Cirrus@Austlit

'Echoes in the Wind is a contemporary novel about the trials of an Australian Army serviceman after returning from operations in the Middle East.

'Scars are inevitable in life and war. Echoes in the Wind is a story of scars, and how one man's life was shaped by their marks.'   (Publication summary)

'Alienated by work and city life, Tim walks into the bush and the snow of the Australian Alps. Searching for his place in modern Australia, Tim battles the extreme cold and the harsh terrain. In his fight to survive he rediscovers the Dreaming and myths that formed Australia.
'Through the trials of his journey, Tim gathers new perspectives on his past and present. An old hat has a mysterious and magical hold that propels Tim forward.' (Publication summary)

'The Last Man Standing tells the story of Cadet Thomas Sneyk's passage through the officer training institutions of the Australian Defence Force. Told through the eyes of Cadet Sneyk in narrative form, you are bounced from event to event in a series of episodes spanning his cadet career.

'Bastardisation, drugs, lying, cheating, rape, dealing with the contradictory demands imposed on him by the academic and military staff and his own inadequacies, all create hurdles for Cadet Sneyk to overcome if he is to achieve the ultimate prize of graduation.' (Publication summary)

'Can you prove mathematically that your fifty year-old boss is really only 32? And do it in rhyme?

'When a respected poet says 'there is no word in the English language that rhymes with orange' could you come up with a four verse 'poem' liberally sprinkled with those supposedly non-existent words - in ten minutes?

For years his knack for finding the right words meant that John Walker was the 'go-to' man in the office whenever some silly verses were required in a birthday card or farewell card. But it was challenges like these that led to an interest in storytelling in rhyme - or at least something resembling rhyme. Emboldened by these successes John wrote more, often whiling away the hours on long journeys and he turned up one evening at the monthly meeting of the Queanbeyan Bush Poets group. Their enthusiastic responses and encouragement spurred him on so, in a way, they are entirely to blame for all this!' (Publication summary)

'This book consists of an essay, a credo, twelve poems and 205 aphorisms. The essay provides a personal, scholarly reflection on where Paul Monk started, forty years ago, when he left his ancestral religion behind and where he was at the point when this book was being composed. The poems are a private articulation of felt life and a set of attempts to generate a lifeworld of his own. The aphorisms are improvisations on the themes opened up by the verse and are intended to define or point to something, a sketch of reality and meaning.' (Publication summary)

'Hannah Paints the Moon' is the story of a young girl, anxious about falling asleep without the company of her favourite sleep toy, Mr. Ted, something she has never had to consider before. All of her efforts to fall asleep are to no avail. Well almost all ... Drawing on the theme of trust and friendship, 'Hannah Paints the Moon' paints a picture of how young children can draw strength from within themselves, their family, friends and fond memories at a time when they may be anxious, frightened or facing a new challenge. This is lovingly captured in using a very common, everyday scenario; Hannah drawing on her happiest memories, a love of painting and her closest friend to help her drift off to sleep.' (Publication summary)

'This collection of letters from the front, written by an Australian officer in the First World War, is not only an excellent read in itself but it also offers a very interesting picture of what our soldiers experienced in their individual lives while serving abroad.

'Lt Col Thomas Rutledge wrote well and regularly to his mother nearly every week or fortnight while he was away, 1914-18. He gave detailed reports on how he was faring, and equally we learn how his family members were dealing with their challenges at home. He told of the pressures of food shortage in Europe, the contributions made by the Americans, and the effect of declining morale on the German side.

'These letters survived as a complete set due to the care and foresight of his mother and sister. They have been skilfully edited by his daughter Martha (Campbell) and his son William, with the assistance of other members of the family.

'Rutledge’s letters are a valuable first hand complement to the larger operational histories that have been written in earlier years.' Robert O’Neill, former Chichele Professor of the History of War, All Souls College, Oxford.' (Publication summary)

'This collection of essays and reviews is mostly unpublished work. All proceeds from these sales will be directed to a military charity.'

'The Great Despair is book one of a trilogy titled After the Coming and is set in the year 2081, fifty nine years after the end of the War of the Great Despair when the Coming of the Darkness took hold of them all. Today, the new world is organised under the banner of the United Federation of Terran Nations; it’s governing body residing in the capital of Destiny and founded by a Council of Elders known as the Consortium of Trust. They had decided that society was owed a second chance to make amends for humanities past sins.

'The story then follows the plight of one man’s journey as a Federal Continental Ranger, as he struggles with new revelations from his past and an uncertain future. It will be a shocking truth that will threaten all their lives as he struggles to now write the wrongs of his past. He is a much loved husband and father of three, as well as an accomplished Ranger and commander of the UFTN Peace Makers. The preservation of all life is paramount as ideals of peace, unity, equality, trust, honour and courage are the tenets of a utopian society the Consortium of Trust strive to uphold.

'But a turn of events will see this man take a different direction that could not only bring his own family undone, but could affect the new Terran Earth that they all live in today. Love, loss and the answers to his many questions will slowly avail themselves, as eventually he will come to understand the purpose and meaning of his own life. Things happen for a reason and every reason has a purpose. His fate, his destiny and that of humankind will see him ultimately prepare to leave this world in search of another, for their salvation.' (Publication summary)

'Elephants were at the creation of the world. Some say that the world came into being as a result of the cry of an elephant’s trumpet.'

'A young boy from India becomes aware that he will do a great thing when he is grown.

'He is told, 'You are lonely, but soon you will find a difficult friend. Together you will move a mountain.'

'The boy and his monkey embark on a quest, in the company of a young girl, to save a group of Indian elephants from being killed.

'The gods will take care of you. That is why we have gods. What is important is that you must leave tonight, find the elephant, free it from its chain, and take it home.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Paddy Devine has written a dramatic novel about Australians serving across the world during the Second World War. All will be affected by the trauma of war and, in turn, will touch their families at home and others far beyond Australia’s shores. Paddy's years in the Australian Army make his voice utterly authentic.' (Publication summary)

Includes biographies of six Australian airmen who took part in the Battle of Britain. Piloting Spitfires and Hurricanes, these dauntless youngsters took on the might of the German Luftwaffe after just a handful of flying lessons.

'Patrick Cullinan is the first member of the Australian Defence Force to climb Mount Everest. He achieved this as part of the 1988 Australian Bicentennial Everest Expedition.

'Patrick's journey to the summit of Everest start with his days as a cadet at Duntroon and continued through his time as the commander of Climbing Troop at the Special Air Service Regiment. He take us up Mount Gauri Shankar in Nepal (his apprenticeship), Broad Peak in Pakistan (the rehearsal) and then finally to Everest with the Bicentennial Expedition.

'The Expedition team decided to forgo the usual practice of using climbing sherpas, prompting the Sherpa Sungdare, who at the time had climbed Everest five times, to say to one of the Australian expedition members, ‘You guys are White Sherpas.’ (Publisher's blurb)

'Australia’s region comes to the brink of conflict - a novel.

'Regional tensions are fed by political instability, neo-fundamentalism and an increasing trade in the tragic commodity of refugees.

'From the Indonesian archipelago to Papua New Guinea and homeland Australia, the Australian government of Prime Minister Edward Darcy must respond to mounting foreign and domestic threats to defend its national interests. While statesmen and generals ponder and direct, the consequences visit the anonymous thousands whose labours become the very pulse of the contest.' (Publication summary)