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The alpacas are nervous. Accusations are flying about a rigged election, a mysterious illness is spreading, the Alpaca News is being censored by higher powers, and skullduggery is threatening the Breeders Showcase.
Amidst a mass of self-interested parties, a forthright vet and a diplomatic engineer strive to protect the herds and restore democracy.
By turns vital, farcical, heartbreaking and chilling, the much-anticipated alpaca novel by award-winning writer Duncan Sarkies is a wild and tender leap – or, more accurately, pronk – into the heart of alpaca breeding, and a snapshot of a world at a crossroads.
‘It’s like Succession, but with alpacas.’
—Toby Manhire, The Spinoff
‘A satire of democratic process, with hints of Trumpian politics, pandemic response, conspiracists and corruption, told through a tight lens: the microcosm of a committee dedicated to breeding and showing alpacas. I cannot think of another New Zealand writer who comes close to Sarkies' restless intelligence, swift shifts of tone, technical control across several genres and sheer creative inventiveness.’ —Fiona Farrell
‘Any book about an election, political intrigue and general ratfuckery is going to grab my attention. An allegorical narrative that is most definitely of its time. Sarkies asks important questions, challenging his readers and doing it in an accessible way. I loved it.’ —Grant Robertson
‘I laughed, I cried, I got riled up.’ —Claire Mabey
‘Gripping, intriguing, satisfying. The best contemporary book I’ve read for ages.’ — Marion Castree
Duncan Sarkies is a writer of novels, theatre, and screen stories for film and television. He has been recognised with the Best First Book of Fiction Award at the New Zealand Book Awards for Stray Thoughts and Nosebleeds, and the Bruce Mason Playwriting Award. Duncan has received the Louis Johnson New Writers’ Bursary, the Grimshaw Sargeson Fellowship, and a residency at the Michael King Writers Centre. Duncan’s screenplays include Scarfies, and the adaptation of his first novel Two Little Boys, both collaborations with his brother Robert. Duncan has written for TV including Flight of the Conchords and What We Do in the Shadows, and wrote, directed, and co-created the acclaimed audio series The Mysterious Secrets of Uncle Bertie’s Botanarium. Star Gazers is his third novel.
Cover artwork: Rieko Woodford-Robinson
Cover design: Todd Atticus
