Cirrus@Austlit

'Knowledge finds those who are meant to see.

'I am the most powerful mage in Fyriane, sent by my sister, the Queen of Salistya, to take over the Kingdom of Arlom.
For one year, I have bided my time, hiding my lethal powers and waiting for the moment to strike, content to play the seemingly dutiful queen as I learn the Arlom ways.
Until the Royal Forum changes everything.

'Fresh faces bring more questions than answers, including a man that I am undeniably drawn to. With all of Fyriane’s leaders coming together and the pressure from my sister intensifying, I can’t trust anyone. They’re all out for themselves.
But I will find the answers I need, one way or another.
As I discover the truths of Fyriane, a bigger picture starts to take shape. A picture that has me questioning everything.

'Yet I must act. I am here now. I refuse to cower.
'I refuse to be a pawn.' (Publication summary) 

'Stephen Whiteside knew that Spargo's Hut in the Australian mountains near Mt Hotham had been abandoned for many years. However, when he first visited it in 1982, he got a shock. It looked like it was still inhabited. Could he have been mistaken? Closer inspection revealed that it was, indeed, abandoned. However, its remoteness had allowed it to remain crammed full of all the items necessary for everyday living. There was a bed and pillow, a table and chairs, a Coolgardie safe, pots and pans, crockery and cutlery, a cheese grater, a fly spray pump, an oven mitt, a golf putter, books and magazines, and much, much more.

'It looked to him as though a woman had lived there as well as a man. Who were these people who had lived in this one room hut above the snow line, and why? He resolved to find out...'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Shelley Conway is a medical student with a keen social conscience. However, in 1970s Australia, her medical school has no social conscience at all. The coursework is inhumane, and students have to toughen up and shut up.

'Shelley is shocked to realise that not only is it compulsory for every student to purchase a box of human bones, but that nobody ever asks where the bones come from.

'When Shelley finds a coded message in her box of bones, she is galvanised into action. She defies the Dean's threat to expel her from the course and goes to India to determine the origin of the bones.

'What she discovers is much, much worse than she'd ever imagined.

'The Bones is a gripping political mystery, wrapped up in questions of justice, trauma and humanity.' (Publication summary)

'The eighty poems in At the Noisy Café, stone-skip across the Shakespearean elements of misconception, reason versus emotion, fate and the fantastical, idyllic setting, insult, separation, reconciliation and happy endings.

'Song of Nestor is a ninety-line Homeric epic that tells the little-known David-and-Goliath story of St Nestor and the Vandal-giant, Lyaeus. The startlingly original Cavafy Villanelles, depicts, in verse-form, a sequence of ten little known biographical details of the famous Greek poet's life. The Murder of Alberta King and Broad Arrow Café memorialize two traumatic community tragedies. There are lightning-strike flashbacks from the Australian poet's Italian-American Ohio childhood with Kissing grandma, Frozen kittens and the humorous, Miss Ohio dummy, and tender poems of love and heartbreak in I never found those lips again, Aloysius' lament, Daddy plus one and Our loss.

'Over the past six years, every poem in At the Noisy Café has been published individually in poetry journals in Australia and overseas.

'This is the first time they have been collected together in one volume.' (Publication summary)

'Homicide detectives Mark Amos and Zac Harris are called out in the early hours of a cold, wet morning to investigate a naked corpse curled up in a laneway off Exhibition Street, Melbourne. The face of the corpse is twisted in torment. Numerous knife wounds and cigarette burns litter the torso. The experienced detectives have not seen anything like it. There are no clues and the dead man is unidentifiable. But they can feel the perpetrator's frenzied rage.

'Weeks pass, then one night, Detective Mark Amos catches a lucky break. It eventually leads him to the Smyth family in Tasmania, where Mark's investigations reveal misappropriation, a wrongful death, a suicide and the destruction of a respected family.

'This spin-off of The Taroona Incident is a tale of hubris, the greed of others, drugs and fateful decisions.

'A Body in the Lane is a suspenseful crime thriller that'll keep you hooked until its shocking climax.' (Publication summary)

'Can you find all the ants and objects hidden in ten gorgeous double-spread antscapes?Each picture has been meticulously crafted, packed with fun, excitement, and secrets! Illustrator Kev Howlett has created a whole range of fascinating worlds where ants rule and objects hide. You'll have fun on every page searching for a list of targets while also discovering a whole range of hilarious situations. It's never boring in Antworld where the ants are doing weird and wonderful things while creating a whole lotta chaos!' (Publication summary) 

'A body.

'A secret.

'A reckoning.

'When four-year-old Rebecca finds the lifeless body of her much-loved Aunt Pat in the Derwent River in 1952, the course of her life changes forever. Plunged into loss, despair and grief, Rebecca navigates the years that pass like a boat searching for shore.

'Cecil Newton hides in many ways. Running from a past he doesn't want to face, he moves from town to town, burying his secrets and hoping they stay hidden.

'When years pass and paths cross, the past comes ashore. Rebecca meets the truth. Cecil meets fate.' (Publication summary)

'Ash and Destiny enjoy a happy life in Melbourne with their young son, Tomas, a large and slightly dysfunctional family, a successful art gallery, and Destiny’s new exhibition about to debut. But everything changes for Ash on one extremely hot Summer Solstice when a car crash leaves his family shattered.

'Waking in hospital Ash knows his whole life has been flipped on its head and his long journey to adjusting to loss and pain is just about to begin. But as time passes both Ash and Destiny struggle to return to their normal life in Melbourne.

'When all seems to be lost and stagnating in their lives, the option to move to country Victoria presents itself. An unlikely move for the city-dwelling couple turns into a new and rejuvenating experience that is the start of a new family, connection to old family, and a healing process for all, despite more disasters looming in the distance.' (Publication summary) 

'Earflaps on kneecaps? What a design flaw that would be! The designer of our bodies knew just how to build our bodies perfectly. He gave us five senses so we could explore the world around us. We use our senses every day as we smell, taste, hear, see, and touch our amazing world; and he put them in the right place on our bodies so they will work well. What a disaster it would be to have your senses in the wrong places!' (Publication summary) 

'One day the hippo heard it mentioned

that an important Head of State

revealed that he had no intention

to care for the planet's fate.

'Anonymous Hippopotamus faces his most evil foe:

A head of state whose selfishness and greed

threaten the future of our planet.

Can our humble hero stop him before it's too late?' (Publication summary)

'"He is the scourge of poachers

The nightmare of polluters

The bane of wildlife traffickers

And the foe of nature looters..."

'Meet Anonymous Hippopotamus,

a humble superhero on a mission to

protect animals everywhere from

human cruelty and greed.

'A fun book with tongue-in-cheek humour about heroes and good deeds. Fill colour, comic-style images that will delight children and adults alike.' (Publication summary)

'The throb of diesel engines and the blast of horns greet Mary O'Rourke as she enters the railway station bound for the next phase of her life.

'The Western District of Victoria beckons with the promise of employment at Roscommon Downs.

'Excited and somewhat apprehensive, Mary is determined to make the most of the opportunity.

'With an upbringing at an orphanage well behind her, new people enter, influence and shape her future. A future that eventually leads to an unexpected discovery.

'Join Mary on her journey as through times of joy and trouble she eventually fulfils a lifelong ambition when circumstances emerge to uncover the hidden truth that lies behind her constant search for answers.'  (Publication summary)

'"Dr Wize said, 'When I was a young man, a long time ago...' He laughed, trying to lighten the subject. 'I was given the best advice a man could receive, and I am going to pass it on to you.'"

'Arthur is a young man in West Heidelberg with a drive to get more out of life. He loves cars, motorbikes... and girls. But it isn't until he meets Doctor Wize that he truly understands the complicated rule to relationships.

'This book is a reflection on the highs and lows of life, tied together with a punchy, distinctive voice that will keep your eyes glued to the page as Arthur dissects his past.

'With a quintessential, home-grown feel of Australia in the 1960s, Two Heads in Two Decades follows Art's journey as he navigates family, friendships, love and sex. With the help of his brother, Al, and the advice of Doctor Wize, Arthur sets out to find the strength to overcome the challenges that life throws at him - and hopes that this book will help you do the same.'  (Publication summary)