Kernel Fleck's a
lonely child. He's
always been
different -- he can
see strange patches
of light in the air
around him. Other
kids think he's mad.
But when he manages
to link some of the
lights together, he
creates a window
into another
universe, and
disappears for
several days. When
he returns, his
memory a blank, his
panicked parents
whisk Kernel and his
younger brother,
Art, away from their
home, off to an
isolated village, to
start a new life.
One year later,
Kernel is enjoying
himself. Life is
good. Until one day
a crazy old woman
summons a demon. The
beast slaughters
many of the
children, then
kidnaps one of them
and retreats back to
its own universe.
The child it has
kidnapped is Art.
Can Kernel find the
courage to step
through the window
after the demon in a
desperate attempt to
rescue his brother?
And if so, what
wonders and terrors
will he discover in
the crazy, barbaric
universe of the
evil, twisted
Demonata?!? Find you
when you read "Book
2 of The Demonata --
Demon Thief".
It hits the world
first in the U.K.
and Ireland in
January 2006!!!!
AUTHOR NOTES
"Demon Thief" is set
roughly 30 years
before the events
described in "Lord
Loss" -- so Grubbs
Grady isn't in it!!
The single biggest
difference between
"The Demonata" and
"The Saga" is that I
have 3 main
characters in this
series. Grubbs was
the first, and we
saw the story of
book 1 through his
eyes. Kernel is the
second, and he takes
up the narrative
reins in book 2. The
third is a girl --
we'll be meeting her
in book 4!!! The
advantage of having
3 different
narrators is that
any one of them can
pick up the story in
later books. In "The
Saga" readers always
knew that no matter
how perilous the
situation, Darren
would pull through
and survive. He had
to, since he was the
person telling the
tale!!! But here,
the rules are
different. If one of
the 3 main
story-tellers
perishes, the other
pair can carry on
regardless. That
means that any of
the 3 main
characters can die
at any stage along
the line .......
Although the book is
a prequel to "Lord
Loss", and Grubbs
isn't in it, a
couple of familiar
faces from the first
book will pop up --
perhaps in
unexpected
fashion!!!
We don't learn a
huge amount about
demons and magic in
the first book. Lots
of questions go
unanswered -- where
do magicians get
their magical powers
from? What is the
universe of the
Demonata like? How
do demons cross from
their universe into
ours? And if they're
so powerful, why
haven't they wiped
out humanity?
This books answers
all those questions,
and a whole lot
more! It also lays
the seeds for what
is to follow in
later books. At
first it might seem
to tie in only very
loosely with "Lord
Loss" and the next
couple of books in
the series, but by
the time of books 5
and 6, you'll see
how everything
connects, and all
the various
plot-lines and ideas
will start to come
smoothly together.
If that sounds
complicated, don't
worry -- it isn't!!!
Each book in this
series is meant to
be read as a
stand-alone novel.
You can read "Demon
Thief" without
having read "Lord
Loss" and be able to
easily follow
everything that
happens. It's the
same with books 3
and 4. As you
progress through the
series, you'll start
to see a bigger
picture emerge, and
ideas and plot-lines
will click together.
But in the meantime,
each book is
designed to be read
and enjoyed by
itself.
"Demon Thief" was
actually the
sixth
book of "The
Demonata" that I
wrote!!! Like I said
in the Book 1 notes,
I didn't plan to
write a series. The
second book that I
wrote, in 2003, was
set sixteen hundred
years in the past
(!!!) and, among
other things,
explained how Lord
Loss developed his
love of chess!! That
has become book 4 of
"The Demonata".
After that, I wrote
2 more novels
(a two-part story),
which have become
books 5 and 6. Then
I decided to write
another book, set
between "Lord Loss"
and the new novels.
This ended up as
book 3 of the
series.
As I was writing all
of these books, the
overall storyline
was slowly coming
together inside my
mind. It was a
dicovery process --
only by writing the
books did I manage
to figure out what
the BIG story was!!
I could sense a
huge, single story
lurking somewhere in
the tangled web of
first drafts, but I
couldn't see the
overall puzzle. The
final piece clicked
into place when I
had the idea for
"Demon Thief".
Suddenly everything
became clear, and I
saw how to link all
the books up and
make them work as a
single, massive
story. It meant a
lot of re-writing
and re-working of
the books I'd
already written, but
that was OK -- the
final result will
hopefully be worth
such literary
contortions!!!!
It was a bit like
when I came up with
the idea of the
Vampaneze and the
War of the Scars
when I was writing
"The Saga" -- when I
wrote the first 2
books of "The Saga",
I had no idea that I
could spin out a
large-scale story;
it was only when I
started to plan book
3 that I realised
how far I could take
things. The
difference here was,
I'd already written
the next four books
in the series!!!!!
The period of my
life from when I
started to edit
"Lord Loss" to when
I came up with the
idea for "Demon
Thief"
(approximately early
2003 to late 2004)
was an exciting,
chaotic and often
frustrating time for
me. I had lots of
ideas for
demon-related books,
but I didn't know
which book I should
release after "Lord
Loss", or if they
would all link up
and make sense.
Sometimes I thought
I should junk them
all and move on to
something
different!!! But
when I had the idea
for "Demon Thief",
everything fell
neatly into place,
and I realised that
not only had I not
been wasting my time
for the past 2 years
-- I'd actually
created something
original and
multi-layered ... a
story which is told
by three different
characters ... which
moves backwards and
forwards in time ...
which covers lots of
ground, ideas and
themes ... which
deals with some very
complicated issues
... but in which
each book is as easy
and exciting to read
as any of my vampire
books.
For me, "Demon
Thief" is one of the
most enjoyable books
I've ever written --
partly because I was
so relieved to have
finally worked out
all the secrets of
the universe of
ideas which I'd
created! It's a big,
action-packed,
demon-filled
rollercoaster of a
book, that barely
slows down for even
an instant. If you
like reading it even
half as much as I
enjoyed writing it,
you're in for a
page-turning,
heart-pounding
treat!!!
