An atmospheric and riveting fantasy adventure, perfect for fans of Frances Hardinge and Cornelia Funke.

Pip lives on his wits in the city of Clarel. When he pickpockets the wrong man, he finds himself in possession of a strange object - a heart in a silver casket. What's more, the heart seems to be trying to communicate with Pip, and the royal officials who lost it will stop at nothing to get it back.

Pip has unwittingly broken an ancient spell, and his theft will have far-reaching consequences for the whole city. As the ancient war between the Spectres and witches of Clarel reignites, the heart prepares to seek revenge for all it has suffered…

Alison Croggon conjures a rich, immersive world with brilliant and memorable characters in this captivating story of loyalty, courage and friendship.

'I was born as part of a monstrous structure - the grotesque, hideous, ugly, ghastly, gruesome, horrible relations of power that constituted colonial Britain. A structure that shaped me, that shapes the very language that I speak and use and love. I am the daughter of an empire that declared itself the natural order of the world.' From award-winning writer and critic Alison Croggon, Monsters takes as its point of departure the painful breakdown of a relationship between two sisters. It explores how our attitudes are shaped by the persisting myths that underpin colonialism and patriarchy, how the structures we are raised within splinter and distort the possibilities of our lives. Monsters asks how we maintain the fictions that we create about ourselves, what we will sacrifice to maintain these fictions - and what we have to gain by confronting them.

Maerad is a girl with a tragic and bitter past, but her powers grow stronger by the day. Now she and her mentor, Cadvan, pursued by both the Light and the Dark, are seeking the Riddle of the Treesong - the key to restoring peace in the ravaged kingdom.

But is Maerad herself the greatest riddle of them all?

Maerad's epic quest continues as she travels from terrifying seas to vast stretches of glacial wilderness, drawn ever closer to her enemy the Winterking - the strongest ally of the Nameless One and the greatest tyrant of them all.