Young Adult (View all)
'If you go to sea, you will come to the attention of the Ship Kings. And if they discover who you are, they will kill you.' Young Dow Amber is no sailor. But driven by a strange sea-longing he ventures down to the great grim bay known as the Claw. He hopes to learn there of seafaring, but he finds only a fearful people who scarcely dare sail at all, for they have been cursed by a monstrous whirlpool that haunts the bay, stealing away their sons.Then the rulers of all the world - the proud and cruel Ship Kings - arrive in the Claw. Dow is fascinated by their fine tall vessels, and even more so by a mysterious girl who lives aboard their flagship.It is a perilous attraction to be sure, but could it be that his future somehow lies with the Ship Kings? Or will he be called upon to descend to his death, when the terrible whirlpool rises once more?
Guest Reviewer: Tim Wohlers-Reichel
November Release
This is a great read about a young boy Dow, who grows up in a logging town in the Highlands of New Island, one of the Four Islands ruled by the Ship Kings. As a little boy he always wanted to do something different, and not be a lumberjack like his father, which was what his parents wanted. In the first year of Dow’s ‘manhood’ he ventures with his father and the rest of the men from the village up to the great plateau to chop wood. As they work towards the North of the great plateau, Dow glimpses it for the first time, and is automatically entranced. After a few years spent woodcutting, Dow decides he wants to be a fisherman in the Claw, a bay renowned for its grimness. Before he can do this the village holds a council to decide his fate. During this council he discovers a great family secret that connects him very strongly with the ocean. Although Dow is happy to go to the ocean, strange things await him in the Claw. A great read for 12+ with in-depth descriptive detail and a first-rate sense of history.