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Stunning speculative fiction from the award-winning author of Firelight.
David is a scout. For ten years he has plundered the ruins of an alien civilisation about which he knows nothing. Now his contract is ending, and he's ready to go home, a wealthy, successful man.
Except that everything seems to be slipping out of his control. His mentor Tom vanished on a recent expedition. David doesn't know what has happened to him. And, as he waits for the ship that will take him away, he begins to question the choices he has made.
That's when he is visited by a researcher, a specialist in non-human societies. She has travelled far to learn about this strange world and wants to hire David as her guide. One more expedition, one more trip to the rainswept wasteland of the plateau-and he can go home at last, rich beyond his dreams.
But he comes to realise that he may yet lose everything, as he is drawn inexorably towards an encounter with the terrifying soul of this world. John Morrissey's Bird Deity is a novel like no other. At once disconcerting and eerily familiar, it's a cosmic horror story about power, theft, love, loss, and destiny.
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Format
Paperback
Publisher
Text Publishing
Country
Australia
Date
3 February 2026
Pages
224
ISBN
9781922790781
Stunning speculative fiction from the award-winning author of Firelight.
David is a scout. For ten years he has plundered the ruins of an alien civilisation about which he knows nothing. Now his contract is ending, and he's ready to go home, a wealthy, successful man.
Except that everything seems to be slipping out of his control. His mentor Tom vanished on a recent expedition. David doesn't know what has happened to him. And, as he waits for the ship that will take him away, he begins to question the choices he has made.
That's when he is visited by a researcher, a specialist in non-human societies. She has travelled far to learn about this strange world and wants to hire David as her guide. One more expedition, one more trip to the rainswept wasteland of the plateau-and he can go home at last, rich beyond his dreams.
But he comes to realise that he may yet lose everything, as he is drawn inexorably towards an encounter with the terrifying soul of this world. John Morrissey's Bird Deity is a novel like no other. At once disconcerting and eerily familiar, it's a cosmic horror story about power, theft, love, loss, and destiny.
Disconnected. Dissociated. Disembodied. A gripping new entry into Australian speculative fiction, John Morrissey's Bird Deity steers a bleak and meditative course through an unsettling narrative, without ever losing its grip on the reader.
David, a surveyor about to finish his five-year posting on an alien planet, is contracted by Sarah, an outsider, for ‘one last job’. Apathetic, he accepts mostly to protect Sarah, whose task will lead her to certain death without his guidance. She seeks answers regarding the strange, mindless simians that populate the planet, and is baffled to discover that though David has been journeying into the lands of these apes for half a decade, he knows almost nothing about the species or the ancient technology they worship.
What follows is a haunting sway from scene to scene. We follow the two as they journey out onto the plains, Sarah eager to encounter the alien apes, while David slowly descends into madness and detachment. In the opening section of the book, one might wonder at the apparent absence of cosmic horror; once you follow David and Sarah onto the plateau, it is omnipresent. Narration that appeared calm becomes unnerving as we are immersed in the mind of someone hostile to curiosity, hope, and other life. Hanging over everything, unseen and yet inescapable, is a pale, winged shadow.
Morrissey has expertly crafted an entrancing atmosphere filled with ancient mysteries, the remnants of a devolved civilisation, and a palpable sense of psychological turmoil. Avoiding cliches of both sci-fi and horror, Bird Deity is a step in a new direction, showing us the potential of contemporary Australian speculative fiction – suited for our times and yet wholly unique.
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