One of our Books of the Year 2014 When Simon is really annoyed with his sister Anna he summons up the Broken King from a favourite poem and asks him to take her away. Of course, he doesn’t really believe that it will happen –it’s only an old poem after all…. But then, Anna vanishes and Simon sets off on a mission to rescue her and finds himself caught up in an extraordinary and fantastical world in which it is impossible for him to predict what will happen next. Will Simon be able to get Anna back safely? A magical story full of powerful images and unexpected consequences.
'We saw your sister being taken. We know what you have to do to get her back. There are many dangers. You will find help in places you don't expect.'
When Simon's little sister is mysteriously snatched away to a dark other world, he is sent by a golden messenger on a dizzying quest to get her back. With him is Flora, whose brother has also vanished, and a strange boy who rescues them from a violent attack.
To enter the land of the Broken King, they must completes three tasks:
Eat the Shadow. Steal the Sun. Break the Air.
But how do they even begin?
And what lies in wait for them, in the land of the Broken King?
The Darkening Path trilogy is a superlatively well-written quest adventure that will keep readers on the edge of their seats from the opening page to the very last word. This is intelligent fantasy writing for young readers of the very highest order.
Philip Womack was born in Chichester in the middle of a thunderstorm in 1981. He was educated at Lancing, and Oriel College, Oxford, where he read Classics and English. He lives in London.
He is currently a Contributing Editor at Literary Review and writes for The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian, among other papers; he is also a Fellow at First Story, currently being Writer in Residence at St Augustine's in Kilburn. He has led workshops on Greek Tragedy and How to Write Children's Fiction for the How To: Academy.
