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Bisto Merit Award 2005
Children's fiction
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Blue Flag: For readers aged 10+
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Two worlds. Two different lives. Divided by hate and violence. Thrown together by chance.Chamus's nightmare begins when he survives a massacre. Suicide-bombers from neighbouring Bartokhrin are terrorising his country, Altima. How do you fight someone who isn't afraid of death? Across the border, Riadni is no ordinary Bartokhrin girl; she dresses like a boy, fights like a boy, spits and rides her horse like a boy. When the Hadram Cassal set up camp on her father's land, she is drawn to these rebels who are prepared to fight -- and to die -- for their homeland. A crash-landing in Bartokhrin territory forces Chamus and Riadni together and they find themselves on the run, hunted by killers. Danger and death are closing in on them from all sides.
Extract available: read some of this book now ...
The start of the book: we meet Chamus Aranson
The Author Speaks
Ten Reasons Why Books Are Better Than Computer Games
About Mad Grandad's Flying Saucer:
Oisín answers questions from St Teresa's school
About Mad Grandad's Robot Garden:
Inventing Mad Grandad
The Reader Speaks
Monsters Clink! Collaborative writing with a student
About Mad Grandad's Flying Saucer:
Student work based on Mad Grandad books
About Mad Grandad's Flying Saucer:
Eight week residency in a Dublin school
Links
Oisín's personal website
Wikipedia page for Oisín
Teaching Resources: free to view and download
Teaching guide to the novel by Judy Deacon
List of all available resources
Problems viewing resources? You will need a PDF file reader, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader,
which is available free from
Adobe.
Cover Gallery: other covers for this book
Praise for The Gods and their Machines
'An exciting and well plotted debut novel' Evening Herald
'This excellent novel is a fantasy, yet every word of it has direct and understated relevance for our own political world ... The novel is chiefly a fast-paced, tense and highly convincing thriller. But McGann's impeccably fair-minded and intelligent hints at parallels with Israel and Palestine, or America and the Middle East, or the secular west and Islam, are impossible to miss, and his even-handed narrative is all the more effective in consequence. Exciting as fantasy adventure, thoughtful in present-day relevance, the book is a fine achievement and is strongly recommended.' Peter Hollindale, The School Librarian
'... Literary excellence' Inis magazine
'McGann has created a clever, sharply constructed novel with credible characters and dialogue and tension-filled action. An excellent read.' Sunday Tribune
'Original, intelligent fantasy with plenty of contemporary relevance.' Celia Rees, author of Pirates!
'A pacy, action-filled plot with very real characters facing gripping dilemmas' Mark O'Sullivan
'Completely fantastical yet totally relevant' Eoin Colfer
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