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The Nightwatches of Bonaventura: A Novel
by Bonaventura; translated by Gerald GillespieFirst published in German in 1804, under the nom de plume “Bonaventura,” TheNightwatches of Bonaventura is a dark, twisted, and comic novel, one part Poe and one part Beckett. The narrator and antihero is not Bonaventura but a night watchman named Kreuzgang, a failed poet, actor, and puppeteer who claims to be the spawn of the devil himself. As a night watchman, Kreuzgang takes voyeuristic pleasure in spying on the follies of his fellow citizens, and every night he makes his rounds and stops to peer into a window or door, where he observes framed scenes of murder, despair, theft, romance, and other private activities. In his reactions, Kreuzgang is cynical and pessimistic, yet not without humor. For him, life is a grotesque, macabre, and base joke played by a mechanical and heartless force. Since its publication, fans have speculated on the novel’s authorship, and it is now believed to be by theater director August Klingemann, who first staged Goethe’s Faust. Organized into sixteen separate nightwatches, the sordid scenes glimpsed through parted curtains, framed by door chinks, and lit by candles and shadows anticipate the cinematic. A cross between the gothic and the romantic, The Nightwatches of Bonaventura is brilliant in its perverse intensity, presenting an inventory of human despair and disgust through the eyes of a bitter, sardonic watcher who draws laughter from tragedy. Translated by Gerald Gillespie, who supplies a fresh introduction, The Nightwatches of Bonaventura will be welcomed by a new generation of English-language fans eager to sample the night’s dark offerings.
The Nightwood
by Robin MullerBased on the Celtic folktale of Tamlynne, The Nightwood tells the story of the young daughter of the Earl of March, who is enticed into the nearby wood by the haunting strains of Elfin music. Inside the mysterious forest, Elaine meets Tamlynne, an enchanted young knight in the court of the Elfin Queen. Elaine and Tamlynne fall in love, but in order for Tamlynne to escape the elves, Elaine must pay a terrible price. In the end, mortal love proves stronger than the power of the Elfin Queen and the two lovers are set free. Beautifully illustrated by Robin Muller, this edition of The Nightwood is sure to enchant fairytale lovers of all ages.
The Nightworld
by Jack BlaineScraping by in classes, hanging out with his best friend Charlie, and trying to get a date with Lara Hanover, the prettiest girl in school-that was Nick Robbins' life. Survival was the last thing on his mind. Then, a strange cloud appeared over the city. A cloud that kept growing. The darkness on the horizon consumed the light around it. And Nick's dad, a Department of Defense energy physicist, might have something to do with it. Soon, it became clear that the world Nick knew would never be the same. Now, night is never-ending. The temperature is falling as heat leaves the world. Plants and animals are dying and people are turning into predators waiting for any small advantage. But Nick is determined not to disappear like the fading light. Desperate to glimpse a familiar face in the shadows, Nick races to find his friends-and the one clue that's his glimmer of hope.
The Nine Emperors (The League of Sharks Trilogy)
by David LoganJunk has jumped through space and time to find his sister Ambeline. She has been taken to a country ruled by the nine emperors. Junk and his friends Garvan and Lasel set off to find her. On his quest, Junk will fight off lions, morph into a cyborg, discover the secret of the universe, and play with time itself. Join Junk on an adventure full of humour and heart-pounding action.
The Nine Guardians
by Irene Nicholson Rosario CastellanosThe Nine Guardians is crowded with the magic and malice of warring gods and men.
The Nine Lives of Alexander Baddenfield
by John Bemelmans MarcianoAlexander Baddenfield is a horrible boy-a really horrible boy-who is the last in a long line of lying, thieving scoundrels. One day, Alexander has an astonishing idea. Why not transplant the nine lives from his cat into himself? Suddenly, Alexander has lives to spare, and goes about using them up, attempting the most outrageous feats he can imagine. Only when his lives start running out, and he is left with only one just like everyone else, does he realize how reckless he has been. With its wickedly funny story and equally clever illustrations, this is dark humor at its most delicious. .
The Nine Lives of Alexander Baddenfield
by Sophie Blackall John Bemelmans MarcianoAlexander Baddenfield is a horrible boy--a really horrible boy--who is the last in a long line of lying, thieving scoundrels. One day, Alexander has an astonishing idea. Why not transplant the nine lives from his cat into himself? Suddenly, Alexander has lives to spare, and goes about using them up, attempting the most outrageous feats he can imagine. Only when his lives start running out, and he is left with only one just like everyone else, does he realize how reckless he has been. With its wickedly funny story and equally clever illustrations, this is dark humor at its most delicious.
The Nine Lives of Chloe King: The Fallen; The Stolen; The Chosen (The Nine Lives of Chloe King #1)
by Liz BraswellChloe King is a seemingly normal girl. She goes to class (most of the time), fights with her mom, and crushes on a boy…or two. But around her sixteenth birthday, Chloe finds that perhaps she isn’t so normal after all. There’s the heightened night vision, the superfast reflexes—oh, and the claws. As Chloe discovers who she is—and where she comes from—it is clear she is not alone. Someone is trying to get her. And they will stop at nothing until they do. Chloe has nine lives…but will nine be enough? First released as a trilogy in 2004, this bind-up edition arrives just as the new ABC Family original series The Nine Lives of Chloe King, based closely on the original novels, premieres in June 2011.
The Nine Pound Hammer
by John Claude BemisWhat if John Henry had a son? Twelve-year-old Ray is haunted by the strangest memories of his father, whom Ray swears could speak to animals. Now an orphan, Ray jumps from a train going through the American South and falls in with a medicine show train and its stable of sideshow performers. The performers turn out to be heroes, defenders of the wild, including the son of John Henry. They are hiding the last of the mythical Swamp Sirens from an ancient evil known as the Gog. Why the Gog wants the Siren, they can’t be sure, but they know it has something to do with rebuilding a monstrous machine that John Henry gave his life destroying years before, a machine that will allow the Gog to control the will of men and spread darkness throughout the world. From the Hardcover edition.
The Nine Sails
by L. J. HamlinLonely Gaven had no alternative than to turn to the sea after an accident ruined his leg.Now he’s content with his life as a pirate. But when the captain of The Nine Sails, the ship where Gaven works, commits an unspeakable act, Gaven rebels, and is thrown overboard.Merman Pebble almost loses his life when he’s captured by pirates, but Gaven came to his rescue. When Gaven is left to die, Pebble returns the favour, and saves Gaven’s life by nurturing him back to health.Soon they fall in love. Will Gaven be able to forsake his life as a pirate and live contentedly with Pebble? Or will their differences keep them apart?
The Nine Unknown
by Talbot MundyJimgrim and his amazing crew pit themselves against the fearsome powers of the earth's secret rulers!
The Nine Unknown
by Talbot MundyNine unknown men are tasked with preserving and protecting knowledge that would be dangerous for mankind if it were used by the wrong people. There are nine books of secret knowledge that must be guarded and kept from falling into the wrong hands.
The Ninepenny Element
by K. L. NooneVerity Friday has been a good witch all her life: good at anticipating her coven’s needs, good at looking out for her little brother, good at helping others. She’s never been the most powerful or the most gifted at magic, but she knows she’s made a difference.But now her brother’s moved out and found love, and Verity’s feeling more alone than ever despite her coven family. Meeting her brother’s boyfriend doesn’t help -- they’re so obviously happy, and Verity’s happy for them, but she’s starting to think about what she might want for herself ... and about the gorgeous lawyer she’s just literally run into outside a bookshop.Successful lawyer Amelia Burne is having a terrible day. She’d swear someone’s cursed her with bad luck, but magic isn’t, right?Except the self-proclaimed witch she’s just run into claims it is ... and Lia actually is cursed. Lia isn’t sure she believes this unlikely story, but Verity seems serious and wants to help, and maybe it’s worth a try. Because when Verity smiles, the whole world gets brighter ... just like magic.
The Ninety Trillion Fausts: The Demons Must Die (Quintara Marathon)
by Jack L. ChalkerFor centuries, the legendary demons captured the imaginations of three alien races. Now, these all too real creatures are after their souls-ninety trillion souls in all. Ninety trillion Fausts to corrupt. Ninety trillion lives to be saved... or destroyed.
The Ninth Child: The new novel from the author of The Sealwoman's Gift
by Sally Magnusson'I'M HOOKED . . . IT'S WONDERFUL. ONE NEVER MESSES WITH THE FAERIES' MELANIE REID, THE TIMES'FEW BOOKS HAVE THIS IMPACT ON ME' MICHELLE GALLEN, BIG GIRL SMALL TOWNA spellbinding novel combining Scottish folklore with hidden history, by the Sunday Times bestselling author Sally Magnusson.Loch Katrine waterworks, 1856. A Highland wilderness fast becoming an industrial wasteland. No place for a lady. Isabel Aird is aghast when her husband is appointed doctor to an extraordinary waterworks being built miles from the city. But Isabel, denied the motherhood role that is expected of her by a succession of miscarriages, finds unexpected consolations in a place where she can feel the presence of her unborn children and begin to work out what her life in Victorian society is for. The hills echo with the gunpowder blasts of hundreds of navvies tunnelling day and night to bring clean water to diseased Glasgow thirty miles away - digging so deep that there are those who worry they are disturbing the land of faery itself. Here, just inside the Highland line, the membrane between the modern world and the ancient unseen places is very thin. With new life quickening within her again, Isabel can only wait. But a darker presence has also emerged from the gunpowder smoke. And he is waiting too. Inspired by the mysterious death of the seventeenth-century minister Robert Kirke and set in a pivotal era two centuries later when engineering innovation flourished but women did not, The Ninth Child blends folklore with historical realism in a spellbinding narrative.*PRAISE FOR THE SEALWOMAN'S GIFT*'I enjoyed and admired it in equal measure' Sarah Perry'An extraordinarily immersive read' Guardian'Richly imagined and energetically told' Sunday Times'An epic journey' Zoe Ball Book Club(P) 2020 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
The Ninth Child: The new novel from the author of The Sealwoman's Gift
by Sally Magnusson'WONDERFUL. ONE NEVER MESSES WITH THE FAERIES' Melanie Reid, The Times'AN ABSOLUTE TRIUMPH' Sarah Haywood, author of The Cactus'EXTRAORDINARILY VIVID' Michelle Gallen, author of Big Girl Small TownA spellbinding novel combining Scottish folklore with hidden history, by the Sunday Times bestselling author Sally Magnusson.Loch Katrine waterworks, 1856. A Highland wilderness fast becoming an industrial wasteland. No place for a lady. Isabel Aird is aghast when her husband is appointed doctor to an extraordinary waterworks being built miles from the city. But Isabel, denied the motherhood role that is expected of her by a succession of miscarriages, finds unexpected consolations in a place where she can feel the presence of her unborn children and begin to work out what her life in Victorian society is for. The hills echo with the gunpowder blasts of hundreds of navvies tunnelling day and night to bring clean water to diseased Glasgow thirty miles away - digging so deep that there are those who worry they are disturbing the land of faery itself. Here, just inside the Highland line, the membrane between the modern world and the ancient unseen places is very thin. With new life quickening within her again, Isabel can only wait. But a darker presence has also emerged from the gunpowder smoke. And he is waiting too. Inspired by the mysterious death of the seventeenth-century minister Robert Kirke and set in a pivotal era two centuries later when engineering innovation flourished but women did not, The Ninth Child blends folklore with historical realism in a spellbinding narrative.*PRAISE FOR THE SEALWOMAN'S GIFT*'I enjoyed and admired it in equal measure' Sarah Perry'An extraordinarily immersive read' Guardian'Richly imagined and energetically told' Sunday Times'An epic journey' Zoe Ball Book Club
The Ninth Child: The new novel from the author of The Sealwoman's Gift
by Sally Magnusson'WONDERFUL. ONE NEVER MESSES WITH THE FAERIES' Melanie Reid, The Times'AN ABSOLUTE TRIUMPH' Sarah Haywood, author of The Cactus'EXTRAORDINARILY VIVID' Michelle Gallen, author of Big Girl Small TownA spellbinding novel combining Scottish folklore with hidden history, by the Sunday Times bestselling author Sally Magnusson.Loch Katrine waterworks, 1856. A Highland wilderness fast becoming an industrial wasteland. No place for a lady. Isabel Aird is aghast when her husband is appointed doctor to an extraordinary waterworks being built miles from the city. But Isabel, denied the motherhood role that is expected of her by a succession of miscarriages, finds unexpected consolations in a place where she can feel the presence of her unborn children and begin to work out what her life in Victorian society is for. The hills echo with the gunpowder blasts of hundreds of navvies tunnelling day and night to bring clean water to diseased Glasgow thirty miles away - digging so deep that there are those who worry they are disturbing the land of faery itself. Here, just inside the Highland line, the membrane between the modern world and the ancient unseen places is very thin. With new life quickening within her again, Isabel can only wait. But a darker presence has also emerged from the gunpowder smoke. And he is waiting too. Inspired by the mysterious death of the seventeenth-century minister Robert Kirke and set in a pivotal era two centuries later when engineering innovation flourished but women did not, The Ninth Child blends folklore with historical realism in a spellbinding narrative.*PRAISE FOR THE SEALWOMAN'S GIFT*'I enjoyed and admired it in equal measure' Sarah Perry'An extraordinarily immersive read' Guardian'Richly imagined and energetically told' Sunday Times'An epic journey' Zoe Ball Book Club
The Ninth Circle
by Alex BellThis is The Bourne Identity . . . as if Neil Gaiman had written it . . .A man comes round on the floor of a shabby flat in the middle of Budapest. His head is glued to the floorboards with his own blood. There's a fortune in cash on the kitchen table. And he has no idea where, or who, he is.He can do extraordinary things - speak any number of languages fluently, go three days without food or sleep, and fight with extraordinary prowess. But without a name, without a past, he's isolated from the rest of the world; a stranger to everyone, including himself - until a chance encounter with a young scholar leads to his first friendship, and his first hint that someone out there knows more about him than he does.Someone is sending him clues about his past. Photographs hidden in books and crates of wine. Cryptic clues pointing towards a murdered woman. And clear warnings against Stephomi, his only friend. But that's not all; Gabriel Antaeus is seeing strange, impossible things: a burning man is stalking his dreams and haunting his mirrors, his dreams are filled with violence from the past, and his pregnant young neighbour is surrounded by an extraordinary golden aura.Something dark and violent in Gabriel's past is trying to resurface. And as he pieces the clues together, everything points towards an astounding war between angels and demons . . . and a battle not just for the future of the world, but for the minds and souls of everyone in it.
The Ninth Circle (Gollancz S. F. Ser.)
by Alex BellThis is The Bourne Identity . . . as if Neil Gaiman had written it . . .A man comes round on the floor of a shabby flat in the middle of Budapest. His head is glued to the floorboards with his own blood. There's a fortune in cash on the kitchen table. And he has no idea where, or who, he is.He can do extraordinary things - speak any number of languages fluently, go three days without food or sleep, and fight with extraordinary prowess. But without a name, without a past, he's isolated from the rest of the world; a stranger to everyone, including himself - until a chance encounter with a young scholar leads to his first friendship, and his first hint that someone out there knows more about him than he does.Someone is sending him clues about his past. Photographs hidden in books and crates of wine. Cryptic clues pointing towards a murdered woman. And clear warnings against Stephomi, his only friend. But that's not all; Gabriel Antaeus is seeing strange, impossible things: a burning man is stalking his dreams and haunting his mirrors, his dreams are filled with violence from the past, and his pregnant young neighbour is surrounded by an extraordinary golden aura.Something dark and violent in Gabriel's past is trying to resurface. And as he pieces the clues together, everything points towards an astounding war between angels and demons . . . and a battle not just for the future of the world, but for the minds and souls of everyone in it.
The Ninth Circle (Tour of the Merrimack #5)
by R. M. MeluchWhen peace exists between the Terran and Palatine Empires, the troops aboard the U.S.S. Merrimack are always on edge, waiting for the Roman forces to violate the treaties in a sneak attack on some unprotected corner of the galaxy. But as far as anyone can tell all is quiet in the universe. Admiral John Farragut no longer walks the decks of the space battleship he commanded for so many years, his time now spent on Earth with his wife and child. Captain Calli Carmel has taken Farragut's place on the ship they've both called home for so long, and she commands the Mack firmly and fairly. Others, too, are absent from their posts. Lieutenant Glenn Hamilton is on a well-deserved leave, traveling with her husband, Dr. Patrick Hamilton, the ship's xenolinguist. They're aboard a League of Earth Nations ship on a scientific expedition to an Earthlike world named Zoe, located at the back of beyond at the edge of the galaxy. Glenn is resigned to a quiet and boring run--a chance for Patrick to do what he does best while Glenn takes a back seat and tries not to upset the researchers, who can't abide any military presence. But when their vessel is attacked upon arrival, Glenn is forced to seize control, managing to crash-land the ship with no loss of life. Then--thanks in part to Patrick and Glenn--the expedition discovers that life on Zoe is DNA based, an extremely rare occurrence. So when alien invaders are also discovered on the planet, and they begin wreaking havoc on both the humans and native life-forms, it is only natural for Glenn Hamilton to call on the U.S.S. Merrimack for help. Meanwhile, on the Roman world of Phoenix, the hazing of a new recruit has gone horribly wrong. His untimely death leads the remaining members of his unit into permanent exile. Condemned to the hell of being considered dead to all they hold dear, they steal a cutting edge spaceship and, dubbing themselves the damned of the Ninth Circle, become pirates. Their leader is a man called Nox--formerly known as John Knox Farragut--younger brother to the admiral. Inevitably, both the Ninth Circle and the Palatine Empire find their way to Zoe. And suddenly all sides are on a collision course to determine the fate of this uniquely valuable planet....
The Ninth Circle: A Novel of the U.S.S. Merrimack (Tour of the Merrimack #5)
by R. M. MeluchFifth in the hard-hitting military science-fiction series. On the distant world of Zoe, an expedition finds DNA-based life. When alien invaders are also discovered, Glenn Hamilton calls on the U.S.S. Merrimack for help. But the Ninth Circle and the Palatine Empire have also found Zoe. Soon everyone will be on a collision course to determine the fate of this planet. .
The Ninth Metal (The Comet Cycle #1)
by Benjamin Percy&“[In THE NINTH METAL] debris from a comet drops a fabulously valuable new metal on Northfall, MN., turning it into a bloody, brawling boomtown. Great characters, fine writing, totally engrossing.&” —Stephen King &“Take one part dystopia, one part sci-fi, two parts apocalypse, then ride them roughshod through a bleak and bloody western, and it still wouldn't get close to what Ben Percy does here, which is blow open the core of humanity's dark heart.&” —Marlon James, Booker Prize award-winning author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf&“Whether you choose to think of him as the Elmore Leonard of rural Minnesota or the Stephen King of Science Fiction, Ben Percy—with his extraordinary and unrelenting eye—dishes up humanity like some kind of otherworldly blue plate special, at once deeply familiar and wildly new.&” —Margaret Stohl, #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Caster Chronicles&“When Benjamin Percy publishes a novel, I have got to read that novel. The Ninth Metal continues his streak of thrilling, incisive genre bending goodness. It&’s a sci-fi novel, a crime novel and a super-hero novel, too. Audacious and intelligent and exactly what I was dying to read.&” —Victor LaValle, author of The Changeling IT BEGAN WITH A COMET… At first, people gazed in wonder at the radiant tear in the sky. A year later, the celestial marvel became a planetary crisis when Earth spun through the comet&’s debris field and the sky rained fire. The town of Northfall, Minnesota will never be the same. Meteors cratered hardwood forests and annihilated homes, and among the wreckage a new metal was discovered. This &“omnimetal&” has properties that make it world-changing as an energy source…and a weapon. John Frontier—the troubled scion of an iron-ore dynasty in Northfall—returns for his sister&’s wedding to find his family embroiled in a cutthroat war to control mineral rights and mining operations. His father rightly suspects foreign leaders and competing corporations of sabotage, but the greatest threat to his legacy might be the US government. Physicist Victoria Lennon was recruited by the Department of Defense to research omnimetal, but she finds herself trapped in a laboratory of nightmares. And across town, a rookie cop is investigating a murder that puts her own life in the crosshairs. She will have to compromise her moral code to bring justice to this now lawless community. In this gut-punch of a novel, the first in his Comet Cycle, Ben Percy lays bare how a modern-day goldrush has turned the middle of nowhere into the center of everything, and how one family—the Frontiers—hopes to control it all.
The Ninth Metal: The Comet Cycle Book 1 (The Comet Cycle #1)
by Benjamin Percy'Great characters, fine writing, totally engrossing' STEPHEN KING It might have been the end of days. Instead it was the beginning of something shockingly new. They called the comet Cain, after the astronomer who discovered it. It passed 500,000 miles from Earth. We were spared planetary destruction and granted a light show like no other. But, one year later, Earth span into the debris field left by the comet and a meteor storm struck. Roads, buildings and even a small town were annihilated.The meteors impacted heavily around the dying mining town of Northfall, Minnesota. It was the night of a mysterious double murder, the deed overshadowed by the discovery that the burning remains of the rock contained an unknown substance more precious than gold: the Ninth Metal. And with that discovery, everything changed.Benjamin Percy is an award-winning novelist, celebrated comic books writer and author of the Wolverine podcast. The Ninth Metal is the first of a cycle of novels set in a shared universe.Praise for The Ninth Metal:'Whether you choose to think of him as the Elmore Leonard of rural Minnesota or the Stephen King of Science Fiction, Percy - with his extraordinary and unrelenting eye - dishes up humanity like some kind of otherworldly blue plate special, at once deeply familiar and wildly new' Margaret Stohl, No. 1 New York Times Bestselling Author'Take one part dystopia, one part sci-fi, two parts apocalypse, then ride them roughshod through a bleak and bloody western, and it still wouldn't get close to what Ben Percy does here, which is blow open the core of humanity's dark heart' Marlon James, Booker Prize winning author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf'The Ninth Metal continues his streak of thrilling, incisive genre bending goodness. It's a sci-fi novel, a crime novel and a super-hero novel, too. Audacious and intelligent and exactly what I was dying to read' Victor LaValle, author of The Changeling
The Ninth Metal: The Comet Cycle Book 1 (The Comet Cycle #1)
by Benjamin PercyFrom award-winning author Benjamin Percy comes an explosive, breakout speculative thriller in which a powerful new metal arrives on Earth in the wake of a meteor shower, triggering a massive new 'gold rush' in the Midwest and turning life as we know it on its head. The first of a cycle of novels set in a shared universe. It might have been the end of days. Instead it was the beginning of something shockingly new. They called the comet Cain, after the astronomer who discovered it. It passed 500,000 miles from Earth. We were spared planetary destruction and granted a light show like no other. But, one year later, Earth span into the debris field left by the comet and a meteor storm struck. Roads, buildings and even a small town were annihilated.The meteors impacted heavily around the dying mining town of Northfall, Minnesota. It was the night of a mysterious double murder, the deed overshadowed by the discovery that the burning remains of the rock contained an unknown substance more precious than gold: the Ninth Metal. And with that discovery, everything changed.Benjamin Percy is an award-winning novelist, celebrated comic books writer and author of the Wolverine podcast. The Ninth Metal is the first of a cycle of novels set in a shared universe. (P) 2021 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
The Ninth Rain: British Fantasy Award Winner 2018 (The Winnowing Flame Trilogy #1)
by Jen Williams**Winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel** The first book in the award-winning Winnowing Flame trilogy. Epic fantasy for fans of Robin Hobb and Jay Kristoff.'Fantasy adventure at its very best' Starburst 'Williams excels at eldritch world-building' Guardian 'An original new voice in heroic fantasy' Adrian Tchaikovsky The great city of Ebora once glittered with gold. Now its streets are stalked by wolves. Tormalin the Oathless has no taste for sitting around waiting to die while the realm of his storied ancestors falls to pieces - talk about a guilt trip. Better to be amongst the living, where there are taverns full of women and wine.When eccentric explorer, Lady Vincenza 'Vintage' de Grazon, offers him employment, he sees an easy way out. Even when they are joined by a fugitive witch with a tendency to set things on fire, the prospect of facing down monsters and retrieving ancient artefacts is preferable to the abomination he left behind.But not everyone is willing to let the Eboran empire collapse, and the adventurers are quickly drawn into a tangled conspiracy of magic and war. For the Jure'lia are coming, and the Ninth Rain must fall...What readers are saying about THE NINTH RAIN:'The Ninth Rain was an amazing and captivating start to a trilogy; simple as that. I have a really good feeling that The Winnowing Flame Trilogy will become a new and long-awaited addition to my list of favorite trilogies of all time''What a world! What characters! What beasties! WHAT A BOOK!''I loved everything about this book: the characters, the plot, the monsters, the twists and turns. Masterfully handled and beautifully written'