Quintana of Charyn
by Melina Marchetta (Viking, 2012)
audiobook read by Grant Cartwright (Bolinda, 2012)
Marchetta crafts a fitting conclusion to the Lumatere Chronicles, investing readers in protagonists at once flawed and fettered and subjecting these to near-cataclysms brought about (mostly) by the brash, presumptuous leadership of men. The outcome is a powerful, sublimely feminist YA fantasy.
Froi of the Exiles
by Melina Marchetta (Viking, 2011)
audiobook read by Grant Cartwright (ABC Audio, 2012)
Marchetta’s trilogy goes from strength to strength. The shift of protagonists allows for reinvention within the fantasy framework, but the biggest contribution to genre remains the subversive female perspective stitched between threads. A long novel but one that demands to be read.
Finnikin of the Rock
by Melina Marchetta (Viking, 2008); audiobook read by Tom Wren (Bolinda, 2010)
YA fantasy that builds into its characterisation and gradually shifts focus, subverting expectations of its titular protagonist. Marchetta knows how to build a story, and weaves a much-needed female perspective through the plot, pointing the way forward for both genre and world.
On the Jellicoe Road
by Melina Marchetta (Penguin, 2006); audiobook read by Rebecca Macauley (Bolinda, 2010)
Looking for Alaska meets Picnic at Hanging Rock. An Australian school story that builds slowly and earns its character development, trusting the reader to get by without exposition. Australian accent warning on the audiobook (for those not cultured enough to appreciate it!).