Description

IF YOU HAD SECRET MAGICAL POWERS, HOW WOULD YOU KNOW?

After the Worldquake, Effie knows about magic – time in her grandfather’s library has made sure of that. But there’s still much she has to learn. About the Otherworld. And about the Diberi, a secret organisation with plans to destroy the entire universe.

Effie and her school-friends are the only ones who can stop them . . . and time is running out.

Publisher Review

The most exciting debut in children’s fiction since HARRY POTTER. Immersive, engaging, original; delightful in its details (a bun shop that serves as a portal to Otherworld; a library of Last Editions; a Princess School in which girls are trained to be appealing to dragons); playful, warm and yet thrilling, too — JOANNE HARRIS An entrancing novel that stands on its prose . . . set in a dystopian future after a massive quake has annihilated modern technology . . . She is far too inventive a writer ever to let us feel we’ve been here before * * Daily Telegraph * * This tale of magical education is a cracker . . . has its own distinctive style * * Guardian * * Superb fantasy ***** * * Sunday Telegraph * * Lively, inventive, phrase-making fantasy . . . revels in evocative spells, names and descriptions of quaint shops, fabulous food and delicious interiors . . . has something of J.K. Rowling’s capacity to delight * * Sunday Times * * Otherworldly . . . ‘Getting lost in a book’ takes on new meaning * * Mail on Sunday * * In this children’s debut from adult fantasy writer Thomas, a young girl inherits a magical library and discovers you can – quite literally – become lost in a book . . . The first book in the Worldquake Sequence augurs well for what is to follow * * Sunday Post * * Full of surprises . . . Spells. Wands. Portals. A child marked out for greatness . . . Effie and her friends, rugby-mad Wolf and swotty Max, are cooler and funnier than anyone at Hogwarts as they rush around trying to collect magical artefacts. In a plot turning on the theft of a library where the chief villain is a book dealer, the real magic, Thomas insists, lies in literature itself * * Financial Times * * Deft and stylish . . . Packed with striking images . . . the exciting pace will make this a gleeful companion for many a young teen and upwards * * Literary Review * * In vivid, inviting prose, Thomas deftly evokes an original, intriguing post-technological Earth looming with evil where “books are magic” and memorable misfits become heroes. A compelling new fantasy series with an unlikely heroine, quirky helpers, dragons, portals, witches, and wizards * * Kirkus * * An enthralling tale, set in a sprawling world that swallowed me whole — Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of THE GIRL OF INK & STARS A magical adventure that fizzes and crackles with enchantment. I was absolutely bedazzled — HILARY McKAY Gorgeous and funny – and a lovely celebration of the magic of books! — Helen Falconer, author of THE CHANGELING PRAISE FOR OTHER BOOKS BY SCARLETT THOMAS:Ingenious and original. . . A cracking good yarn fizzing with intelligence — PHILIP PULLMAN Entrancing . . . one of the sharpest fantasies I’ve encountered — NEIL GAIMAN