A review by ajitate
Canticle Creek by Adrian Hyland

5.0

It took me a while to get into the sway of Hyland's unique voice, but once I was used to it, it was addictive. Some of his expressions are so Australian (uniquely Northern Territorian perhaps?) I had to look up a few myself! Hyland also has a one-two punch way of describing things, sometimes in the most blokey offhand way, he had me either laughing at, or underlining, his words. His observations are highly intelligent and you can tell they're backed by his amazing life experiences, many of which have been accumulated living amongst indigenous people.

The protagonist Jesse Redpath is one I hope Hyland continues with. There's a lot more to be done with her if he has a mind to do it. Personally, I wasn't utterly convinced Hyland had the hang of being in a woman's head, and I think I would have found her more convincing/authentic if she'd turned out to be gay, but my quibbles aside, if Hyland writes another Jesse Redpath, I'll definitely be reading it. Lots of unexplored depth there - just what you want for a series!

Read this book for high entertainment, but expect also to pick up some solid education along the way...about art, the bush, clan labs, tracking, witty Australian slang, and much else besides.

Oh, and PS: this cover has to be the most exquisite I've seen for many a day. I couldn't stop admiring it.