''Wormwood'' is a fantasy sequel to Graham Taylor's ''

Shadowmancer ''Shadowmancer'' is a fantasy novel by G. P. Taylor, first published privately in 2002. It is a Christian allegory in the form of a fantasy adventure, akin to C. S. Lewis' ''The Chronicles of Narnia''. Taylor wrote the book to counteract what h ...

''. It follows the adventures of Dr. Sabian Blake and his servant girl, Agetta Lamian. It is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

allegory. Like its predecessor, it was criticised for attacking other religions. Taylor professed that the work was against the

kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...

, which he saw as a practice that lead to Satan.

Plot

The story takes place in London, where Dr. Sabian Blake is sitting in his attic at the top of his house in

Bloomsbury Square Bloomsbury Square is a garden square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, London. Developed in the late 17th century, it was initially known as Southampton Square and was one of the earliest London squares. By the early 19th century, Be ...

, looking out to space through his telescope, in search of a special star. He is told about this star by ''The Nemorensis'', an ancient book that holds many old and powerful secrets. It has predicted that the comet Wormwood (which was foretold in the

book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of R ...

) is hurtling towards the earth, and would spell certain doom for London and all other lands around her. As Blake is observing this, a series of cataclysmic and destructive events, referred to as a 'sky-quake', hits the city, the aftermath of which involves horses and dogs going completely mad and attacking everyone in sight. The reason for these happenings was that the power of the Keruvim was being used in the north by the evil Pyratheon, in his vain attempt to overthrow Riathamus. We are then introduced to Agetta Lamian, Blake's servant-girl, whose father Cadmus Lamian owns a lodging house on

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

. Eventually it transpires that Pyratheon's evil sister, Yerzinia, is using the Nemorensis to call down the comet and reshape the devastated London in her own, dark image.

References

External links

BBC North Yorkshire: Preview of Wormwood
2004 British novels 2004 children's books Children's fantasy novels British children's novels Christian allegory Novels about impact events Novels set in London Faber and Faber books {{2000s-child-fantasy-novel-stub