Becoming a Keeper would mean abandoning her parents and that’s not something Goldie is willing to do, no matter how much her parents encourage her and her friend Toadspit demands it. Her parents are both unwell and she places their poor health squarely on her own shoulders as a result of her running away in the last book. Meanwhile, Goldie Roth has been busily avoiding the Museum of Dunt and the request to take her place as Keeper. A broken limb and an almost drowning are raising tensions in the city of Jewel and calling the Protector’s abilities to keep the children safe into question, especially when rumours of a return of kidnappers proves true with the disappearance of a little girl. Some parents and children aren’t quite ready for the change and make their own bindings. The Fugalman is assumed dead and his Blessed Guardians have been removed from power, which means children are now free to roam without chains. I’ve been known to shed real and true tears along with her as she expresses her deepest regrets to a puppet.Īnyway, City of Lies takes place six months after the events of Museum of Thieves. It’s impossible not to get wrapped up in the action and emotion when she is so completely immersed in her telling. Not only does she once again do an excellent job with the various characters, but I continue to be amazed by how she can pull so much emotion from words on a page.

Just assume that if I listen to an audiobook narrated by Claudia Black, that I will be giving her performance five stars. A Clue for Clara won the 2021 Sisters in Crime Davitt Award for Best Children's Crime Novel, and its sequel, Rita's Revenge, was shortlisted for the 2022 NSW Premier's Award for Children's Literature. Lian's first picture book 'Ella and the Ocean' (illustrated by Jonathan Bentley) won the 2020 NSW Premier's Award for Children's Literature and the 2022 Tasmanian Literary Award for Children's Books. Lian's third series, The Rogues, is set in the same world as The Keepers, and has been translated into Spanish. Her second series, The Hidden, has been published in Australia/New Zealand and North America. Lian's bestselling fantasy series The Keepers won two Aurealis Awards for Best Australian Children's Fantasy and has been translated into eleven languages. Nowadays she lives by the beach in southern Tasmania. She likes secrets, old bones, and animals that are not what they seem. She once spent a week in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, hunting for a Japanese soldier left over from the Second World War. Lian Tanner has been dynamited while scuba diving and arrested while busking.

City of lies lian tanner