Brightest Star, Sun God, Both Feet in Paradise, 28 Days in Sri Lanka, Making Meredith, One Hundred Days in Samoa
SUN GOD
One star in every thousand burns in darkness…
After founding a colony on the remote moon of Freyja, the missionary order of Assumptors resumes searching for a new Earth. Yet its recently elected leader, Mother Josephine, faces unforeseen challenges. An uncooperative council. An impulsive Helmsman. And a Navigator bent on fulfilling his own quest as he directs the ship towards an enigmatic star.
Back on Freyja, Father Chadwick and his settlers face trouble. Strange noises disturb them at night. They grow afraid of the forest. One by one, people disappear…
In a space mission driven by deceit and ambition, nothing is as it seems. Will Mother succeed where her predecessor failed? Will Chadwick regain his sense of purpose?
Sun God is the second book in the Assumptor space opera trilogy, continuing the voyage that began in Brightest Star.
Brightest Star was shortlisted for the Sir Julius Vogel Awards 2023 best science-fiction adult novel.
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BRIGHTEST STAR
Stars don’t twinkle. They burn like a billion bombs.
The spaceship Domina Penelope crosses interstellar space in search of a new Earth. As it approaches the star system Norse the mission leader, Father Chadwick, struggles to control his crew. Worse, after decades of constant light-sail acceleration the ship may never be able to stop.
Five hundred brothers and sisters had sailed from a dying Earth in hope. Yet despite voting to leave, none of them could have foreseen the dangers that lay on their path – until it was too late to turn back.
Brightest Star is the first book in a space trilogy in which a powerful yet enigmatic missionary group, the Assumptors, exit Earth for the stars.
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BOTH FEET IN PARADISE
After months of researching butterflies in Sāmoa, Adam is looking forward to returning home to his family. Then his transfer to the airport doesn’t arrive. Worse, a hastily arranged taxi takes him not to departures but to an empty field in the middle of nowhere, and he misses his flight. As he fails to find alternative ways off the island – other flights, ferries, even seagoing yachts – he grows increasingly frustrated, especially as all overseas phone lines and emails seem to be down as well.
In a café, he meets Eve, who offers to help him. Adam decides he has to trust her, for there is no one else. Yet he has a strange feeling she’s met her before…
Both Feet in Paradise is a masterpiece of storytelling that suspends the reader in a world of relentless beauty – where one step forward is two steps back and nothing and no one can be relied on, least of all yourself.
“With expert control of narrative and language Andy Southall slowly reveals that everything is not as it seems.” – Pip Adam, author of Nothing to See and New Animals.
Shortlisted for NZ Booklovers Award for Best Adult Fiction book 2022. Read reviews at NZ Booklovers and Kete Books. Listen to interviews at Radio New Zealand, Standing Room Only and Radioactive FM, Caffeine and Aspirin.
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28 DAYS IN SRI LANKA
On the island of Sarandīb good fortune is rarely accidental…
We arrived two weeks before Christmas hoping to give Santa a miss. Kate would watch elephants while I searched for the perfect cup of Ceylon tea. Together we’d visit temples, ancient cities, and relax on a quiet beach.
We found ourselves on a tour bus with nine Brits – only a week before the British general election. Pray they were here for the exotic scenery, the authentic curries, the colourful wildlife, and not to talk about – brrr – politics.
Twenty-Eight Days in Sri Lanka is a light-hearted journey around the highlights of this culturally complex country. If you ever wanted to know why the tooth of Buddha is so important, what happens in a tea factory, or how elephants detect earthquakes, then read on.
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MAKING MEREDITH
If ancestry is a story then truth may be an unhappy ending…
When amateur genealogist Rob Banks travels to the remote town of Meredith in the north of England he hopes to research his mother’s father. His mum never knew her dad, yet she believes he was the local doctor – surely a well-respected man?
Seventy years earlier, Dr Robert Lachlan faces a dilemma of morals and medicine. No matter what course he chooses, he will hurt his loved ones and change his life.
This is a tale of two men in different times. A grandfather whose deeds still haunt his descendants; a grandson searching for his ancestor’s secrets.
Sometimes you have to see through history to discover who you are.
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ONE HUNDRED DAYS IN SAMOA
We were all set for paradise. But was paradise ready for us?
We came to Sāmoa fleeing winter. Kate would teach at a local school and I would write a travel blog. Life would be sweet and good things would happen to us. We’d swim in the ocean, spend a night in a traditional fale, and cycle around the island.
What we didn’t expect was the onslaught of barking dogs, taxi horns and Zumba classes. Nor the antics of our visiting friends, Ted with his cast iron beer gut and Teresa with her purple swimming cap. We’d have to adapt if we were to survive.
Amusing, colourful and sometimes downright unbelievable, One Hundred Days in Samoa is the story of how two expats cope with living on a South Pacific island and return enriched by their experience.
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Andy Southall 