A Peculiar Peril
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
A Peculiar Peril is a head-spinning epic about three friends on a quest to protect the world from a threat as unknowable as it is terrifying, from the Nebula Award–winning and New York Times bestselling author of Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer.
Jonathan Lambshead stands to inherit his deceased grandfather’s overstuffed mansion—a veritable cabinet of curiosities—once he and two schoolmates catalog its contents. But the three soon discover that the house is filled with far more than just oddities: It holds clues linking to an alt-Earth called Aurora, where the notorious English occultist Aleister Crowley has stormed back to life on a magic-fueled rampage across a surreal, through-the-looking-glass version of Europe replete with talking animals (and vegetables).
Swept into encounters with allies more unpredictable than enemies, Jonathan pieces together his destiny as a member of a secret society devoted to keeping our world separate from Aurora. But as the ground shifts and allegiances change with every step, he and his friends sink ever deeper into a deadly pursuit of the profound evil that is also chasing after them.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Jonathan Lambshead plans to spend his summer inventorying the English countryside manor of his dead grandfather, Dr. Thackery "Thwack" Lambshead a task the 16-year-old orphan must complete before inheriting Thwack's estate. Assisting are classmate Danielle Rackham, 17, and her adopted brother, Dirk Wulf Rackham a grad student with a prosthetic left leg and a damaged right foot. Thwack left Jonathan cryptic instructions regarding bird-children, a quest, and the Order of the Third Door, which Jonathan suspects are dementia-inspired nonsense. Then he finds a portal to Aurora, an alternate Earth full of talking animals and vegetables where warlock Aleister Crowley (aided by his bat-monster familiar and Napoleon's disembodied head) intends to capture an alchemical energy source and use its power to become Lord of Everything actual Earth included unless Jonathan and company can stop him. First in a duology, adult author VanderMeer's sprawling YA debut offers a riotous, slyly sophisticated take on the hero's journey. Boldly drawn characters, sublimely ridiculous worldbuilding, and a witty, prismatic narrative further distinguish the unique tale. Ages 12 up.
