Dream Magic

by Joshua Khan

Overview

In Book 2 of a three book series, things are dire for the inhabitants of Castle Gloom and the surrounding villages. The undead are leaving their graves in droves, a troll army is on the march from the north, and people are mysteriously disappearing from their homes. The people of Gehenna are blaming their misfortunes on Lilith Shadow, their young queen. They believe she has cursed them by using magic, a practice forbidden to women. With her trusty executioner among the missing and her blackguard soldiers busy battling trolls, it is up to Lily and her friend Thorn to root out the real cause of all the trouble. Their search will uncover ugly truths and eventually lead to a nightmarish confrontation with nothing less than the rulership of the realm at stake. Zombies, ghosts, trolls, dream weavers, a black-hearted villain, and a giant hero bat are only some of the imaginative delights that await readers who relish a soaring adventure combined with a hair-raising mystery.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781484737989
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	04/10/2018
Series:	A Shadow Magic Novel
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	921,924
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.60(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Joshua Khan was born in Britain, a land filled with ancient castles, dark forests, and tales of legendary heroes and fantastical monsters. He can tell you who King Arthur fought on Baden Hill, but can't tell you what he himself had for breakfast. So, his head stuffed with magical stories, it was inevitable that Joshua would want to create some of his own. Hence the Shadow Magic series. Josh lives in London with his family, but he'd rather live in a castle. It wouldn't have to be very big, just as long as it had battlements. Follow him on Twitter: @WriterJoshKhan

Editorial Reviews

PRAISE FOR SHADOW MAGIC

"There are plenty of exciting elements (zombies, ghosts, specters), and readers will appreciate Lily's determination to be more than just a princess who needs protection."—Booklist

PRAISE FOR SHADOW MAGIC

" . . . the action stays firmly on Thorn and Lily, keeping the exposition to a minimum and the heart-wrenching tension high. The core premise of a kingdom that embraces dark and death with open hearts, while still loving life and (at least in this generation) not being evil at all is a grabber. The addition of Thorn, a rural kid whose family has always struggled to make ends meet, is a smart one, as it pairs two kinds of intelligence, scrappy and privileged, to solve formidable obstacles and gives readers two engaging protagonists to root for."—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

PRAISE FOR SHADOW MAGIC

*"Short chapters filled with action, appealing characters, and cliff-hanger endings make this fantasy the kind of book readers will find hard to put down."—School Library Journal (starred review)

From the Publisher

2017-02-04
After the murder of her immediate family by a jealous uncle, 13-year-old Lady Lilith "Lily" Shadow of Gehenna's Castle Gloom was handed the reins of royal rule in Shadow Magic (2016). Having saved her kingdom by magically opening the barrier between the lands of the living and of the dead, she not only has a number of zombies to tend to, but also the critical concern of her court (female sorcery is strictly forbidden). Rejecting antiquated role restrictions, Lily continues to practice magic with the help of her father's ghost. Tutorials are interrupted when her unlikely comrade, 12-year-old pauper Thorn, brings word that something is afoot in the outlying villages—Gehennish citizens are missing or murdered. Is it trolls or something else? Apart from sexism, the apropos topic of xenophobia (albeit via zombies and trolls) is probed. Lily, Thorn, and a good deal of the court seem to be white and European-ish, but there are touches of the Far and Middle East. Lily's breeding and entitlement often surface; this could be an endearing flaw as she adjusts to her new role, but she stumbles into brattiness, making unrefined Thorn shine in the dual narrative. And though there's the go-girl empowerment of Lily's audacious practice of sorcery, a post-climactic decision is enough to make any burgeoning feminist wince. ' Gothic repast for connoisseurs of tenebrous tales, dark arts, and black eyeliner. (map, cast of characters, illustrations) (Fantasy. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews