Risen Gods, a dark fantasy thriller, features Maori characters and is based on Maori mythology. The ebook and print versions contain a glossary but this list is intended as an extra for audio book listeners, or anyone interested.

We have attempted to use Te Reo – the Maori language – in appropriate ways throughout the book. Here are the words used and if any are wrong, we apologize for any errors. The use of the macron for long vowels, e.g. ‘a' in Māori, was considered but the decision was made to omit it so as not to confuse international readers with pronunciation.

Aotearoa – originally used as a reference to the North Island, now widely recognized as the Maori name for the country of New Zealand
Hangi – traditional Maori way of cooking food on heated rocks buried in a pit oven
Hapu – extended family, comprised of a number of whanau
Hawaiki – traditional Maori place of origin
Hokioi – huge mythical birds of prey
Hongi – traditional Maori greeting where the nose and forehead are pressed together so the breath of life is intermingled
Iwi – tribe, set of people bound together by a common ancestor
Kai moana – seafood
Kaitiaki – a guardian spirit
Karakia – prayers, incantations
Kaumatua – tribal elder
Kia ora – greeting; hello, be well
Koru – the unfurling frond of the silver fern. A Maori symbol of creation and new life.
Manaia – mythical creature with the head of a bird and the body of a man. The messenger between the physical world and the domain of the spirits, used as a guardian against evil.
Marae – meeting ground, a fenced complex of carved buildings and grounds, the focal point of Maori community
Moko – Maori tattoos
Motuhake – special
Pakeha – Maori name for white, non-Maori New Zealanders
Papatuanuku – goddess of the earth. Together with Ranginui, one of the primordial gods from the creation myth
Pounamu – greenstone, nephrite jade
Rakahore – god of rock and stone
Ranginui – god of the sky
Rarohenga – the underworld and realm of the spirits
Raukawa Moana – sea of bitter leaves. Maori name for the Cook Strait.
Ruaumoko – god of earthquakes and volcanoes
Taiaha – traditional weapon; a staff made of wood or whalebone
Tane Mahuta – Lord of the Forest; a specific ancient kauri tree in Northland
Tangaroa – god of the sea
Tangata whenua – people of the land, Maori name for themselves
Tangihanga or tangi – funeral rite held on the marae
Taniwha – supernatural creature that protects certain physical places
Taonga – ancestral treasure
Tawhirimatea – god of storms and the weather
Te Parata – a monster of the tidal ocean who caused the high and low tides by swallowing vast quantities of water and then spitting it out again
Te Reo – Maori language
Te Rerenga Wairua – the leaping-off place where the spirits of the dead enter the underworld. Cape Reinga, the northern tip of New Zealand
Te Wharenui – the meeting house on the marae
Te Wheke-a-Muturangi – mythical monstrous octopus
Toroa – albatross
Tui – a New Zealand honeyeater bird with a distinctive call
Tumatauenga – the red-faced god of war
Waka – oceangoing canoes
Waka wairua – a spirit canoe
Whakapapa – genealogy, ancestry
Whanau – extended family
Whiro – god of darkness and embodiment of evil

Other New Zealand terms/slang

Banana bread – particularly yummy banana cake often eaten for breakfast with butter
Lemon and Paeroa – fizzy drink made in Paeroa, a town in the North Island
Moro bar – chocolate bar with nougat and caramel
Number 8 wire – New Zealand term that implies a can-do attitude and the ability to fix anything
She'll be right – New Zealand slang meaning ‘everything will be OK.'
Sweet as – New Zealand slang for good, cool, awesome
Tiki tour – scenic tour; a roundabout way of getting somewhere