NOVEL
Title: Lotus Blue
Author: Cat Sparks
Publisher: Talos, 2017
In this debut novel from Canberra-based Sparks, Australia is a wasteland dotted by the fortress cities of the elite and the struggling outposts of the poor exposed to brigands, storms and the encroaching toxic sands of the Dead Red Heart. Star rides in one of the Vans that ferry goods and travellers across this blighted landscape. She is, not, however, like her compatriots, and when fate intervenes, the secret of her origin places her in the most dangerous of positions: a potential weapon both for and against a new menace. For buried in a sand-covered bunker, the titular AI has awakened, bringing with it cyborg soldiers and intelligent machines to further its designs. Former Templar soldiers caught between human and machine, the charming shyster Grieve, and wealthy fortune hunters are all swept into the search for the fearsome weapon. The result is a striking adventure story set in an intriguing world of wheeled boats, killer hi-tech storms and cybernetic wizardry.
>> Read an interview with Sparks about Lotus Blue @ the Australian Women Writers Challenge
