Robbie Arnott, Flames

- Fires, floods, madness and a magic pelt, which all add up to a disappointing mishmash from debut Tasmanian author Robbie Arnott. 

- Flames is a grab bag of literary genres, the core one being magical realism, personalising the forces of nature. But unfortunately it's rather YA in treatment. The young woman Charlotte, who should have been called 'Fire Lady', is the key character. Seriously, we're in Marvel Comics superhero territory! Her and her brother Levi are the children of Fire. 

- What's missing is any depth of meaning or significance. If the island of Tasmania is meant to be suggested a beautiful, magical place, then the novel fails to convince.  

- The real world genres work a lot better and are very satisfying. 

- There’s an utterly delightful Andy Griffith/Lemony Snicket type story - a coffin builder and his wacky, absurdly over-the-top, correspondence; 

- There's a sassy, cynical, private detective character who is extremely engaging; 

- There's a horror story involving a farm estate manager, where Charlotte and her friend Nicola work for a while. 

- There's the country town matriarchal biography of Mavis Midcurrent, a local Avoca identity from the CWA. It's a delightful comic portrait.

- These stories give the novel substance and panache, but they are relegated to subordinate roles which is how the novel as a whole fails in the end.