A Sydney pole dancer known as ‘the Doll’ has a one-night stand with a Muslim. The next day she's the subject of a massive witchhunt as a suspected terrorist. After 9/11, the Bali bombings, and the Iraq war, Aus­tralians are ripe for the fear­mon­ger­ing of the media. An escalating cycle of hype and fear and ever more lurid headlines plunges the Doll into a waking nightmare from which she cannot escape.

This novel indicts everyone: the ordinary people who un­think­ing­ly condone events; the security forces with their own agenda; and most …continue.

A half-vampire vampire hunter, her half-elf partner, a human sage, and a very unusual dog travel deep into elven territory, to rescue his imprisoned elf mother. None of the (part) humans are welcome.

This is the fifth book in a series, which I didn't notice when I picked it up. I should have started with the first in the series, but I was able to follow along well enough.

A high fantasy epic leavened with vampire lore. Certain of the elves are concerned with an ancient enemy, which seems to …continue.

Steven Saylor is best known for his Roma Sub Rosa series of detective novels about Gordianus the Finder, set in ancient Rome.

Roma is a Mich­eneresque saga, spanning 1000BC to 1BC, in a dozen vignettes following the holders of an ancient amulet. Starting with a crossroads frequented by traders, it shows the evolution of Rome from a village to the great power of the Mediter­ranean, led by Augustus Caesar, the first of the emperors. It's an easy in­tro­duc­tion to much of Roman history, but the episodic nature of the story means that …continue.

This novel continues not long after The Far Side of the World left off. The Surprise stops off in Barbados, then chases an American privateer almost to England. Jack Aubrey, astute at sea, but a naïf on land, is hoodwinked into causing a run on the stock market, and brought to trial. Stephen Maturin finds that his wife has left him and that his former superior in Naval In­tel­li­gence has been sidelined.

O'Brian moves ef­fort­less­ly from a naval chase to the rural pleasures of Aubrey's cottage to …continue.

This is an omnibus edition containing C.J. Cherryh's Mer­chanter's Luck (1982) and 40,000 in Gehanna (1983): two very different novels set in the same universe.

In Mer­chanter's Luck, Sandor Kreja is the last survivor of a family that hauls freight across in­ter­stel­lar distances. He lives on the fringes, under a series of false identities, trying to avoid official notice. After a one-night stand with Allison Reilly of the enormous Dublin Again, she and three of her Reilly cousins sign on as his crew. The military hire them to ship a dangerous …continue.

White Night is the latest paperback in the Dresden Files continuing on from Proven Guilty.

Harry Dresden is a wizard and private in­ves­ti­ga­tor in Chicago. Minor prac­ti­tion­ers of magic are being killed and the evidence points to his half-brother, Thomas. Harry can't accept that, even if Thomas is a vampire. Meanwhile, there's a war going on between the wizards and certain factions of vampires.

Harry is slowly starting to mature, now that he's got re­spon­si­bil­i­ties. He has an apprentice and two junior Wardens were killed on his watch. He's just a little less likely …continue.

A pa­le­on­tol­o­gist finds a 65-million-year-old alien fossil. A few years later, some of her NASA engineer friends send a probe to the Martian moon Phobos and find the mummies of more of those aliens in an ancient station. They all form part of the crew on the first manned mission to Mars, to in­ves­ti­gate the alien artifacts.

This is a moderately en­ter­tain­ing hard science fiction novel, with an in­ter­est­ing premise and moderately plausible characters. I was irritated by the vast amounts of exposition. The book has a bad case of …continue.

A loose sequel to Hammerhead Ranch Motel. The likable serial killer, Serge A. Storms, is suffering from amnesia and has found himself a job as the Press Secretary to the Governor of Florida, Marlon Conrad.

Conrad, formerly an airheaded child of privilege, has undergone an epiphany and has begun caring about the little people. He's running for re-election and he's on a road trip through Florida in an RV. This isn't to everyone's liking and several people are gunning for him.

Dorsey is slightly more in control of his plot …continue.

Uhtred, a Saxon warrior raised by Danes and the right-hand man of King Alfred the Great, returns home to Northum­bria to settle old scores. Settle those scores he eventually does, but not before he is betrayed by a man he trusts and sold into slavery.

Cornwell is best known for his long-running series about Richard Sharpe, an officer promoted from the ranks in the Napoleonic Wars, and for his battle scenes. Here he proves that he can write about 9th century swordsmen as well as he can write about …continue.

Joel Johnston is a budding young musician and the son of a Nobel-winning physicist, who gets engaged to Jinna, a fellow orphan, only to learn that she's the grand­daugh­ter of the richest man in the Solar System. Her grand­fa­ther, The Conrad, wants him to breed more heirs. In a fit of pique at the deception, Joel goes on a bender then hops on a colony ship to a distant star. Even at rel­a­tivis­tic speeds, it's going to be a one-way trip.

Fifty years ago, Robert …continue.