The Book of Dead Days by Marcus Sedgwick

[Jeremy]

The Book of Dead Days is a fast-paced, gripping page-turner. The story takes place in the 18th century in a nameless European city. Valerian, a magician who performs magic tricks in a theater for a living, has a servant boy named Boy whom he took under his care from the streets several years ago. Valerian is a cruel master who scolds and beats Boy frequently and rarely shows him any affection, but for some reason Boy stayed on with his master. During the few days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the so called Dead Days, Valerian becomes increasingly agitated with each passing day, and he takes Boy and a girl named Willow on a desperate and obsessive hunt for The Book of Dead Days, which he claims will help him avert certain death on New Year’s Eve. The search led the threesome through bizarre and frightening places in the city and beyond: the cemetery, a lab where gruesome animal transmutations are performed, the catacombs beneath a church, culminating in a breathless chase in the dark tunnels and waterways beneath the city, where the secrets held within the Book of the Dead Days are finally revealed. Why is Valerian fated to die on New Year’s Eve at midnight? Can he be saved? How will he be saved? What role does Boy play? The end of the book leaves many questions unanswered, paving the way for a sequel. This is a highly original story. The author writes with simple and limpid prose that evokes the dark atmosphere very effectively and describes the scenes, characters and their actions in vivid detail. It is such an engaging and compelling read that most avid readers will undoubtedly finish it in one day. I highly recommend it to everyone who enjoys Young Adult fantasy.

 

[Alia]

Thank you Jeremy, it looks like he's a fairly new author who writes mostly Young Adult books!

Novels
Floodland (2000)
Witch Hill (2001)
The Dark Horse (2001)
Cowards (2003)
The Book of Dead Days (2003)
A Christmas Wish (2003)
Dark Flight Down (2005)
The Foreshadowing (2005)

Picture Books
The Emperor's New Clothes (2004)
The Emperor's New Clothes

 

[Jeremy]

Review of Witch Hill by Marcus Sedgwick
Another children’s fantasy novel by the author of The Book of Dead Days. This is an earlier effort, and it lacks the complexity and intensity of his later masterpiece, but it is nevertheless a fun and engaging read. Jamie is a boy haunted by thoughts of a recent house fire, in which he was unable to save his little sister. Ridden with guilt, he was doing poorly in school, and so he was sent to live with his aunt in a village to get away for a while. However, while living in his aunt’s house, he begins to have nightmares about an evil, foul old witch, who chases after him across the hill in his dreams. At the same time, a scouring of the hill behind the house reveals a sinister ancient drawing on the hill that originally gave the hill its name of Crownhill, only the drawing is not that of a crown. Does the witch really exist, or is she a part of Jamie’s too active imagination? There are one or two genuinely scary moments in the book when Jamie comes face to face with the witch in his dreams. The book is quite short, about 150 pages, so it can be finished in no time at all, and it leaves several mysteries unresolved. Recommended for those who enjoy children’s fantasy and fans of Sedgwick.

 

[rune]

Ive just read The Book of Dead Days and was quite impressed I intend to get more of this authors books when I can

 

[Sass]

I've Witch Hill this week - excellent - and have The Foreshadowing on my TBR to read and review which I'll probably get to early next week (if not at the weekend)... I'm definitely going to pick up the rest of his books at the library as and when I can wrest them from the hot little hands of the young readers !

 

[fancying_fantasy]

Not too long ago I read The Foreshadowing, I really enjoyed and I intend to read more by him. I visited his website: http://www.marcussedgwick.com/home.htm

and well I was interested in his new book My Swordhand is Singing. Well the website says it came out in July of this year, yet I can't find it at any store or website. I was wondering is this due to the fact that when it said July of this year, did it mean only in the UK? If anyone knows, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[Sass]

Not too long ago I read The Foreshadowing, I really enjoyed and I intend to read more by him. I visited his website: http://www.marcussedgwick.com/home.htm

and well I was interested in his new book My Swordhand is Singing. Well the website says it came out in July of this year, yet I can't find it at any store or website. I was wondering is this due to the fact that when it said July of this year, did it mean only in the UK? If anyone knows, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

It's definitely out in the UK as I've been seeing copies in the shops and at the Festival of Literature I went to yesterday... Can I suggest you check Amazon.com if you're in the US (sorry I failed to notice that just now) as they're fairly good at keeping track of publication dates. I will add it's likely it's NOT out in the US yet as I was sent a US copy of The Foreshadowing to read/review and that's been out in the UK a good few months already...

 

[Reiver]

I've just read 'Dead Days' omnibus and thought it was very good. Going to buy his new book 'My Swordhand is Singing' - what a great title! Will definitely buy some of the earlier ones too, when I have the money that is!

 

[fancying_fantasy]

I know what you about the money thing. I can't wait to buy some books with my next check and I really want to buy My Swordhand is Singing!

 

[rune]

Ive got The Dark Horse by this author now, not read it yet, but hoping to soon

 

[Nesacat]

Have read Book of Dead Days. There's an Omnibus hardback edition out now. Very lovely cover. Excellent books both of them. I was very impressed with the development of his characters and the pace he maintained throughout the tale. The surroundings are very, very detailed and you can see them rushing, rushing through everything, trying to deal with how bizarre and different it all is but having no time to really understand or fully comprehend.

Dead Days Omnibus
Paperback: 528 pages
Publisher: Orion Childrens (21 Sep 2006)
ISBN-10: 1842555286
ISBN-13: 978-1842555286

I'm glad I discovered Sedgewick and I'd like to see more from his pen. I've got Witch Hill but have not gotten around to reading it yet.

I have however read My Swordhand Is Singing which is a whole new spin on the vampire myth. The prose itseld reads like a song in a world of ice and dark brooding trees.

In the bitter cold of an unrelenting winter Tomas and his son, Peter, arrive in Chust and despite the inhospitability of the villagers settle there as woodcutters. Tomas is churlish - taciturn at the best of times. He digs a channel of fast-flowing waters around their hut so they have their own little island kingdom. Peter doesn't understand why his father has done this, nor why, all his life they've moved from place to place, or why his father carries a long battered box everywhere they go, and why he is forbidden to know its mysterious contents.But when a band of gypsies comes to the village Peter's drab existence is turned upside down. He is infatuated by the beautiful gypsy princess, Sofia, intoxicated by their love of life and drawn into their deadly quest. For these travellers are Vampire Slayers and Chust is a dying community - where the dead come back to wreak revenge on the living. Amidst the terrifying events that follow, Peter is stunned to see his father change from a disillusioned man, old before his time, to the warrior hero he once was.Marcus draws on his extensive research of the vampire legend which permeates traditions throughout the world and sets his story in the forbidding and remote landscapes of the 17th century. Written in his usual distinctive voice, this is also the story of a father and his son, of loss, redemption and resolution.

My Swordhand Is Singing
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Orion Childrens (26 Jul 2006)
ISBN-10: 1842551833
ISBN-13: 978-1842551837

 

[fancying_fantasy]

I have however read My Swordhand Is Singing which is a whole new spin on the vampire myth. The prose itseld reads like a song in a world of ice and dark brooding trees.

So you would definitely recommend this one? I've wanted to read this for a long time.

 

[Nesacat]

I'd definitely recommend it. It's well written, well paced. Gives the vampire myth a new shine and offers some very memorable characters.

It's amazing watching the relationship between father and son grow and evolve as the younger one slowly begins to see that his father is so much more than he'd always imagined. And because change has this habit of snowballing, everything else changes too, the boy included ... in ways he had never imagined.

It's a good book.

 

[fancying_fantasy]

I'd definitely recommend it. It's well written, well paced. Gives the vampire myth a new shine and offers some very memorable characters.

It's amazing watching the relationship between father and son grow and evolve as the younger one slowly begins to see that his father is so much more than he'd always imagined. And because change has this habit of snowballing, everything else changes too, the boy included ... in ways he had never imagined.

It's a good book.

Well you've definitely sparked my interest even more!

 

[Feordel]

OO I bought the Book of Dead days from a shop the other day and will be reading it soon

 

[jessie~mai]

i remember liked this book quite a bit but i cant remember much that happened
plus i keep getting stuff mixed up woth other books like follow me down and which was the one about the phantom thing locked up in dungeons somewhere?