Steve Alton

Dragged reluctantly along on a family vacation to Dorset, Sam at first hopes to pass a quiet time playing his video games and ignoring his parents. But when he accidentally awakens the wizard Amergin, asleep for thousands of years in a local barrow, he finds himself at the center of a fantastic struggle against the Malifex, the malevolent and evil spirit of death and decay.

Alton pairs an engaging story with strong folkloric elements, from the Arthurian legends to the Wild Hunt, making this one of the best "Wiccan" style fantasies to come along in a while. The philosophical ideas put forward about balance between good and evil are exactly the kind of "neo-paganism" that the conservative Christian critics seem to find so offensive in some contemporary fantasy.… (meer)