Inheritors

In the tradition of The Clan of the Cave Bear, a fabulous story of ancient Java and the shaman, Fern, who reaches into the future. The fiery mountain is gone. In its place, naked figures crouch within the dark mouth of a cave. The faces are strange, yet Fern knows them. They inhabit a world of echoes, alien yet familiar. Fifty thousand years ago: The People, who for time immemorial have lived in the Javanese rainforests, are driven from their ancestral hunting grounds by the invaders they call the Newcomers. So begins the epic journey that will bring them to Australia. They are The Inheritors, the first humans to settle this southern land. Present-day Australia: Fern is visited by two shamans of that past time. They persuade her to join them on a pilgrimage of discovery; a pilgrimage that will take her through a multitude of dangers and suffering, to discover her links with those who have gone before. In this remarkable debut, Fletcher Anthony brings us a world that is magical and inhabited by the spirits. It is also based on what is known of the people of ancient Java and how they came to leave their ancestral lands. Fletcher Anthony was born in London and has lived in France, Asia and Africa. He now lives in a small farming community in southern Australia. His plays have been produced for radio and TV by the BBC and the South African Broadcasting Corp and his short stories have been published throughout the world

In the tradition of Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear, Fletcher Anthony brings us a magical world inhabited by the spirits. The world of ancient Indonesia, and modern-day Gondwanaland: Australia. Thousands of years ago, the People lived and worshipped their gods in the rainforests of the Indonesian archipelago. Then the Newcomers began to come from the north and the People were forced to move south and relocate again and again. They must trust those of their kind with whom they used to do battle; they must learn how to cross a river; they must forget their old ways and forge new ideas. Fern is their shaman, and above all her spirit must be forged anew or she and her people will die - not from hunger or starvation or war, but from the loss of their gods and the dying of their spirit, the very heart of their world. And in contemporary Australia, another Fern must choose between the new world and the old, and the visions of an ancient shaman may guide her path in the present. Fletcher Anthony was born in London and has lived in France, Asia and Africa. He now lives in a small farming community in southern Australia. His plays have been produced for radio and TV by the BBC and the South African Broadcasting Corp and his short stories have been published throughout the world

Fern must find the mountain that has haunted her dreams and visions. Or will she and her tribe be destined to wander forever? The People have come to this land over a vast and frightening mass of water. They must put aside memories of their ancestral home in ancient Java, sacrificed to the Newcomers. Now they are newcomers, struggling to live at one with the land and its ancient dreaming. And they will have to deal with the scheming of Bright Feather and his woman, Nerida. In present-day Australia, another Fern must bring together her past and future to realise her heart's desire and resolve the threats to her people in the King Leopold Ranges. She must forgive herself and others to truly walk in the present. Fletcher Anthony was born in London and has lived in France, Asia and Africa. He now lives in a small farming community in southern Australia. His plays have been produced for radio and TV by the BBC and the South African Broadcasting Corp and his short stories have been published throughout the world