Rotorua district, 1886. Englishman Cyprian Marsh has been despatched to the colonies in pursuit of his wayward halfbrother. The only clue is the beautiful but mysterious Alice Bright, who has led him from the whorehouses of Melbourne to Te Wairoa, a tourist village near the Pink and White Terraces, in the shadow of Mount Tarawera.
As the earth sends signs of impending doom, local Maori boy Mohi falls under the spell of the peculiar Reverend Lucius Steele. Torn between the beliefs of his people and Steele’s apocalyptic prophecies, Mohi chooses to pursue vengeance when his friend is terribly wronged.
Blackly humorous and populated by complex and elusive characters, A Sky Full of Fire combines mystery, intrigue and vividly imagined history in the lead-up to the deadliest volcanic eruption in the history of Aotearoa.
