What do you think?
Rate this book
Akropolis
Akropolis is a YA Science Fiction novel set in the near future and the ancient past. The book considers an alternative ‘us’ and asks the question, what if we’re not who we think we are, what if ‘we’ are ‘them’?
A drowning at sea and a cellphone receiving cryptic messages from the future propel seventeen-year-old Nathaniel into a search through time for his older brother Seb, missing from their remote fishing village after attempts on his life. Guided by a series of diagrams to the site of a strange Garden destroyed in an earthquake, Nat discovers he himself has become the hunted, and Seb is someone marked with a code.
From the wild seas of Tasmania to ancient Greece through to New York City in 1911, Nat and his fellow-traveler Norika flee their pursuers into a Network where no one, including Seb, is quite as they seem. When they finally discover their connection to the long-ago Survivors and their Descendants, Nat faces a revelation about his brother that affects not only his future, but his past.
Akropolis offers cross-genre appeal to readers of thought-provoking YA and Science Fiction, with its shifting parallel stories of two brothers trapped in time and history, and the decisions they make to survive.
A drowning at sea and a cellphone receiving cryptic messages from the future propel seventeen-year-old Nathaniel into a search through time for his older brother Seb, missing from their remote fishing village after attempts on his life. Guided by a series of diagrams to the site of a strange Garden destroyed in an earthquake, Nat discovers he himself has become the hunted, and Seb is someone marked with a code.
From the wild seas of Tasmania to ancient Greece through to New York City in 1911, Nat and his fellow-traveler Norika flee their pursuers into a Network where no one, including Seb, is quite as they seem. When they finally discover their connection to the long-ago Survivors and their Descendants, Nat faces a revelation about his brother that affects not only his future, but his past.
Akropolis offers cross-genre appeal to readers of thought-provoking YA and Science Fiction, with its shifting parallel stories of two brothers trapped in time and history, and the decisions they make to survive.
- GenresScience Fiction
271 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 29, 2013
1 person is currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
Catherine McCallum
3 books1 followerAfter a career in Australia and Europe as a graphic designer and art director, I now work as a writer from my home on the east coast of Tasmania.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 31, 2013
“The Age of Akropolis is upon us”
On the day Sebastian D’Angelo left port on the Cormorant, with crew member Rick Delaney and skipper Jake Eastman, the weather forecast was for wild storms off the Tasmanian coast. There were those who couldn’t understand why they had gone out in such weather. But that day in 2020 was to change the lives of many people.
When the Cormorant was declared lost at sea, Seb’s brother Nathaniel (Nat) was in class at his local high school in the coastal town of St Annes. But he couldn’t concentrate on the lesson; his concern for his brother meant his teacher had to speak to him several times to break into his thoughts. And when he gave him a lecture, Nat was convinced he’d lost it! When the Cormorant limped back to port the next day, towed by the coast guard, only two people were on board. Rick Delaney had been lost at sea..…
Suddenly Sebastian realized he was in danger and needed to disappear. He headed to the mainland of Australia, vanishing from sight and all contact was lost. Nat, only seventeen years of age, knew he was the one to find his brother, and when strange, cryptic messages began to appear on his mobile phone, the scepticism and fear he was feeling turned into determination to find Seb and untangle the strange events which were occurring.
Teaming up with Norika, grand-daughter to Yoshiki, time-travelling through portals back to early Japan, discovering the beautiful Garden of Kenji, which had been destroyed by an earthquake, and even back to Athens in ancient Greece; Nat discovered his courage and strength were with him to face the challenges thrown at them both. Could Nat untangle the clues; would he find Seb before it was too late? And who could they trust….no-one seemed to be who Nat thought they were?
What an amazing debut novel from Aussie author Catherine McCallum! I loved this book; it is so beautifully written, obviously well researched and the plot was full-on and fast-paced. The twists throughout were great, and with a mix of science fiction, fantasy, thriller, suspense and even historical fiction, it will appeal to a lot of people. I have no hesitation in highly recommending this novel, and will be reading more by this author.
On the day Sebastian D’Angelo left port on the Cormorant, with crew member Rick Delaney and skipper Jake Eastman, the weather forecast was for wild storms off the Tasmanian coast. There were those who couldn’t understand why they had gone out in such weather. But that day in 2020 was to change the lives of many people.
When the Cormorant was declared lost at sea, Seb’s brother Nathaniel (Nat) was in class at his local high school in the coastal town of St Annes. But he couldn’t concentrate on the lesson; his concern for his brother meant his teacher had to speak to him several times to break into his thoughts. And when he gave him a lecture, Nat was convinced he’d lost it! When the Cormorant limped back to port the next day, towed by the coast guard, only two people were on board. Rick Delaney had been lost at sea..…
Suddenly Sebastian realized he was in danger and needed to disappear. He headed to the mainland of Australia, vanishing from sight and all contact was lost. Nat, only seventeen years of age, knew he was the one to find his brother, and when strange, cryptic messages began to appear on his mobile phone, the scepticism and fear he was feeling turned into determination to find Seb and untangle the strange events which were occurring.
Teaming up with Norika, grand-daughter to Yoshiki, time-travelling through portals back to early Japan, discovering the beautiful Garden of Kenji, which had been destroyed by an earthquake, and even back to Athens in ancient Greece; Nat discovered his courage and strength were with him to face the challenges thrown at them both. Could Nat untangle the clues; would he find Seb before it was too late? And who could they trust….no-one seemed to be who Nat thought they were?
What an amazing debut novel from Aussie author Catherine McCallum! I loved this book; it is so beautifully written, obviously well researched and the plot was full-on and fast-paced. The twists throughout were great, and with a mix of science fiction, fantasy, thriller, suspense and even historical fiction, it will appeal to a lot of people. I have no hesitation in highly recommending this novel, and will be reading more by this author.
August 1, 2025
This book took me a long time to read because the scenes and characters contained are so evocative and thought provoking that I had to put it down to allow myself time to contemplate the depth of it's narrative.
I was inspired by the ethical perspectives of each character as they each faced their own particular moral dilemmas with the help of the guides they meet.
The writer has not only a keen sense of historical context but also a solid understanding of how technology can be used to help fuel imaginations and unlock the power of our minds.
As an avid cinephile I am tempted to apply my own film references to the book, however the way familiar science fiction concepts like time travel have been combined together is original.
I hope to see this book realized in a visual medium (maybe a cinematic computer game) because the themes in this story deserve to be experienced by the widest audience possible.
I was inspired by the ethical perspectives of each character as they each faced their own particular moral dilemmas with the help of the guides they meet.
The writer has not only a keen sense of historical context but also a solid understanding of how technology can be used to help fuel imaginations and unlock the power of our minds.
As an avid cinephile I am tempted to apply my own film references to the book, however the way familiar science fiction concepts like time travel have been combined together is original.
I hope to see this book realized in a visual medium (maybe a cinematic computer game) because the themes in this story deserve to be experienced by the widest audience possible.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews