Stone Heart

Accused of disrupting the school trip to the Natural History Museum by teacher Mr Killingbeck, George Chapman is left to ruminate over his alleged misdeeds. When venting his frustration and anger against a carving of a dragon’s head, George breaks the masonry in so doing unwittingly drawing himself into an alternate layer of London.

A stark contrast marks out this variant view of the capital. History has been ruptured in that the animated desires, feelings and emotions of stone-masons and sculptors imbues their handiwork with a legacy not only of form, but of function.

Angered by the vandalism acted out by George upon the dragon’s head, hostilities between two factions of craftsmanship, the taints – gargoyles and mythical beasts created to inspire foreboding and fright, and the spits – those created in human image and who have a distinct set of ethics and allegiances, are roused.

In an attempt to restore the balance between these factions and indeed upon his own life, George must remedy the damage he has caused by placing the broken fragment of the dragon on the Stone Heart. This is an against-the-clock-challenge, where George and grudging new ally Edie must find the location of the Stone Heart, and do battle against the ever more aggressive assaults of an arsenal of taints whilst struggling for their survival.

Erudition, lively prose and ingenuity combine, making this a not-to-be-missed addition to the fantasy oeuvre that will have readers thumping the air with delight!