My Swordhand is Singing [Paperback]

My Swordhand is Singing [Paperback]

Author: Marcus Sedgwick (Author)

Series: Paperback

Form: Paperback: 240 pages

ISBN: 978-1842555583

Publisher: Orion Childrens (3 May 2007)

Synopsis

Product Description 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 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 his father carries a long battered box everywhere they go, and why he is forbidden to know its 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 to the warrior hero he once was. Marcus draws on his extensive research of the vampire legend 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. From the Inside Flap 'He came to the gate of the graveyard. There could be no doubt. The wool ran over the fence next to the gate, as if his quarry had sailed clean over it. Dumbly, he gripped it, as if it were a lifeline, when in reality it was leading him towards death itself...' In the bitter cold of an unrelenting winter Tomas and his son, Peter, arrive in Chust and settle there as woodcutters. Tomas 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 his father carries a long, battered box, whose mysterious contents he is forbidden to know. But Tomas is a man with a past; a past that is tracking him with deadly intent. As surely as the snow falls softly in the forest of one hundred thousand silver birch trees, Father and son must face a soul-less enemy and a terrifying destiny. Set in the remote and forbidding landscapes of the seventeenth century this is a heart-rending story of loss and redemption, and inspired by the original vampire folklore of Eastern Europe it represents a unique regeneration of a timeless myth. Since Floodland won the Brandford-Boase Award for the best first children's novel of 2000, Marcus Sedgwick's books have been shortlisted for many awards, including The Guardian Children's Fiction Award, The Blue Peter Book Award, the Carnegie Medal and the Edgar Allan Poe Award. About My Swordhand is Singing he says: "It was fascinating to discover the original folklore that gave birth to the vampire legend. No snowy graveyard is left unvisited, no corpse undisturbed, no spell unspoken, no date with destiny unmet. But it's not all gloom; there's misery and horror, too." By day he works in children's publishing and by night is the drummer in a rock band in Brighton. He lives in Sussex with his wife Pippa, and has a daughter, Alice. www.marcussedgwick.com --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From the Back Cover 'He came to the gate of the graveyard. There could be no doubt. The wool ran over the fence ... Dumbly, he gripped it, as if it were a lifeline, when in reality it was leading him towards death itself…' As surely as the snow falls softly in the forest of one hundred thousand silver birch trees, a father and his son must face a soulless enemy and a terrifying destiny. 'breathes new life into the tale of the living dead...' The Bookseller ' a finely written, bone-chilling gothic tale … the myriad horrors of the deep woods will transfix readers.' Publishing News About the Author Marcus Sedgwick used to work in children's publishing. He now happily writes full-time.

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