Aftershocks

Earthcore #3

by Grace Bridges

They saved a town with the help of the creatures that command the geysers. They saved a city from volcanic eruption. Surely they've earned a break? 

Tell that to the Titanosaur. 

Now the faultline network is active, threatening all of central New Zealand with aftershocks that might be bigger than the initial event. Amateur geologist Anira Fraser is in Picton, facing her final high school athletics competition. 

Along with her friend Tiger McRae, she realises their presence is disturbing the area's guardian spirits. Soon other Earthcore members arrive in town and discover an old enemy stirring up fresh trouble, while the locals hint at the legend of a mysterious taniwha war that could worsen the series of quakes. 

It's up to Anira and the Earthcore team to find the cause of the war and end it--otherwise they themselves could be responsible for a cataclysmic natural disaster.

169 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 15, 2019

About the author

Grace Bridges is a geyser hunter, cat herder, editor and translator, and Kiwi. A former longtime president of writers' organisation SpecFicNZ and Chair of GeyserCon, New Zealand's 40th national science fiction and fantasy convention held in Rotorua in 2019, she is often found poking around geothermal sites or under a pile of rescued kittens. She is a two-time winner of the Sir Julius Vogel Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand, a founding member of Realm Makers, an editor and mentor for Young NZ Writers, and has edited dozens of published books including many anthology projects. Her own published books include Irish cyberpunk, a shared-world space opera project, and the Earthcore urban fantasy series based in New Zealand. More information and free stories at www.gracebridges.kiwi.

Reviews

[Barbara Howe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aftershocks is a fine addition to the Earthcore series, with a more interesting conflict than the earlier books. Anira Fraser—the leader of the Earthcore team, when her mind isn’t befogged from being away from her guardian taniwha’s hot springs—goes to Picton with Tiger McRae for a high-school track competition, and nearly starts a war. Anira and Tiger are caught in a dilemma: how can they use their taniwha-bestowed superpowers to ease the friction between the territorial taniwha of New Zealand’s North and South Islands when it was their gifts that triggered the rising tensions?

Audience: teens mainly, but a fun, light read for anyone.

[C.O. Bonham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aftershocks is the third book in Grace Bridges Earthcore superhero series set in New Zealand.

This book differs from the first two in that this time the Earthcore team is not fight against a human bad guy. This time they have to make peace between the earth spirits that give them their superpowers.

I really liked this installment in the series. It was an interesting challenge that the team had to solve, how to fight when using your powers make the problem worse? I also loved that there was more gifted people introduced. I thought it was strange that the spirits would only gift people in one area.

If you haven't read any of the Earthcore books yet this one would be fine to jump in on, but please do go back and read the first two.