'There was a folded bit of A4 paper wedged into the locker. It saidMICHAEL THOMPSON. Michael slid it out, and flipped it open. It saidI KNOW WHERE ARCASTER IS.That was when the bottom dropped out of everything.'A tale of cowardice, loyalty, danger and death, set partly in a boys' school and partly in a brutal, dangerous world called Evgard.
Michael and Francis are best friends at school, drawn together by their common secret - a complete obsession with creating, crafting, adding to and poring over their joint fantasy world, Evgard. Their friendship is put to the severest test when Michael, thinking that Francis has betrayed their world, takes the cold, deliberate decision not to help Francis when Francis is the victim of a brutal attack. Michael then has to see the consequence of his mistake, and confront his own weaknesses. This absolutely compelling charting of the boys' friendship is reflected in the fantasy world, as the fantasy characters and their actions are a clear mirror of the boys' own actions in the real world. With one difference. In the fantasy world, one of the characters does not survive.
