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All that said, this is not a "heavy" read. It's one of those books you'll find yourself staying up late to finish—and not regretting that choice the next morning.

The slight shake wasn’t because he’d disincorporated crime boss Frank Thringley. It was because he wasn’t supposed to be there at all and he was wondering how he was going to explain— Susan looked at the phone, and thought about calling the police. But after a single second more of careful but lightning-fast thought, she followed him. The characters and their sparkling dialogue are the high points in this fantasy tale for young adults.

What’s next for you?

a b Collins, Paul; Steven Paulsen; Sean McMullen (1998). The MUP Encyclopaedia of Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. p.134. ISBN 0-522-84771-4. By a third of the way through, I still didn’t understand anything about the world. Honestly, I’ve finished reading and I still feel lost. Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi. I thought Nix handled his world building well. The main character, Susan, knows nothing about the magic system, so we find out about it at same time she does. Other things are left unexplained for us to make sense of as events occur. I much prefer this to info dumping which can be boring and intrude on the story. Quién es el padre de Susan y qué relación tiene con todo lo que está ocurriendo? Es el misterio que está presente durante toda la novela. No creo que se pueda adivinar, no se dan las suficientes pistas para ello. Por consiguiente, mis calibraciones eran erróneas.

On top of that the main character, Susan, is treated like a 5-year-old who needs to be led around by the hand without being told anything. This is also how the reader is treated. It was almost like a concept of a world without the world actually existing. There were numerous times where something would happen and Susan would be confused (because falling into a magic world IS confusing) and those around her just push her questions aside with an “I’ll tell you later”.

Why did you decide to set the book in the Eighties?

The Field of Fallen Foe", in the collection Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz: Stories of the Witch Knight and the Puppet Sorcerer (2023) Garth Nix was born in 1963 in Melbourne, Australia, to the sound of the Salvation Army band outside playing 'Hail the Conquering Hero Comes' or possibly 'Roll Out the Barrel'. Garth left Melbourne at an early age for Canberra (the federal capital) and stayed there till he was nineteen, when he left to drive around the UK in a beat-up Austin with a boot full of books and a Silver-Reed typewriter. Ahoy there me mateys! It be no secret that I adore Garth Nix. He was the first author featured in me Broadside No. 1 and I have re-read the Old Kingdom series many times over the years. So I was super happy to finally read his newest standalone book. No, no. You too, darling girl. Even more so for you. Be sure to stay in the light. That’s what he would have wanted.”

In addition to his work as a fantasy novelist, Nix has written a number of scenarios and articles for the role playing field, including those for Dungeons & Dragons and Traveller. These have appeared in related publications such as White Dwarf, Multiverse and Breakout!. He has also written case studies, articles and news items in the information technology field, his work appearing in publications such as Computerworld and PCWorld. [4] Strange Fishing in the Western Highlands" (from Hellboy: Oddest Jobs, edited by Christopher Golden_ The writing style is simply not enjoyable. Other reviewers have brought up the excessive amount of ellipses that result in stilted and unnatural dialogue, and interrupt the flow of reading. Added to this is the unbelievable fact that the reader is told everything and shown nothing. I find this very surprising coming from a seasoned writer. Every character is described in excess with boring and unnecessary details. Their entire wardrobe is listed in full each scene, along with an accent that I'm supposed to just read the dialogue in, as no mannerisms to show this are included in what they say. I don't care a whit about Susan, who has completely unrealistic reactions to what happens. Merlin should be the best character ever but is just a charicature as opposed to a real character. Although, now that the world is created, I could see this being the first entry in a fun, light-hearted series. We shall see. Besides the ravens, there was also something about the hill above the farmhouse. A creature emerged from the earth there… a kind of lizard thing of stone, possibly even a dragon.Nix currently lives in Sydney with his wife Anna McFarlane, a publisher, [5] and their sons Thomas and Edward.