Swift #0.5

SWIFT:
Renegade by R J Anderson

Martin's Story!

On the run from the Empress, he never guessed the lengths she would go to in order to bring him back, or if not bring him back, end him. He never realised just how far he would push himself to escape. But pushed too far, Martin almost completes the Empresses wishes for himself. Falling out of the sky, one minute a bird, the next a boy, Martin never hoped to survive. But then a girl appeared.

Renegade is the story of Martin's escape from the Empress and his meeting with a human girl who not only saves his life, but would go on to play a vital role in Ivy's story Swift. With insights into his past and his relationship with the woman he would go on to kill, Renegade is one short story that's long in history, filling in events that have taken place between the old faery series ending with Arrow and the new piskey series starting with Swift.

R J Anderson Webpage

R J Anderson @ Hachette Children's

On sale: 01 May 2012
Price (AU): free with Swift
ISBN: 9781408312636
Recommended age: 10+
In a word: Martin
Re-read it: possibly
Recommend: to those reading the series
Star rating: four out of five
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Swift #1

SWIFT:
Swift by R J Anderson

A Piskey Like No Other!

There were only a couple of times a year when the piskeys ventures out of the Delve and into the world above, only a couple of times of year when it was made safe for piskeys to leave their underground home. With all the spells and wards in place no one expected danger to find them, but when Ivy's mother disappears there can be only one explanation, the spriggans have caught her.

Five years later and the impossible happens, the spriggans have returned. But as only Ivy alone has seen the creature no one believes her, that is until piskeys start disappearing from the Delve and the creature is caught. But what this spriggan has to say will have Ivy question all that she knows and lead her to betray her kind in search of the truth.

With nothing left to lose Ivy takes the word of a stranger, worse still, the word of a spriggan, over her own piskeys as one choice leads into another and eventually she finds that the truth is not as simple as she believed. With no one to trust and danger closing in around her and those she cares for, time is running out for Ivy and her fellow piskeys.

Swift introduces a new series of magical beings troubled by the past, trapped by their environment and unable to move on from their current situation. Alongside this clan of piskeys and knockers are some familiar faeries from the previous Faery Rebels series, and with this new tale comes some new and exciting adventures. As an added bonus this book includes the free short story Renegade.

R J Anderson Webpage

R J Anderson @ Hachette Children's

On sale: 01 May 2012
Price (AU): $16.99
ISBN: 9781408312636
Recommended age: 10+
In a word: Piskeys
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: five out of five
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Green Monkey Dreams

Green Monkey Dreams by Isobelle Carmody

 

"So, You Seek The Key To The Dream Of Life"

  

The High Path is a road of sorrow. With all good intentions we are led on a path of sacrifice, hardship and loss only to find that in the end we are left alone in the world, separated from those we love through the choices we have made, and left to face the consequences of an unknown future alone. But even when all is lost the will to go on still remains.

The Way Of The Beast speaks to the darker side of our human natures. Beneath the smiles and kind gestures lurks a darkness that is capable of causing great pain to those we care for through broken promises, crushed dreams and shattered hearts. At times there are no answers, no prays heard, only the darkness and the lost innocence of youth.

The Worldroad teaches life lessons, and while some are able to inspire and bring hope, others maybe learned all too late. It is our choices in life that make us who we are, lead us where we are going and teach us what we need to know. There are no right or wrong paths, only choices that must be made.

Green Monkey Dreams is a beautiful collection of short tales that are full of hope, tragedy and bittersweet moments that haunt you long after their reading. A skilfully written collection of magical tales of the fanciful, the quirky and the everyday. Each story is a doorway to another land, another time or anther reality where everything is at once both new and familiar in just the same way that these stories are at once both unique and timeless.

Isobelle Carmody Webpage

Isobelle Carmody @ Allen & Unwin

On sale: 01 June 2012
Price (AU): $19.99
ISBN: 9781742379470
Recommended age: 15+
In a word: Fantastic
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: five out of five
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The Fairy Ring

The Fairy Ring by Mary Losure

"Elsie and Frances Fool The World"

It all began with Frances, a young girl who, being new to England, one day discovered fairies at the bottom of the garden. Unfortunately it seemed Frances was the only one to see these fairies and so without proof no one believed her, that is apart from her cousin Elsie of course. But that didn't stop the teasing that followed.

Elsie, being of kind heart and somewhat mischief nature, decided to put a stop to the teasing of her cousin Frances by providing proof of the existence of fairies. Something that was easier said then done, however with a strong will, an artistic flair and a borrowed camera she had managed to do just that.

The Fairy Ring is a true story told of how two girls, innocently enough, fooled the world and those with the passion enough to believe. As spiritualism was becoming increasingly popular at the time, fairies and nature spirits were a popular talking point, and with so little known about the subject proof of the existence of such beings were highly sought after. But little did Frances or Elsie realise just how seriously their proof would be taken.

Mary Losure Webpage
Mary Losure @ Walker Books

On sale: 01 July 2012
Price (US): $24.95
ISBN: 9780763656706
Recommended age: 12+
In a word: Fairies
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: four out of five
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