'Haunting imagery, vivid depictions of the limits of humanity, and a startling, innovative plot all make this a memorable contribution to the canon of speculative fantasy.' The Horn Book Guide 'An outstanding fantasy novel for a wide readership ... McNish's imagination is extraordinary; the atmosphere is, by turn, both exciting and chilling; colourful and compelling. An irresistible fantasy with a tremendous climax.' Carousel 'Intriguing and original ... the characters grab your attention, and the strange entity that threatens them is full of malevolence... children everywhere will be waiting for more!' Leicester Library Services for Education 'McNish's suspenseful, fast-paced novel immerses readers in an inventive world featuring distinctly drawn characters and a graceful blending of realism and occasionally spooky fantasy.' Booklist
By Cliff McNish The Doomspell Trilogy The Doomspell The Scent of Magic The Wizard’s Promise The Silver Sequence The Silver Child Silver City Silver World FOR OLDER READERS The Hunting Ground Savannah Grey Breathe: A Ghost Story Angel FOR YOUNGER READERS Going Home My Friend Twigs The Winter Wolf
First published in Great Britain in 2004 by Orion Children’s Books Paperback edition first published in 2005 by Dolphin Paperbacks a division of Orion This edition published in 2017 by Doomspell Books 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4
Text copyright © Cliff McNish, 2004 Illustrations copyright © Geoff Taylor, 2004
The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted. All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published an and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978 0 9955821 7 0
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc
www.cliffmcnish.com
For my grandmother, Bertha McNish