Bøker av David Luders

It happened in 1452. A colossal volcanic explosion broke one island into five; for five years its dust pall blanketed the globe. What happened on the spot is a staggering story handed down for almost 500 years. Tricked into an odious crime, a humble youth is punished and humiliated. Shamed, outraged, he vows revenge and obtains magic to destroy the island. Earthquakes begin and none can say if the cause is him, or the wrath of the ancestors for another reason. The catastrophe strikes before evacuation is complete. By astounding luck, two young people survive the stupendous blast. Rescued, they live through the severity of the aftermath. Wed, they begin restoring life on the remnant of their former home. Their lifelong struggle brings success marred by human frailty and the cataclysm leaves beliefs deeply shaken. Cataclysm is the Third in the SAGA OF PACIFIC ISLANDS series of novels. About the Author. Australian by birth, David Luders had been an agricultural consultant, twice Officer-in-Charge of Australian Antarctic stations and policy officer in Canberra before migrating to Vanuatu when it was still under joint British-French colonial rule. By the early '90s when he began research for his books, he had the confidence of the local people who revealed histories quite unsuspected by the wider world. Astounded by the rich lode uncovered, he published two papers on the subject in professional journals before embarking on this series of novels. Now a noted local historian, he lives not far from the capital and divides his time between farming, consulting and writing.

It is 750 years ago. Coming across a tranquil island world, Tongan seafarers discover its hallowed narcotic drink made from a sacred plant and forbidden to all but local chiefs. Proposing to take it home to their ruler, they set off fierce disputes. At the same time, the budding romance of a high chief's daughter and a young man of modest birth is abruptly blocked by her betrothal and the train of events set off has dire results. By subterfuge a trade in the drug begins, though the means of growing the sacred plant is jealously guarded. The trade grows, the contact bringing new ideas but also tensions. In distant Tonga's expanding island empire, rulers change. More than once, a force is sent to seize the hallowed plant but by curious twists of circumstances, the attempts are thwarted. Even in a quiet corner of the world a drug, however mild, drives conflict and change. Break The Sky is the Second in the SAGA OF PACIFIC ISLANDS series of novels. About the Author: Australian by birth, David Luders had been an agricultural consultant, twice Officer-in-Charge of Australian Antarctic stations and policy officer in Canberra before migrating to Vanuatu when it was still under joint British-French colonial rule. By the early '90s when he began research for his books, he had the confidence of the local people who revealed histories quite unsuspected by the wider world. Astounded by the rich lode uncovered, he published two papers on the subject in professional journals before embarking on this series of novels. Now a noted local historian, he lives not far from the capital and divides his time between farming, consulting and writing.

300 years before William the Conqueror brings feudalism to England, there is a like case in the Pacific islands. But there, two races meet, neither knowing until then that there are any others in the world. Polynesians, voyaging in quest of a place to start new fiefs, discover islands occupied by tribal blacks. Amazement, fear and curiosity give way to fascination, prejudice and ambition, but across the racial divide friendships form. Antagonisms amongst the colonisers lead to conflict. Alignments emerge, families struggle with setbacks and misfortunes. Through it all, young people form liaisons, building a society unimagined when first the two peoples met. Who then are the conquerors, and who the conquered? Out of the past, in the lush isolation of some Pacific islands, comes a story based on spoken histories told exclusively to the author. It is one that resonates strangely with issues of the present day. Led by the Stars is the first in the SAGA OF PACIFIC ISLANDS series of novels. About the Author. Australian by birth, David Luders had been an agricultural consultant, twice Officer-in-Charge of Australian Antarctic stations and policy officer in Canberra before migrating to Vanuatu when it was still under joint British-French colonial rule. By the early '90s when he began research for his books, he had the confidence of the local people who revealed histories quite unsuspected by the wider world. Astounded by the rich lode uncovered, he published two papers on the subject in professional journals before embarking on this series of novels. Now a noted local historian, he lives not far from the capital and divides his time between farming, consulting and writing.