The High Path is a road of sorrow. With all good intentions we are led on a path of sacrifice, hardship and loss only to find that in the end we are left alone in the world, separated from those we love through the choices we have made, and left to face the consequences of an unknown future alone. But even when all is lost the will to go on still remains.

The Way Of The Beast speaks to the darker side of our human natures. Beneath the smiles and kind gestures lurks a darkness that is capable of causing great pain to those we care for through broken promises, crushed dreams and shattered hearts. At times there are no answers, no prays heard, only the darkness and the lost innocence of youth.

The Worldroad teaches life lessons, and while some are able to inspire and bring hope, others maybe learned all too late. It is our choices in life that make us who we are, lead us where we are going and teach us what we need to know. There are no right or wrong paths, only choices that must be made.

Green Monkey Dreams is a beautiful collection of short tales that are full of hope, tragedy and bittersweet moments that haunt you long after their reading. A skilfully written collection of magical tales of the fanciful, the quirky and the everyday. Each story is a doorway to another land, another time or anther reality where everything is at once both new and familiar in just the same way that these stories are at once both unique and timeless. ( )

I adore Isobelle Carmody. Her stories are like diving into shared dreams. Beautiful, inspirational, poetic. My fav genre too! ( )

Green Monkey Dreams is a powerful collection of 14 short stories, many with fantasy or science-fiction elements. The stories can be very different at times, some set in this world, others set in apocolytpic futures, others influenced by fairytales. What they all have in common, and why I think the collection holds together so well despite the diversity of stories, is that they all make the reader question accepted assumptions about the world, about what we consider to be reality, and the difficulties involved in being different. Another strength is that many of the stories are told from the perspectives of marginalised characters - those considered mad, children living in poverty, outcasts who have transgressed the rules of their society, and in every case Carmody is able to capture their voices and the reality of their lives and stories. It is in many ways a dark collection - don't expect too many happy endings - but that is part of the book's power, because it doesn't provide any easy answers. Finally, the writing is lyrical and assured, drawing the reader in to worlds that are by times beautiful and frightening, but always original. ( )

This is a difficult book to review as the worlds of the tales range from an apocalyptic world to what could be right next door. Each story is complex and thought provoking with ideas of what identity and reality mean. I would recommend these stories to a young adult reader who enjoys dystopias such as The Hunger Games as they will find some similar plot settings along with a deeper probing into philosophy and why people make the choices they do. I will soon be rereading this book because it will get better as I find more depth. ( )

Junior fiction work containing 14 stories. Not sure if one of these has a football theme or setting.