Cirrus@Austlit

'In this special companion volume to The Complete Rynosseros, author Terry Dowling discusses the origins and development of every story in the classic saga of the Blue Captain.

'There are fascinating insights into the parts played by boyhood movies, picture books, comics and SF magazines, by the work of the Surrealists and Scheherazade’s tales from the Thousand and One Nights, everything from Jacobean song lyrics, modern-day movie soundtracks and a child’s drawing of a robot to the fiction of Cordwainer Smith, Ray Bradbury and J.G. Ballard, as well as that of his long-time writer friends Jack Vance and Harlan Ellison.

'Whether through the support and wise counsel of editors like Peter McNamara and Philip Gore, the artwork and design input of friend and colleague Nick Stathopoulos, or the titles, questions and suggestions offered by many interested companions along the way, Songs from the Inland Sea focuses, too, on learning the craft. It highlights the role of hard work, improvisation and—in true Surrealist fashion— serendipity, the part played by chance so prized by Max Ernst and other luminaries in the movement.

'For the completist, the die-hard fan or curious newcomer, Songs from the Inland Sea provides an intriguing, heartfelt look at how one writer went about pursuing the dream, and not only added a truly unforgettable character to the canon of modern fantastic literature, but, as often happens in any creative life, came to discover himself in the process.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Events are fast nearing crisis point for the seven Coloured Captains. While Tom strives to learn the meaning of his three signs from the Madhouse, he continues to test the patience and goodwill of the tribes who rule this amazing Australia of the future.

'As he roams the dream-ridden streets of Twilight Beach, travels the strange wind river called the Soul, wanders the shores of the Inland Sea and visits the desert wastes of Totem Rule and Pentecost, his very existence cannot help but provoke the tribal Princes and their powerful allies.

'Going walkabout doesn’t help either, for Tom cannot be other than the man he is. By aiding outcasts, travellers, fellow captains, even rogue belltrees in his search for his forgotten past, the point is finally reached where something must be done and a deadly plan is put in place that will deal with the Captains once and for all.

'The question is: will Tom find answers before it’s too late.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'It’s no surprise that The Adventures of Tom Rynosseros has been called “The best and most ambitious Australian science fiction series ever written, and one of the best, ever, period” or that Locus magazine in the US saw it as placing its author “among the masters of the field.”

'Only seven Nationals have won Hero Colours and fine sandships from the rival tribes that rule Australia a thousand years from now. We join the Blue Captain, Tom Tyson, and his crew aboard the magnificent kite-drawn charvolant Rynosseros as he strives to discover his true identity in a world of strange and dangerous desert states, orbiting battle stations, mind war and the most bizarre terraforming and genetic experiments imaginable. We travel with Tom to the islands of the Inland Sea, to the great fighting ground of the Air, to deserted carnivals, haunted artists’ colonies, fire-chess contests and the abandoned arcologies of the interior, all while searching for clues to the meaning of the three signs he carries with him from his time in the Madhouse.

'For that is the great mystery here, and Tom’s search to discover who he is, and why he has come to be in this place at this time is one of the most memorable journeys in modern fantastic fiction.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Peripheral visions is a unique reference collection that includes all of Robert Hood's 44 ghost stories to date, three of them especially written for this volume. These memorable tales display Hood's uncanny ability to make the fantastic real, to embrace weirdness and create human characters whose lives - both inner and outer - haunted by mortality, are laid bare and revealed to be our own worst nightmares. Ranging from melancholy reflection on life and death, through disquieting tales of dark humour and vengeance, to chilling visions of ghostly apocalypse. Hood's stories are sure to draw you into a terrifying world that in the end is revealed to be irrefutably our own. Though many of these stories draw on the traditions of the past, they are far from traditional in approach. As you turn each page remember this: not everything here is as it seems. There's always something more, barely glimpsed, out there on the periphery.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Imagine if your darkest dreams had the power to kill . . . First came the flies and bees. Then the wild dog attacks in the Blue Mountains and sightings by locals of terrifying beings. The wail of the Banshee is heard. Erinyes, Pan and the Wild Hunt are on the move. The old ones demand blood ... the killings begin. In Circle of Nine a coven of witches unleashed chaos by opening a portal to Eronth, a parallel world where magic, prophecy and ancient myths are real. Now the coven return to close the portal. But dark forces are working against them. Is one of their own betraying them?

'Eronth is on the edge of ruin. Its cunning folk have been decimated by witchhunts and are beset by invaders. Behind all this chaos lies the Eom crystal, ever growing in power and now with an offspring of equal evil.

'The faith and strength of Khartyn, Gwyndion, Maya and others are pushed to the limit as they face the horrific culmination of deadly energies. Not all of them will prove equal to the challenge. Heroes will fall by the wayside. One of them will perform the ultimate sacrifice. The final unexpected twist will make you gasp!'

[Source: Momentum Books website]

Despite Emma's best efforts, the sacred Eom crystal is beginning to recharge, throwing the magical Goddess-worshipping world of Eronth into deadly turmoil. Bride of The Stone tells the story of Maya, daughter of Emma and the mysterious Stag Man, who was stolen by an Eronth faery tribe as an infant and raised to womanhood oblivious to both her identity and destiny in the great struggle to come.

Maya finds herself in a world threatened with destruction. The sinister Lightcaster feeds off the Eom's dark energy to orchestrate bloody witch-hunts, and the Sea Hags fulfill ancient prophecies by invading the land. The Azephim dark angels scheme to harness the Eom's power and Maya's future to realise their dreams of power.

Amidst this chaos Maya begins a long road to self-discovery, helped by the Wizards of the Circle of Nine, freed from millennia trapped in stone.

Meanwhile on Earth, Emma's house is occupied by a new age cult whose leader's esoteric powers are frighteningly real. But he knows little about his own angelic lineage. He knows even less about the Azephim and other dangerous entities drawn to the house's dormant portal between the worlds.

Maya's destiny unfolds as she falls in love with Bwani, leader of the Circle of Nine. But are their combined powers enough stop the dark forces destroying not only Eronth, but Earth as well?

[Source: Momentum Books website]

'Two hundred years after the Forbidding was broken, Santhenar is locked in war with the lyrinx - intelligent, winged predators who will do anything to gain their own world. Despite the development of battle clankers and mastery of the crystals that power them, humanity is losing. Tiaan, a lonely crystal worker in a clanker manufactory, is experimenting with an entirely new kind of crystal when she begins to have extraordinary visions. The crystal has woken her latent talent for geomancy, the most powerful of all the Secret Arts - and the most perilous. Falsely accused of sabotage by her rival, Irisis, Tiaan flees for her life. Struggling to control her talent and hunted by the lyrinx, Tiaan follows her visions all the way to Tirthrax, greatest peak on all the Three Worlds, where a nightmare awaits her'.

Source: booksller's website.

'While staying with his friend Sonja Vanhoeven in Queensland, Ernie hears the sound of the sea surging through the windows of her house at night, despite being 40 kilometres from the coast.'

Source: Author's website. (Sighted: 16/6/2014)