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

by Sarah Rees Brennan

Overview

When his brother’s life is put in danger, a teen whose family has been on the run as long as he can remember must infiltrate London’s magical underworld in this gripping first book in the Demon’s Lexicon urban fantasy trilogy.

Nick has spent his life fleeing from magicians with his older brother Alan, haunted by a mother who recoils from his touch and the memory of a murdered father. When Alan is branded with a deadly demon mark, the only hope for survival is to kill a magician—a task that plunges them into a deadly game of cat and mouse through the city’s supernatural underworld.

As Nick and Alan navigate the treacherous world of the Goblin Market and confront the sinister Obsidian Circle, Nick begins to suspect his brother has been hiding the truth about their past. Loyalties are tested and betrayal looms, forcing Nick to choose between protecting the only family he has left and facing the possibility that everything he’s believed is a lie.

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 book In Other Lands was a Hugo Award finalist. She lives in Ireland. Visit her at SarahReesBrennan.com.

Editorial Reviews

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