The bestselling THE BOOK OF DEAD DAYS and THE DARK FLIGHT DOWN in one lavish volume.
The days between 27 December and New Year's Eve are dead days, when spirits roam and magic shifts restlessly just beneath the surface of our everyday lives.
There is a man, Valerian, whose time is running out, who must pay the price for the pact he made with evil so many years ago. His servant is Boy, a child with no name and no past; a child he treats with contempt, but who serves his master well and finds solace in the company of his only friend, Willow. Unknown to any of them it is Boy who holds the key to their destiny. But before that is revealed, Boy and Willow are held captive in the palace of the Emperor Frederick. Here they are plunged into a world of gilded finery and splendour. Beneath the golden veneer lies cruelty and madness. They are in terrible danger as they confront the whirlwind furies of the Emperor, the calculating ambitions of his confidante, Maxim, and follow a trail which will lead them to the murderous Phantom.
THE BOOK OF DEAD DAYS and THE DARK FLIGHT DOWN are mesmerising stories of sorcery and desperate magic spanning dark cities, deadly courtrooms, and the threatening, frozen countryside. The truth about Valerian s past, Boy's identity and many other shattering secrets are laid bare as the Book of Dead Days is opened for the final time
Marcus Sedgwick was the winner of many prizes, most notably the 2014 Michael L. Printz Award for his novel Midwinterblood. Marcus also received two Printz Honors, for Revolver in 2011 and The Ghosts of Heaven in 2016, giving him the most citations to date for America's most prestigious book prize for writing for young adults. Other notable award winning books include Floodland, Marcus' first novel, which won the Branford-Boase Award in 2001; My Swordhand is Singing, which won the Booktrust Teenage Prize for 2007, and Lunatics and Luck, part of The Raven Mysteries series, which won a Blue Peter Book Award in 2011.
His books have been shortlisted for over forty other awards, including the Carnegie Medal (seven times), the Edgar Allan Poe Award (twice) and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize (four times). He has been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award three times, in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Marcus was Writer in Residence at Bath Spa University for three years, reviewed for The Guardian newspaper and taught creative writing at Arvon and Ty Newydd. He judged numerous books awards, including the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and the Costa Book Awards.
www.marcussedgwick.com