Cirrus@Austlit

'Twelve tales of adventure, wonder and heart from Aurealis Award-shortlisted author DK Mok.

'These diverse stories of courage and hope celebrate fierce women, curious minds, and unexpected kindness. A warrior librarian makes a pact to save the monsters of her realm. A high school girl ferries refugees from broken, enchanted worlds. An underfunded roboticist builds a robot kraken to explore the abyssal depths. The Heart of the Labyrinth and Other Stories features six Aurealis Award-shortlisted stories, as well as two stories original to this collection.'  (Publication summary)

'When the moon is mysteriously snatched from the sky, outcast warrior Ora must venture beyond the stars, to the realm of the forgotten gods, to retrieve her world's stolen moon.'

Source: Author's website.

A scientist draws from myth and legend to create mimetic robots for exploration and discovery.

'One summer’s eve, a spellbinding tale of stargazing spiders ensnares the heart of 5-year-old Del, setting her on a path that will weave together the worlds of entomology, biomimetics, and humanity’s dreams of distant galaxies.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

In an interview with publisher Ticonderoga, DK Mok noted:

It follows the journey of Lani Bashir, a travelling librarian, as she navigates a world transformed by rising seas and genetically modified creatures, visiting communities powered by sun, wind, sea and cheese.

Source: http://ticonderogapublications.com/web/index.php/our-books/195-ecopunk/421-ecopunk-a-minterview-with-dk-mok (Sighted: 10/01/2018)

'In the seething metropolis of Baltus City, car-hacker Squid is desperate for a fresh start. She dreams of a normal life and a respectable job, where retirement comes with a pension plan, not an exit wound. Determined to break free from the criminal syndicate that commands her, she agrees to one last heist. But when she rescues a cheerful amnesiac from the trunk of a stolen car, her decision to help him sends her own plans into a tailspin.

'Squid and the amnesiac—soon nicknamed Grief—rapidly find themselves caught between warring criminal factions, shadowy vigilantes, and Squid’s own hopes for a better future.

'As she investigates deeper into the mystery of Grief’s true identity, Squid begins to uncover a past darker than her own, setting her on a collision course with the enigmatic crime lords who rule Baltus City.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'In the heart of the Labyrinth of Varissen, there dwells a beast known only as the Devourer. However, the Devourer is sick of eating adventurers, and he suspects that once, long ago, he bore another name. So when a young woman arrives, declaring that she’s here to rescue him, the Devourer persuades her to join him on a search for his forgotten past.'

Source: Author's website (http://www.dkmok.com/0009Labyrinth.html). (Sighted: 22/2/2016)

'When Crown Prince Valamon is impossibly taken from the heart of Algaris Castle, the only clue as to motive or culprit is the use of unknown sorcery.

'Reclusive cleric Seris is happily tending to his book-infested temple until he finds himself drafted–for political reasons–to the rescue mission. His sole companion on the journey is Elhan, a cheerfully disturbed vagrant girl with terrifying combat skills and her own enigmatic reasons for seeking the prince.

'Venturing into the wild, unconquered lands, Seris has no fighting prowess, no survival skills, and no charisma, as Elhan keeps pointing out. Armed only with a stubborn streak and creative diplomacy, he must find a way to survive outlaw towns and incendiary masquerades, all without breaking his vow to do no harm.

'Chasing rumours of rebel camps and rising warlords, dangerous curses and the return of the vanished sorcerers, Seris and Elhan soon discover a web of treachery and long-buried secrets that go far beyond a kidnapped prince.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'In the unseen realm enfolding the world, timeless custodians maintain order and balance. However, when one custodian unexpectedly "retires", this triggers a chain of events that threatens the separation between the worlds.'

Source: Author's website.

'It's been four years since Chris Arlin graduated with a degree in cryptobotany, and she's still no closer to scraping up funding for her research into rare plants. Instead, she's stacking shelves at the campus library until a suspiciously well-dressed man offers her a lucrative position on a scientific expedition.

'For Chris, the problem isn't the fact that they're searching for the Biblical Tree of Life. Nor is it the fact that most of the individuals on the expedition seem to be lethally fashionable mercenaries. The problem is that the mission is being backed by SinaCorp, the corporation responsible for a similar, failed expedition on which her mother died eleven years ago.

'However, when Chris's father is unexpectedly diagnosed with an incurable illness, Chris sees only one solution. Vowing to find the Tree of Life before SinaCorp's mercenaries, Chris recruits Luke, a sardonic campus priest undergoing a crisis of faith. Together, they embark on a desperate, wondrous race to find the lost garden of Eden.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Tess is languishing in her job as a copy shop assistant, when a curious encounter involving a moonlit bridge, a rice dumpling, and a minor god, nudges her life in a fresh new direction.'

Source: Author's website.

'After the Apocalypse, Ven the android is sent away with the last surviving human child. Almost a century before, a scientist named Arvel Hem speculated that humans suffer from a “chronogenetic species-wide pathology” that has now caused mass die-offs. The boy named Solomon may be the exception. There may be others. Ven’s quest is to find Hem, who took off across the universe to avoid the conflagration he knew was coming to Earth. On the ship, Sol grows up, Ven slowly deteriorates, and so does their vessel' (Lois Tilton, Locus Online).

'When Ryan's girlfriend leaves him without so much as a goodbye, he becomes obsessed with decoding the only clue she left behind: a Christmas beetle on the windowsill.'

Source: Author's website.

'No one aspires to be the pizza delivery guy. It’s a summer job, or something neurosurgeons do after fleeing their war torn country.When I was a kid, I wanted to be a bandit monk when I grew up. But that was a long time ago.'

Source: Author's website.

'Mark's career at the advisory office is at a standstill, his relationship with girlfriend Ella is quietly capsizing, and he's beginning to discover strange blanks in his memory. Plus his goldfish are missing. As Mark's increasingly frequent episodes of amnesia begin to take on a life of their own, he finds himself battling the threat of an unexpected leap in human evolution.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.