Rhett Davis Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Rhett Davis is a successful published author who lives in Geelong, Australia.

Rhett recounts that he is mostly writing the type of fiction that is somewhere between the real and the unreal, noting that it usually has ‘an irreverent streak’. He attended the University of British Columbia, where he graduated with his MFA. He then followed that up with a PhD in creative writing that he obtained at Deakin University in Geelong.

The author says that when it comes to reading books, he likes to read things that surprise him. He thinks that the comic and tragic are often of the same breath. He is Australian, but notes with a tinge of humor that he is ‘deeply suspicious of the idea’.

He has resided in many different places outside of his native Australia, but Rhett says that somehow he always finds his way back to southern Victoria’s Wadawurrung country, the same place that he was born. In order to make money, he has turned to at different times teaching creative writing, analyzing processes, managing projects (as well as people) and has sold books, all at different times.

Davis has seen his work published in different places such as The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Kill Your Darlings, Meanjin, and The Big Issue. Rhett had the distinction of winning the 2020 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript for his debut novel Hovering, which was followed by his second novel Arborescence.

Hovering is a 2022 debut novel by Rhett Davis. It was shortlisted for the 2022 Aurealis Award for the best science fiction novel. If you have been looking for something in the sci-fi genre that is also going to be fun to read, check this novel out!

The city may have been in the same place, but it may not be the same city. Main character Alice is outside of the her family’s fifties red brick home, and doesn’t know if she should go any further. Sixteen years have passed, but she might have no other option but to approach.

Lydia is someone who opens the door to a stranger who is familiar to her– a pale and bony woman of 39 years old. Lydia recognizes her sister right off the bat but notices that something is off. At the same time her son George is upstairs, not wanting to speak and lost in his own virtual world that he designed.

Things have changed and it appears that nothing can be aligned with what it was. It also appears that the city is also similarly agitated, with citizens waking up and seeing that streets have rearranged themselves, or else that they are in homes that have found themselves in a new and different part of town entirely.

The world moves all around them and as it does Alice is about to find out that her secret is going to be shown, with its appearance changing just about everything. Will they ever feel that the ground beneath their feet is solid ever again?

This is a debut novel that readers will not want to miss as individuals do their best to try and find connection and security in a world that seems filled with chaos. Relatable and compelling, this debut is original and interesting in a way that readers will have to experience for themselves. Grab a copy of Hovering to follow along with every word!

Arborescence is a 2026 novel by Rhett Davis. It was shortlisted for the Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novel 2025. If you’ve been wanting something that is unique and original but also inspiring and uplifting, this might be the right book for you!

This is the book that people like Chris Flynn are calling ‘Dazzling, profound’. Kate Mildenhall praises this book, saying it’s one to ‘help us believe all is not lost’. Meanwhile, Ben Rawlence says that the book ‘reads like a thriller but has the tenderness and insight of poetry’. Award-winning for a reason, this is an original novel that is all about what it can mean to deal with a world where the definition of humanity is starting to change.

Bren is a guy who works for a company that is out there along with colleagues that he has not met before and they might not even be real. Meanwhile his partner Caelyn has her eye out for something more than that but is not certain what that is. The sole thing that she does know to be true is that she feels that humans are actually breaking the world that they live in. She also does not feel that she has the power to do something about it.

Caelyn is in the forest one day when she discovers a group. All of them think that if they are able to stand still for an amount of time they will go on to become trees. Then she finds another group like that, and discovers that the idea’s spreading among them. When people start to disappear, and trees seem to show up in places they wouldn’t be expected to be growing. Could it be possible that these people are right and they can actually turn into trees?

Caelyn is watching the cities decay and the world become greener, and feels like there is not that much to fear. Bren isn’t sure that he agrees. They are going to have to turn to themselves and ask what they are ready to give up in their own lives and whether or not they feel that it is their time to stand still or act. This is a very interesting novel that follows up the debut by Rhett Davis in a unique and interesting way, adding another science fiction story that readers must get their hands on.

So many others have loved this novel, and you will too! The Guardian called the book ‘Strange and beguiling’, The Australian Women’s Weekly said that readers will be ‘stunned by this novel’, and ARTSHUB called it ‘Imaginative and captivating’. Check out Arborescence to see what you think and how the story concludes!