Cirrus@Austlit

'Folding a blanket, Irena sat in lotus position. Imagining a shell of blue light around her, she began an internal probe. It was like using her tongue to find a loose tooth. There! She found it, a tug, a leak. Someone was draining her! They were taking her energy to build up their own. But who or what? Never mind who or what, she applied a psychic bandage. At least, for now, she’d be able to handle the everyday. The Swami paused. Never mind, never mind. She will come. She will still come.' (From publisher's blurb)

'Clay and Jade are on a mission: to bring The Buddha Leaves from Thailand to Australia. It's supposed to be a secret. Yet a web of intrigue has been woven around them so that Clay lands up in a Bangkok jail. Bateson, an antique dealer, promises to smuggle Clay out of Thailand for a fee. Bateson takes them to Penang and they fly home. Here, though, they find that Bateson has stolen The Buddha Leaves.

'Desperate to regain The Buddha Leaves, Clay and Jade return to Bangkok and track Bateson to Bali. In the magic island, Clay's premonitions and dreams become darker and darker. In order to prevail, they must overcome not only physical forces but also occult influences arising from magic and drugs.'

Source: www.jaffabooks.com.au (Sighted 02/11/2011).

'Great potential in that boy, real great, a Ne'verman predicted when Glide was born. So how did he end up working a dull office job, his potential squandered and his true dreams unrealised? Glide's got the pen pusher blues. Then he accidentally summons a magic man, Ne'wang, who whisks him through a gateway to Auslan, a former paradise in desperate need of a hero. If Glide wants to fill some big hero boots, he's got to face a wicked Witch, rescue a beautiful princess trapped in Slowtime, and deal with a Giant Dwarf. Good thing he's got a roo-riding imp and a talking elephant on his side. Life can be hard for a hero and Glide is in a right pickle. How can he hope to defeat the Witch? What is the secret of Slowtime? Will Ne'wang ever stop toppling backwards out of Auslan? Will Strongarm ever stop insisting he's not an elephant even though he looks an awful lot like one? And just how much planning can you do down the pub, anyway? A comedic fantasy with a uniquely Australian flavour and a steampunk twist, Glide in Slowtime will take you on a romp where science is magic and magic is science. It's Dreamtime ... in steam time.'

Source: Publisher's blurb