Ultimate Quest: Review Twelve Nights by Andrew Zurcher

Ultimate Quest: Review Twelve Nights by Andrew Zurcher

Love that moves mountains, love that flies through the air, love that dares to imagine anything.’

Kay and her younger sister Eloise (Elly) are used to their father being home late. An archaeologist and academic at Cambridge College, his work regularly takes him away from his family.

Christmas Eve is no exception and in a fit of frustration their Mother bundles the girls into the car to go look for him. Strangely, when they arrive at his place of work, there is no record of him having ever worked there. Even more disturbing, wherever they go no one has heard of him. It is as though he never existed…

The night becomes even more curious when Kay returns home tired and confused to find strangers Will and Flip in her room.  When she discovers that they are connected to her father’s disappearance she insists that they take her with them, so she can find him.

This is the beginning of an epic journey for Kay and Elly to find their lost father. Why has he been ‘removed’ from their world by the evil Ghast and his cronies?

Almost immediately things get worse as Ghast kidnaps Elly and whisks her away. But why is Elly so important to Ghast and his mission to become the true King and what was her father working on with Will that was such a threat to him?

Will and Flip become Kay’s greatest allies and over 12 nights, help her to travel through the mountains and quarries outside of Bithynia to save her family.

As Director of Studies in English at Queens’ College, Cambridge, and a leading international expert on the works of Spenser, Sidney and Shakespeare, Andrew Zurcher’s debut novel has been compared to the brilliance of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials and C.S Lewis’ Narniachronicles.

The richly layered fantasy world of Twelve Nights is perfect for the 10+ reader but teens and adults will also enjoy the intricate plot. Much like the worlds in Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, Zurcher creates something very special, sometimes sinister and sometimes full of hope and love. The ultimate quest novel!

Purchase a copy of Twelve Nights here

Read an extract here

Andrew Zurcher is Director of Studies in English at Queens’ College, Cambridge, and a leading international expert on the works of Spenser, Sidney and Shakespeare. Twelve Nights is his debut novel.

 

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