Sharyn Bradford Lunns landmark saga of adventure and romance spans almost 200 years of family history set against a backdrop of the rich and rugged wilds of Australia In this sweeping story of love and loss fortune and fate this masterful storyteller recounts the journeys of the McCabe and Skye families along with the people who shape their lives as they strive to make good in the penal colonies of New South Wales and Van Diemens Land during the early 1800s The saga chronicles the two families trials and triumphs joys and injustices and the inner torment as their lives come full circle and old secrets are revealedThe epic begins with the love of a soldier in the New South Wales Corps for a highspirited convict woman but tragedy leads him to the arms of a beautiful native woman From these unions arise generations of proud Australians who play their part in forging the Great Southern Land The story of these courageous men and women their dreams their dynasty and the heritage they share is as unique as the land from which they sprang Southern Skyes brings Australias history to life with compelling characters rendering the Australian landscape in all its rugged magnificence The Soldiers Seed Book 1 of Southern SkyesThe Soldiers Seed the first book of the Southern Skyes family saga is a novel that captures the wide range of relationships between colonial convict and indigenous families during the tumultuous events that defined the early penal colonies of AustraliaNicholas Thomas a soldier in the New South Wales Corps loathes his life in Sydney Town and through a series of events of his own making he finds himself running from his past to what could be an even worse fate While pioneering a new settlement that encounters one problem after another he struggles to find his true self and identify what he really wants from life until he meets a woman a soldier shouldnt love When tragedy strikes he is forced to make choices that will affect his descendants for decades to come The Soldiers Seed is a heartrending adventure and an exciting introduction to Australian history and the epic Southern Skyes seriesPLUS a Bonus Chapter Take a sneak peek at Southern Skyes Book 2 The Divergence