AustLit

'Ever since Scharlette’s parents gave her a name no one can really pronounce, she’s been stuck in a bit of a rut.

'She hates her job in airport security, making people take their belts off before they fly away to exotic locations she can only dream about. She owns a small apartment with large repayments, drinks bargain bin red while she watches Star Trek, and misses her beloved sister, Jenelope, lost to an exploding sandwich press, ten years ago.

'Scharlette fears she might live out her entire existence without doing anything important or mattering to anyone. It still comes as quite a surprise when a handsome time traveller named Tomothy appears out of nowhere and verifies she is correct – that, according to his records, she doesn’t matter at all.

'Scharlette isn’t sure this news is as wonderful as Tomothy seems to think but, as he explains, since her life was to have no impact on the timeline whatsoever, Scharlette is free to travel time and space, and have amazing adventures with heedless abandon.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Little Bad Wolf dreams of being big and bad, wreaking havoc wherever he goes - just like his grandad, the Big Bad Wolf, before him. He does his best to make trouble around the neighbourhood, especially for Mrs Pig! But does he live up to his grandfather's fearsome reputation? 

'Fans of Shrek will love the fabulous and funny The Little Bad Wolf - from the illustrator of Wombat Went A'walking. '  (Publication summary)

'These are the adventures of Sam, Jake and Dylan, three degenerate losers who live on the 42nd floor of Hazy Towers, the worst apartment block in the known universe. They don't have jobs, or buy food, or ever pay a single cent of rent to their spineless landlord, Mr Hayes, because it's so much cheaper just to slam the door in his pitiful face. Still, government handouts only buy so much booze, and the boys are always looking for a crazy way to make a buck.

'In Episode Two - The Summer of Our Discontent - the heat is driving everyone increasingly insane. Sam is trying to concoct new cocktail recipes using leftover spirits stolen from parties, Jake is building something mysterious and possibly atomic on the roof, and strange forces are at work in the abandoned 'Pool and Gymnasium Facility Section' which seem to defy the laws of time and space. It's even possible that this episode is stupider than the last one!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'These are the adventures of Sam, Jake and Dylan, three degenerate losers who live on the 42nd floor of Hazy Towers, the worst apartment block in the known universe. They don't have jobs, or buy food, or ever pay a single cent of rent to their spineless landlord, Mr Hayes, because it's so much cheaper just to slam the door in his pitiful face. Still, government handouts only buy so much booze, and the boys are always looking for a crazy way to make a buck.

'In Episode One - Black Market Prawns - Jake strikes a deal with a dodgy mariner to acquire one tonne of prawns illegally obtained from the horribly polluted harbour. Sounds like a good way to earn some coin, but during the height of Summer and without adequate refrigeration, the race is on to offload the goods before the funk really settles in.

'Will Sam, Jake and Dylan convince the suspiciously smiling owner of the crappy restaurant downstairs to buy their ripening stock? Or perhaps their brand new recipe for Prawnshakes ('Prawns and milk, together at last') will prove a big hit with the unsuspecting public? Find out the answers to these, and other weird questions you never would have thought to ask, in the stupid tale that is Black Market Prawns.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Downton Abbey meets Mordor in this darkly funny gamebook for adults, in which YOU play the butler to the Dark Lord, and your choices change the story. Looking after your master Malacandros is never easy. Like any good Dark Lord, he will just as soon fireball you to death as look at you - but this week things are particularly hectic. The Stygias ceremony is about to occur for the first time in a hundred years, the castle is bustling with treacherous nobility and unwelcome relatives, there's a feast of live balfrog tadpoles to organise, and let's not forget the sinister plot to murder your master that's taking shape behind closed doors. With multiple pathways through the story depending on the choices you make, 9 different endings to discover, and plenty of ways to meet an untimely demise, you're going to have your work cut out for you ensuring that everything runs smoothly. Will you sleep with the virgin sacrifice before the ceremony? Will you sample too much in the wine cellar? Will you be able to teach the castle harpies the merits of personal hygiene? Most importantly, will dinner be served on time?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Centuries have passed since the Wardens slew the tyrant Lord Regret, but while the Wound that he ripped in the sky remains open, the earth trembles and the sun vanishes without warning.

'The great warrior Rostigan wanders Aorn, weary of battle and unwanted renown. With him travels his lover, the minstrel Tarzi, who hopes she may soon witness further deeds from him worthy of song and tale. Despite Rostigan's reluctance to re-enter the world, she may get what she wishes for . . .

'When they travel to the once magnificent city of Silverstone they discover it has been wrenched out of existence. Journeying onwards, they come to learn the disturbing truth. The land has descended into chaos for the Wardens, now craving destruction, have returned from their ancient graves and Lord Regret's malicious legacy grows ever stronger, corrupting the very nature of reality.' (Publisher's blurb)

'War is coming. A war that will finally end the struggle between Kainordas and Fenvarrow, the lands of shadow and light.

'It is foretold that a blue-haired man will be the ultimate victor, and lead his people into a glorious new age of dominance.

'The only problem - there are two of them.

'Bel sets forth to retrieve the Stone of Evenings Mild, his sole chance to reunite with his darker half, Losara ... but the Stone has been stolen by an undead mage of questionable allegiance and is hidden in the lair of an insane dragon. Meanwhile, Losara grows dangerously curious about his other self, and devises a weapon so uncontrollable, it frightens even him.

'How can two men fulfil a fate meant for one? Will this infernal balance persist, or is there a way to bridge destiny's rift?' Source: author's website.

'For a millennium the lands of Kainordas and Fenvarrow have been at war, ever since the gods of shadow and light broke the Great Well of Souls. In the absence of victory, they have settled into an uneasy stalemate - until a prophecy foretells of a child of power who will finally break the balance. Each side races to find the child, and when they do, a battle ensues with unexpected consequences - in a terrible accident, the child's very soul is ripped in two. Each side retreats with their own part of the child, uncertain as to whether they now possess the one capable of finally ending their age-old battle.

'Prophecy's Ruin tells the story of the two boys as they grow to be men. Bel becomes a charismatic though troubled warrior, Losara an enigmatic and thoughtful mage. Both are powerful young men, yet incomplete. As they struggle to discover their place in the world and the shape of their destinies, inevitably each has to ask the ultimate question: will he, one day, have to face himself?' (From the publisher's website.)

'Twelve-year-old Zackary is the seventh son of the King and Queen of Solaris, and a most reluctant knight. He would rather put anchovies in the knights helmets or use his sword to cut sandwiches than learn courtly ways. In despair, the King and Queen assign him to the castle administrator, Barnabas, who sends him on an errand to the Zoo of Magical and Mythological Creatures, established by Zackary's grandfather.

'Mistaken for a job applicant, Zackary starts working at the zoo with the resident sorcerer, Acacia. Powerful magic is needed to control some of the extraordinary creatures in the zoo: from the Stymphalian birds of Greek mythology and the nine-headed hydra, to manticores from India and the squonks - Drufflefuster, Gobblesnocks, Snivelsnork and Grimelgrout...

'But just as Zackary is settling in to his double life, a shadow is cast across the entire kingdom with the news that a strange creature is expected at the zoo - a creature which spreads evil and destruction in its path.' (Publisher's blurb)