ACHUKA Book of the Day 21 Apr 2021
Times Children’s Book of the Week 17 Apr 2021
“Stroud does not compromise. Scarlett is unpleasant, hard to love; Albert is irritating, weak. Yet through skill and good writing we begin to love and understand this odd couple, mini-me John Waynes, and by the end we’d pay a ransom (or at least the paperback cover price) to see them again. Luckily for us there is a new one trotting over the horizon . . .” The Times
Set in a broken, future England, where gunfights and monsters collide, this is the exciting first title in a phenomenal fantasy teen series by the bestselling children’s novelist. England has been radically changed by a series of catastrophes – large cities have disappeared and London has been replaced by a lagoon. The surviving population exists in fortified towns where they cling to traditional ways, while strangely evolved beasts prowl the wilderness beyond. Conformity is rigidly enforced and those who fall foul of the rules are persecuted: some are killed, others are driven out into the wilds. Only a few fight back – and two of these outlaws, Scarlett McCain and Albert Browne, display an audacity and talent that makes them legends.