Charlotte E English

From the author of Wyrde and Wayward and Modern Magick: a collection of cosy, uplifting stories about an eccentric wizard, an irascible dragon, and the most unlikely of friendships. Welcome to the strangest place you've never been-and the most marvellous.There's a castle up there in the sky, held aloft by wizardry and dreams. It's the home of the most curious court in all the land; a place of queens and princes, scholars and bards, sylphs and scullery maids-not to mention the Wizard himself.Come visit. You're as like as not to find the princess in the kitchens, spinning subtleties out of sugar. The wizard's in his study, consulting with the spell-books, and the furniture. The king's in the gardens with his roses; the queen is in her solar, where the plants, dream-woven, grow in every shape and colour. Meet Jessamine, a small dragon with a heart the size of the castle itself. Meet Paglar the cook, Tambul, the wizard's apprentice; the best-of-all-chairs, and the wizard's favourite carpet. Meet the sylphs, causing havoc in the Potionery. It's the mad Court at Castle Chansany and everyone is welcome. Tea's served at three, and there's a banquet after. Don't be late Collected together for the first time, these sixteen tales of life at the curious castle explore relationships, belonging, and what it means to be human-and a little bit strange...

The enigmatic Society returns in a riotously funny new adventure from the author of Wyrde and Wayward Things have been quiet at the Society lately. Too quiet. It couldn't possibly last.When a griffin appeared in the Yorkshire skies, it could only mean bad news. There's only one place in Britain it could have come from and that's the lost kingdom of Farringale. It's a dire warning, and there's worse to come. Turns out we aren't the only people with an interest in the age-old city of the trolls. Farringale lies under attack-and these people will stop at nothing to take control of its treasures.It's time for a showdown-the deathly serious kind. The outcome will determine the fate of Farringale, once and for all-and the fate of British magick, too. The pressure's on. It's going to take everything we've got, and it still might not be enough.But we're not without our wiles. Turns out the secret weapon we're looking for might actually be: me. Ves, Jay and the Society face their biggest challenge yet in this dazzling conclusion to the series

Have you been to Castle Chansany? If you have, perhaps it's time to go back. There's strangeness afoot up there in the clouds. Something odd has got into the cakes; the sylphs are plotting fresh mischief; and if you look carefully, there might be an ancient Wizard to be found, slumbering somewhere sleepish, and in disguise.Moreover, Castle Chansany is on the move. Where can it be going? Well, nobody aboard could tell you. You'll have to visit, to find out... This second collection in the tales of the Castle features five new stories: Strangeness AloftKnaveryAmong His Majesty's RosesBaldringa's BlunderSylphish and StrangeContains: dragons and disasters, magic and misdeeds, wizards and wiles, and smiles aplenty. Don't miss the first stories of Jessamine the dragon, Garstang the Wizard, and Their Various Majesties, in volume one

Welcome to the Grand Masquerade Ball for the Wyrde...and Wondrous It's time to party like it's 1820, and you know what that means. Rout cakes and punch, satins and silks, and flirting on the balcony under a star-washed sky. Decorous. Genteel. Lovely.Nobody knows who's throwing this bash, but who cares? It's the party of the century, and everyone who's anyone is going to be there.Including, astonishingly, the Werths. Famous recluses they may be, but who can resist a mystery and a waltz? Not that everyone's on their best behaviour. There's a jewel thief in the wings with an eye for diamonds, and somebody's been mad enough to turn Gussie loose, to boot. It's going to be a party to die for. Hopefully not literally, but with the Werths, you never know...The weird and wonderful Werths are back - and letting their hair down in style WARNING, this adventure contains: cotillions and cravats (complicated); jewels and jokes (scintillating); and the undead and the unwed (misbehaving, as usual). Fetch your dance card and your shoe-roses and join the fray... Don't miss the previous adventures of Werth, in: Wyrde and WaywardWyrde and WickedWyrde and Wild

It's all very well deciding to build the means to save British magick. Top marks for ambitious goals ...But there are one or two obstacles in the way. For one, said means does not yet exist, and it'll take a genius to sort that one out. Luckily, we've got one of those. We call him Orlando.For another, nothing at all can be built without materials, and no common-or-garden commodities will do. It's got to be silver. The impossibly rare, virtually extinct kind. This one's on me, Val and Jay. So it's down into the depths of history in search of the answer. Could the crackpot alchemists of ages past really turn lead into magickal silver?Everyone says it's impossible. But if we can't find a way to conquer the impossible, what's to become of magick?

Rumour's got a lot to say for itself, and the message is clear: the regulator's ready. You know. The magickal regulator. The bright and shiny thing with which we, Team Improbable, propose to restore magick to a fading Britain.Somebody's got to test it, and that somebody is us. Which means wading into the depths of a long-dead realm that nobody's entered in centuries. And I may have had some practice at that, but this time it's different.This time, somebody's still home. And they really aren't happy about trespassers. Looks like disaster's on the agenda. Again. Not to worry, though. Where there's life, there's hope. And... dancing.Ves and Jay return in a fresh bout of magickal madness Grab your dancing shoes and hang onto your hat. It's going to be wild.

We're all mad here...Dispatched overseas - far, far overseas - we're in hot water. Again.Following in the footsteps of a long-lost king, we're on the road to the mysterious Vales of Wonder. The upside? It's a hot-bed of magickal marvels, the likes of which we've literally never seen before. The downside? Danger. Because who ever said adventure would be easy? Fortunately, we have help. One reviled but aggravatingly handy beast specialist: check. One world-famous, awe-inspiring, purple-clad troll scholar: check. One perambulatory, half-mad house with a crush on Jay: check.Not to mention a magickal pup, an even more magickal unicorn, a talking book, a jewelled scroll-case map, a magic Wand, an ethereal faerie lyre, and an excitingly untested tool from the Society's own hermit genius. With an arsenal like that, the mission can only be an unqualified success. Right...?

Stranded far from home, and unable to return, I am in bigger trouble than ever. I know I say that a lot, but this time it's really true. Not that there aren't advantages to my particular predicament. If one must put up with a dangerous degree of magickal potency, one is duty-bound to... put it to use, no? Who knows what could happen? Certainly nothing insane, irresponsible and potentially life-threatening. As if.But we'll need every possible advantage in the Hyndorin Mountains. For there, hidden behind layers of secrets, could be the answers we are looking for. Answers, questions, and dangers - and the kind of disobliging foe who just won't stop coming back.Aided by the serene Emellana (still enigmatic), the delicious Baron (still charming), and the animal-loving Miranda (still irascible), can Jay and I find the way to save modern magick?

"Fun" for all the family...I haven't heard from my mother in six years - which is why I was surprised to receive a summons from her. The peremptory kind. With nothing but a set of map co-ordinates to guide me, what exactly was I to expect?The short answer? Trouble, for Mother Dearest is in rather a lot of it. And like daughter, like mother, for there's a shiny artefact in the offing, and only a few gigantic lindworms in the way. Who isn't up for a minor little challenge like that? It's off to Faerie with us, for the artefact in question was once the property of the legendary King Evelaern; and who doesn't love a nice bit of ancient royal treasure?Only as it turns out, the declining kingdom of the Yllanfalen may hold some unexpected truths about my past...