This final book in the trilogy, Golden City, brings Freya’s epic journey to a satisfying conclusion while leaving room for more adventures in SR Manssen’s world of myth and magic.

Set mostly in suburbia, in upstairs flats and at kitchen tables, Argante’s focus is on her characters, particularly their inadequacies, as they navigate marriages, divorces, parenthood. There are stories about loss and disappointment. Regret. Acceptance.

This book, by Tauranga historian Trevor Bentley was published in 2004 and is just one of a long line of excellent local history books by Bentley which focus the intersection of Māori and European cultures since the latter arrived on these shores.

Two stories that will leave you mulling long after you close this book are Cave Fever and Lifeblood. Cave Fever is set in an unknown future, where science has perverted biological nature for society to survive long after their good intentions have lost all meaning.