The Wizards of Once

The art of capturing a reader from the very first line is a tough one, an all most impossible one. My favourites book stands out from those very first words ”Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again….” To “All this happened, more or less” and of course “Mr & Mrs Dursley of number four, Privet Drive…” My bookshelves are filled with these beautiful books who send the imagination souring and heart beating faster from those very first words and recently we managed to add another…..

“Once there was Magic....It was a long, long time ago, in a British Isles so old it now knows it was the British Isles – yet…” As soon as those lines were spoken silence fell. This rarely happens! The next sound was at the book closing being put down for the night and three voices all demanding another chapter. Yes, even the husband demanded a little more of the story that night! And who weaved this magic? Well Cressida Cowell. Author and creator of How to Train your Dragon and Emily Brown has created an incredible new series The Wizards of Once.

Ancient Britain has a deep dark forest where three groups of beings lived – The Witches (magic and evil beyond all imagination) The Wizards (magic & good) & The Warriors (not magic). The warriors killed the witches or so they thought and in believing all magic was bad decide to start fighting the wizards. We start the book here with a hero on each side. The wizard boy called Xar with no magic and a warrior princess called Wish who owns a banned magical pet.

The story carry’s us forward from this stalemate with the idea that maybe, just maybe, the witches didn’t die and maybe just maybe, they might be back! I won’t go on to tell you the story but all I can is say for nights this book was read at bedtime we had a nearly 11yr old boy, a 7yr old boy and yes even a 40yr old boy on tenterhooks and spell bound! This is rare and the book is a masterpiece in fairy telling. You can even download a snippet of the story from Cressidas website to sample a little more of this magic. All I can say is roll on September as none of us can wait to find out what happens next!!!