Discover new books on Goodreads

See if your friends have read any of M.A. Batten's books

17 ratings | 11 reviews | avg rating:4.71

M.A. Batten’s Followers (17)

M.A.’s Bookshelves

to-read (14)
currently-reading (0)
read (19)
did-not-finish (0)
author-s-own (8)

M.A.’s Friends (3)

S. Michelle

98 books | 24 friends

Ciara Hartford

135 books | 34 friends

Erica Field

186 books | 6 friends

M.A. Batten

Goodreads Author

Website

https://www.mabatten.com/

Genre

Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction

Influences

Terry Pratchett, Michael Ende, Tracy Hickman & Margaret Weis, William ...more

Member Since

October 2023

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/mabatten

edit data

After winning over 150 creative awards in his 25-year career in advertising, M.A.Batten returned to his childhood dream of telling stories but without brands or their ridiculous reasons to buy shit you don't need and can't afford.

His debut novel 'DARK: And the Boy in the Hole' was awarded Best Fantasy Novel 2025 at the international Page Turner Awards, and its sequel 'DARK: And the Girl with the Knives' was simultaneously a finalist for the same award, making him the only author with both novels in a single series to make the list.

He is also the only author in the world to have two Shortlists for the Hammond House International Literary Prize. And his screenplays have won awards and official selections at film festivals around the world und ...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask M.A. Batten questions, please sign up.

Combine Editions
M.A. Batten’s books

Average rating: 4.24 · 82 ratings · 40 reviews · 6 distinct works • Similar authors

	Dark: And the Boy in the Hole (The Prodigy Series Book 1) by M.A. Batten (Goodreads Author), Taalor Brodigan (editor) 4.62 avg rating — 34 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	DARK and the Boy in the Hole really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 29 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	DARK: And the Girl with the Knives: Special Dark Edition (The Prodigy Series) by M.A. Batten (Goodreads Author), Simon Furey (Editor) 3.82 avg rating — 11 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bestiarum Noctis (The Prodigy Series) 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Somerton 53 3.33 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	DARK: And the Sender of the Crows: Special Dark Edition (The Prodigy Series) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by M.A. Batten…

0 posts
M.A. Batten's Blog

M.A. Batten hasn't written any blog posts yet.

rss
M.A.’s Recent Updates

M.A. Batten and 64 other people liked Lukasz's review of Once Was Willem: "4.5/5 Finally, something fresh. Once Was Willem is part medieval horror, part dark fairy tale, part found-family adventure. Our narrator, Willem, was once a regular 12-year-old boy. Then he died. His grieving parents let a sorcerer bring their dead son" Read more of this review »
Jul 24, 2026 07:31PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Once Was Willem by M.R. Carey. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Once Was Willem by M.R. Carey <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
M.A. Batten and 81 other people liked Books_the_Magical_Fruit's review of Once Was Willem: "A beautiful, beautiful tale. It took me a couple of chapters to get into this, but then the story got better and better and better. It’s simply brilliant. There is such a wide variety of characters that you’re sure to find someone to like. There are " Read more of this review »
Jul 24, 2026 07:30PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Once Was Willem by M.R. Carey. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Once Was Willem by M.R. Carey <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
M.A. Batten rated a book it was amazing Once Was Willem by M.R. Carey (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I absolutely loved Once Was Willem. At its heart it feels like a dark medieval fantasy take on Seven Samurai or The Magnificent Seven, with a ragtag group brought together to stand against an impossible evil, but M.R. Carey makes it feel completely n ...more
Jul 24, 2026 07:19PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Once Was Willem by M.R. Carey. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Once Was Willem by M.R. Carey <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
M.A. Batten made a comment on Christina Murray’s review of Dark: And the Boy in the Hole (The Prodigy Series Book 1) " Hi Christina. The adventure continues in DARK: And the Girl with the Knives, and then in DARK: And the Sender of the Crows. Both are available now. M. ...more "
Jul 06, 2026 02:40AM · see review
M.A. Batten liked Christina Murray's review of Dark: And the Boy in the Hole (The Prodigy Series Book 1): "‘Dark’ swept me up in to the life of the protagonist from the outset with a strong grip that held on to me until the end. The author produced vivid and imaginative imagery, weaving the characters and their relationships so well it felt like true hist" Read more of this review »
Jul 06, 2026 02:40AM · see review
M.A. Batten made a comment on Joscelyn Smith’s review of Dark: And the Boy in the Hole (The Prodigy Series Book 1) " Hi Joscelyn. The adventure continues in DARK: And the Girl with the Knives, and then in DARK: And the Sender of the Crows. Both are available now. M.A ...more "
Jul 06, 2026 02:40AM · see review
M.A. Batten made a comment on S. Michelle’s review of Dark: And the Boy in the Hole (The Prodigy Series Book 1) " In case you missed it, the adventure continues in DARK: And the Girl with the Knives, and then in DARK: And the Sender of the Crows. Both are availabl ...more "
Jul 06, 2026 02:39AM · see review
M.A. Batten made a comment on Kez Marie’s review of Dark: And the Boy in the Hole (The Prodigy Series Book 1) " Hi Kez. The adventure continues in DARK: And the Girl with the Knives, and then in DARK: And the Sender of the Crows. Both are available now. M.A. "
Jul 06, 2026 02:39AM · see review
M.A. Batten liked Meredith Brooks's review of DARK and the Boy in the Hole: "I saw that this won an award for best fantasy so I had to read it... and I couldn't put it down!! This is quite simply the best fantasy book I've read in a while. It centres on a mysterious MC with a remarkable power but the real story is in everythi" Read more of this review »
Jul 06, 2026 02:34AM · see review
M.A. Batten rated a book it was amazing DARK: And the Sender of the Crows: Special Dark Edition (The Prodigy Series) by M.A. Batten (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 26, 2026 02:30AM · like