Showing results by publisher "W. F. Howes Ltd" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

Tomek lives a quiet life running his late parents' village store, which has everything you could ever need, and more. Then one day a girl visits. She asks Tomek if he sells something he's never heard of before: a drop of water from the magical River Qjar, which flows back to front and upside down. When he admits he has none, she slips away.

Hannah has lost almost everything she ever loved, apart from one beautiful songbird. But the bird seems to be dying. So Hannah sets out on an incredible adventure to find the magical upside down River Qjar, whose waters can give her beloved bird eternal life. She journeys across deserts and over dizzyingly high mountains, lives an entire lifetime in the blink of an eye, braves the terrifying Forest of Oblivion, and is mistaken for a long-lost princess.

Since the world fell sick with fantastical illnesses, sisters Payton and Ani have grown up in the hospital of King Jude’s. Payton wants to be a methic like her father, working on a cure for her mother’s sleeping fever. Ani, however, thinks the remedy for all illness might be found in the green wilderness beyond the hospital walls. When Ani stumbles upon an imprisoned boy who turns everything he touches to gold, her world is turned upside-down. The girls find themselves outside the hospital for the first time, a dark mystery unravelling.

Pippin Potts is a helpful boy, which is exactly what forgetful wizard Abacus Peridot is looking for in an assistant who can help him get to the Wizards' Centenary Banquet, so that he can be the hundredth wizard to arrive and win the golden cup. On their journey the pair soon bump into evil wizard Boldways Grime and mischievous elf Kitty Scarper who are secretly plotting against them. But Pippin is determined.

Is Oakmoss Hornbeam the unluckiest boy in the world? Or has someone cursed him? When a black cat crosses his path, mysteriously blown in by a storm, Oakmoss believes it’s his worst omen yet. But Nightshade, a cat of considerable talents, knows when it’s game on or game over. With the help of newshound Veena Vale and magical crime investigator Dexter Stormforce, she sets out to become a lucky charm for one very unlucky boy.

When Zo decides to run away from home, she isn't scared; after all, she knows the island like the back of her hand. But, as she journeys through the once-familiar forest, terrifying creatures and warped visions begin to emerge. With a beast on her heels and a lost boy thrown into her path, could a mysterious abandoned facility hold answers? Zo must unravel the secrets of the forest before she is lost in them forever.

As a Knight of Crystallia, I, Bastille, swore to protect the Smedry clan from the Evil Librarians. (And believe me, screwups like them constantly need protecting.) But when Alcatraz Smedry got strapped to an altar of outdated encyclopedias to be sacrificed to the dark gods, I arrived too late—and instead his father took his place. Now Alcatraz is a blubbering mess, so it's up to me lead the charge against his father's killer: Biblioden, founder of the Evil Librarians—I was sure he died centuries ago!—who's back to complete his goal of world domination.

The Guardians of Magic disappeared ten years ago, leaving the Kingdom of Thrynne in the icy grip of a powerful sorceress. Most people have fled in desperate search of warmer lands, escaping the Ice Monsters that roam the streets. Meanwhile, young Tiggy Thistle lives hidden and safe with a kindly Badger until the day she meets one of the crafty Stiltskin brothers and she has to run from her happy home. So begins Tiggy's quest to find Zam, Phoebe and Bathsheba—the only people, she believes, who can save Thrynne from the curse of endless winter.

Max has spent years thinking he is cursed, because whenever he touches anything electrical it explodes. But then he is sent to Yowling and discovers he is a Spellstopper, someone with the rare ability to drain dangerous build-ups of magic and fix misbehaving enchanted items. When Max's Grandad is kidnapped by the cruel Keeper of the malfunctioning magical castle that floats in the bay, only Max's gift can save him. Together with his new friend Kit, Max throws himself into an adventure filled with villainous owls, psychic ice cream and man-eating goldfish.

After his dad's death, Konrad stops speaking. Not a word at home or school. But that begins to change when he meets Maya on the beach he loved to explore with Dad. She doesn't mind his silence. It gives her a chance to be heard, because at home no one seems to notice her. When the pair go on a last visit to Konrad's family bookshop before it's sold, they soon get lost in the pages of Konrad's favourite book of folk tales. Whisked back in time to quest with a dragon, they must find themselves and their voices, as well as a happy end to the story in the book and in real life.

Eshe and her twelve sisters are Fairy Godmothers, honoured for the incredible gifts they can bestow. But Eshe's special abilities are a little different—she can glimpse into the future! And, one day, Eshe foresees something terrifying: a world blanketed in creeping vines and a girl covered in thorns. Eshe needs to stop her vision becoming true, but it will require old and powerful magic. And she won't be able to do it alone…

Ophelia Bottom longs for a boring life. Instead, she's stuck living in a rickety converted van and managing Bottom's Travelling Theatre, the moveable stage where her embarrassing actor parents put on occasionally disastrous plays. Every day, she wishes she lived in an ordinary house, with parents who worked ordinary, undramatic jobs. When the family gets stuck in the seaside town of Stopford, Ophelia's dream appears to be coming true: all the Stopford residents seem to have very normal lives.

It is early spring, a turbulent, perilous time of sudden storms, frozen river fractures and drifting ice. Fleeing from a demon intent on devouring his souls, Wolf is swept out to sea far from the forest and his pack. The ocean, too, teems with danger: sea wolves, sharks and hunters of the deep, and the demon is gaining ground. Torak and Renn must race to save their pack-brother, battling the harsh icy waves and merciless torrents. If they can't find Wolf in time, the bond between them will be severed forever....

A thrilling tale of friendship and courage - Maggie Blue, strongwilled and isolated, sees her enemy from school taken through a window to a parallel world by one of their teachers and determines to follow, whatever the cost. With the help of irascible cat, Hoagy, they discover a world where happiness is being stolen - and they must do everything they can not to be caught up in its web of destruction.

Agatha, Jaime, and Sigrid must unite the people of Scotia and beyond as war comes to the Isle of Skye. But will betrayal and secrecy be their undoing? The epic final installment of the Shadow Skye trilogy. With the deadly phantom sgàilean defeated, Jaime and Agatha prepare to help their clan reclaim their compound from the treacherous Raasay people. But Sigrid, sent at the behest of Queen Beatrice, arrives with a warning: the kings of Norveg and Ingland have joined forces and plan to march north to annihilate the people of Scotia.

Joining the family business, animal-lover Bryony proves to be an extraordinary taxidermist, whose tender fingers create displays that comfort, educate and astound. But when Byrony’s proud father boasts of her skill, who should come calling but the secretive King of all Mythica. Locking her away, he gives her three horrible tasks...three impossible tasks! It’s only then that a strange, sinister creature emerges from the shadows of the castle, offering Bryony a helping hand.

When Ludlow Fitch's parents cruelly betray him, he steals away to the country. He arrives in a remote village, where he meets the tall and limping figure of Joe Zabbidou - a pawnbroker with a difference. For Joe trades secrets, not goods. Employed as Joe's assistant, Ludlow records the villagers' fiendish confessions in an ancient leather-bound volume: The Black Book of Secrets. There's the gravedigger who has been resurrecting bodies; the butcher who made a mouse-meat pie; the wizened bookseller who went to murderous lengths to get her hands on a priceless tome. 

In a city that has been struck off the map, cursed to wander forever by the famed map magician Baba Yaga, a young girl called Siya accidentally finds the lost pieces of the magical map that will reunite her city with the rest of the world. Always overlooked as the magic-less daughter of a powerful magician, she believes this is her moment to prove her worth. But instead of being celebrated, she is now hunted by powerful forces threatening the city.

The Great Network is a place of drones and androids, maintenance spiders and Station Angels. The place of the thousand gates, where sentient trains crisscross the galaxy in a heartbeat. Zen Starling is a petty thief from Thunder City. So when mysterious stranger Raven sends Zen on a mission to infiltrate the emperor's train, he jumps at the chance to cross the galaxy in a heartbeat. But the Great Network is a dangerous place....

When an evil faerie steals Yanni’s baby sister and swaps her for a Changeling, Yanni is swept into a dangerous race against time to get her back. For faeries delight in tricks and rescuing her won’t be easy. With the help of his cousin, Amy, and the reluctant Changeling, Yanni must travel to goblin palaces and battle-swept oceans, discovering ancient treasures and secrets along the way. Yanni will need every drop of courage and even a few tricks of his own, if he’s to outwit the faerie and save his sister.