Marcus Sedgwick, author of the highly acclaimed The Dark Horse,
returns on stupendous form with the first book of what promises to
be a darkly terrifying trilogy. The Book of Dead Days is set in a
nameless city where evil, cold and putrefaction are the norm. The
wretched populace struggle to survive as the cold bites into their
bones and hunger gnaws at their vitals. Wandering through this
bleak landscape is Valerian - mystic and prestidigitator with
strangely magical powers, he is himself at the mercy of even darker
forces, forces which he conjured up 15 years before the story
began. Valerian is the victim of his own conceit - he summoned the
spirits of the dead and signed a deadly pact with them, and now the
time has come to fulfil his dreadful obligation. But Valerian is
determined to live - whatever the cost. Accompanying the fearsome
figure of Valerian through the streets and sewers of the city, as
he searches for the means to escape from his destiny, are two
children. His constant companion is the unnamed Boy, his assistant
for years who follows him with an unquestioning loyalty, desperate
to known his roots yet frightened to provoke the volatile magician
by too much questioning. Willow, Valerian's new acquisition, has no
such inhibitions; having literally stumbled upon a dead body, she
has fled the theatre where Valerian has been performing his nightly
routine, and flung herself on the mercy of the magician and his
servant. Fearless and utterly devoted to Boy, Willow is determined
to protect her new charge whatever the cost, risking her own life
to save that of her new-found friend. The unlikely trio wander the
streets of this unholy city, searching for the Book which will
release Valerian from his pact. As the days between Christmas and
New Year - the Dead Days - tick remorselessly by, time is running
out; the spirits will demand their due and Valerian is only too
willing to offer up another victim to be the sacrifice. This darkly
disturbing book is mesmerising and compulsive; unsettling, yet
totally riveting. There are many unanswered questions as the last
pages are turned - who is Boy? What happens to Valerian? and above
all, what does the future hold for Willow and Boy? Eager readers of
The Book of Dead Days will have to contain their impatience, and
trust that the second part of Sedgwick's fascinating trilogy will
shed some light on at least a few of these questions. Ages 10+
(Kirkus UK)
Five days of glorious gothic alchemy and evil . . . An atmospheric,
page-turning and powerful novel of sorcery and desperate magic by
award-winning author Marcus Sedgwick. Shortlisted for the Guardian
Children's Fiction prize and the Edgar Allan Poe Award. The days
between 27 December and New Year's Eve are dead days - days when
spirits roam and magic shifts restlessly just beneath the surface
of our everyday lives. There is a man, Valerian, whose time is
running out. He must pay the price for the pact he made with evil
so many years ago. His servant is Boy, a child with no name and no
past - a child he treats with contempt, but who serves his master
well and finds solace in the company of his only friend, Willow.
Unknown to any of them, it is Boy who holds the key to their
destiny. Set in dark, threatening cities and the frozen countryside
in a distant time, THE BOOK OF DEAD DAYS conjures a spell-binding
story as Valerian, Boy and Willow battle to stop time and cling to
life.
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