Tom is alone. His friends have left for the summer holidays and his guardian is on the other side of the world. Tom’s parents both died in a storm at sea; he believes he has no living relatives. Then a silver-eyed boy turns up and delivers Tom a letter, an invitation to spend the summer with an uncle he did not know existed. What seems like an opportunity for freedom proves more complex than that. Tom finds himself in a world full of secrets, mystery and war, in which he must choose between the possibility of infinite power and remaining true to himself.

In his gripping new teen novel, Wildlord, Philip Womack handles traditional fantasy themes – in particular, the battle between sorcery and wild, natural magic – with confidence. Tom is a believable character and Womack an assured writer, building images with meticulous clarity and moving the narrative along with