The Lily-Livered Prince
Tales from Schwartzgarten Series
Author: Christopher William Hill
Book 3 in the Tales from Schwartzgarten series
Pages: 304
Published: 2014
Age: 10+
Following the deaths of Marius's parents in a cable car accident in an alpine town outside Schwartzgarten, the boy is sent to Schwartzgarten to live with his Great Uncle, the 96-year-old chocolate maker, M. Kalvitas. But is the city a safe place for orphans to live? The Department of Police has reports that children are being abducted and smuggled from the city - but how, and more importantly, why?
When Marius encounters the Band of Blood, a group of orphaned children who live in a dilapidated hotel in Schwartzgarten's mysterious Old Town, it seems they have a theory to explain the abductions. Could it be that the new chocolate shop in the artisan quarter of the city is a front for the kidnappings?
Time is running out before they themselves are dragged from the dark city streets and spirited out of the city. Luckily, the members of the Band of Blood have Great Uncle Kalvitas on their side. But is Kalvitas really the ancient war hero he claims to be and can he save his Great Nephew from the abductors?
About the Tales from Schwartzgarten Series
Books in series order
- 1.Osbert the Avenger(2012)
- 2.The Woebegone Twins(2013)
- 3.The Lily-Livered Prince(2014)
- 4.Marius and the Band of Blood(2015)
Reading age: 10+ years
If you prefer cleavers to kittens and fiends to fairies, then welcome to the gruesomely funny Tales from Schwartzgarten.
Schwartzgarten is a strange city with an even stranger collection of inhabitants. It might remind you of Prague or Paris in the 1920s - only with more murder, mischief and mayhem.
The dark humour of Tales from Schwartgarten will appeal to fans of Adam Gidwitz and Lemony Snicket. Certain elements are also evocative of some of Roald Dahl's darker tales, such as Matilda, but don't expect any 'happily ever after...' in the city of Schwartzgarten. You have been warned...