Obscura Book 1: The Boy, the Girl and the Wooden Box

by Shane Emmett, Josephine Emmett (Editor)

Overview

Our story begins in complete darkness with a death and a vanishing. A man mysteriously drowns in the River Seine and two children enter a dingy sideshow but never come out.

In the shadowed world of the Obscura, everything that was once light is now dark and nothing is as it seems. The Gaslampers enforce brutal laws and terrorise the city with their wolves. The Calibrators attempt to resist the evil while they await the return of their hero, the Aigle. And the children desperately search for a way home.

But Phillipe and Angelique didn't arrive here by accident. The Maire of the Obscura sought them out for a dark purpose. With no way of getting out, the only man who may be able to save them is their father. A simple man whose quiet, gentle ways could not possibly triumph in this dark, violent world.

The boy, the girl and the wooden box is the first book in the Obscura trilogy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781684119813
Publisher:	Tar & Feather Publishing
Publication date:	03/15/2020
Series:	Obscura , #1
Pages:	228
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.52(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

Editorial Reviews

'Courage is not born of heroism, it is born from fear and necessity.' Shane Emmett weaves a story of love and courage, deceit and betrayal, atonement and sacrifice through the streets of Paris in an inverted world. Hidden chests, stories and whispers, the powerful amnesia of fear and the disease of curiosity combine as Phillipe and Angelique - brother and sister - are caught up in a family drama beyond their imagining.

Neil Pierson- Centre for Marketing Schools

Genuinely one of the best books i've read in a long time. I was intrigued from start to end. The incorporation of steam punk and the story set in Paris, gives it a unique style reminiscent of Cirque de Soleil's Kurios. The characters and storyline were truly gripping. I can't wait to read the next book in the series. Kudos to the author! Absolutely brilliant!

Maddy Moses- Amazon Reader

This new young adult novel by author Shane Emmett takes us into a dystopian parallel Paris where the light is as murky as the true backstories and motivations of the main characters themselves. Many things are hidden here, and everything is upside down - the church, the hospitals, science itself, all have become instruments of repression instead of progress and light. It is clear that this is the first in an intended trilogy - while a standalone story in its own right, hints are given of a broader world, and larger conflicts, that will obviously be explored in future books.

Both Parisian settings - the historical 19th Century, and the upside down version of the Obscura - are well realised. There is a pleasing sense of place as the main protagonists, brother and sister Phillipe and Angelique, seek to understand the mystery of this new world, and how their own family's history is so tightly bound to it. There are several exciting action-packed sequences that play out in and around well-known Parisian landmarks. Emmett has an eye for the visual - the Gaslampers, the soldiers of the oppressive regime in the Obscura, make for a particularly vividly drawn threat.

The writing style seeks to emulate the narrative voice of the historical period, which largely works though I sometimes found it got in the way of the flow of the action with its wordiness. The alternative world is intriguing, and I hope for more glimpses into how it functions in future volumes. To what extent are things what they seem? An imaginative and action-packed addition to the genre of young adult parallel world fiction.

Timothy Bowden- author Freaks and Greeks

From the Publisher