Tom Rynosseros Series by Terry Dowling

Come to Australia....Journey through a bizarre and beautiful world where great sand-ships are the main form of travel, and the inhabitants of the richly-cosmopolitan coastal cities can only marvel at the strang Ab'O societies of the interior. Visit a future where terraforming, genetic engineering and formidable mental sciences are commonplace, and tribal satellites look down on unending wars between rival Ab'O States... moreCome to Australia....Journey through a bizarre and beautiful world where great sand-ships are the main form of travel, and the inhabitants of the richly-cosmopolitan coastal cities can only marvel at the strang Ab'O societies of the interior. Visit a future where terraforming, genetic engineering and formidable mental sciences are commonplace, and tribal satellites look down on unending wars between rival Ab'O States. Travel with Tom Tyson through a land of merging cultures and philosophies, of myth and dream made real, a land of absolute possibility...."Think of an imagination steeped in the stories of Cordwainer Smith, J.G.Ballard, and Jack Vance, then grant that Terry Dowling has his own formidable intelligence, and you'll get a notion of the riches this book offers ... Rynosseros places Dowling among the masters of the field." - LOCUS"For richness of social and textual detail, Dowling's work rivals that of Jack Vance and Gene Wolfe ... Rynosseros is an intricate and fascinating work of Australian SF." - SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY BOOK REVIEW ANNUAL"Rynosseros accomplishes what the very best spec-ulative works achieve: it creates a world so alluring that you ache to go there yourself, not to escape the rigours of life, but in order to participate more thoroughly." - SYDNEY MORNING HERALD less

The Blue Captain.... Of the seven Nationals who have won Colours and fine sand-ships from the tribes, earning for themselves the right to cross the eerie and exotic Australia of the future, Tom Rynosseros is the most mysterious. He is the one from the Madhouse, the Captain whose adventures among the powerful tribes of the interior reveal a hidden purpose, a destiny waiting out in the red deserts which affects not only Nation but the Dreamtime itself.

A Ship, a Star, a Woman's Face... All that Tom Rynosseros remembers from his time in the Madhouse. But who was he? Why did the powerful Ab'O tribes send him there? What do the three signs mean? From the haunted streets of Twilight Beach to the burning heart of this future Australia, from the eerie wind-river called the Soul to the dream-ridden shores of the Inland Sea, Tom searches desperately for whatever pieces of his life he can find.