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Nesacat · 5th February 2007, 02:45 AM

Have read Book of Dead Days. There's an Omnibus hardback edition out now. Very lovely cover. Excellent books both of them. I was very impressed with the development of his characters and the pace he maintained throughout the tale. The surroundings are very, very detailed and you can see them rushing, rushing through everything, trying to deal with how bizarre and different it all is but having no time to really understand or fully comprehend.

Dead Days Omnibus
Paperback: 528 pages
Publisher: Orion Childrens (21 Sep 2006)
ISBN-10: 1842555286
ISBN-13: 978-1842555286

I'm glad I discovered Sedgewick and I'd like to see more from his pen. I've got Witch Hill but have not gotten around to reading it yet.

I have however read My Swordhand Is Singing which is a whole new spin on the vampire myth. The prose itseld reads like a song in a world of ice and dark brooding trees.

In the bitter cold of an unrelenting winter Tomas and his son, Peter, arrive in Chust and despite the inhospitability of the villagers settle there as woodcutters. Tomas is churlish - taciturn at the best of times. He digs a channel of fast-flowing waters around their hut so they have their own little island kingdom. Peter doesn't understand why his father has done this, nor why, all his life they've moved from place to place, or why his father carries a long battered box everywhere they go, and why he is forbidden to know its mysterious contents.But when a band of gypsies comes to the village Peter's drab existence is turned upside down. He is infatuated by the beautiful gypsy princess, Sofia, intoxicated by their love of life and drawn into their deadly quest. For these travellers are Vampire Slayers and Chust is a dying community - where the dead come back to wreak revenge on the living. Amidst the terrifying events that follow, Peter is stunned to see his father change from a disillusioned man, old before his time, to the warrior hero he once was.Marcus draws on his extensive research of the vampire legend which permeates traditions throughout the world and sets his story in the forbidding and remote landscapes of the 17th century. Written in his usual distinctive voice, this is also the story of a father and his son, of loss, redemption and resolution.

My Swordhand Is Singing
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Orion Childrens (26 Jul 2006)
ISBN-10: 1842551833
ISBN-13: 978-1842551837

5th February 2007, 02:45 AM	#11 (permalink)
Nesacat The Cat Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 2,850	Re: The Book of Dead Days by Marcus Sedgwick Have read Book of Dead Days. There's an Omnibus hardback edition out now. Very lovely cover. Excellent books both of them. I was very impressed with the development of his characters and the pace he maintained throughout the tale. The surroundings are very, very detailed and you can see them rushing, rushing through everything, trying to deal with how bizarre and different it all is but having no time to really understand or fully comprehend. Dead Days Omnibus Paperback: 528 pages Publisher: Orion Childrens (21 Sep 2006) ISBN-10: 1842555286 ISBN-13: 978-1842555286 I'm glad I discovered Sedgewick and I'd like to see more from his pen. I've got Witch Hill but have not gotten around to reading it yet. I have however read My Swordhand Is Singing which is a whole new spin on the vampire myth. The prose itseld reads like a song in a world of ice and dark brooding trees. In the bitter cold of an unrelenting winter Tomas and his son, Peter, arrive in Chust and despite the inhospitability of the villagers settle there as woodcutters. Tomas is churlish - taciturn at the best of times. He digs a channel of fast-flowing waters around their hut so they have their own little island kingdom. Peter doesn't understand why his father has done this, nor why, all his life they've moved from place to place, or why his father carries a long battered box everywhere they go, and why he is forbidden to know its mysterious contents.But when a band of gypsies comes to the village Peter's drab existence is turned upside down. He is infatuated by the beautiful gypsy princess, Sofia, intoxicated by their love of life and drawn into their deadly quest. For these travellers are Vampire Slayers and Chust is a dying community - where the dead come back to wreak revenge on the living. Amidst the terrifying events that follow, Peter is stunned to see his father change from a disillusioned man, old before his time, to the warrior hero he once was.Marcus draws on his extensive research of the vampire legend which permeates traditions throughout the world and sets his story in the forbidding and remote landscapes of the 17th century. Written in his usual distinctive voice, this is also the story of a father and his son, of loss, redemption and resolution. My Swordhand Is Singing Paperback: 208 pages Publisher: Orion Childrens (26 Jul 2006) ISBN-10: 1842551833 ISBN-13: 978-1842551837