Ave Judas in Aussie Readers

Apr 21, 2012 Brenda rated it liked it

Shelves: aussie-authors, own-read, first-reads-winner

When Rose rested by the little creek with her two sons, 2 year old Owen, and baby Henry, she was unaware that things were about to change irrevocably. Suddenly she spotted several dangerous men across the other side of the creek, and picking her youngsters up, she fled. But they followed, chasing the trio until Rose was exhausted, and knowing that the end was near, gave young Owen some instructions about the coin, called a Shekel, which she had stolen. She hoped he would remember, as he was so v When Rose rested by the little creek with her two sons, 2 year old Owen, and baby Henry, she was unaware that things were about to change irrevocably. Suddenly she spotted several dangerous men across the other side of the creek, and picking her youngsters up, she fled. But they followed, chasing the trio until Rose was exhausted, and knowing that the end was near, gave young Owen some instructions about the coin, called a Shekel, which she had stolen. She hoped he would remember, as he was so very young.

A huge rat kangaroo was caught in a trap, with a joey nearby. Rose killed the joey and wrapped its pelt around Owen, all the while begging him to hide the coin, as his life depended on it. She carefully inserted him into the mother’s pouch. Releasing the kangaroo from the trap, it bounded off after ensuring the smells from her pouch were that of her joey. But the coin was lost in the nearby grassy hill…. As this was happening, the men appeared, and suddenly a tomahawk entered her chest. She knew she was dying, and was torn with worry for her two boys. Then, just in time, Father Paul appeared on the scene, and took young Henry into his care…

Moving forward many years, when both Owen and Henry were adults, they wanted to find where their mother was buried, and to find the coin that meant so much to her. Henry was a priest, and Owen had been banished by the Church to a derelict and dark spaceship. But with the help of Henry’s superiors, Owen was freed after 3 years of near madness, and they were re-united.

But what was the conspiracy which threatened to devour them both? When extremists bombed an area where Henry was, and he was injured, the repercussions were immense.

The science fiction elements of this book, the monstrous animals and the futuristic times of Australia were at times confusing and a little disjointed. I needed to re-read previous paragraphs on occasion to get a better sense of the plot. The storyline was good though, and if you’re a sci-fi buff, I’m sure you would enjoy this book.

Aussie author Cassian Brown sent me a copy of this book through the Goodreads first reads giveaway, for which I thank him.

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May 14, 2012 Jesse Dixon rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-fiction, australian, first-reads

This was a really good and quite a different type of book. It was set in a world where there was giant Australian animals such as giant rat kangaroos that brought up a child! There was also a religious conspiracy twist to the story. And the search for answers about a mysterious piece of silver provide for plenty of motivation to read further and find out the meaning. I received this book as part of Goodreads first reads giveaway, thank you!

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May 14, 2012 Dee-Ann rated it really liked it

Shelves: movie-material, australian-authors, goodreads-giveaway, sci-fi-fantasy

This book was a bit hard to follow in palces, but I enjoyed the Australia sci-fi aspect, including the huge megafauna, the reference to my home town and the religion conspiracy theory.

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