Debut novel by a Vancouver Island author splices together parody, satire, and an urgent environmental message. Some parts play out far better than others, our reviewer notes. —Kenna Clifford reviews Rise of The Jellies, by Brian Wilford (Altona: Friesen Press, 2025) $28.49 / 9781038322364
A satiric tale about the MAGA era is a “lighthearted romp.” And though another facet of the novel—the coming-of-age tale focussed on a miniature dragon and its wizard master—promises a “nuanced development of a father-son type relationship,” the “book seems to lose its way.” —Sheldon Goldfarb reviews We’ve Come for Your Eggs (And Other Reasons to Annex the North), by Septimus Brown (Victoria: Look—See—Press, 2025) $23.00 / 9781738076666
Simultaneously black- and warmhearted, a Victoria author’s sophomore novel satirizes corporate culture. In it, a nebbish hero simmers with fantasies of power and revenge… and then strikes a fateful bargain with dire consequences. —Ron Verzuh reviews Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World, by Mark Waddell (Toronto: Viking Canada, 2025) $26.95 / 9780735250321
“If you’re looking for dour, deeply depressing escapism, go fish. But if you’re in the mood for humour and meta-humour…”: in this novel, self-involved TV personalities and mystery writers congregate for a festival where—gasp!—there’s a murder. Dialogue is snippy, the mood is light, and the shenanigans are frequent. —Jessica Poon reviews Killer on the First Page, by Ian Ferguson and Will Ferguson (Toronto: Harper Collins Canada, 2025) $24.99 / 9781443475099
“Like many love stories, this one involves a love triangle”: with “characters that are not only vivid, but full-on loose cannons,” a Vancouver-set sophomore novel tackles marriage, identity, and contemporary reality. —Theo Dombrowski reviews You’ve Changed, by Ian Williams (Toronto: Random House Canada, 2025) $37.00 / 9781039012356
In a debut novel, “a party animal of a book that resoundingly delivers,” two sisters—one “prone to shoplifting in her job as a cashier,” the other a “skin care influencer with a cult-ish following” tussle in a wacky story that marries social critique and wit. —Jessica Poon reviews Julie Chan Is Dead, by Liann Zhang (Toronto: Simon & Schuster Canada, 2025) $24.99 / 9781668079867
Sisters who happen to be creatures of myth offer wit and wisdom, cynicism and love in a breezily written and beguiling novel. —Jessica Poon reviews Roxy and Coco, by Terese Svoboda (Morgantown: U West Virginia Press, 2024) $29.99 / 9781959000068
A debut novel, a moderately appealing political satire, explores the notion of radical democracy. —Valerie Green reviews Owls, Doughnuts, and Democracy, by Jason A.N. Taylor (Victoria: independently published) $7.99 (e-book) / 9798333346148
Hard Knox: Musings from the Edge of Canada by Jack Knox, foreword by Ian Ferguson Victoria: Heritage House, 2016 $19.95 / 9781772031508 Reviewed by Bill Engleson First published Jan. 25th, 2017 * I cracked open Jack Knox’s Hard Knox: Musings from the Edge of Canada on the coldest day of 2016 on Denman Island, alarmed…
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