1. New Zealand (Aotearoa) is one of the last habitable places on Earth to have been settled by humans. When did the ancestors of the Maori and Europeans first arrive? Why did they come in large numbers after members of each group "discovered" the two large islands?

2. Weather plays an important role in the novel. What sort of climate does New Zealand have and what geographic and geologic factors affect it?

3. New Zealand has unique vegetation and animal life. Research what species of plants and animals are found there. Which of these does Savage include in the novel?

4. Savage has written two other novels set in New Zealand, Flight of the Albatross and A Stranger Calls Me Home.

Read them and compare and contrast the characters, plots, themes, and settings.

5. New Zealand has suffered environmentally from the introduction of foreign animal...