Fabulous! Astounding! Super! A very uniquely packaged book. In short - you will be intoxicated reading this. I've loved Rumi poetry for a long long time and this is one of the best books I've seen. Poetry doesn't get any better than this. I get drunk reading Rumi's poetry every night. If you wanna get high - this is the stuff to get high on!

The Sooterkin is a nice first novel, and it is interesting for most of its 200+ pages, but it is not a directly involving story. The conflict is spread out among its main characters, and it reads like a modern TV show with an ensemble cast. I liked the story, but if you are looking for a traditional novel with one main character, then this isn't for you.

The novel follows a minister on a cross country journey, a young boy looking for his "brother," a mother who may or may not have given birth to a seal, and assorted characters who come in and disappear quickly in this novel that takes place in 1800's Tasmania. Each of this vignette-style sections is interesting, but the whole comes up a bit shorter than the parts.

I look forward to Gilling's next effort as I think he'll develop into a fine novelist based on this, but for me, this was good but not brilliant. If you are interested in Austrailia and its environs, particularly in the area of historical fiction, try Matthew Kneale's English Passengers or Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang (both are superior novels).

When I first picked up this book, I was expecting something along the lines of 'The Secret of Roan Innish'. It bears only the slightest resemblance to it, but is a worthwhile read in it's own right.

Gilling manages to evoke the atmosphere of colonial Van Diemen's Land very easily - virtually from the first sentence 'Pardon the stench.' His opening descriptions of the mud, the smells and the whaler's try-pots soon convince you that this is not a pleasant place to be.
His conversational tone when describing the Ship's Agent who can 'get you a berth out of here, if there are berths to be got' - is your first hint that there is real humour in this book.
The relationship between Ned and his 'brother' is touching and at times compelling. The mother and father are both realistic characters, as the incompetent and self-important Reverend, Mr Kidney. The relationship between Mr Kidney and his horse was one of the most amusing parts of the book!
Aside from the occassional use of colloquial language (which isn't strong) there is nothing in this book to prevent more mature children from enjoying it as well. It is certainly a wonderful first novel and I look forward to reading more from Mr Gilling.

Tom Gilling's novel THE SOOTERKIN is simply a wonderful book. Told in the form of a fable, the tale has much to teach us about love and kindness, greed and exploitation. Set in Australia in the early 19th century, Gilling's use of language is absolutely perfect in depicting his marvelous characters, making the era and location come alive, and generally setting the tone for this story. His characters are at the same time larger than life (in their sometimes absurd eccentricities) and wholly believable, given the amazing variations of the human animal. The book reads fairly quickly, but I would advise the reader to savor it and take it a little slower than temptation might dictate -- there's a lot here to enjoy.