Lamplighter (Monster Blood Tattoo, Book Two) (D M Cornish, Scholastic, $29.99 hb, ISBN 9781862916876, May) *****

Joy of joys, a sequel that lives up to the first novel! Cornish’s second novel of the series about his oddly named hero Rossamünd Bookchild continues with ever more harrowing adventures. For those unfamiliar with Cornish, he writes dense and chewy fiction. While immensely satisfying to read, the sheer amount of detail about his creation included by Cornish can sometimes be overwhelming. I advise reading the book in smaller chunks rather than trying to devour it in one sitting. I think it is perfect
for the 11-plus voracious and/or precocious reader—dense enough to keep them occupied for a while while set at the right emotional age. Rossamünd is a tremendously satisfying hero. Still smaller than everyone else, he is staunch in the face of every threat and best of all, sensible. Cornish does us the immense favour of creating a hero with depth of character, capable of acting with decisive action or with a kind and generous heart. However, the mystery about Rossamünd’s true origins—surely that fact that he has a girl’s name is no coincidence—becomes more and more pressing until finally, it is the question upon which this volume closes. A thoroughly satisfying cliffhanger ending to that most difficult thing—the middle book of a trilogy.

Liz Riley is a former bookseller and now works for the Australian Booksellers Association

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

Tags: dm cornish