Earthfasts

Rating:
Summary: Stunning Young-Adult British Fantasy Great for Adults
Review: EARTHFASTS is, despite all the horror novels out there, the most truly and subtly terrifying book I have ever read.

Two modern British boys are caught up in a growing wave of ancient magic in the English countryside. Standing stones walk; strange things are heard in the earth and air; a pale-flamed candle gives them disturbing visions that draw them further from the world they know.

In the caves beneath, a King sleeps until his people need him again. But a curious drummer-boy, from the garrison of a castle long since in ruins, has disturbed the King's rest too soon. Can our heroes set the world right before it is destroyed?

One thing I really liked about this book is that the risen magics are never fully explained and named. Instead of a pat answer to everything, we have archetypal patterns and echoes, mysteries and hidden things. Fear and wonder, not simple explanations, are the core of this fantastic book.