Cirrus@Austlit

'It is the year 20,043 AD. Pya, Zumi, Jafet and Trist – known as the Hatchlings – live in tiny Cells, are cared for by their tutor-holos, and can only communicate via their avatars. Pya narrates how the giant computer ComCen sends their real bodies back to the mid 21st (2043 AD) Century where they meet the twins, Rio and Charlie. But even if these six very quarrelsome youngsters manage to survive in a very dangerous world, they must also achieve Independence and Co-operation.' (Publication summary)

'17 YO Kai lives on the streets. The night Rod, his 12 YO autistic brother, comes looking for him, the two steal, crash a car and die. Searching for Rod, Kai finds himself in Hades where he meets dead Bilby-G. As their adventures continue, these youngsters are magically transformed to what they were before Kai became a street-boy and Bilby G. became anorexic. In their efforts to find Rod, the youngsters come across some of the mythical characters as described by Kai’s Greek grandmother before she died: a multi-headed dog. A blind prophet. Twin whirlpools. Three goddesses. A dangerous sea-nymph. The powerful sea-god and his evil one- eyed son.

'This novel’s journey (consisting of 47 poems that trace their journey through the underworld) is based on some of the mythical creatures from Homer’s “Odyssey”.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.