This is the second book in a trilogy - but readers do not have to have read the first book, Kokopu Dreams to understand Shadow Waters. A devastating epidemic due to the revenge of the Maeroero - creatures traditionally believed to have inhabited the hills and forests before the first waka arrived in New Zealand , has killed most of the population. Shadow Waters is an action-packed, fast-moving novel that explores the survivors' struggle against the demons and fearful creatures that have taken over the landscape. Where other New Zealand futuristic novels have focused on the big-brother syndrome - Albert Wendt's Black Rainbow, Stephanie Johnson's The Whistler in Shadow Waters the opposite happens. Everything is broken down to elements, myths, and a kind of Wild West. Like The Lord of the Rings the quest aspect of Shadow Waters is strong, sharing an episodic structure, a great many fights and an assortment of dead bodies. There's plenty for students of the future to 'chew the head off'.