Skyquakers
AJ Conway
Saved by hiding in the fridge, Ned treks across the Australian desert to find other survivors. Beset by rage against the Skyquakers, he can only continue on in the hope he can make a difference.
What might be a fruitless task is explored sensitively and in a reckless pace that makes you want to keep reading. It’s like the aftermath of a train wreck where you think the worst has happened, but then more things keep popping up.
This is set in Australia in a highly realised world that resonates with the reader. If you haven’t been to Australia, this novel is going to make you think that there is nothing here! Which is sort of true. It’s what was missing from In the Eyes of a Monster.
AJ Conway is a science PhD student like myself, and that shows through. The science in this is really well thought out, which I appreciated. Real science that gets the regular reader to think. Remember, humans are animals too (something I laugh about every time I see makeup that is ‘Not Tested on Animals’).
Oh yes, that’s the sort of ending I desire from this author. Unfinished questions? Surprise ending that the reader probably hasn’t thought of? Yes! You’ll remember that I was really keen on her first novel My Nova, and I had my comment on the dust jacket of The Treaty.
5 stars from me. It took me far too long to pick up this novel, but I certainly didn’t regret reading it in one sitting once I had started.
I’m having a problem with some of these honeymoon romance periods novels at the moment. The sad truth is that many relationships won’t survive past the 2 year biological imperative. This novel is more important than that though, it’s about coming out in a place where you think everyone will be hostile.
What I liked about this novel were the wide range of characters included. It felt like you were really getting entwined in the communities. They weren’t just one-dimensional characters brought in to further the story, it felt like they actually contributed to the lives of the family.
Here the multiple perspectives worked quite well, but not flawlessly. I could have done without some in favour of some more from Lily’s captor. I imagine that he would have been the hardest character to write, as he needed to be realistic and yet creepily absent at the same time. He reminded me of 
This novel is basically built on the idea that monsters are more interesting than heroes. Isn’t that true? Monsters always get to have more fun! I’m not sure that’s exactly true for the entirety of the novel, but true feelings come out towards the end.
It’s nice to see a crime novel where I can follow where some of the places are (ie. Australian). To think that crime used to be one of the genres that I turned down to review as a matter of course! I was selling them short by only imagining old-time detective novels.
This book greeted me on my front doorstep, and I responded by reading it straight away despite my current efforts to catch up on reading novels again. Boy was it worth it.
This is action driven. Alfonso hardly seems to get a rest between being attacked by plants and swords. Hehe, while I’m talking about it, every time I write Alfonso, I find it pretty funny. It reminds me of Houdini perhaps? Anyway, there’s no chances to get bored, and the storyline trots along – right until you get tipped on your head!
I put off reading this novel because the cover didn’t fill me with confidence (I have included the updated image here). Lo and behold, setting off into it I remained nervous. By about half-way through, I was already committed, even if I didn’t feel particularly pushed to finish it.
Dear me. This novel. Where to start with its faults. There weren’t enough clues for the reader to really feel like they were on the scene. I was told how to feel about every situation, I didn’t need to think for myself. Again, the blurb gives away too much of the novel contents.