Far from their homes, thrust together in a mouldering castle under the care of a callous, reclusive wizard, two children - Haskell, son of a wealthy merchant, and uneducated mill worker Agatha - compete to become the wizard's apprentice. But the competition between the rival apprentices is nothing compared to the powers that circle the castle, intent on unlocking the secrets hidden in the wizard's library. Secrets worth lying, stealing - and dying - for.

A nuanced and compelling rivals-to-allies story set in a richly drawn alternative Britain. For readers who love the world and writing of Diana Wynne Jones and the high stakes intrigue of Struan Murray's Dragonborn.