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The Great Emu War: A Novel of Feathers, Futility, and the Australian Outback
328 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 4, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 28, 2026
This is a funny historical fiction about the poor 3 soldiers who were sent to cull 20,000 emus in the middle of the Australian outback. It is very readable and very funny; it actually made me laugh out loud a few times! You can tell the author really knows their subject and is fascinated by it.
I like how it is based on facts but we are given insight into how those soldiers were (almost certainly) thinking and feeling during the "war". I would be interested in how much was based on fact, for example the newspaper headlines, correspondence and so on.
I will read this again!
However: the reason for the 4 stars is because of two small niggles. Firstly, there are some Americanisms/spellings which took me out of the story. For example in a letter home, the address is written as "Harbor" Street/Road (I forget which!) rather than "Harbour". These were generally small things though. Secondly, the author has some fantastic similes! But I wish they has switched up how they described things a bit, maybe use some metaphors or punctuation to make the comparison rather than "X was like a Y" all the time. They were really good though and helped me see what was being described.
I will definitely read this author again.
I was given a free copy of the book in exchange for a review.
I like how it is based on facts but we are given insight into how those soldiers were (almost certainly) thinking and feeling during the "war". I would be interested in how much was based on fact, for example the newspaper headlines, correspondence and so on.
I will read this again!
However: the reason for the 4 stars is because of two small niggles. Firstly, there are some Americanisms/spellings which took me out of the story. For example in a letter home, the address is written as "Harbor" Street/Road (I forget which!) rather than "Harbour". These were generally small things though. Secondly, the author has some fantastic similes! But I wish they has switched up how they described things a bit, maybe use some metaphors or punctuation to make the comparison rather than "X was like a Y" all the time. They were really good though and helped me see what was being described.
I will definitely read this author again.
I was given a free copy of the book in exchange for a review.
February 17, 2026
I don't do book reviews
I don't do book reviews like you keep seeing, as I find that some give too much of the plot away and I personally hate that, as it makes the book not worth reading. I much prefer to take the authors back cover write up as a review as it can either intrigue you enough to read the book of provide you enough information to make you decide that the book is not for you.
My review rules are: The more stars, the more I liked it.
If there are too many typos or errors the less stars I give
If the storyline or plot is poor or contains too many errors, the characters are too weak, the ending lacking something, then the less stars I give.
Simple, uncomplicated and to the point without giving anything away.
Some of the books I read have been given to me by the author as a pre-release copy and this does not bias my reviews in any way.
I don't do book reviews like you keep seeing, as I find that some give too much of the plot away and I personally hate that, as it makes the book not worth reading. I much prefer to take the authors back cover write up as a review as it can either intrigue you enough to read the book of provide you enough information to make you decide that the book is not for you.
My review rules are: The more stars, the more I liked it.
If there are too many typos or errors the less stars I give
If the storyline or plot is poor or contains too many errors, the characters are too weak, the ending lacking something, then the less stars I give.
Simple, uncomplicated and to the point without giving anything away.
Some of the books I read have been given to me by the author as a pre-release copy and this does not bias my reviews in any way.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews