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The Book of Thunder and Lightning: A Novel
A vigilante ghost stalks the East End of London... Before the lightning, he was just a boy, now he’s ready for revenge. The Book of Thunder and Lightning is a Gothic mashup of Oliver Twist and Top Boy, a love letter to London, wrapped up in a mind-bending ghost story. In 1888, unlucky Tom Baxter is thrown into a world of toxic masculinity, where his only weapon is his imagination. But at least he’s got his crew, a gang of misfits just like him, to back him up. As lightning stretches across time and space to a gritty 21st-century London, history is repeating itself. Tom has the chance to save his modern-day twin, with help from a reluctant hero, a posh girl from Chelsea, and a donkey called Dorris. His luck has to change sometime, right?
208 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2025
9 people want to read
About the author
Seb Duncan
1 book2 followersIn a previous life, I worked as an advertising creative for 20 years in London and Dubai, working on Sony, BBC, Emirates Airlines and General Motors as well as numerous other brands. I have also voiced radio ads for BMW, Nicotinell, Doritos and The GNB Dubai Lynx Awards.
After picking up a few ad awards and hanging up may ad boots for good, I became an English Tutor. Now I primarily help foreign students with their essay writing for admission to university (IELTS) and undergraduate student writers on art, humanity and design courses.
My English tutoring company, The Red Ink is a popular resource for essay writers and IELTS exam takers. My short story The First Dive was shortlisted for the Beyond The Dial essay writing competition in 2019 and I am a regular writing contributor to GoldDust. If I am not coaching one of my students online, I can be found, overdosing on coffee, with my head buried in other writer’s books or thinking about my own.
I hold a PGCert in Teaching Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge and a Masters in Creative Writing & Education at Goldsmiths, University of London.
I am the author of Headcase and The Book of Thunder of Lightning.
After picking up a few ad awards and hanging up may ad boots for good, I became an English Tutor. Now I primarily help foreign students with their essay writing for admission to university (IELTS) and undergraduate student writers on art, humanity and design courses.
My English tutoring company, The Red Ink is a popular resource for essay writers and IELTS exam takers. My short story The First Dive was shortlisted for the Beyond The Dial essay writing competition in 2019 and I am a regular writing contributor to GoldDust. If I am not coaching one of my students online, I can be found, overdosing on coffee, with my head buried in other writer’s books or thinking about my own.
I hold a PGCert in Teaching Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge and a Masters in Creative Writing & Education at Goldsmiths, University of London.
I am the author of Headcase and The Book of Thunder of Lightning.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 15, 2025
A great blend of gothic ghost story with modern crime caper. The writer expertly adapts a well-worn theme for the modern age. The Victorian part of the tale is very well set and the POV of the youthful character (Tom) contrasts with the modern London as seen through the eyes of a hack journalist (Simon). The novel is more atmospheric than jump scare. More creeping dread than slasher horror. It feels a bit like an ‘origin story’ and Seb Duncan’s other novel Headcase also has that feel to it. It’s obviously his thing. Can't wait to see what he writes next.
October 15, 2025
Really imaginative take on a classic ghost story. Good world building and the central character is very engrossing. The way the modern parts link with the past is an interesting puzzle to piece together. It read like a movie in my mind. Fast-paced and spooky.
October 14, 2025
The plot is exciting, with a very 'true' and 'static' background that fills the surroundings neatly. And it is in those ordinary days when an unusual story starts, a portal between different times. Seb Duncan incorporates science, logic and fantasty into one electrifying story for you to enjoy.
November 29, 2025
Only reason why it took me so long to read this was because I wasn’t feeling well.
This book was so good and it’s a short read that I really liked.
I love the story and the writing.
I do highly recommend.
This book was so good and it’s a short read that I really liked.
I love the story and the writing.
I do highly recommend.
November 21, 2025
I really enjoyed this book, which left me with the eerie sense that, perhaps, we really don’t know how the forces of this world work.
It’s set over two historical time periods but one geographical location and narrates the curiosity of a boy, called Tom Baxter, who has a healthy appetite for reading books at Mr Tipp’s Bookshop, and who is a dutiful son to his poor parents in the late Victorian East London of 1888. One day, he happens across a book called ‘The Book of Thunder and Lightning’ and becomes obsessed with running his own experiments on electricity, with startling results.
In another time era, Simon is a journalist and tutor living and working in 2022 in Hackney, the same part of East London as Tom. Simon starts having unexplainable episodes that draw him deeper and deeper into a world of hidden forces that don’t always conform to the normal limitations of time as we know it. Along with that, he’s getting drawn into the murky criminal underworld of Hackney that isn’t dissimilar to the criminal activity Tom has been the victim of over 130 years earlier.
Somehow, Tom and Simon’s worlds collide.
This was an absorbing read packed with intriguing occurrences and thrilling episodes. Much of the literary scenery emerges from the Dickensian playbook but it also captures the feel and frustrations of twenty first century lifestyles. Juxtaposing the two eras made me think about how fast time changes the fabric of cities and the way of life for their inhabitants. Although it’s set in Hackney in London, the use of a single setting for telling the parallel narratives of the story would have resonance in any location.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in time, supernatural happenings, what electricity really is, how life was lived in London in the late nineteenth century and, really, anyone who enjoys a thrilling and thought-provoking tale.
It’s set over two historical time periods but one geographical location and narrates the curiosity of a boy, called Tom Baxter, who has a healthy appetite for reading books at Mr Tipp’s Bookshop, and who is a dutiful son to his poor parents in the late Victorian East London of 1888. One day, he happens across a book called ‘The Book of Thunder and Lightning’ and becomes obsessed with running his own experiments on electricity, with startling results.
In another time era, Simon is a journalist and tutor living and working in 2022 in Hackney, the same part of East London as Tom. Simon starts having unexplainable episodes that draw him deeper and deeper into a world of hidden forces that don’t always conform to the normal limitations of time as we know it. Along with that, he’s getting drawn into the murky criminal underworld of Hackney that isn’t dissimilar to the criminal activity Tom has been the victim of over 130 years earlier.
Somehow, Tom and Simon’s worlds collide.
This was an absorbing read packed with intriguing occurrences and thrilling episodes. Much of the literary scenery emerges from the Dickensian playbook but it also captures the feel and frustrations of twenty first century lifestyles. Juxtaposing the two eras made me think about how fast time changes the fabric of cities and the way of life for their inhabitants. Although it’s set in Hackney in London, the use of a single setting for telling the parallel narratives of the story would have resonance in any location.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in time, supernatural happenings, what electricity really is, how life was lived in London in the late nineteenth century and, really, anyone who enjoys a thrilling and thought-provoking tale.
February 9, 2025
Life isn’t always fair.
Both of the settings involved characters who were not only participating in illegal activities but involving kids in their crimes as well. This was something I expected to find in the historical timeline but not so much in the contemporary one. Some of the most interesting scenes to me were the ones that explored what the kids thought about the secret errands they were sent on or the odd things the adults in their lives occasionally said or did. A child’s understanding of these things isn’t going to be the same as an adult’s, after all!
I struggled with the time jumps between the late 1800s and the modern era. It took quite a while for me to discover the connections between them, and while I found the conflict interesting there weren’t many detailed descriptions of the characters or settings to grab my attention in the meantime in the present day. I found myself wishing that these scenes were as easy to visualize as the ones set in and around 1888.
It was intriguing to learn how the afterlife worked in this universe. Instead of focusing on traditional options like heaven or hell, at least some of the dead could earn the opportunity to do things they genuinely wished to do. Although I can’t go into detail about what they did to earn those treats without giving away spoilers, I did enjoy learning about how that system worked and what the dead thought of it.
The Book of Thunder and Lightning made me smile.
Both of the settings involved characters who were not only participating in illegal activities but involving kids in their crimes as well. This was something I expected to find in the historical timeline but not so much in the contemporary one. Some of the most interesting scenes to me were the ones that explored what the kids thought about the secret errands they were sent on or the odd things the adults in their lives occasionally said or did. A child’s understanding of these things isn’t going to be the same as an adult’s, after all!
I struggled with the time jumps between the late 1800s and the modern era. It took quite a while for me to discover the connections between them, and while I found the conflict interesting there weren’t many detailed descriptions of the characters or settings to grab my attention in the meantime in the present day. I found myself wishing that these scenes were as easy to visualize as the ones set in and around 1888.
It was intriguing to learn how the afterlife worked in this universe. Instead of focusing on traditional options like heaven or hell, at least some of the dead could earn the opportunity to do things they genuinely wished to do. Although I can’t go into detail about what they did to earn those treats without giving away spoilers, I did enjoy learning about how that system worked and what the dead thought of it.
The Book of Thunder and Lightning made me smile.
May 27, 2024
The Book of Thunder and Lightning by Seb Duncan is a fascinating introduction to this author. The premise is intriguing in that the storyline is complex but easy to follow, there are scenes of brutality but also great comraderie. It is a book of dichotomies but so well fused together, just like the travel betwen 1888 and 2022
Most hated character - Mr Snipe A vile individual. The character profile and behaviour is so well written as to despise this person vehemently
Most loved character - Dorris the Donkey. Goes without saying
Tom Baxter, a poor boy from Old Nichol in London is curious about the new scientific discoveries of the era, especially that concerning time. The time travel method with Lightning is original and beautifully described; atmospheric, powerful and dark
There is hope for Tom in being transported to 2022, where he meets his future self, soceity following the same downward trend as Victorian London. Can Tom, Dorris and Nena prevent history repeating itself?
I cannot recommend this book enough. It is a quick read but encapsulates so much and it is so very well researched. Seb Duncan artfully compares two parallel timelines that not only entertin, but give a lot of food for thought
Most hated character - Mr Snipe A vile individual. The character profile and behaviour is so well written as to despise this person vehemently
Most loved character - Dorris the Donkey. Goes without saying
Tom Baxter, a poor boy from Old Nichol in London is curious about the new scientific discoveries of the era, especially that concerning time. The time travel method with Lightning is original and beautifully described; atmospheric, powerful and dark
There is hope for Tom in being transported to 2022, where he meets his future self, soceity following the same downward trend as Victorian London. Can Tom, Dorris and Nena prevent history repeating itself?
I cannot recommend this book enough. It is a quick read but encapsulates so much and it is so very well researched. Seb Duncan artfully compares two parallel timelines that not only entertin, but give a lot of food for thought
April 28, 2025
“The Book of Thunder and Lightning” introduces Tom Baxter, a boy living in 1888 London. His father’s been let go from his job and his family is struggling to eat.
Overall, I was a bit mixed on this book. First, there was a pretty brutal animal death and although this is listed on my site as a “will not read”, it was not adhered to. So, if you chose to read on, do so with this knowledge. A majority of the book is written in Tom’s POV and includes significant characterization as well as details of the environment. At the start of the tale, Tom’s a lovely protagonist- he’s hopeful and optimistic. Find the full blog post at heatherlbarksdale.com
I received a copy of this book in exchange of a fair and honest review.
Overall, I was a bit mixed on this book. First, there was a pretty brutal animal death and although this is listed on my site as a “will not read”, it was not adhered to. So, if you chose to read on, do so with this knowledge. A majority of the book is written in Tom’s POV and includes significant characterization as well as details of the environment. At the start of the tale, Tom’s a lovely protagonist- he’s hopeful and optimistic. Find the full blog post at heatherlbarksdale.com
I received a copy of this book in exchange of a fair and honest review.
October 15, 2025
Don't be fooled by brevity. This is a richly researched story revealing an unfamiliar London history. It throws light on the present day with insights from children's perspectives on what we often miss.
It's funny too. Don't underestimate that either.
It's funny too. Don't underestimate that either.
October 14, 2025
The story is so intriguing and well told that you cannot put it done.
I enjoyed it thoroughly and recommend it as a great read especially this autumn (Halloween)!
I enjoyed it thoroughly and recommend it as a great read especially this autumn (Halloween)!
October 16, 2025
I read this book in just one sitting. The story is wildly captivating yet very easy to read. The author has a way with words that is sure to make this an instant classic. I
October 22, 2025
What makes this novel a great read is the swift flow of characters across two time periods in constant locations. Well developed and commendably gothic inspired fiction thriller!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews