Rossamund’s internals gripped and a yelp of terror was strangled as it formed. A dark, monstrous thing was rising from the rear of the park-drag. Massive horns curled back from its crown; the slits of its eyes glowed wicked orange. Threwd exploded like pain up the back of Rossamund’s head as the carriage shot by, the stench of the horn-ed thing upon it rushing up his nostrils with the gust of their passing.
Some boys wailed.
“Frogs and toads!” Grindrod cursed. “The carriage is attacked!”
As he trains as an apprentice lamplighter, Rossamund Bookchild finds life difficult. As if the long days of training were not enough, now the Fortress is becoming increasingly under attack from monsters. Out on the road on a lamplighting shift Rossamund witnesses a carriage being attacked. One of its passengers is a young wit, on her way to the fortress to try to become a lamplighter. As Rossamund and threnody forge an uneasy friendship, life at the fortress becomes increasingly dangerous and unpredictable. Rossamund is making friends, but he’s also making plenty of enemies.
Lamplighter is the second book in the Monster Blood Tattoo Series. This lengthy hardcover volume will delight young fantasy fans, with plenty of monsters, lots of twists and turns and adventures both frightening and exciting. For those who have read the first book, there are more hints and revelations about Rossamund’s past, and the reappearance of many of the characters from the earlier book. For those new to the series, Lamplighter can be read alone, though readers will enjoy the stories more if they are read in order.
A gripping adventure for fantasy fans aged 10 and over.
Lamplighter, by D. M. Cornish
Omnibus, 2008
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