Cirrus@Austlit

'From the desert wastelands of Erda rises the ancient city of Monstrocity. Steel and glass towers soar above a tangled mess of railways and tunnels. Above is a paradise for the rich and successful, while below, in the stinking depths, the poor labour ceaselessly to keep from starving.In the misty chasms of Down Below, one child looks up, and for a brief moment catches a glimpse of blue sky. The boy, Kinsey, realises that all he has to do is climb. He is never seen again. Teenagers Tourmaline and Tyler reach out to disgraced weapons designer Dr Margot Mossberg for help. But then the doctor's latest experiment is stolen, and the three must embark on a harrowing journey through the labyrinthine alleys of Down Below, into the lairs of mad and exiled scientists. While some of these scientists are benevolent, others are downright evil and plotting to dominate the entire city!'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'Now Dr Mossberg is gone, Tyler and Tourmaline take odd jobs and search for a new mentor. After several fruitless interviews, the teenagers meet Dr Hilbert Shaftsbury, a disgraced oneiromancer with maniacal plans to bring down a vile prison known as the Dream Factory.

'Tyler and Tourmaline despair that they will never find a new teacher.

'Then Dr Aloysius Dorian, their new friend from Up Above, reveals that he knows where their missing friend Kinsey is. He also has a favour to ask – that they help Dr Shaftsbury to fulfil his insane plan.

'Inside the Dream Factory languish not just hardened criminals, but poor unfortunates simply down on their luck. The oneiromancers are supposed to use their unique abilities to re-educate them to become useful members of society, but instead torture them to insanity.

'Can Tyler and Tourmaline help Dr Shaftsbury find Kinsey and bring down the awful Dream Factory? Or will they be drawn into the realm of madness themselves?'

Source : publisher's blurb