The Gods and their Machines

By Oisin McGann

Two worlds. Two different lives. Divided by hate and violence. Thrown together by chance.

Chamus's nightmare begins when he survives a massacre. Suicide-bombers from neighbouring Bartokhrin are terrorising his country, Altima. How do you fight someone who isn't afraid of death?

Across the border, Riadni is no ordinary Bartokhrin girl; she dresses like a boy, fights like a boy, spits and rides her horse like a boy. When the Hadram Cassal set up camp on her father's land, she is drawn to these rebels who are prepared to fight -- and to die -- for their homeland.

A crash-landing in Bartokhrin territory forces Chamus and Riadni together and they find themselves on the run, hunted by killers. Danger and death are closing in on them from all sides.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The O'Brien Press
• Release date: Sep 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9781847174819

Oisin McGann

Born in Dublin in 1973, Oisín McGann spent his childhood there and in Drogheda, County Louth. Art college ruined any chance he had of getting a real job, so when he left in 1992 he set himself up as a freelance illustrator. In 1998, he moved to London, and through no fault of his own, he ended up working in advertising as an art director and copywriter. After three and a half years, he began to fear for his immortal soul. He returned to Ireland in the summer of 2002 much as he had left—with no job, no home, and some meager savings. Ever the optimist, he now works once more as an illustrator and mercenary artist by day and escapist writer by night.