Leviathan's Blood: Modern Fantasy Writing at its Best

Australia doesn’t have a reputation for producing fine novelists which is nonsense really. Even if you place just two in the frame, Peter Carey (author of the sublime Oscar and Lucinda) and Markus Zusak (who wrote The Book Thief, the last novel to reduce me to tears) then there is ample proof that the country punches above its weight when it comes to literary masters.

As such it’s great to introduce you to another Australian author - Ben Peek whose new novel, Leviathan’s Blood, has just been published. It is part of a trilogy so there is plenty to explore in this new world. And what a world! Peek takes you to a place where the gods have died: their bodies have become the foundations of mountains.

Among the corpses men and women live their lives but something is stirring in some. What made the gods divine is trickling in to the earth and infecting people. A curse or a gift, this has given them immense powers: some can see the dead, others are able to walk through fire. The earth itself can be shattered by their power.

A new god arises and resolves to reclaim that which once belonged to her progenitors. Add a former mercenary, a cartographer’s apprentice and a saboteur in to the mix, together with an ancient man who can communicate with the dead and you have what is arguably one of the best modern fantasies to come out in years.

So if you want something epic and unputdownable (if that wasn’t a real word then it is now), take a peak at the teaser above or click here for more information. A new world awaits.