Paul Collins has been involved in science-fiction for many years, as both an editor and author. This is his first published collection of short stories, and it is a very stylish package indeed. Collins takes us into a future of computers, ‘splat’ movies, cyberspace, and time travel. It is not a very nice place to be. While some of these elements may not seem like original plot material, Collins’s ideas have a scary plausibility to them. His astute observations lift his stories above the type of sci-fi that relies merely on the acceleration of today’s ideas.

Collins’s sharp sense of humour is never far away. The story that gives this book its title is a masterpiece of black humour. The government of the future find themselves trapped by the people they previously represented (again, Collins is probably not the first person to have this idea). This story is definitely the stand-out piece of a fine collection.

The Comfort Women: Sex slaves of the Japanese Imperial forces by George Hicks

Allen & Unwin, $19.95pb

It is a sad reflection on Japanese society that a tragedy as big as this could be kept quiet for so long.

During the Second World War, the Japanese military forces ‘recruited’ women, primarily from Korea and Japan, to be sex slaves for their personnel. These women were placed in ‘comfort stations’ that were often no more than a tent, and were forced to ‘service’ up to fifty men every day. Women who provided poor service, or refused completely, were beaten or even killed. With the end of the war in sight, many of these women were then killed to facilitate an easier retreat, and also to keep their stories forever untold.

Almost as bad as the military involvement in these actions is the cover up that followed. For many years the Government refuted stories of the comfort women, even after some survivors had made the issue public. In 1993 they finally admitted to their involvement, but then refused to issue any compensation or even an apology. As George Hicks states, Japan’s ‘unwillingness to attempt to right past and present wrongs will ensure that Japan remains an international outcast’.

Beginning with the social situation in Japan before the war, Hicks gives a comprehensive account of all significant events up to and including the court cases that are continuing today. The book also contains many first-hand accounts from the people involved (mostly from the comfort women themselves).

The Comfort Women is not an easy book to read because of the subject and also because of Hicks’s occasionally awkward style. This should not discourage potential readers. The material contained in this book is tragic and often horrific, but it is also a story that must be told.

The Roan by Martin Thomas

Random House Australia, $14.95pb

Somewhere in outback Australia, near Cooper Creek, is a monument with two names on it: Robert Burke and William Wills. A name you will not find anywhere is that of one of the horses, known simply as ‘the Roan’.

According to Martin Thomas, this is doing the animal a great injustice. He writes ‘Perhaps … there should be another monument along the creek to join those names more familiar to today’s generations’.

The Roan follows the life of this remarkable horse from the beginning of the expedition to its eventual return, sixteen years later. Suffering from dehydration, among other things, the horse was left for dead in the middle of the desert. Miraculously it recovered, and was one of the few members of the expedition, human or otherwise, to return at all. The focus of the story is the sixteen years the horse spent roaming the desert, and more specifically its encounters with the Aboriginal culture.

The graceful flow of Thomas’s writing makes this book a pleasure to read. He admits that his story is a blend of fact and fiction, but the story only journeys into fiction when reliable facts are unavailable. Thomas has a very unique perspective on history, and The Roan is all the more enjoyable because of this.

Walking on Water: Sydney Theatre Company at the Wharf edited by Kim Spinks and Sharon Baird

Currency Press, $14.95pb

If you believe the blurb, this book is a ‘celebration of STC’s first ten years at Pier 4/5’. They must have very dull celebrations at the STC.

Walking on Water is a mundane look at what could have been a very interesting topic. The book seems as though it was hastily thrown together and it never quite gels. We begin with the history of the old wharf and its conversion into a stylish theatre. We then hear from many of the people involved, from the actors to the designers to the theatre­goers. Sadly, the different authors all say the same thing as the last author, and it wasn’t all that interesting the first time. I can’t imagine who would pay $14.95 for a book this short and this uninspired.