The Uninvited

The troubled summer of 2025 seems spookily the perfect time to be publishing a book which is not only a highly imaginative and convincing fantasy adventure, but one that powerfully illuminates the issues of refugees, racism and immigration. The award-winning Ross Mackenzie’s books all seem to tread the border between primary and secondary, and while this would make an excellent class read for year 6, where it could be discussed and the themes mediated, it is perhaps better suited to year 7 and above. However, I also know many avid 10-year-old readers of fantasy who will happily devour it as well! From the evocative start within the Stones of Calanish on the isle of Lewis, where the doorway opens between our world and the world of Faerae, to the dramatic and thrilling conclusion, this is a story which will not let you go. Two five-year-old boys from either side of the divide have no idea how important they will be. Samm Wolfback is with the ‘ragged, pointed-eared men and women with packs and bags slung over shoulders, children clutching stuffed animals,’ escaping the deadly Scourge destroying their land because their protective Dragon’s Eye has been stolen. Ally Grey is with the tourists in the stone circle, but he alone notices the tiny spark of magic that opens the door. He touches and tries to grasp that magic and it changes him forever. The human reaction to The Arrival is to lock the foreigners away in a dreadfully familiar tented camp and then a purpose-built camp, Glass Forest, in the Lake District, where conditions are little better; disease and crime are rife and Faerae magic is fading. Samm lost his mother to a terrorist attack, but he has two artefacts from his father which give him the ability to ‘find things and people.’ He is recruited by the self-styled boss of the camp, Joe Lively, who has a plan to escape the camp, find the Dragon’s Eye to overcome the Scourge and the missing Locksmith who can open the door and return them all to Faerae. While Samm and the giant Brogan pursue those objectives, Lively kidnaps Ally and painfully forces him to practise using the magic he unwittingly absorbed from the Locksmith. Magic which has been out of control and forcing his family to constantly move to escape the consequences of his outbursts. The complex layers of the story are skilfully woven together by this superlative storyteller, as Samm and Brogan track down the Locksmith in a nightmarish circus where the true villain hides. Will the boys survive these challenges and will the Faerae get home? Will Samm learn that some humans have compassion and bravery? This clever fantasy has real heart and emotional depth alongside moments of real peril and a touch of horror. Powerful, original and thought provoking in equal measure, this may well be the author’s best work yet!