A dark, dazzling, tragi-comic tale of childhood wonder, time-travelling poets and theoretical physics - joint winner of the inaugural Terry Pratchett Prize.
On the eve of Granny Hazel’s burial in the back garden, a stranger in his time machine – a machine that bears an uncanny resemblance to a Morris Minor – visits five year-old Edward with a strange request.
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Summary
A dark, dazzling, tragi-comic tale of childhood wonder, time-travelling poets and theoretical physics - joint winner of the inaugural Terry Pratchett Prize.
On the eve of Granny Hazel’s burial in the back garden, a stranger in his time machine – a machine that bears an uncanny resemblance to a Morris Minor – visits five year-old Edward with a strange request.
Description
A dark, dazzling, tragi-comic tale of childhood wonder, time-travelling poets and theoretical physics - joint winner of the inaugural Terry Pratchett Prize.On the eve of Granny Hazel's burial in the back garden, a stranger in his time machine - a machine that bears an uncanny resemblance to a Morris Minor - visits five year-old Edward with a strange request. And Edward agrees to be his friend.But Edward is not alone in the world. His twin sister Sophia is about to bring future tragedy upon herself through an all-too-literal misunderstanding of a promise she's made to their father.So while Sophia stays at home, seemingly condemned to spend the rest of her days in The Manse - a world untouched by modern trappings - Edward is sent to boarding school. There he encounters the kind and the not-so-kind, and meets the strangest child. His name is Alf, and Alf is a boy whose very existence would seem to hint at universes of unlimited possibilities...and who might one day help Edward liberate Sophia.With its Gothic backdrop, Half-Sick of Shadows is a novel of many parts- at once a comical tragedy, a dark and dazzlingly told tale of childhood wonder and dismay, of familial dysfunction, of poetry, the imagination and theoretical physics.
Critic Reviews
“A wonderful fantasy”
A most excellent writer -- TERRY PRATCHETT
Brilliantly witty...highly entertaining SFX magazine
Brilliantly written, darkly humorous and often touching SCI-FI NOW magazine
BELFAST TELEGRAPH
About the Author
Born in Belfast in 1960, David Logan underwent neurosurgery in childhood and lost most of his hearing as a result. He left school at sixteen and worked briefly in various unskilled jobs before returning to full-time education - he has a BSc in Sociology and an MA in Ethics and the Philosophy of Religion from the University of Ulster, and also a BA in English Literature and Language from the Open University. He has written fiction for the SF, Horror and Fantasy small presses and has edited and published his own magazine. David and his wife live in Carrickfergus but escape to sunnier lands at every opportunity. When in Carrickfergus, David can be found loitering in coffee bars, staring out of windows, dreaming up ever more fantastical excuses for not going to the gym - again.
Back Cover
On the eve of Granny Hazel's burial in the back garden, a stranger in his time machine (that bears an uncanny resemblance to a Morris Minor) visits five year-old Edward with a strange request. Edward agrees to be his friend. But Edward has a twin sister, Sophia, who is about to bring future tragedy upon herself thanks to an all-too-literal misunderstanding of a promise made to their father. And so Sophia stays at home in The Manse while Edward is sent to boarding school. There he encounters the kind and the not-so-kind, and befriends the strangest child, Alf - a boy whose very existence seems to hint at universes of unlimited possibilities and who might one day help Edward liberate Sophia. A comical tragedy, a tale of childhood wonder (and despair), of familial dysfunction, of poetry, of the imagination and theoretical physics, this novel is all of these and rather more besides.
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