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Courtesy of Allen & Unwin
Andrew McGahan Andrew McGahan i(A35760 works by)
Born: Established: 1966 Dalby, Dalby - Jandowae - Bowenville area, Darling Downs, Queensland, ; Died: Ceased: 1 Feb 2019 Victoria,
Gender: Male
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Works By

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1 y separately published work icon Treasures of the Deep : More Tales of the Ship Kings Andrew McGahan , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2020 19846008 2020 selected work short story 'He turned: the scapegoat was pointing a fleshy arm directly down at the water, and following it Roland saw a mass of pale, stringy lines suddenly seething up from the deeps to surface all about the ship.
He froze in disbelief. It couldn't be-
But then the cry went up from the main deck.
'Ropes! White ropes!'
And so the horror began.

'A ship and its crew held in thrall by an ancient sea creature, a young girl blinded by foresight, a scapegoat with a gift to foresee death - these haunting short stories set in the Four Isles, the setting of Andrew McGahan's highly acclaimed Ship Kings series, tell fascinating tales of tall ships, ancient grudges and the full significance of the meaning of indefinite survival in an ocean that holds as many mysteries as it does drops of water.' (Publication summary)
1 8 y separately published work icon The Rich Man's House Andrew McGahan , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2019 16620123 2019 single work novel crime

'In the freezing Antarctic waters south of Tasmania, a mountain was discovered in 1642 by the seafaring explorer Gerrit Jansz. Not just any mountain but one that Jansz estimated was an unbelievable height of twenty-five thousand meters.

'In 2016, at the foot of the unearthly mountain, a controversial and ambitious 'dream home', the Observatory, is painstakingly constructed by an eccentric billionaire - the only man to have ever reached the summit.

'Rita Gausse, estranged daughter of the architect who designed the Observatory is surprised, upon her father's death, to be invited to the isolated mansion to meet the famously reclusive owner, Walter Richman. But from the beginning, something doesn't feel right. Why is Richman so insistent that she come? What does he expect of her?

'When cataclysmic circumstances intervene to trap Rita and a handful of other guests in the Observatory, cut off from the outside world, she slowly being to learn the unsettling - and ultimately horrifying - answers.'

Source: Back cover.

1 2 y separately published work icon The Ocean of the Dead Andrew McGahan , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2016 9508723 2016 single work novel young adult fantasy

'The cataclysmic final book in the Ship Kings series. In search of a new world, Dow and Nell must face the final frontier - the treacherous Doldrums. Their journey will be filled with wonders; the rewards could be great - but the cost might be everything, for there are good reasons why none who have sailed the Ocean of the Dead have returned to tell the tale.

'It is no easy thing, to take leave of the world.

'At very long last a captain of his own ship, Dow Amber is determined to venture beyond the final frontier - the still, stagnant waters of the Doldrums - in search of a New World. With Nell finally by his side, he is hopeful that they can start again, far from politics, betrayal and war.

'But none who have sailed the Ocean of the Dead have returned to tell the tale. Before long, an old enemy appears. And with the enemy new dangers. Does the fleet sail to certain death, or to glorious new life beyond the treacherous Doldrums?

'The Ocean of the Dead is the cataclysmic conclusion to Andrew McGahan's stunning Ship Kings series.'

1 Books That Changed Me : Andrew McGahan Andrew McGahan , 2014 single work column
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 20 July 2014; (p. 16)
1 1 y separately published work icon The War of Four Isles Andrew McGahan , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2014 7560018 2014 single work novel young adult fantasy

''The ancient mapmaker had inscribed a warning within the great empty shadow on his chart, words that echoed down to Dow from half a thousand years before.

'Here be whales in great number.

'And here be monsters of the deep that riseth to feast upon them.'

'Nearly three years have passed since Dow Amber escaped the ruin of the Twelfth Kingdom. In that time, war has raged across the Four Isles, but Dow himself has been hidden away by his Twin Islands hosts, relegated to a backwater of the war in the company of the beguiling Cassandra.

'But when word reaches Dow that Ignella of the Cave has been imprisoned on the infamous Ship Kings dungeon-isle of Banishment, he can be patient no longer. He sets forth on an epic voyage that will take him halfway around the world – defying storm and monster, betrayal and despair – to the heart of the greatest battle of the age, and to the discovery at last of his true purpose upon the high seas.

'The War of the Four Isles is the third volume in Andrew McGahan's momentous Ship Kings series.' (Publication summary)

1 Series - To Be or Not To Be Andrew McGahan , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of The Children's Book Council of Australia , February vol. 56 no. 1 2012; (p. 7)
1 The Voyage of the Unquiet Ice Andrew McGahan , 2012-3 single work column
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 3 November 2012; (p. 30)
1 5 y separately published work icon The Voyage of the Unquiet Ice Andrew McGahan , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2012 Z1899212 2012 single work novel young adult fantasy adventure ' Dow Amber has set sail at last upon the battleship Chloe, but can an outsider and an enemy ever truly belong in the Ship Kings' world? All too soon, Dow finds himself entangled in rebellion and treachery, and embarked upon a desperate voyage to the frozen north that will decide the future of the very empire. In the icy wastes Dow must take his fate in hand. Is he truly destined to be a mariner? Is the mysterious scapegoat girl Ignella a friend or a foe? And where will they each stand, when the long peace of the Four Isles threatens to shatter forever?' (Trove record)
1 A Feeling for Fiction Andrew McGahan , 2011 single work autobiography
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 10-11 December 2011; (p. 28-29)
'Andrew Mcgahan writes that when he has a story to tell the appropriate genre seems to find him' (p. 28)
1 16 y separately published work icon The Coming of the Whirlpool Andrew McGahan , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2011 Z1817815 2011 single work novel young adult fantasy adventure

'"If you go to sea, you will come to the attention of the Ship Kings. And if they discover who you are, they will kill you." Young Dow Amber is no sailor. But driven by a strange sea-longing he ventures down to the great grim bay known as the Claw. He hopes to learn there of seafaring, but he finds only a fearful people who scarcely dare sail at all, for they have been cursed by a monstrous whirlpool that haunts the bay, stealing away their sons.

'Then the rulers of all the world - the proud and cruel Ship Kings - arrive in the Claw. Dow is fascinated by their fine tall vessels, and even more so by a mysterious girl who lives aboard their flagship.

'It is a perilous attraction to be sure, but could it be that his future somehow lies with the Ship Kings? Or will he be called upon to descend to his death, when the terrible whirlpool rises once more? The Coming of the Whirlpool is the first volume in a stunning series from Miles Franklin Award winner Andrew McGahan.' (From the publisher's website.)

1 6 y separately published work icon Ship Kings Andrew McGahan , 2011 Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2011- Z1817803 2011 series - author novel young adult fantasy adventure
1 From : 1988 Andrew McGahan , 2009 extract novel (1988)
— Appears in: Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature 2009; (p. 1381-1383)
1 19 y separately published work icon Wonders of a Godless World Andrew McGahan , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2009 Z1604642 2009 single work novel (taught in 7 units) 'On an unnamed island, in a Gothic hospital sitting in the shadow of a volcano, a wordless orphan girl works on the wards housing the insane and the incapable. When a silent, unmoving and unnerving new patient - a foreigner - arrives at the hospital, strange phenomena occur, bizarre murders take place, and the lives of the patients and the island's inhabitants are thrown into turmoil. What happens between them is an extraordinary exploration of consciousness, reality and madness.' (Provided by the publisher.)
1 5 y separately published work icon White Earth Andrew McGahan , Shaun Charles , 2009 Fortitude Valley : Playlab , 2012 Z1559461 2009 single work drama

'When eight-year-old William witnesses his father burn to death in a freak farming accident, William and his sickly mother are cast upon the charity of a mysterious uncle, John McIvor. Encamped alone in the ruins of the once great station homestead, Kuran House, the aging McIvor is desperate for an heir and sets his sights upon the boy.

'Set against the background of the Native Title debate, this sweeping saga switches between William's present and McIvor's troubled past. Before these storylines collide in a dramatic climax, we are introduced to devious housekeepers, family secrets and a mythical Australian landscape of ghosts and monsters.'

Source : www.laboite.com.au (Sighted 10/02/2009).

2 29 y separately published work icon Underground Andrew McGahan , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2006 Z1288628 2006 single work novel thriller satire (taught in 2 units) 'Think ahead five or so years from now, to an Australia transformed by the never-ending war on terror. Canberra has been wiped out in a nuclear attack. There is a permanent state of emergency. Security checkpoints, citizenship tests, identity cards and detention without trial have all become the norm. Suspect minorities have been locked away into ghettos. And worse no one wants to play cricket with us anymore. Enter Leo James burnt-out property developer and black-sheep twin brother of the all powerful Bernard James, Prime Minister of Australia. In an event all too typical of the times, Leo finds himself abducted by terrorists. But this won't be your average kidnapping. Instead, vast and secret forces are at work here, and Leo and his captors are about to embark on a journey into the underworld of a nation gone mad.' (Libraries Australia)
1 A Family Uprooted Andrew McGahan , 2004 extract novel (The White Earth)
— Appears in: The Age , 29 December 2004; (p. 4-5)
1 Untitled Andrew McGahan , 2004 extract novel (The White Earth)
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 1-2 May 2004; (p. 12-13)
4 64 y separately published work icon The White Earth Andrew McGahan , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2004 Z1113518 2004 single work novel (taught in 14 units)

'His father dead by fire and his mother plagued by demons of her own, William is cast upon the charity of his unknown uncle - an embittered old man encamped in the ruins of a once great station homestead, Kuran House. It's a baffling and sinister new world for the boy, a place of decay and secret histories. His uncle is obsessed by a long life of decline and by a dark quest for revival, his mother is desperate for a wealth and security she has never known, and all their hopes it seems come to rest upon William's young shoulders. But as the past and present of Kuran Station unravel and merge together, the price of that inheritance may prove to be the downfall of them all. The White Earth is a haunting, disturbing and cautionary tale.' (publisher's website)

1 From : Last Drinks Andrew McGahan , 2002 extract novel (Last Drinks)
— Appears in: Hot Iron Corrugated Sky : 100 Years of Queensland Writing 2002; (p. 72-73)
1 Recent and History Andrew McGahan , Jan McKemmish (interviewer), 2001 single work interview
— Appears in: Writing Queensland , April no. 95 2001; (p. 18-19)
"Andrew McGahan talks with Jan McKemmish about the writing of Last Drinks, a crime novel set in Brisbane."
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