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A drowning, a magician's curse, and a centuries-old secret.
1537. A man hurries through city streets in a gathering snowstorm, clutching a box in one hand. He is Johann Faust, the greatest magician of his age. The box he carries contains a mirror safeguarding a portion of his soul and a small ring containing all the magic in the world. Together, they comprise something unimaginably dangerous.
London, the present day. Fifteen-year-old Gavin Stokes is boarding a train to the countryside to live with his aunt. His school and his parents can't cope with him and the things he sees, things they tell him don't really exist. At Pendurra, Gavin finds people who are like him, who see things too. They all make the same strange claim: magic exists, it's leaking back into our world, and it's bringing something terrible with it.
First in an astonishingly imaginative fantasy trilogy, Advent describes how magic was lost to humanity, and how a fifteen-year-old boy discovers that its return is his inheritance. It begins in a world recognizably our own, and ends an extraordinarily long way from where it started - somewhere much bigger, stranger, and richer.
"Starred Review. Treadwell makes marvels from the simplest materials - a blooming rose, a rowan walking stick, a traditional carol - and brings his landscape to frightening and fascinating life." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. This original work of literary fantasy is imbued with dark, sometimes strange language. Its classic story of good versus evil as well as its haunting characters and rich, inspired imagery will remain with readers long after they turn the final page." - Library Journal
"This is the fast-paced first installment of a new fantasy trilogy and an extraordinary adventure that should not be missed." - Booklist
This information about Advent was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
James Treadwell was lecturer and junior research fellow at the University of Oxford, and assistant professor of English at McGill University. He is the author of Autobiographical Writing and British Literature, 1783–1834 and Interpreting Wagner. He lives in London, England. Learn more at www.jamestreadwell.com.
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