Cirrus@Austlit

'A protracted volcanic winter has devastated Earth and left only isolated pockets of survivors. With food becoming scarcer and the air growing toxic, Rab sees just one chance for survival: a perilous journey north in search of a fabled city that was rumoured to be one of the many staging areas where ships were launched, ferrying vast numbers of the people of Earth to a salvation planet. But Rab didn’t count on being forced to take along the last three children from his dying village.

'When one of the children breaks his leg, they are rescued by the hostile and sceptical Sunny, and taken by her to an underground refuge where she, her grandfather, and other refugees survive in comparative luxury. But it is a luxury teetering on the edge of collapse, and when Sunny’s grandfather begs to join Rab’s party, Sunny, to Rab’s dismay, insists on coming with them. Leaving two of his party behind Rab heads north again. With him is Gift, the young girl from Rab’s village, Sunny’s grandfather and Kix, the old man’s ancient horse, the last of its kind. Leading the way is Sunny, antagonistic and prickly. Years ago, Sunny had been the lone survivor of a similar quest.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Ten years ago Rab learned the secret of the planet he calls home – and lost the young girl he’d vowed to protect; traded for a sweater, a set of gloves and a second-hand pair of boots. Since then, he’s wandered the barren surface alone searching for her, returning to the tunnels only when hunger, exhaustion or the inconstant seasons offer him no choice. When a freak accident occurs during the harvest, the death of an old friend finds Rab agreeing to abandon his search and guide Fin, now a tunnel-dweller, and Cloud, a former captive of the Top-siders, back to his old village to deliver a macabre and precious cargo. Although reconciled to honouring his word, Rab is convinced that their reckless journey south will tell him nothing he doesn’t already know and that the secret he has dutifully guarded all these years is in no danger of being exposed. He is wrong.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A long time ago, Rab learned the secret of the planet he calls home. Now, after years of enslavement under the Feathers, Rab considers an escape with Cloud, hoping to find refuge with the few surviving Top-Siders who still live free in the west. But there have been dire warnings of a new breed of predator in the skies and the Kun, leader of the Feathers, has deployed his human captives to fortify the settlement's defences.

'When the child of Rab's adopted son disappears and the Kun's settlement comes under siege, an unlikely friend surfaces and events are set in motion that will shatter perceptions and radically shift the course of the future.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.