PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Kate Griffin is the name under which Carnegie Medal-nominated author, Catherine Webb, writes fantasy novels for adults. An acclaimed author of young adult books under her own name, Catherine's amazing debut, Mirror Dreams, was written when she was only 14 years old, and garnered comparisons with Terry Pratchett and Philip Pullman.
YA author Catherine Webb (The Obsidian Dagger, 2008, etc.) takes a pen name for her first adult fantasy.In a contemporary London rife with magic for those who know how to seek it, power can be drawn from the scuttling of rats and the daily rhythms of commuters. Two years ago, Matthew Swift was a sorcerer attuned to these urban magics. Attacked by a mysterious shadow-creature and on the verge of death, Matthew escaped through a pay-phone receiver and joined the blue electric angels, the sentient bits of voice and data inhabiting the telephone wires. Now, Matthew and the angels have returned to his body, and as one multiple being, they search for his murderer and the one who summoned him/them into life. The broad outlines of the plot - a man seeking justice and revenge against a great evil/corrupted father figure - have been utilized many a time, but here they offer an opportunity to display superlative world building. Webb's urban fantasy is authentically gritty, down to the detailed descriptions of restaurants and street corners. She writes with assurance and polish, and her grasp of modern mythology - the magic and the poetry inherent in contemporary life - is strong.A very promising start, and great things seem likely to follow. (Kirkus Reviews)
