The Official Matthew Reilly Homepage

So it's April already. War is on in Iraq - but I don't want to comment on that here. You can read about the war elsewhere. Indeed, you can't miss it. I think at the moment it's best to keep this column a war-free place.

So what, then, has been happening in my world...

It is a low-budget British thriller about a team of infantry soldiers who, while on a training exercise in the rugged regions of Scotland, come across a pack of werewolves. Yes, werewolves. The thing is, this film (oh my God) has a plot. For before our heroes meet the wolves, they discover a team of Special Ops soldiers completely ripped to shreds. And if the Special Ops guys couldn't defeat this foe, how can our guys? And what exactly were Special Ops doing there in the first place?

In short, it is awesome. Truly suspenseful, bloody scary. The wolves are pretty well done too, considering the super-low budget, and the writer-director of this film, Neil Marshall, could teach Hollywood a few things about suspense. Don't be put off by the title: if you like monster movies - and I certainly do - you'll love this baby.

Okay. Since I've ventured out of hibernation recently, a lot of people have been asking me one question: what's Scarecrow about? So here's a teaser:

In Scarecrow, Shane Schofield is one of fifteen crack soldiers from around the world who is put on a list, a bounty list; all fifteen men on the list have to be dead by 12 noon, that day. The price on each of their heads is US$18.6 million. And how does a freelance international bounty hunter prove that he (or she) has killed the Scarecrow? Simple. They bring his head to a predetermined location. And that's just the first three pages.

While I enjoyed Chicago (my dad, a real fan of musicals, really loved it), I am still a bit perplexed: how does The Pianist, a movie that wins Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Director not win Best Picture?

We had an election in my state, New South Wales, last weekend, and my uncle, Pat Reilly (legend) stood as an independent candidate against the Liberal Party in a "blue ribbon" Liberal seat.

Guess what: two weeks later, they are still counting! It is that close! If Pat pulls this off, it'll be the greatest electoral win in the history of the area, and also a victory for a community that is sick of political parties like the Liberals taking it for granted.

I was particularly unimpressed, however, at the tactics of the Liberal Party - they had "mystery" people trespass onto private property (people's front yards) to rip down my uncle's election posters. Forty posters in one night were ripped down. Forty. I am told this is traditionally the job of the Young Liberals (since the big wigs can deny any knowledge of their actions as "oh, well, kids will be a little overenthusiastic"). Hmmm.

Been spending some time this past week at Newington College, a great boys' school here in Sydney, speaking at their literature festival. This school has one of the best reading cultures I have ever seen, and some really dedicated teacher-librarians. I'd recommend it to any parent looking to send their son to a school that actively promotes reading.

Well, Game Over for another month. Let's see what the state of the world is like in thirty days' time.