MOONLESS
A hopeful post-apocalyptic, character driven and diverse sci-fi trilogy set in Italy centuries into the future after the Moon has been destroyed.
WE LOST THE SKY (MOONLESS #1)
In the distant future when Tuscany is a desolate wasteland ruled by the forces of nature, Renn is abandoned by his fellow wanderers. As a dust storm approaches, he struggles to find shelter in the ruins of an ancient city. But he gets more than he has bargained for when he accidentally awakens a dormant creature which resembles the maddened Moon servants from his people’s legends.
Meanwhile, a teenage survivor of the lost civilisation is keeping an eye on his old home, the one remaining great city, Florence. Unlike the city dwellers who rarely venture out of Florence’s protective domes, he scavenges long-forgotten technology while looking for others from his own time. And now he is building an army of artificial humans outside the city that no longer welcomes him.
The Florentines reject advanced technology and innovation. Yet, a restoration worker strives to learn engineering and longs to find out more about the strange relics that turn up on her workbench.
She is caught between the city’s, wealthy, protected neighbourhoods and its outer slums, determined to help the impoverished denizens. However, both endeavours mean working against her own father and the ideology of the ruling class.
As tensions mount in Florence, Renn and an unlikely new travelling companion are drawn towards the city. But danger is lurking around every dune of sand. It is going to take more than luck to avoid suspicious settlers and survive the turbulent weather conditions and fierce predators longing to put a quick end to their journey.
SEEKING SHELTER (MOONLESS #2)
A long-hidden secret is lurking beneath the wasteland. But can the Sienans take on another challenge when they are already fighting to build a new society while surviving dust storms and an unforgiving landscape?
Life in Siena is becoming the new normal for the Florentine rebels. They build their homes from scavenged remnants of the ancient ruins and learn to navigate the desolate terrain. As questions about democracy, religion and leadership begin to arise, Teo realizes that everyone looks to her for answers.
Meanwhile, Renn is lending his hard-earned survival skills to the Sienans while coming to terms with a life without migration and with the unfathomable technological wonders that Luca shares with the settlement.
When an orphaned stranger is cast out by her fellow wanderers and heads toward Siena, an invisible killer also threatens the settlement, and Luca picks up a mysterious signal on his newly reinvented radio transmitter…
Seeking Shelter continues where Marie Howalt’s We Lost the Sky left off, treating readers to personal tales seen through the eyes of a cast of unforgettable characters. It imagines the rebuilding of society and tells a hopeful story of survival in a world after the destruction of the Moon.
HEART OF THE STORM (MOONLESS #3)
Change is coming to the far-future Tuscan wasteland, and it will leave no one untouched.
Things are finally stable in the small community of rebels who have reclaimed the ruins of Siena. And more people are leaving the safety of Florence to cross the barren landscape and try their luck in the new settlement.
When a new Covey of wanderers arrive, Teo offers them respite and starts to dream of new horizons. Renn finds himself eager to rejoin the wanderer life and is faced with a difficult decision. In his own home, Luca begins to tire of his comfortable, post-apocalyptic routine of technological tinkering.
Meanwhile in Florence, the political climate is shifting, leaving a family of four in the outer city slums, and the powerful Mayor’s own son questioning their safety.
Heart of the Storm is the final installment of Marie Howalt’s Moonless trilogy. Picking up the threads from the previous two books, it weaves the personal tales of the post-apocalypse into a thrilling conclusion as Renn, Luca, Teo and the other Sienans tackle their biggest challenges yet.