Very different offerings:
- Tom Keneally has to be the most prolific Australian author alive, with over three dozen books to his credit. Sometimes his novels lack spark but his latest, The People’s Train, dealing with a fascinating episode of Australian history but also the 20th century’s pivotal event, shines with style and verve. Working off true events, Keneally follows a Russian revolutionary in turbulent Brisbane of the 1910s and then back to 1917’s revolution in Petrograd. Two voices are employed and the first, that of Artem Samsurov himself, is particularly riveting, but Keneally’s pace, colour and passion embraces the reader throughout. Outstanding. 4 stars.
- All that Follows strikes me as Jim Crace’s tilt at standard narrative fiction in contrast to his daring literary works. A tale of a weak-willed, social-activist-wannabe jazz musician venturing into risky radical territory late in 2025, the novel has much to offer: a protagonist fully drawn, a terrific opening, an intriguing premise, and Crace’s fluid, rich style. But the semi-science-fiction setting feels grafted on as a meaningless construct, and a fizzer plot drags the reading experience down. 2 stars