'The enigmatic ruins of ancient civilisations intrigue us all. The mystery of how they were built and even more, what caused their disintegration mystifies us too, and the scientific explanation often feels disturbingly inadequate. There is much more to know. Charlie Khat is studying archaeology at Sydney University. He loves it, along with his part-time job at the museum, his cricket, and his mates, and considers himself to be thoroughly Australian. But he's also a refugee from Cambodia, a Khmer, a brown-skinned man in a white society. His adopted country is vainly resisting the need to shed colonial attitudes and come to terms with a changing world. The Dreaming Stone tells the story of Charlie's mission to unravel the secrets of a mysterious incised stone found on Australia's remote north coast and to uncover the secrets of his own incredible past. His search takes him back to the mighty Mekong River, and almost forgotten boyhood memories. At the great, ruined temples of Angkor Wat, with their awesome carved faces gradually being dismantled by strangling vegetation, he discovers he is in great peril, simply because he is Charlie Khat.' (Publication summary)
