The Daemon Parallel

Roy Gill

Price:	£5.99
Publication Date:	22 Mar 2012
Availability:	Available to buy

It was over coffee and biscuits that Grandma Ives offered to return Cameron's father from the dead...

Cameron never came to visit his grandma when his dad was alive -- and he's just found out the reason why. Sent to stay with her after his father's death, Grandma Ives soon reveals their family's extraordinary abilities, and introduces him to the dark side of Edinburgh he never knew existed -- the Daemon Parallel.

Cameron is sent on dangerous missions in Edinburgh's daemon underworld to find the ingredients for an ancient spell that will bring his dad back to life. Cameron befriends a werewolf, bargains with a giant bat-like beast, and struggles to escape the clutches of a powerful spider daemon. But will he survive long enough to finish the resurrection spell? And who can he trust in a world where nothing is what it seems?

Reviews

'Edinburgh is conjured brilliantly and beautifully here, and we can really believe in it as a place suffused by magic. Whenever Cameron steps sideways into the Parallel, the world around him alters and shifts and familiar places are strangely transformed. I loved the scenes in the old department store on Princess Street – which becomes a kind of forest cathedral, where antlered beings tend to a sleeping Winter God … I adored this novel. I really, really want it to be the first in a sequence. I want it to be a boxed set of novels that are just about falling apart with repeated rereadings. That's how much I enjoyed this first one.'
-- Paul Magrs, March 2012

'The writing was beautiful, and the story as promising and yummy as a piece of cake you're about to sink your spoon into! And it got better and better. Cameron, the main character, is a loveable, thoughtful, brave little boy whom I fell for at once … This is one of the things I love about this book: it's an action adventure, full of magic and danger and werewolves, but it's also the story of a little boy's soul, and his struggles to tell friend from foe in a world that’s difficult to decipher … You can say the main character in this book has to share the limelight with the other main character, the city of Edinburgh -- so much more than a setting. Edinburgh truly comes alive under Roy's pen, and it's a mysterious, dark, ancient place -- exactly like I see it … I never put ratings to my books before, but I'm going to put a rating on this one: a milky way of stars for The Daemon Parallel, and one of the best books I've read in a long time.'
-- Daniela Sacerdoti, April 2012


'For a werewolf/daemon fantasy with a difference, set in Edinburgh, you can't do better … This could be a standalone novel. Or I can see how it could be the start of more deamonish happenings.'
-- The Bookwitch, April 2012

'With more twists and turns than a basilisk, and a truly exciting ending that kept me on the edge of my seat, The Daemon Parallel gripped me throughout and made me long for a sequel.'
-- kidsreadbooks, May 2012

About the Author(s)

Roy Gill was born in Edinburgh, and has a PhD from Stirling University on the topic of media fandom. He has taught English and Film at Stirling and Strathclyde, and also worked front-of-house in a theatre. He has always enjoyed writing, and has published articles, reviews and short fiction in books and journals such as Critical Quarterly, Creeping Flesh and Fractured West. In 2009/10 he won a New Writer's Award from the Scottish Book Trust.

Useful Things to Know

The Daemon Parallel was shortlisted for Floris Books' Kelpies Prize for new Scottish writing for children. Find out more about the Kelpies Prize and send your manuscript: next year, it could be your book being published!

Don't miss the Discover Kelpies website for children with exclusive author interviews, fun stuff and latest gossip on your favourite Scottish stories.