Cirrus@Austlit

'The old Chinese curse - may you live in interesting times - certainly applies to the space traveller Zan Kovac. The Aclasers, Earth's ruling elite, faced with revolts had genetically engineered a warrior species, the Krarls, to terrorise their enemies. But the Krarls, having turned on their creators, are driven almost to extinction, only to return in force.

'In this, the second in the Beyond the Silence trilogy, Zan with friends is caught up in the fighting and taken prisoner by the resurgent Krarls. They become slaves, hull-plating spaceships on an orbiting construction platform in the vicinity of Jupiter. Amy Pelazzo joins the group and with her expert help they set about hijacking the spaceship they're working on, the Hindel 59. During the takeover other Human slaves manage to get aboard.

'The struggle for survival continues as the Hindel moves across the vastness of space. Nine hundred people are rescued from a failing colony, but of those who were aboard the spaceship when it left the construction platform, only two survive.
This is a story of loyalty and love, sacrifice and survival. Will Zan as captain of the spaceship be able to reach the safety of planet Cellestia? Will the ship's supercomputer help or hinder, and what of the strange alien presence that watches unseen from the shadows?' (Publication summary)

'Daniel Desousa stands astride a major fault line that divides his extended family. On his mother's side are folk who live in an isolated rural backwater, an impoverished but proudly independent community. On John his father's side are the supremely rich dominated by his Uncle Putron and matriarch Drakonia. People so powerful they are effectively a law unto themselves. When a feud breaks out between John and Putron, Daniel flees for his life to find sanctuary with his mother's relatives. Roman Brasco works for Putron. He and Daniel would seem natural enemies but though they cross paths several time they don't actually meet until the very end.

'This is a story of national and international intrigues, of kidnappings, murders, corruption, love and loyalty all viewed through a satirical lens. Here are elements of madness both amongst the homeless but also amid those who are deemed so rich and powerful that they mustn't be allowed to fail. As for the Edible Machine Guns they are both sugary snacks and potential deadly weapons. Every fifth bullet on the lickerish belt feed a soft centred dumb-dumb. But will this story end with the sound of a nuclear explosion or the clink of coffee cups?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Experience the collision of two very different worlds. The first, as seen through the eyes of Rod, a fighter pilot and Hydie, a teenage girl, is one of titanic spaceships, hibernation, time travel, super computers and eerie outcomes from rampant genetic engineering. Rod and Hydie are made prisoners of war, and both face great dangers. The other world is that of provincial peasants and a class-conscious urban society. The peasant Zoahum, the victim of a local rebellion, finds himself the unwilling caretaker of a giant spaceship. Ghem the astronomer and his young daughter embark on a journeyof discovery which becomes ever more terrifying. A grand saga ranging from space battles to cavalry charges and aggressive, rule-bound clones to horse-drawn carts. Each sections has a different theme but with a strong linking narrative with tales of betrayal, loyalty, chivalry, humour, revenge and love. Where will the threads be blown by the winds of time and who survives to be there at the final meeting place?'

(Publication Summary)

'Young scientist Allan Braith is recruited by methane breathing aliens to check on a planet that has been seeded with living material brought from Earth. Allan is accompanied by Midnight, a small living spaceship. Midnight is only a few weeks old but has had his anaerobic status modified so he can assist Allan in what should merely be a scouting mission. Almost from the minute the pair arrive they inadvertently set in train forces that profoundly threaten the planet's human population. The story that follows is one of love, loss, humour, intrigue, superstition and the uncovering of profound mysteries.

'To some local people, red-haired Allan is a demon and Midnight, the great evil from beyond the stars. These strongly held beliefs greatly hamper attempts to stop a unique civilisation from heading the way of utter extinction.

Finally it is Choel, a young woman rescued by Allan and Midnight, who becomes the Queen of the West Wind and brings unexpected life to the ashes of a long dead fire.' (Publication summary)

'Mavis uncovers a massive gold nugget while her husband Clarry sleeps off a hangover. Here is the potential for a better life, a brighter future.'

(Publication Summary)

'This story explores society’s reactions to the threat of terrorism. John Byron Jones (Byron) is middle aged and recently widowed. A school teacher, he is unemployed having taken time out to look after his dying wife, but as a younger man worked as an industrial chemist in military support services. Politically he is sensible middle-of-the road conservative from a farming family background. But as the complex and dark story develops Byron finds that his comfortable assumptions about life, conservative views and loyalties, increasingly under challenge. Byron grieves for his wife but his sense of loyalty towards Margot, an American charity worker he meets on the road, suggests he has perhaps found a new partner.' (Publication summary)

'Max and Memie are the two principle characters. Max has an Irish father, Harry (Dingle) Bellman, and a Latin American mother, and grows up in desperately poor circumstances. He is a very bright, level-headed young man with natural social skills. Memie comes from an enormously wealthy background but is orphaned at the age of twelve. Sent off to the Defrugals Graduation School for the Super-Rich, she hates it and rebels against all and everything. Being taught that God is good and communism is bad, she chooses to take an opposing view. She is fearless in the face of danger and spends much time looking for revolutions of one sort of another. Max thinks Memie politically naive, but as friend and bodyguard, is forever trying to pull back from the brink. By nature, she is difficult and neurotic but shows her caring side from time to time. Throughout there is an underlying sexual tension, but in the end, Max's efforts at keeping Memie safe comes to nothing.' (Publication summary)