Savages
Steve Trotter
Paperback, COMING SOON!
Balagaan got what he wanted: he is finally with the love of his life, has two beautiful children and is living on his people’s land, the way his ancestors had done before him, but he is worried. The arrival of the Yirraalii, the Newcomers, to the land is threatening the Aboriginal people’s way of life, and their very existence, all over the country. If Balagaan, and the Gurii people across the lands, cannot make peace with them, the Newcomers might take everything they hold dear.
With message sticks arriving daily telling of the dreadful deeds of the Newcomers, Balagaan’s anxiety grows.
Dangan, Balagaan’s youthful rival from another clan, only knows Balagaan’s fears too well. The Yirraalii murdered his father and drove his people from their lands. Swallowing his shame, he takes the survivors into Balagaan’s lands for help.
But the journey is cut short when the blue skin Yirraalii and the black trackers ambush them.
While Dangan is dragged off in chains, Balagaan’s mob returns to their summer campsite only to discover that the Newcomers have settled there and have all but taken over their rich hunting grounds.
Balagaan and his mob have no choice but to relocate, further along the creek, to avoid a confrontation with them. As they set up their new camp, survivors from Dangan’s clan stumble into their camp and recount the savagery of the attack on their mob.
Balagaan and his people realise they can no longer remain in hiding. They must learn more about these Yirraalii or risk a similar fate to Dangan’s clan.
Following a tribal meeting, the Elders instruct Balagaan and his cousins to investigate and to warn their cousins across the river, but when Balagaan and his cousins discover the grisly truth about the Newcomers’ attack firsthand, they hope their warning does not arrive too late.
Encountering more Newcomers in their travels, Balagaan and his cousins barely escape with their lives, and return home convinced that the Newcomers want to destroy them. Balagaan’s Elders decide that if they are to remain safe, they have no choice but to retreat even further into the scrub where the Newcomers cannot find them.
While Balagaan and his mob live peacefully, deep in the scrub, Balagaan’s unease grows and he visits the Clever Man for help. But, unbeknownst to him, the Newcomers, with the black trackers and Dangan’s help, are already hunting his mob.
Can Balagaan and his people survive this new threat or will it see the end of the Gurii people’s time on this land?
‘Savages’ is a historical romance inspired by actual events that took place in the seaside village of Ballina, NSW in the 1800s. It weaves local history and myth together, to retell the story of Black Head through the eyes of the Bundjalung people, as they face their greatest threat yet: British colonisation.
If you like historical romance, Australian Frontier Conflict history, Aboriginal culture, mixed in with plenty of action, then you'll love this gripping historical novel from Steve Trotter.
‘Steve’s book is frickin brilliant, unputdownable.’
Kindle Edition
$12.99 AUD