89 parts Complete "Yabbies. Funny little things, all in their own world at the bottom of the dam. A bit like us, ain't they? Can't see a thing for all the mud in the water; bits and pieces drift down, in any old order, all out of sequence, an' we have to make sense of them as best we can."
This unusual novel explores ideas about sustainability from a different angle: that we can't achieve a sustainable world without a system of law that supports it. For that to happen, we would need a revolutionary change in the way we see our world: a refocus of passion from possession to purpose. In some ways, as one character explains, we may not have much choice:
"The whole system is so fragile that there's a real risk it could collapse at any time, in a really big way. Those problems are inherent in the system: the whole thing is held together by little more than wishful thinking."
But what if only some countries made that change, and others didn't? What would happen to trade, to international relations, to everyday living? How would they deal with business-visitors, or tourists? We see these themes through story-fragments, each piece drifting down through the waters of time, each character describing their own worlds and experiences in their own unique voice. And perhaps a little magic, too.
