Wormwood Book

G. P. Taylor's epic follow-up to the bestselling Shadowmancer

Panic fills the streets of London on a night in 1756 when the earth suddenly lurches forward and starts spinning out of control. Within moments, eleven days and nights flash through the sky, finally leaving the city in total darkness. Is the end of the world at hand?

Agetta Lamian fears so. She's the young housemaid of Dr. Sabian Blake, a scientist who has recently acquired the Nemorensis, the legendary book said to unlock the secrets of the universe. And what he sees through his telescope confirms what he has read: This disaster is only a sign of things to come. Agetta overhears Dr. Blake's prophecy that a star called Wormwood is headed towards London, where it will fall from the sky and strike a fatal blow.

Dr. Blake believes the comet will either end the world as he knows it or hearken a new age of scientific and spiritual enlightenment. But whatever the outcome, he must cope with the madness that grows in London as the comet approaches -- as well as with his fears that the Nemorensis' power could be clouding his own reason and drawing dangerous spirits to his door. Soon even Agetta seems to have been seduced by the book, and whom she ultimately delivers it to will determine much more than just her fate.

G. P. Taylor has woven another thrilling tale of Good vs. Evil, where fallen angels and dark spirits vie for allegiance during a time of treachery and deceit.

Publishers Weekly

In his second novel, Taylor brings some cohesion and depth to his series, but the prose, atmospheric though it may be, is still convoluted. Here he introduces a London doctor named Sabian Blake. One night, a stranger delivers to him a mysterious book called the Nemorensis ("It was said to touch the Nemorensis was to hold the secrets of the cosmos in your hands"). A handwritten note in the book's margin describes a prophecy about a comet called Wormwood (the comet will "fall from the sky and poison the waters and bring death to many"). The plot quickly thickens, often to a muddied soup, but the reappearance of Abram Rickards, who aided Thomas and Kate in Shadowmancer, signals that the doctor is a good guy ("I am your angel," Abram says to Blake). Meanwhile, Blake's housemaid, Agetta, discovers that her father has imprisoned an angel in one of his rooms. And her father's "business" partner is none other than Dagda Sarapuk, the parson from whom Demurral won the Vicarage in a cockroach race in Shadowmancer. The evil entity behind Wormwood turns out to be the sister of Pyratheon, the demon force in Shadowmancer (the climactic skyshower of that novel indicates the beginning of Wormwood in this one); she wants to be queen of earth and heaven, and her plans culminate on Halloween night. Taylor is even more explicit in this title about his allegory's tether to Christianity (Abram says, "Open your eyes, you ape of Eden, and see what is really happening"). Those who enjoyed the first book will welcome this one. Ages 12-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.