'Survival can be achieved in the face of seemingly impossible odds, hope found in the most unexpected places, and new futures slide into view where once was nothing.
'Tales for Canterbury is an opportunity for readers everywhere to give support to the people of Christchurch, who have shown resilience and bravery as they work to rebuild their lives and city. This charity anthology features tales by more than two dozen writers from New Zealand and beyond who have generously donated their works.
'Whilst most of the real writing about the earthquake is still to come, and best undertaken by Cantabrian writers themselves (some of whom we are very pleased to include herein), you will find some apposite themes in these pages. Worlds are shattered and rebuilt. Families determined to stay together. Pieces of the past given new meaning. And the future brings with it things never anticipated.
'Tales for Canterbury brings you a variety of stories set in past, present, and future times, worlds touched by disaster, magic, and the otherworldly; where everyday truths are explored, and you never know what shape the future might hold. Explore the depths of what it means to be human, escape the real world, and find hope in these pages.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Contents indexed selectively.
'Three weeks ago, Daddy left town with the other volunteer firefighters to fight the fires in the city, and Tom and Mother have looked after the farm. Radios, phones and TV broadcasts have fallen silent, trains have stopped coming and the main road has remained empty.
'When Tom finds a large metal egg on the farm, and a metal-spiked echidna hatches from it, the neighbour Mr McGregor wants to kill it. Whatever has silenced the rest of the world is creeping into town. Roads start talking and zombies come into town, wanting to tell everyone how they died. People must fight back.
'But Tom thinks differently. The echidna, which he names Thing, is a true friend. Thing protects Tom from the greedy roads, the evil zombies and even Mr McGregor. To find Daddy, Tom needs to follow a map he has found in a vagrant camp site, a map which leads him straight to the place where all the trouble started.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
