Review - "The Shepherd's Crown" by Terry Pratchett

This is the 41st and final Discworld* book. What a sad statement that is. Terry Pratchett's delightful universe began its life as a parody of fantasy tropes. Powerful wizards and witches, magnificent barbarians, cunning thieves, and incompetent...

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Review - "Fitz and the Fool" trilogy by Robin Hobb

Robin Hobb has become very meta as a fantasy author - with this series she has created a trilogy of trilogies. The central character of them all is FitzChivalry, who is both gifted and cursed to be the bastard son of a Prince. He is...

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Review - "The Water Knife" by Paolo Bacigalupi

I can see why so many people rate The Water Knife. It's a very smartly drawn vision of our catastrophic near future. Global warming has lead to drought and dust storms in America's south-west, where cities have legal battles over river...

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My Radio Reel

I've been in radio for my whole adult life. A couple of times I've strayed away from the industry, but I'm always drawn back to it. There is an energy and intelligence in radio that I love. The first half of my career was spent writing...

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Review - "Half a War" by Joe Abercrombie

Joe Abercrombie's Shattered Sea trilogy was written for younger readers, but I didn't notice that when I read it. The books are immediately engrossing, thrusting you straight into danger and intrigue. I love that - when a writer...

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Chick Magnet

An assassin on the trail of a quarter-million in stolen drugs. A thief who'll kill anyone in his way. A gang war brewing, because the sharks can smell blood in the water. And the mystery of the chicken who appeared on the assassin's pillow. Chick...

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A good death

My father, Jack Rheinberger, passed away in 2014. A brief obituary can be found at the ABC Open “In Memory Of” project.  And you can read about his life in his memoirs.  But this story is about how he died. Dad had been struggling...

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