The Grave Robber's Apprentice
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4.0 • 4 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Hans doesn’t know who he is or where he came from. When he was a baby, he washed ashore in a wooden box and was adopted by the conniving grave robber Knobbe the Bent. Now fate has thrown him together with Angela von Schwanenberg, a young countess fleeing for her life from the evil Archduke Arnulf and his dreaded Necromancer. Together, these friends go on a daring quest to discover Hans’s true identity and save Angela’s parents from the archduke.
Join Hans and Angela on their grand adventure as they ride through the depths of the great forest, sled down a mountain in a coffin and sneak along the secret passageways of the archduke’s palace. The Grave Robber’s Apprentice is a world of highwaymen, hermits and dancing bears—and of a boy separated
from his family by the sea.
In this world anything is possible with luck and imagination—even for a grave robber’s apprentice.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Stratton (Borderline) invokes Shakes-pearean themes and influences to offer a fast-paced, entertaining historical fantasy. Found adrift in a wooden chest as a baby, Hans was adopted by the notorious grave robber Knobbe the Bent; at 13, he is chafing at the gruesome business of stealing from the dead. Angela is a teenage countess with a passion for puppetry and plays, who is unwillingly promised to the evil archduke Arnulf. Her plan to escape his clutches causes her to join forces with Hans, as they flee from the archduke and the wicked Necromancer. What they find are a band of reclusive monks with a secret, a family of traveling performers and their trained bears, and a group of unusually talented outlaws. As identities are revealed and prophecies fulfilled, it all comes down to some clever stage work to confront the archduke once and for all. While the target audience is likely to anticipate some of the twists, this clever tale hits all the right notes. It has the feel of a classic adventure story without rehashing overly familiar elements. Ages 10 up.
