Thorhall is grateful when he hears the ferocious Glam is willing to be his shepherd. But when a fight with a monster leaves Glam dead, his ghost begins to haunt Shadow Vale. Who will be brave enough to confront the wicked spectre? The hero Grettir thinks he may be in with a chance. Will he manage to defeat Glam?
Jonathan Anthony Stroud is an author of fantasy books, mainly for children and youths.
Stroud grew up in St Albans where he enjoyed reading books, drawing pictures, and writing stories. Between the ages seven and nine he was often ill, so he spent most of his days in the hospital or in his bed at home. To escape boredom he would occupy himself with books and stories. After he completed his studies of English literature at the University of York, he worked in London as an editor for the Walker Books store. He worked with different types of books there and this soon led to the writing of his own books. During the 1990s, he started publishing his own works and quickly gained success.
In May 1999, Stroud published his first children's novel, Buried Fire, which was the first of a line of fantasy/mythology children's books.
Among his most prominent works are the bestselling Bartimaeus Trilogy. A special feature of these novels compared to others of their genre is that Stroud examines the stereotypes and ethics of the magician class and the enslaved demons. This is done by examining the perspective of the sarcastic and slightly egomaniacal djinni Bartimaeus. The books in this series are The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem's Eye, and Ptolemy's Gate, his first books to be published in the United States.
Stroud lives in St Albans, Hertfordshire, with his two children, Isabelle and Arthur, and his wife Gina, an illustrator of children's books.
I wonder what make this book quite expensive? Maybe it's the paper. But I bought it anyway. You could find Stroud playful writing in this piece. If you squint hard enough that is. It's too short to my liking. Finished it in one go on the train. Well, I guess because it was supposed to be a young reader book. It had a dyslexia friendly sticker on it.
Not something I would normally read but I wanted to read a book by this author as part of my research. A real page turner and young readers will love it.