Review by Elizabeth Newman

Songs of the Earth (the Wild Hunt - Book One)
Elspeth Cooper
Gollancz (Hachette) - 2011

Born in 1968 in Newcastle upon Tyne, Elspeth Cooper now lives in Northumberland, UK.
Elspeth writes about herself, “My parents read me 'Ivanhoe' as a bedtime story which set the seed for a lifelong love of epic adventure.”  Elspeth’s love of language, her eloquence and enviable ‘gift of the gab’ shine throughout her writing. The seed planted in childhood has sprouted, grown, and flourished.

Review by Jan Napier

SHAUNE LAFFERTY WEBB: BUS STOP ON A STRANGE LOOP

AUSTRALIA, WINTERBOURNE PUBLISHING, 2011

Home grown Winterbourne Publishing is: "a boutique e publisher of speculative fiction." So says their blurb. It will then, come as no surprise to discover that the 'bus' referenced in the title is actually a malfunctioning time machine.

Shaune Lafferty Webb's debut opus is futurist, character driven, and kinetic. Set within a corrupt and dystopian Australia, it chronicles the lives of two brothers, one of whom is gifted with a strange ability. Olivia, the other major protagonist, is an insular and disenchanted schoolteacher with a mysterious past.

The novel possesses all the ingredients necessary to make it a stimulating, even thought provoking experience.