The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal

In 1952 a meteorite crashes into the ocean off the east coast of the USA, causing earthquakes and tsunamis that wipe out cities and leave hundreds of thousands of people dead or homeless. Married couple Elma and Nathaniel York work for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics as a computer and rocket scientist respectively. They realise the meteorite has caused an extinction event and they must convince the makeshift new government of the need to get off the planet asap. Mathematician, physicist and pilot, Elma is a woman ahead of her time and she is determined to be an astronaut in the newly vital international space program. Colonies should be the prime motivation, rather than the military industrial complex, and that will require women to be involved. The story is Lessons in Chemistry meets For All Mankind, with a touch of Hidden Figures. Elma and her friends must battle 1950s patriarchal misogyny along with casual and institutional racism to claim their places in history. Kowal draws clever parallels with today’s climate wars in her depiction of how progress is held up. It takes some suspension of disbelief to swallow that the powers that be would get their act together sufficiently to advance the Moon landing by ten years, but perhaps wiping out Washington really would smooth the path.

Manhattan Dreaming, by Anita Heiss

Lauren is a smart, educated, beautiful woman, with loving and supportive family and friends; at 30 a leader in her field of indigenous art curation. So why is she in thrall to a rugby league player, who is clearly just not that into her? A fabulous job opportunity in New York gives her the chance to break her unhealthy addiction to this man who treats her so poorly and opens up a whole new world of dating. The first third of the book is dedicated to establishing Lauren’s world and character, as well as her bafflingly awful relationship. Heiss clearly conducted meticulous research into the world of indigenous art, as it’s all there on the page and her vision of an indigenous gallery in Old Parliament House is a neat one. When the story moves to New York it becomes a travelogue, Lauren’s experience of the city is over described and over explained, the level of detail is boring. The ‘surprise’ twist ending is strongly signalled and so no surprise at all. Lauren’s sudden shifts of direction detract from her credibility as a character. This novel was published in 2010 and the technology references date badly – My Space and Blackberry! Nevertheless if offers a fresh perspective on chick lit that could have been a much better read.

Force of Nature (2024), directed by Robert Connolly

Federal Police detective Aaron Falk’s troubled past intrudes once more in this sequel to The Dry. The landscape again dictates the action, but this time the setting is remote mountainous bushland where a corporate hiking retreat has gone very wrong. Falk’s informant in a high profile case has gone missing and with a storm coming in the chances of finding her alive are slim. As with the books, the story is less strong than The Dry – rather too many co-incidences and dark secrets among the twists and turns and some of the dialogue is well dodgy. Fortunately, a strong cast carries the day with Deborra-Lee Furness making a welcome return to the screen, Anna Torv excellent as always and Jacqueline McKenzie an interesting professional foil for Eric Bana’s Falk.

Burn, by Melanie Saward

Troubled teen Andrew is hanging out for the end of the school year, when he can leave his neglectful mother in Brisbane and return to Tasmania to reunite with his dad. The problem is he hasn’t heard from his dad in a while and doesn’t know where he is. Also the police are investigating the cause of a recent bushfire that Andrew and his mates might have started. And that could be a big problem because he has history with starting fires. Social and economic disadvantage; learning difficulties; bullying; racism; and intergenerational trauma; everything is stacked against Andrew. Saward paints a clear and concerning picture of just how impossible it is for some kids to escape a downward spiral. Her solutions are possibly a little too good to be true, as she acknowledges in an afterword, but breaking the cycle has to start somewhere. Although she firmly engages sympathy for Andrew she also endows him with some sociopathic traits, which point to a need for psychological help as well as a reconnection to country. She is right that what kids like Andrew certainly don’t need is the status quo of the justice system, and a political class that responds to increasing youth crime rates with more of the same.

The Spare Man, by Mary Robinette Kowal

Tesla and Shal are enjoying their luxury honeymoon cruise to Mars when it is disrupted by a brutal crime. With her spouse framed for an apparent murder, it will take all of it-girl Tesla’s power, money and ingenuity to keep him safe and clear his name. Living with chronic pain after an industrial accident seven years earlier, Tesla and her usefully cute service dog have a lot to navigate in this interplanetary murder mystery. As the body count mounts and the shipboard security team proves less than helpful, celebrity robotics engineer Tesla and her former detective spouse must call on all their resources to make it to Mars. The tale provides interesting glimpse into a possible future where gender neutral is the norm, people of all genders knit, crochet and embroider for relaxation and cocktails are king. The finer plot details get a bit lost in the science, but its largely an entertaining read.

Lockwood and Co (Netflix)

For the last 50 years the world has had a problem with unquiet ghosts and spirits, which threaten life and sanity. The danger is worse at night so a permanent curfew is in place and teams of agents use iron, silver and salt to fight the deadly foe. Children are the most sensitive to spirits and teenagers are recruited and trained as agents, supervised by adults in this parallel world. When a mission gone wrong in Yorkshire leaves a team of young agents dead or in a ghost-touched coma, Lucy Carlyle is unfairly blamed and moves to London to get away. Rejected by the major agencies, she joins independent outfit Lockwood & Co. There she hones her unique talents and finds her people, while battling errant spirits and the authorities alongside infuriatingly arrogant - and charming -principal Anthony Lockwood and nerdy researcher George Karim. Each of the eight episodes features a big bad for the trio to deal with, as well as fitting into a satisfying overall story arc. Ruby Stokes as Lucy makes a lovely down-to-earth heroine, nicely balancing the two boys as their friendship and work relationship develops, with a dollop of URST thrown in for fun. The story is genuinely suspenseful and finishes in a way to strongly suggest a follow-up series. Unfortunately Netflix has apparently cancelled the show.