Dark Rise

Will is a sixteen-year-old dock boy on the run from the men who murdered his mother. When an old servant tracks him down and tells him he has a destiny, Will is pulled out of hiding and into a hidden world of magic.

That world belongs to the Stewards, who keep a vigil that has lasted for centuries. The old age of magic has vanished: its heroes are dead, its halls lie in ruins, and its wars between Light and Dark are remembered by almost no one. The Stewards have sworn to protect humanity if the Dark King comes back, and now signs point to his return.

Will is told he has a vital part to play in the battle ahead, and he must train for it. London is the city under threat. As the Dark King's power returns, the reborn heroes and villains of the forgotten war begin to take sides, and their young descendants step into the roles fate has set for them. Old loyalties, old hatreds and old romances wake with them.

The book is a fantasy set in a magical underside of London, with a young hero at its centre and an ensemble of Light and Dark figures around him. Will must side with the last heroes of the Light to stop the doom that ended their world from falling on his.