The Demon's Lexicon (Demon's Lexicon Series #1)

by Sarah Rees Brennan

Overview

Nick’s family has been on the run from magicians his whole life. His father is dead, and his insane mother hates him—she starts screaming if he touches her. After Nick’s protective older brother is marked with a demon sign that means death, danger is unavoidable. The only way to erase the sign is to kill a magician.

As Nick and his brother play a deadly cat and mouse game with the magicians, Nick begins to suspect that everything his brother has told him about their past is a pack of lies. Not knowing whom to trust or where to turn, he walks into a trap—and a startling revelation that changes everything he’s ever believed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416963806
Publisher:	Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication date:	04/27/2010
Series:	Demon's Lexicon Series , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	322
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.10(d)
Lexile:	HL830L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Sarah Rees Brennan is the New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Unspoken and The Demon’s Lexicon trilogy. Her most recent book, In Other Lands, was a Hugo Award finalist. She lives in Ireland. Visit her at SarahReesBrennan.com.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 9 Up–In this riveting debut novel, 16-year-old Nick and his older brother, Alan, are accustomed to life on the run. Since their father was murdered, the boys have been forced to slay demons set on them by magicians seeking the powerful charm stolen by the boys’ mother. Nick is furious when Alan receives a “first-tier” demon mark while saving a neighborhood boy. While seeking to remove it, Nick begins to suspect that his brother is lying to him about the reason for the magicians’ attempts to kill them and about why their mother screams whenever Nick touches her. Fans of the Supernatural television series will be hooked from the novel’s opening lines (“The pipe under the sink was leaking again. It wouldn’t have been so bad, except that Nick kept his favorite sword under the sink.”). Even teens who don’t consider themselves genre buffs will appreciate the solid writing, fast-paced plot, and sense of authenticity that Brennan gives to the shadowy world between ordinary, modern-day London and the otherworld of demons and magicians. Though Nick and Alan’s story is mostly resolved with Nick discovering the truth behind his father’s death and his mother’s fear of him, readers will no doubt clamor for the next book in this planned urban fantasy trilogy.–Leah J. Sparks, formerly at Bowie Public Library, MD

School Library Journal

A fresh voice dancing between wicked humor and crepuscular sumptuousness invigorates this urban fantasy. Askew of everyday England there lies a darker world, where power-hungry magicians sacrifice innocents to demons and their victims peddle protection with like ruthlessness. Nick Ryves has spent all of his 16 years therein, perpetually on the run, his father murdered, his mother driven mad, his crippled older brother the only person he can trust. When two desperate teens seek out their aid, he will find the last few certainties of his life stripped away. Nick is an astonishing protagonist: vicious, deadly, callous, nearly feral, all but consumed with rage, yet rendered irresistibly attractive by his mordant wit, his clear-eyed recognition of his flaws and his terrified bafflement at his own fleeting moments of tenderness. Every character hides secrets, every conversation hints at double and triple meanings. From the pitch-perfect opening paragraph to the heartbreaking final pages, the narrative peels back layers of revelation, deftly ratcheting up the tension and horror to a series of shattering climaxes. The conclusion, while utterly satisfying, also leaves room for the story to continue. Delicious. (Fantasy. YA)

Kirkus Reviews

"The Demon's Lexicon is full of shimmery marvels and bountiful thunder." — Scott Westerfeld

"Sarah Rees Brennan crafts a twisty tale full of surprises." — Holly Black

"Witty, dark, and moving, this novel will keep your eyes glued to the pages." — Cassandra Clare

"From the pitch-perfect opening paragraph to the heartbreaking final pages, the narrative peels back layers of revelation, deftly ratcheting up the tension and horror to a series of shattering climaxes. Delicious." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

This debut urban fantasy, set in an England where magic is real, the first entry in The Demon's Lexicon Trilogy, starts with a bang. One minute Nick is fixing the sink in the kitchen while his older brother cooks. The next mintues the two are fighting for their lives, Nick with a sword and Alan with a gun, against an unkindness of ravens and a powerful magician. Killing the magician stops the attack, but it is a temporary respite. The two teens are demon slayers, in hiding to protect their ailing mother, an escaped magician. Now that Black Arthur has found them, flight is their only hope; however, before they can flee, a teenage girl asks for their help. Her younger brother has a three-tiered demon mark, a sentence of death, unless it can be removed. Nick's priority is to protect his brother, who has looked after him since their father was killed by demons. But Alan decides to share the demon marks, leaving Nick no choice but to find the magicians responisble. Until then, Mae and Jamie will have to flee and fight beside them.

Nonstop action, nail-biting supsense, clever rapartee, and a knockout secret involving the two brothers will keep readers on the edges of their seats. There is resolution at the end, but it is just the first stage of the battle. More dangerous challenges await these two intrepid fighters in The Demon's Covenant. Fans of the paranormal and the Supernatural television series are going to enjoy the adventures of these demon-fighting brothers, but so will aficionados of sharp writing, complex characters, fast-paced plots, teen angst, and the struggle between good and evil.

——VOYA April 2010

From the Publisher

James Langton narrates the story of Nick and his brother, Alan, two teenagers on the run from magicians and their demon servants. Unlike Alan, Nick is not afraid of the magicians, even when their leader turns out to be his father. Nick does not feel anything except anger, and Langton captures this emotion perfectly, along with the fear of a young girl, and the love of an older brother. The tempting voices of the demons and the sly voice of Nick's father roll off Langton's tongue, while Nick is convincing as an angst-filled, dangerous teenager. Peppered with typical British irony, this production is so well done that even Langton seems surprised by the final twist. R.A. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2009 - AudioFile