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Summary
Summary
For fans of Legendborn , Neil Gaiman, and Leigh Bardugo, this urban young adult fantasy steeped in Afro-Carribbean folklore follows two Black teens searching for a powerful artifact in the hidden magical side of London.
Raising the dead is easy. Living is harder.
Eli doesn't know who he is or who he came from. Three years ago, he was found by his now-best friends, Sunny and Max, who gave him a home in a magical sanctuary doubling as a Caribbean restaurant. What Eli does know is that he can heal a wound with just a touch and pluck magic from a soul like a petal from a flower--and there is nothing he wouldn't do to survive and keep his new family together.
Malcolm would do anything to forget where he comes from. Desperate to escape his estranged father's shadow and plagued with an inherited death magic he doesn't fully understand, Malcolm has just one priority: save his mother, no matter the cost.
Malcolm and Eli's paths collide when Eli and his friends are sent to track down the fang of the leopard god Osebo, a deadly weapon that can eat magic. In a job filled with enigmatic nine nights and Caribbean legends, the teens must face their own demons as they race through the magical underbelly of London to retrieve the fang...before an ancient and malevolent power comes back to life.
Author Notes
Nevin Holness is from North London. She has a degree in fashion journalism from London College of Fashion and currently works in womenswear. In 2018, she was selected as a finalist in Penguin's WriteNow mentorship program. King of Dead Things is her first novel.
Reviews (2)
Kirkus Review
Two Black teens in London take life, death, and magic into their own hands. Eli and Malcolm couldn't be more different. Although they're both British Jamaican teens who wield magic, that's where the similarities end. Eli uses his magic to heal people and do odd jobs for Pam, his cantankerous landlord. Malcolm's magic can wake the dead, which attracts fear rather than friends. Eli can't remember his past or who he is from before three years ago. Malcolm can't escape the infamy of his absent father, Casper, the duppy king. When old associates of Casper's turn up dead and robbed of their magic, Pam sends Eli and his friends Sunny and Max to find Osebo's fang, a powerful weapon that can eat magic and even kill a god. What else could be responsible for these vicious killings? As Eli's and Malcolm's paths intertwine, they must learn to trust each other or risk losing London's magic for good. Holness' debut novel overflows with drama, culture, and fantastical realism. Anyone with roots in the Caribbean will chuckle at the familiar array of characters that populate this world. Readers will feel transported as the vivid scenes play out on each page, drawing them in with universal elements such as struggles with identity, family, and an uncertain future. Hopefully this will not be the last we see of Eli and Malcolm. An electrifying debut. (Fantasy. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Eli is a healer, a boy who can't remember his own past, and a thief of magic. Alongside his two closest friends, he works a thousand different jobs, running errands and selling trinkets just to make ends meet. Whenever he heals someone, he takes a sliver of their magic--just enough not to be noticed--in payment. But something is brewing in their underground community, with rumors of a fang that can kill gods, people turning up dead with their magic torn out, and a mysterious entity that has been locked away for years. When Eli steals a bit of magic from Malcolm, son of a duppy, or ghost king, whose magic is closer to death than life, both boys must make choices about who to save and who to sacrifice to bring their world back. Infused with Caribbean folklore, this fast-paced urban fantasy novel careens from one idea to the next but manages to tie it all together in a surprise twist ending.
