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Before The Rising

Sometimes the truth lies between science and myth.

The legend you know is not what actually
happened. And it isn’t a fairytale.
It’s a carefully devised account,
created to hide what truly occurred.

Pania didn’t stay on the reef, pining for her lover as the Maori myth tells it. She made it back to shore. A secret that has been faithfully kept for centuries. But now, one descendant needs to know the truth in order to prevent a catastrophe.
Eighteen-year-old Rebecca’s life is about to get complicated. She didn’t expect to spend her summer with a mysterious sea-dwelling community training for a role that seems like a suicide mission.
Martin just wants to complete his PhD research on dolphins. He doesn’t intend to fall for his sister’s best friend or become mixed up in an end-of-the-world conspiracy that defies all scientific principles.
As the stakes get higher and myth and reality become tangled, Rebecca and Martin must each decide what to believe and who to trust.
And, ultimately, who to save…

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Before the Rising Front Cover

The Rising 2:
The Deep Legend

Watery Background
Clenched Fists

Fight

Max's story
Due out in 2024

What does one fifteen year old boy have to do to have his wishes heard by the family court? He has to fight.

The Sunset Clause

Coming in 2024

In Milland, compulsory euthanasia at sixty-five years old makes economic sense. It’s fair. And it applies to everyone.

Only it doesn’t.

Those who can afford it, use a mixture of threats and bribes to gain extra time through Time Awards. Those who can’t, have a Planned Exit on their sixty-fifth birthday.

For Rilla, this is just the way it is. But when her grandmother disappears on the first anniversary of her grandfather’s Planned Exit, leaving her a cryptic note and a strange request, Rilla begins to learn that Milland’s history is not what she’s been taught. As her outrage grows, so does a determination to challenge the State’s militant rule. She discovers the role her grandmother has asked her to play is part of a much larger plan – one with its roots in her grandmother’s revolutionary history. Rilla’s actions spark hope amongst a population paralysed by fear and fatalism but trigger the wrath of the powerful Watch hierarchy.

Flowers

The status quo suits Tove’s family. His parents have arranged a much-coveted legal apprenticeship for him, but even they can’t help him avoid the compulsory Watch conscription that everyone dreads. After a disaster at the Border where he is stationed, Tove is sent back in disgrace, desperate to keep his head down and follow the rules. Instead, his superior drags him into a hunt for an elusive time thief not seen since the failed revolution thirty years earlier. As Tove learns the truth about the thief and what the State is prepared to do to stop them, he is forced to choose a side.

          When Rilla and Tove cross paths, each is faced with a dilemma. Rilla must decide how far she will go to reignite a revolution and Tove must decide where his loyalty and conscience lies.

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