Book description
In this gripping fantasy, Col lives on the Upper Decks of the
juggernaut Worldshaker, which is a mobile city as big as a mountain.
Far below, the 'Filthies' toil amidst the grime, powering the massive
engines of Worldshaker. Chosen to be the next Supreme Commander, Col's
comfortable life is upset when a 'Filthy', escape and turns up in his
cabin, begging for help. Will he hand her over, or will he break all
the rules? Col's safe, elite world is about to fall apart.
Richard was born in Huddersfield and grew up in Devon, north London,
then Hadleigh in Sufflolk. After university in England, he moved to
Australia and ended up settling there. He performed folk-music around
Sydney for several years, then made a complete switch and became a
lecturer at the University of Wollongong. After ten years, he resigned
to follow his ultimate goal of becoming a full-time writer. Richard
still lives in Sydney with wife Aileen, cat Habibi and dog Zoe. As a
full-time writer, he has had 15 novels published, all fantasy, science
fiction or horror. He has won five Aurealis Awards, including a Golden
Aurealis for Best Novel in any genre of speculative fiction. Richard
says, "Worldshaker started with a dream where I fell into a slot in
the ground and plummeted down past endless floors of machinery and
cage-like living quarters. The wretched people on those floors were the
original Filthies. It took me ten years to work out all the details of
the juggernaut world, and another five to finish the final version of
the novel."
