Simon Avend, a South African living in Australia, can be unruly. He often sets out to exotic destinations, indulging his desires in places like Bali, Istanbul, Tokyo, and the Wild Coast. But along the way unsettling memories arise, of people and also places, especially the cattle farm in the Eastern Cape where he grew up. He approaches a therapist to help him make sense of his past, a process that leads them both on a journey of discovery. When circumstances bring Simon back to South Africa, he must confront the beauty and bitterness of his country of birth, and of the people to whom he is bound. Green as the Sky Is Blue is a bold, unflinching exploration of sexuality, intimacy, and the paradox that lies at the heart of our humanity.

One rainy night in Australia Marlouw's sister phones with the request that he fetch her son from that bloody country'. And Marlouw, with his club foot and hardened spirit, believes it is his fate to carry out this instruction. On the trail of the principal character Marlow in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, he leaves for Africa - more specifically South Africa - which lies in ruins following an explosion and is collapsing under the violence of warring factions. Drenched in sweat after an ominous flight, his exodus carries him deeper into the unknown - past the suffering masses alongside the road to the outer darkness of the rural areas. There are rumours that Koert is on the old family farm, now in the possession of their former workers. That there, guarded and isolated, he has built himself a powerful empire as the King of Meat. Here, on Ouplaas, at the end of Marlouw's terrible journey, the heart of terror is cut open ...

A mountain of flesh she is, this Decima, as she lies. She summons her strength to rise, all four feet on sand and shale. Puffs twirl and settle as her toes find their place. Three on each foot. Decima stands. In the veld of the Eastern Cape a writer imagines her: Decima – a magnificent black rhinoceros cow. Mother to Tandeka, herself plumped up with calf, Decima and her crash of rhinos await the birth of the new baby. Decima still recalls how she became an orphan many seasons ago, and tension mounts with the passing of each full moon. Conjuring up the life of Decima, is Eben. How do you write about this animal as a sentient being? he wants to find out. With the story of the rhino matriarch and her kin, comes the various characters that impact on their lives: poachers, their clients, those who practise traditional medicine, also those whose calling it is to protect the animals. Entwined in Eben’s work on the rhino, is an account of his fragile, ageing mother. But ringing loudest in his ear, is the voice of Decima. Eben Venter’s book, a creative blend of autofiction, animal fable, mystery and scientific enquiry, is an urgent plea to save one of earth’s megaherbivores. An elegiac work for numerous voices, Decima is a moving and thrilling lament to loss in all its many guises.

In a language rich with innuendo, textual references and streams-of-consciousness a South African boy in diaspora tells his story in the first person singular and takes the reader along up to his very last breath.

Eben Venter se roman is 'n diepsnydende ondersoek na die verhouding tussen pa en seun, na die ontreddering van 'n man wat bitter min uit die verlede kan neem om hom toe te rus vir 'n lewe in 'n snel veranderende bestel. Intens. Ontstellend. 'n Meesterlike ontrafeling van die dun lyn van gevoel - Venter aan die toppunt van sy vermoens."

A novel.

In die Oos-Kaapse veld maak ’n skrywer haar in sy verbeelding staan: Vir Decima – ’n formidabele swartrenosterkoei. Haar dogter, Tandeka, is dragtig, en die handvol renosters sien uit na die kalf se koms in die lente. Maar vir Decima is daar vrees wat met elke volmaan in haar opwel. Sy kan steeds die gebeure onthou wat haar baie seisoene vantevore wees gelaat het. Al werkend aan Decima se verhaal, is Eben. Hy vra: Hoe skryf mens oor hierdie dier as gevoelvolle wese? Deel van die storie is die verskillende karakters wat ’n impak op die lot van die renosters het: stropers, hul kliënte, beoefenaars van tradisionele medisyne, ook die bewaarders. En tussendeur is daar Eben se brose ma wat in die land agtergebly het. Soos hy sy weg vind deur die bladsye van sy manuskrip, is dit die stem van Decima wat die suiwerste in sy gedagtes klink. Eben Venter se boek kombineer outofiksie, fabel, ’n speurverhaal en die wetenskap, en is ’n dringende pleidooi vir die bewaring van een van die wêreld se megaherbivore. Decima is ’n elegiese werk vir baie stemme waarin die skrywer die aard van verlies in sy vele gestaltes besing en besweer.