Author: Andres Kabel

An intriguing novel about three generations in a family, spanning a wannabe hippy in an Indian ashram, his son in present-day Melbourne struggling to find meaning, and the granddaughter in a dystopian near future, “In Moonland” wrestles with family bonds and quests for transcendence. The author is a commanding stylist, inhabiting each of his different characters and their environments with ease, and the writing is precise yet supple.

Superbly written, In Moonland struck me as a tale with little modern-day plot momentum, almost a collection of evocative, yearning short stories. An enjoyable read, it left me unfulfilled at the close, but I’ll be sure to read anything the author tackles, such is his skill.

Bill McGuire, a British volcanologist of repute, has, with his “Hothouse Earth: An Inhabitant’s Guide,” written a steely-eyed post-COP26 assessment of Earth’s and humanity’s prospects within the unfolding climate crisis. It is sure to ignite yet another hot debate about the plusses and downsides of doomsaying but the author, although bleak in his worldview, is never less than fair with his judgments. He wastes little time with the denialists, instead laying out the science, including the gaps in climate science and the unknown risks with tipping points, and then walking through the upcoming predictions for heat, floods, fires, storms, famines, diseases, and so on and so on. I expected to be laid low by his confident pessimism (the likelihood of +1.5C are slim and +2C is at risk) but instead came away much better informed (and, given that I read a lot on the subject, that is itself a wonderment with this book) and ready for witnessing and action. Hothouse Earth indeed: you must devour it and weep and gnash teeth and take positive steps.

Channeling the gentle mystery authors of the golden years, but with a modern edge, “The Woman in the Library” is a clever puzzle about four strangers seated together in a Boston library when a terrified scream in another room signals a murder. Who dunnit? Add a cunningly crafted meta story encompassing the author of this whodunnit and her mysterious overseas correspondent and you get an entertaining one-sitting mystery that is readily recommended. The author, a prolific historical crime fiction writer, controls plot and pace confidently, with a close-up, easygoing style. I must read too many crimmies, because I found the surprising endings slightly unsatisfying, but that is a minor quibble, one that never stopped me turning the pages rapidly. A mystery author to be followed … and The Woman in the Library is a welcome outing.

“The Great Book of Journaling: How Journal Writing Can Support a Life of Wellness, Creativity, Meaning and Purpose” is an exuberant potpourri of essays/lessons celebrating and extolling the ancient art of journaling. If, like me, you’re a longtime journal writer, you will be on the lookout for fresh approaches amongst the forty or so contributions. I took away fascinating insights into journaling with children, treating the journal as a legacy, using the journal as a book project springboard (which is in effect what Helen Garner’s magnificent published diaries amount to), specifically tackling life transitions, and the combining of writing with other materials.

If you are pondering introducing a diary/journal into your life … well, this tightly edited collection is packed with inspiration and advice. A few of the pieces struck me as overtly promoting contributors’ own books about their journaling “systems,” but even these held interest. The Great Book of Journaling is a timely, sprightly, inviting compilation put together in a manner to compel attention.

I can think of few hard science-fiction authors as ambitious as Frank Kennedy, who with ”The Untaken Path” has woven seven books of space operatic magic (the series is called Beyond the Impossible) . And he is not done yet. The series’ plotline has twisted and caromed, ever expanding within an empire of space into alternative universes, and there has not been a moment when the author has not been firmly in control. A truly impressive cast of characters, some as reprehensible as anything in Game of Thrones, has variously been featured in the first six books, and now in The Untaken Path, they all come together, humans and immortals who waged bloody war against each other but now must unite against an even greater danger. The book features a wonderfully realized interstellar unifying conference, its politics as intelligently presented as anything by John Scalzi or Arkady Martine. And in a twist weirder than any yet in the series, yet credibly presented, one of the series’ most memorable characters, the immortal, savage, irascible Royal, finds himself in a world-out-of-time at the center of the universe, playing a part that he cannot comprehend. The Untaken Path is one of my favorite instalments in the series and you should devour it after the previous six, just to be ahead of the author’s upcoming ascent to fame.

After the triumph of Station Eleven, anticipation was high for “Sea of Tranquility” and I can confirm it is a gem. If it is not quite the masterpiece I might have anticipated, perhaps a trifle overplotted, perhaps a trifle short for its immense subject matter, nonetheless it is a tour de force of brilliant, mind-twisting plotting and characterization. A 1912 adventurer in Canada, a 2020 woman, a 2203 author, and a 2401 time traveler … their lives and stories intertwine bafflingly until the author miraculously ties all the loose ends together. In essence, this is a classic time-travel sci-fi novel from the 1960s, updated and told with piercing humanity. The novel pulses with a longing for fulfillment, even in the face of pandemics and moon-bound artificial cities. The author is a light-fingered, eloquent stylist, and the book melts the hours away like butter. Wonderful.