Song of Wirrun by Patricia Wrightson is a trilogy. This is a modern day story, but is based upon Australian aboriginal mythology, specifically on spirit creatures such as the Mimi, a thin, sticklike people who have to guard against being carried away by the wind, or the Nargun, which is a rocklike creature that can burn like fire. The first story [The Ice is Coming] is the simplest, being almost like [The Hobbit] in relation to [The Lord of the Rings]. There is a threat to the earth, from some ice creatures, the Ninya, and Wirrun becomes aware of it by paying attention to the earth, and he decides to do something about it. In the process he is helped by others from both the human and the spirit world.

In the second book, [The Dark Bright Water] Wirrun is haunted by a song that he hears in his mind for nearly a year before the adventure really begins. This time there is a disturbance in the spirit world with some spirit creatures appearing in places where they would not usually be, and there is also a change in the flow of water that is affecting the people. Wirrun's companion in the first book is a Mimi who was blown from her country. In the second, it is his human best friend. Both young men are profoudly changed by the experience. I don't want to say more to spoil the story.

In the final book, [Behind the Wind] Wirrun encounters a form of death, a Death that has been invented and given its power by humans.

All three books are fairly short, 222, 223 and 156 pages. Unlike Tolkien they do not so much present complex communities/ages, though they do describe quite a bit of the spirit world of aborigines, but they are more like an individual heroic epic-spirit quest, three stages of this quest.

I would definitely recommend them. ( )

when I was a kid I read "The Nargun and the Stars" and "The Rocks of Honey". Both are great Australian stories, for kids and adults. I bought this one on the internet last month and have just finished it. Magnifiscent. Patricia may not be black, but she writes with a great affection and admiration for the aboriginal people. I love this book. ( )