

Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Many of the names given to Australian places and topography after colonisation were those of English people. Today many of these are being replaced by their Aboriginal name. So, what is the story behind the non-English name Kosciuszko given to Australia’s highest peak? Anthony Sharwood, a Walkley award-winning journalist, has now

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General Fiction

The Deal by Alex Miller

Reviewed by Rod McLary Alex Miller is one of Australia’s finest writers.  Among the many awards he has won, he is twice winner of the Miles Franklin Literary Award for The Ancestor Game and Journey to the Stone Country.  And it is in The Ancestor Game where we first meet the protagonist of The Deal

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Historical Fiction

Rapture by Emily Maguire

Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve It is a major joy in reading when a novelist creates a world that grips a reader and transports them to a different time and place. With Rapture, Emily Maguire’s 8th book, we are deposited in the ninth century in Mainz, in Germany. The opening scenes are of a small girl

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Crime/Mystery

The Valley by Chris Hammer

Reviewed by Rod McLary The Valley is Chris Hammer’s seventh book and, like his previous six, it is firmly placed in the Australian landscape with an intricate plot and engaging characters.  And also like the previous books, it is an immensely satisfying read. Detective Sergeant Ivan Lucic and Detective Senior Constable Nell Buchanan are assigned

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History

Lest: Australian War Myths by Mark Dapin

Reviewed by Richard Tutin The word “myth” has two meanings. One is that it is a sacred story that tells the origin of something while the other is a story that isn’t quite true even though it may have been based on fact. In exploring Australian war myths, Mark Dapin seems to hover between both

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Winners – Ned Kelly Awards 2024

2024 Ned Kelly Awards Winners The Ned Kelly Awards are Australia’s oldest and most prestigious recognition honouring published crime fiction and true crime writing. The categories are Best Crime Fiction, Best Debut Crime Fiction, Best True Crime and Best International Crime Fiction. Entries are accepted for books published in the 12 months prior to 1 March each

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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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