‘An excellent compilation.’
– Vaughan Rapatahana reviews The Sets, Takahē 101, April 2021
‘The poems of The Sets are hard won. They are the testament of a man navigating the light and dark of his epoch. Victor Billot has much to say. His is a voice worth listening to.’
– Michael Steven, Kete Books, February 2021
‘This is a tough and challenging collection with a firm grasp of style. A must.’
– Nicholas Reid reviews The Sets, New Zealand Listener, 6 February 2021
‘He has his finger right on the zeitgeist, and accurately portrays the spirit of our times for New Zealanders … a very gifted poet who deserves to be widely read …’
– Laura Solomon, Poetry New Zealand Yearbook 2018
‘This fellow Billot ought to be recognised as New Zealand’s demi-official poet laureate.’
– Steve Braunias, editor of Reading Room
‘[A] rolling, blustering word-river of nanobytes, phrase chunks, alliterations and acrobatic satirical loops, held together by number-eight wire rhyme – great fun …’
– Piet Nieuwland, Landfall Review Online, November 2017
‘Billot can be compelling and punchy. He is an exciting, wild noise, yet one supported by genuine imagination and ingenuity.’
– Hamesh Wyatt, Otago Daily Times, 6 May 2017
‘ … brilliantly wry and trenchant observations of our contemporary political culture and its mediation by pop culture and social media.’
– NB Dunedin Libraries magazine, July 2017
‘Outrage burns on the page in this powerful poem … this is the kind of activist writing that can explode complacency and ignorance. I hope many people get to read it.’
– Bernadette Hall, judge’s comments on Nix Terra for Antarctica Poetry Competition, 2019