Tunnels

Roderick Gordon, Brian Williams Press Reviews

Publisher of Harry Potter to reveal 'next big thing'
- taken from The Independent - 11 June 2007

In August 1996, a manuscript landed on Barry Cunningham's desk about a precocious boy wizard with a sinister shaped scar on his forehead, a talent for racing broomsticks and an uncanny knack of getting into trouble.

Within minutes, the publisher knew he had stumbled on something special and within months the manuscript had been turned into a best-selling novel that propelled its author to stardom and made its protagonist a household name.

Now, as the release date of the final Harry Potter looms on the horizon and the publishing world becomes increasingly hungry for the next big thing in children's literature, Mr Cunningham claims to have done it again. He has, he says, discovered a new literary creation that may just fill the void left when J K Rowling's outrageously successful series comes to end in July.

Tunnels, a classic fantasy tale with a science fiction edge written by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, has been plucked from obscurity by the man with an undeniable Midas touch when it comes to children's books. The managing director of Chicken House publishing has already sold the pre-publication rights in 15 languages, amassing advances of over £500,000, with a major Hollywood film deal in the pipeline. The signs are all there for another huge literary coup.