The Platypus Spy: A Tasmanian Animal Fantasy
()
About this ebook
A platypus sets out across the Bass Strait towards the island state of Tasmania, aiming to recover part of the Ayerstone from the former convict prison of Port Arthur. This magical stone has caused certain animals to increase in size, and Preston soon finds many dangers and obstacles. Oceans are swarming with sharks, electric rays and giant squid, while Tasmania has been overrun with vicious devils who are causing havoc for quolls and other native marsupials, ruling from their base atop isolated Cradle Mountain. Half the island belongs to predatory thylacines, who emerged from forest hiding places years before, conquering the capital and surrounding lands. Both dasyurids have formed cruel extremist societies. Preston the platypus must find a way between these carnivores, using his skills at keeping undercover, while seeking new alliances and encountering other dangerous foes.
The semi-aquatic platypus swims through highly contrasting waterways from the rough rapids of the Franklin, to the serenity of Lake Pedder beside its quartzite beach. He visits underwater shipwrecks full of seahorses, plus sponge gardens and kelp forests with weedy sea dragon lairs. Tasmania’s beautiful rivers are also inhabited by crayfish, trout, handfish and galaxias, with their own motivations, instincts and agendas. Other odd and mysterious creatures dwell in remote locations, including velvet worms, pseudoscorpions, stygobites, crickets, tiger cats, owls and more unique birdlife which the platypus has to deal with in different ways.
As Preston explores, he discovers the missing Ayerstone fragment may have caused a strange magic to affect wild places, such as an intricate labyrinth near Lake St. Clair and a bubbling cauldron on the Franklin River. His quest takes him to many scenic locations in remote wilderness: the rugged Overland Track, caves of shining glow worms at Marakoopa, forests of ancient Huon pines, and the lofty dolerite sea cliffs of the Tasman Peninsula. In several towns, human structures provide their own challenges and difficulties, like a deep abandoned gold mine or an apple crate warehouse on the wharf at Beauty Point. Also he searches the cities of Hobart and Launceston for clues, visiting structures taken over by animals: breweries, factories, sports grounds, the state parliament and other buildings. Finally he must scour the gaol complex at Port Arthur to achieve his goal of recovering the Ayerstone.
Chris Fitzgerald
Chris is interested in fantasy, adventure, Australian wildlife, nature, history, old maps, art and drawing. After a variety of odd jobs, an arts degree and attempting to be an artist, he decided the best way to combine interests was to write an Australian animal fantasy adventure story. Inspiration has been taken from many bushwalking and camping trips along with volunteering at the zoo with native animals.
Read more from Chris Fitzgerald
The Rochdale Division: Conversations with Star Players, Managers and Cult Heroes of Rochdale AFC Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWallaby Bruce in the Siege of Sydney: An Australian Animal Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Platypus Spy
Related ebooks
Mer Tales: #minithology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeep Black Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cost of Secrets Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLady-Fame; Or, the Fluke Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlashaine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dolphin and the Octopus: A Fable: The Fable Triad Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Life Story of an Otter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpider Legs Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Deep Blue Home: An Intimate Ecology of Our Wild Ocean Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Wild Child's Guide to Endangered Animals Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lagoon: My Journeys with the Gray Whales of San Ignacio Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPrehistoric Sea Beasts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSharks and People: Exploring Our Relationship with the Most Feared Fish in the Sea Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSurvivors: The Animals and Plants that Time has Left Behind (Text Only) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Year on the Wild Side: A West Coast Naturalist's Almanac Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSun Fish Moon Fish Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Shark and the Albatross: A Wildlife Filmmaker Reveals Why Nature Matters to Us All Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Aye-Aye and I Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dead Red Heart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Elephant and the Dragon: A Fable: The Fable Triad Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAbbreviated Epics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings100 Under 100: The Race to Save the World's Rarest Living Things Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Packs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Quarry Fox: And Other Critters of the Wild Catskills Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsComing Home to Newfoundland: Animal Deep Ecology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOther Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Elephant's Secret Sense: The Hidden Life of the Wild Herds of Africa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sentinel Chickens: What Birds Tell Us About Our Health And Our World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIcarus Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Fantasy For You
This Is How You Lose the Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories of Ray Bradbury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Desert: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of Dreaming Books Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Assassin and the Pirate Lord: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Piranesi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tress of the Emerald Sea: Secret Projects, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Picture of Dorian Gray (The Original 1890 Uncensored Edition + The Expanded and Revised 1891 Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don Quixote: [Complete & Illustrated] Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Underworld: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wizard's First Rule Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Empire: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Immortal Longings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Phantom Tollbooth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sarah J. Maas: Series Reading Order - with Summaries & Checklist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Titus Groan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mistborn: Secret History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Platypus Spy
0 ratings0 reviews