The Black Amulet by J. R. Wallis publishes in paperback today with Simon & Schuster.
This is the author’s second middle-grade adventure to be set in the dark and thrilling Badlands series, with plans to form the series into a trilogy.
Picking up immediately from where The Boy With One Name ended, Jones and his two friends Ruby and Thomas Gabriel struggle to assimilate to ‘normal’ life outside the Badlands realm. Desperate to improve their fate, the trio embark on a dangerous quest in search of a mythical ancient artefact.
Welcome to the Badlands … a hidden part of our world populated by creatures which most people think exist only in fairy tales and nightmares.
Reunited with his parents, Jones is finally living the ‘normal’ life he’s always wanted. But, despite leaving the Badlands behind, there’s still magic inside him…
His two friends, Ruby and Thomas Gabriel, are struggling with their new lives too; Thomas Gabriel’s magical abilities are fading away and Ruby is realising she might never be accepted as a ‘proper’ Badlander in a world of monster-hunting men.
One thing could help them all – the Black Amulet, a magical artefact hidden for centuries by the most powerful Badlander that ever lived.
But finding it won’t be easy, and using it even harder, because things are never simple when magic is involved…
Ahead of its publication, The Black Amulet received praise from The Lancashire Post who said:
“The ordinary and the extraordinary merge together with thrilling visual intensity in this magical new story in J.R. Wallis’ middle grade adventure series which centres on a fabulous fantasy world and harnesses the universal appeal of Abi Elphinstone and Joseph Delaney’s Lancashire-based Spook books… With an imaginative glossary of Badlander terms to guide readers through the darkness and danger, a plot packed with twists and turns, gripping action and inspirational friendships, this is middle grade fiction at its most exciting best.”
Authors and the media alike have commended the Badlanders series. Abi Elphinstone described it as “delightfully magical and brilliantly told,” while the online children’s platform Lovereading4Kids, recommended it “for fans of Harry Potter, Spook’s Apprentice and Artemis Fowl.”
J. R. Wallis is also the author of The Dark Inside. The YA debut was publishing by Simon & Schuster, and was shortlisted for the prestigious Branford Boase Award in the UK, The Andersen Prize in Italy, and the Edinburgh First Book Award. It was also featured in The Financial Times ‘Summer Reading List’, and is currently being adapted for film.
The Black Amulet is available at UK booksellers and online from 6th September 2018
