THE SILVER CHILD

The author of the Doomspell trilogy lays out a new storyline, this one set in a miles-long garbage dump and featuring six ordinary children who suddenly find themselves changing or acquiring eldritch powers. Drawn by a strange compulsion, the six meet in the gang-haunted wasteland of Coldharbour, frequently confused or frightened by their new abilities: Helen, for instance, has become a telepath; Walter, a 12-foot tall giant; and Thomas can project an indefinable force he dubs “beauty.” Oddest of all, though, is Milo, whose human skin and form are sloughing off, as he lies in agonized semi-consciousness, to reveal a silver-skinned being. By the end of this episode, the children have clashed and bonded, received an inkling of their mission in Helen’s visions of a huge, insatiable interstellar Elemental snaking Earthward, and seen Milo undergo a final, titanic, trendy transformation that sends him winging into the sky. A strong opening despite the latter—longer on imagination than action, but that could well change in future installments. (Fantasy. 11-13)