Silverboy

by N.M. Browne

A spellgrinder's apprentice like Tommo rarely survives long enough to become a spellgrinder. Most of them die of the quivers, or from wounds suffered when their turn-knife slips. Working, sleeping and eating in the cellar with magical stones, their skin acquires an eerie silvery sparkle. It's practically impossible to escape from their underground prison, and if they do, the phosphorescent glow of their skin shines like a beacon for all to see. That's why Tommo is running, running as fast as he can to the coast. He has been granted sanctuary for eight days and must leave the shores by then, or face the hangman's noose.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Magic, Supernatural, Historical

240 pages, Hardcover

First published February 20, 2007

About the author

I was born in Burnley, Lancs (England) and lived not too far from Pendle Hill - the haunt of witches and all manner of strangeness. This may have had an effect on my imagination.

My father was a painter and teacher and my mother was a teacher too. Both were Welsh and this has probably had an impact on my imagination too. The whole family headed for Wales every holiday so that even now Wales is inextricably linked with long car journeys, holidays, family and general happiness.

I still support Wales rather than England in most things, particularly rugby, much to my husband's annoyance. I have one sister (a very good painter), one husband, four children, one (mad) dog, a bearded dragon and eight nieces and nephews. I live in South West London.

I believe passionately that education is a good thing and just wish that mine made more impact on my thinking. I went to Edge End High School then Nelson and Colne Sixth Form College, both in Lancashire. After an uneventful 'gap year' – trying and failing to get to grips with accountancy, retail (the Co-op bra department) and pharmaceuticals ( the pharmacy at Burnley General Hospital,) I went to New College, Oxford to read Philosophy and Theology and then to King's College, Cambridge to learn how to be a teacher. I taught - briefly - before going back to college – this time to Manchester Business School to get an MBA. After that I worked for an oil company as a kind of all-purpose executive person, but left before I learnt anything that might have been useful either to the company or to me.

When I was seven I knew exactly what I wanted to be but I forgot all about it until some time after I had my second baby when I suddenly remembered that I had always wanted to be a writer. I was lucky enough to be on a corporate career break at the time and my broken career never got mended. Writing is the best job I've ever had.

--N. M. Browne was born in the North of England to Welsh parents. This background inspired a fascination with all things Celtic and an interest in how earlier societies survived the bleakness of a northern winter. Ms. Browne lives in London, England and is the author of Hunted (Bloomsbury 2002).

Reviews

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it - great example of YA fiction that doesn't spell everything out to the reader and allows them to learn about the world created as they go. Characters were complex and interesting and the plot flowed beautifully.

[Tobias Milliken · Rating 4 out of 5]

amazing book! was entertained the entire book!

[Alessandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had this book around the house for years, and since I was in the mood for some light reading on actual paper I gave it a try.
It definitely reads as a children’s book (I’d say for kids around 10-12 yrs old), which at times feels a little at odds with the actual age of the main characters (which is, apparently, around 15). The plot is rather well thought out and is probably the book’s strongest suit: it’s fairly linear but pleasantly balanced, with a few well-prepared twists and a rather satisfying - if a bit messy and deus-ex-machina - finale (by which I don’t mean the epilogue: that I found really unnecessary).
What I found most original and well-written was the description of Vevena’s “ensorcellement”: the Protector’s beautiful wife is under a compulsion which does not let her act - or even think - in ways that may harm her husband; since the book often adopts her point of view, we are given glimpses of the spell at work on her mind, twisting her stream of consciousness in unnatural directions (usually towards flowers and outfits) as soon as she tries to understand what machinations are at work around her, or to make her own. Though Vevena is supposed to be utterly helpless, when looking at the world through her ensorcelled eyes one gets the impression of a very strong character; she is in many ways the one that pushes the story forwards, and she is constantly looking for ways to “hack” the spell she is under, exploiting loopholes and devising tricks to memorise “forbidden” information.
The main character, Tommo, whose third person limited we endure for most of the book, is in many ways Vevena’s opposite. His characterisation seems to be solely based on the fact that he’s about to die; and yes, he’s about to die throughout the whole book. He has sad thoughts of the type “I won’t make it; I’m about to die” and happy thoughts along the lines of “I’m about to die, but the sky is blue and at least I have some companionship”, with some occasional angry thoughts of the type “don’t you get it? I’m about to die!”. He almost never takes the initiative (granted, I can think of a couple of situations where he finally acts, but I found that to be far too little) and is incapacitated a fair portion of the time. I won’t say this makes no sense (he has a fatal, debilitating sickness after all, plus the fact that he spent half his life in a cellar might justify his inner voice sounding like that of a 10-year-old), but he’s just not the kind of character I personally like to read about. I wasn’t especially moved by his story nor, given the tone of the book, felt that he was ever in any real danger.
By Tommo’s side for most of the book, playing a supporting role and having to do most of the heavy lifting and moving-the-story-forward for him, is Akenna. She was not perhaps the epitome of likability, but I found her to be a nice twist on the classic healer figure, with her tough attitude and bad temper.
I’d say female characters are the most reliable, complex and well-rounded throughout the book, which I very much appreciate, especially in a Fantasy novel. Still, their emancipation and their escaping gender stereotypes is not altogether complete: female characters still have to measure against beauty standards every time they are introduced (of course Vevena is constantly described as beautiful, Sibeal has that rather stereotypical silver-hair stern-but-(kinda)-wise beauty thing going on, Tommo’s mother is repeatedly described as “so beautiful”); the only one who’s introduced as (refreshingly!) plain and boyish is Akenna, who nonetheless has to end her journey with an obvious marriage (couldn’t the two main characters, for once, just stay friends?) and with the concession from Sibeal’s inner voice that “although she would never be pretty, she had filled out and could, in her way, be said beautiful”. To be fair the same “canon” is often applied to male characters, and the fact that of the two “evil” characters one is ugly and one is (or was) very handsome, together with the fact that good and evil are at least a little bit blurred, helps the book to overcome a lot of the more stereotypical aspects of Fantasy. On the whole, well done!
Thumbs-up on the worldbuilding as well (yes, there are tons of made up words and not a lot of exposition or blatant info-dumps… the density of made up language seems to have bothered some people, but I admit I thought it was quite spot-on). All in all, a good book, not the most memorable read ever: definitely would recommend as a present for a kid that likes the genre. I think I would have found it perfectly satisfactory at 10-11; maybe not an illuminating read as an adult, even as a fan on children’s books, but not a disappointment either!

[Lisa Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve just finished reading The Spellgrinder’s Apprentice by N M Browne (check out her website here: www.nmbrowne.com). I don’t get a lot of time to just sit and read, but I spent my lunch breaks this term getting more and more hooked – I nearly forgot to go back to work a couple of times!

In some ways, The Spellgrinder’s Apprentice is a classic fantasy novel of a young orphan finding out that he is not as weak and feeble as he may have thought, but beyond that, there were so many intriguing ideas that I hadn’t come across before. Writing fantasy must be incredibly hard, because you have to take the world you know and change it. Sometimes there are small details; sometimes huge things that we take for granted. Languages, religions, ways of life are invented to take us far away from our own. Sometimes it can be rather overwhelming to take in all these ideas at once (I’m looking at you, China Mieville), but N M Browne finds a wonderful balance, where the differences between our world and hers seem natural and easy, yet draw you in to find out more.

This book has great characters, setting and plot. What more could you want? Find it either in Accelerated Reader level 5 or in Fiction, under B. I might even request some more N M Browne books for the LRC soon!

[John Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first I am really in a shroud of confusion about things like: Spellgrinder, Unga, Urtha, and Convacation but as I've managed to read through, enlightenment paved way. I was literally hooked of how the story grew to a more gigantic plot catapulting into different directions but on one point collide into a sensible epiphany and I was blown away.

[Elias · Rating 4 out of 5]

A meaty, satisfying story. Mostly I love the word ensorcellment. Sophisticated characters and enough ominous doom to be enjoyable for a quick read for adults. I'd like to see these characters continue into other adventures.

[Mender · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not amazing, but it's not crap. Fairly well thought out, and I think the author just lacked experience to translate their intentions onto the page. You could see where it was trying to go, and there were no real points where it missed - it just didn't have that huge emotional impact for some reason. Couldn't even tell you what it was lacking.

It's easy to read, clicks along nicely. Has some good ideas, and has an ending that should be a nails the landing one. It is, mentally. It's just emotionally that you don't really feel it.

I wonder if it's because you never really see inside the characters heads? You see what they're doing, but don't feel the tug of why. What they want. It's all surface level, what they're doing, rather than their longings.

Probably putting a lot of thought into this would make me a better writer but it's bedtime so I'm not going to do it. C'est la vis.

[Selja Purovaara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a funny one! A fantasy novel with no Aristotelian/Hollywoodean story arc; with one of the two protagonists unable to do anything for most of the book (the male one - think about that!); with a complementing rather than competing set of dualist deities/life forces. A refreshing read, if perhaps not as finely honed at the edges than some. But it felt like a pro, not a con, as the terrain of the book's world is quite rough too.

[kim. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this is a 2.5 read because honestly, I have a lot of feelings about this book. It was tough to get through because it didn’t really speak to my interests, but I liked other elements as the birds. I found that very creative yet scary and haunting in a way?

But it did take quite a force to get through this, so as of right now I will leave it at 3 stars, though I might change my mind later.

[Jessica Peveler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Intended and appropriate for middle schoolers, the plot and world are deeply developed. I really enjoyed this as an adult reader. Without giving too much away, this book and its ending surprised me as I have not been in quite a while.

[Anders Kjærgaard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little hard to get into the univers at first, but a fine book after all.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

niche but by jove what an impact this had on my developing brain

[Cornerofmadness · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be honest it's more like a 3.5 (the ending drags it down a bit). This was one of those books that I bought for the cover. The narrative is a bit uneven over all but still I enjoyed it.

There are several point of view characters but most of the story is told from Tommo's point of view. Tommo is a young man of indeterminate age (mid-teens) who has been a slave to the spell grinders who carve spellstones for use by the Protectorate, Fallon. Tommo, like most of the spell grinders, is sick from the stones. He has turned spellstone silver from head to toe and glows like the moon. He knows that the quivers will soon follow and death follows the quivers, a shaking disease that most of the spellgrinders die of.

Tommo escapes and is granted a week of sanctuary to go to the ocean before he dies. If's not back, he'll be hanged. On the way, already weakened from malnourishment, Tommo is near collapse when he meets Akenna, a fisher's daughter. Their relationship is an odd one. Akenna can be harsh and demanding but she sees in Tommo the means to escape her abusive father because she believes he has the Inward Power, the ability to do magic without spellstones. But Fallon, using his one-time friend and now dungeon inmate, Haver-Snatcher, has hunted down and killed all those with the power to threaten his rule. Even the high priest Gildea or so everyone thinks.

Fallon, Haver-Snatcher and Vevena (Fallon's ensorcelled wife and Haver-Snatcher's daughter) are other point of view characters that help some with the world building (though in other places it comes as info dumps).

Tommo is especially a sympathetic character, particularly when the quivers start and he knows he's dying. He fights to live long enough to help Akenna especially after it's revealed they may a much larger role in their world than they could ever dream of.

The ending was a tad rushed and chaotic which was my biggest quibble with the book. This is one of those sadly under the radar kind of books and I thought it was pretty enjoyable.

[Shazza Maddog · Rating 4 out of 5]

A YA book, Silverboy delivers on magical weirdness and an intriguing plot.

The title character, Tommo, escaped from the life of being an apprentice to a spellgrinder, a job which leads to death. Most apprentices only live a short time after becoming apprentices - for some reason the spellstones poison those who grind them, giving them what is commonly known as 'the quivers', which eventually takes over everything, and the apprentices aren't even able to eat any more, as they can't hold or even chew food.

Tommo is given eight days to leave the burough where he currently lives. Unfortunately, the borders are ten days away, and he's having a terrible time even moving. Not only that, but his body is infected by the spellstones - he's nearly white and glowing. He finds a girl who also needs help, Akenna, and for reasons he doesn't understand, she's willing to help him (for a price - his helping her, too). When they try to escape by taking to sea, their boat is swamped and Tommo is washed up on the shore, almost exactly where they started from. His attempts to find Akenna lead him into becoming a captive to her abusive father and his friend.

In the mean time, Fallon, Protectorate, is trying to raise enough power to crown himself king, but to do that, he needs to kill every bird in the kingdom for fear of something strange happening with the old Priest he has hidden away in a tower. But when the old man dies, and an eagle appears with the old man's face, his wife starts to remember everything the spellstones have made her forget since her marriage.

Tommo and Akenna are given a quest - to take the human-faced birds to the Protectorate's castle. While neither of them is very keen on the idea, it might be the only way to save Tommo's life, and keep Akenna's father from his attempts to take her back.

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

For about 4 years I kept picking up this book and trying to push further. I felt like it was the last of a long series because it used so many invented terms as if it had already fully explained them countless times and I didn’t need to know what it was on about anymore. Well, it made me lose interest because I couldn’t grip who was what, and what the hell Ugna or Urtha was or any of the other invented words. It wouldn’t take much to give a quick explanation, especially seeming other ideas were repeated tediously, such as Tommo always being just about to die. I can give credit to the authors imagination and strong world-building skills, but when I can’t understand the rules of the world it’s hard to feel any tension from certain comments that I know should have had more impact than they do.
My other problem was when the storyline switched to the Protector’s wife (don’t ask me what a Protector is), Vevena, it became almost like a book summary telling me a complete back story of a random woman. This is actually where I stopped reading it the first time. Of course her back story becomes very important to the ending but there are much better ways of writing something like this.
The only reason why I kept reading it is that it became a personal challenge to finish it. In fact, the last third of the book, after I accepted that I wasn’t going to understand half of it, was actually pretty good. I still wouldn’t recommend it. Sorry, N.M. Browne!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tommo desperately wants to escape his fate has an apprentice spellstone grinder, a magical job that makes him not only physically sick with “the quivers” but also turns his skin a shiny-silver. Apprentices aren’t allowed to simply stop working the jobs to which they are assigned in the Protectorate; however, after he risks his life and claims sanctuary in the name of Gildea, High Priest of the Inward Power, he is given eight days to leave the land (though this is an impossible task) or he will be hung.

During his attempt to leave the Protectorate he meets Akenna, a tough girl who is against Lord Fallon, the Protector, and all he stands for. Lord Fallon fears thaumaturgy, a strong type of magic, though he has ensorcelled his own wife Vevenna by using magic of the same spellstones that have made Tommo so very ill. Paranoid and power-hungry, Lord Fallon has had most of his enemies killed or scared into doing what he says. The only person who can defeat him, Gildea himself, is nearly dead. Will Gildea be able to use his own thaumaturgical powers to save himself, Tommo, and the people of the Protectorate before it’s too late?

This intriguing, action-packed novel will keep readers glued to the page. We closely follow the characters as they pursue their difficult battles; their battles involve men, magic, or sometimes…both.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Spellgrinder’s Apprentice sat unread on my shelf for years. I picked it up from a Library bookstall while I was at university and, for some reason, never quite managed to pick it up. Which, now that I have read it, seems ridiculous.

Browne weaves a remarkable adventurous stand-alone story with a fully developed world and interesting characters. It’s a story that is unpredictable and thus keeps you guessing what will happen next. This unpredictability sent me spinning a few times with the twists woven into the story.

At points, I found that time seemed to unexpectedly jump forward, which I found a bit confusing. One of my biggest pet peeves in books is when time is unclear and jumps about. I find that it pulls me out of the story while I try and figure out when we are and what just happened.

...

To read the complete review please check out my book blog: https://sarahgael3.wixsite.com/sarahg...

[Lucy-Anne Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book, it was a little slow in the middle, but it was still a good read. The rest of the story had a good steady and even pace. It was fluid too. The characters were believable, some more likeable than others but I think that's what makes a good book. I loved tommo, poor, poor tommo. I just wanted to grab you and give you the biggest hug,you poor, sweet thing! Akenna, you annoyed me, but you were good for the story. This book is a 3.5 stars, but as you can't give half stars I bumped you up to 4 stars!!

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not gonna lie: I really just checked this out for the cover. I mean, look at it! It looks so cool! What I didn't expect was to like it so darn much. Fun, believable, occasionally super sad, I loved this ride. Whether I'd read it again, I dunno. I loved Akenna, Tonno, and pretty much all the adults (or loved to hate them), which is rare because usually someone is a farce, which I hate. ***1/2

[Jenalyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very unique and creative ideas! The world was very rich and thought-out. What bothered me was that none of the characters were very proactive. They were all kind of pushed together into their fate. The main character was even unconscious during the climax! Had a lot of potential, but wasn't put together very well.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book dragged me into the story and along for the ride. I loved the story and how intense parts got. This is a book that i would read over and over. I recommend it for anyone how has time to drive into a story and does not want to put it down until the story is done. I wanted the book to continue longer and was sad when it was over and because there is not a second.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story but felt like there were a lot of things that could have been better explained...like the use of their God's names was confusing to me and the power they talked about wasn't well explained either.

[Rin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very great story and well-described. Filled with challenges, adventure and inside stories that had me keep on reading to satisfy my curiosity. Strong and vivid characters. This story tells me everyone is suffering and that you are never alone.

[Nikitah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of twists and turns. Definitely not normal. I wasn't sure if I liked it at first, but by the end of the book I was impressed. I just wish the whole book had been that way. So if you like weird and magic, then go ahead and read this book.

[Nazareth]

Tommo escaped from his life being a spellgrinder , which is a job which leads to death , and he only lives a short time , i didnt understans most of this book but thats a short summary of what I see its about

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was filling my time when I was out of books with something I got for my son to read. It is probably a good read for an 11 year old, but I was happy when I got a book of my own.

[reed · Rating 2 out of 5]

YA fiction. Didn't hold my interest.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars for a well-crafted, creative world with sorcery, political intrigue, and two endearing protagonists. Recommended.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engrossing, but odd fantasy with good characterization and world-building.