From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up–In this unremittingly dark fantasy set in 18th-century London, Dr. Sabian Blake, a scientist/Cabalist, receives a strange gift–a book of arcane knowledge that foretells the approach of a cataclysmic comet. As Wormwood draws near, bedlam breaks out and humanity's sinister side comes forward–all conveyed in exquisitely detailed scenes of violence and mayhem. When Dr. Blake's 14-year-old servant, Agetta, steals the book, she is pursued by demons, angels, and gargoyles come to life. Warring factions of an occult group seem to be vying with each other for possession of the volume, but in truth, it's all a plot to sacrifice Agetta so that the fallen angel Lillith can live on in her body. The horrors that evil begets are made palpable, but goodness has little purpose in this book. When the angel Rafael says, "It is not for power that the universe was created, but for love," it leaves less of an impression than the eye-popping murders he carries out by spraying his victims with his explosive blood. Indeed, the author seemed to be more concerned with special effects than with plot or character development. Agetta is nothing more than a pawn, the adults around her are unrelentingly self-interested, and the characters who do discover how their lust for power has made them blind persist in their blindness anyhow. Teens with a taste for the gruesome will be attracted to this supernatural thriller, but they'll find little sustenance here.–Carolyn Lehman, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From Booklist
Gr. 6-9. In his follow-up to Shadowmancer [BKL Ap 15 04], Taylor again brings the epic struggle between good and evil earthward, but the only character who reappears is the archangel Raphael (known as Abram among humans). Wormwood, a comet, zooms toward seventeenth-century London; the collision will catalyze the fallen angel Hezrin's transition to a permanent mortal body. She selects 14-year-old housemaid Agetta as her host and sets a complicated trap for the girl that draws another disgraced angel and Agetta's employer, a follower of kabbalistic mysticism, into the fray. Abram/Raphael intervenes, and readers of many faiths will appreciate the spectacular ringside view of hand-to-hand combat between immortals. They'll also welcome the more substantial role the archangel plays; his gonzo charisma adds texture to the more ponderous worldview sketched in the first book (at one point he dispatches a demon by sticking an exploding crystal someplace unmentionable). Even so, the rather convoluted plot, the fact that adults propel most of the action, and the plodding theological dialogues will likely remain barriers to all but the most motivated readers. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
An epic adventure from a master storyteller.

Panic fills the streets of London on a night in 1756 when the earth suddenly lurches forward and starts spinning out of control. Within moments, eleven days and nights flash through the sky, finally leaving the city in total darkness. Is the end of the world at hand?

Agetta Lamian fears so. She's the young housemaid of Dr. Sabian Blake, a scientist who has recently acquired the Nemorensis, the legendary book said to unlock the secrets of the universe. And what he sees through his telescope confirms what he has read: This disaster is only a sign of things to come. Agetta overhears Dr. Blake's prophecy that a star called Wormwood is headed toward London, where it will fall from the sky and strike a fatal blow.

Dr. Blake believes the comet will either end the world as he knows it or hearken a new age of scientific and spiritual enlightenment. Soon even Agetta seems to have been seduced by the book, and whom she ultimately delivers it to will determine much more than just her fate.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
English vicar turned bestselling author G. P. Taylor follows up his blockbuster hit Shadowmancer with another tale of good versus evil, this time set in London in 1756. Keeping up the dark, epic atmosphere that readers found in his previous book, Taylor focuses his tale on a scientist, Dr. Sabian Blake, who has gotten hold of a legendary book called the Nemorensis, and Blake's simple housemaid, Agetta. When he discovers the prophecy of a deadly comet called Wormwood, which threatens to eradicate mankind at a single blow, the city is suddenly thrust into chaos, soon followed by Blake himself and then, seemingly, Agetta. Through adventurous turns of events worthy of a Tinseltown film, the author crescendos the story until the heart-stopping finale, indicating to readers that there's still more to come while showing off his crackerjack writing skills. No bones about it, if you liked Shadowmancer, you'll enjoy Taylor's second effort even more and will come away feeling like this is one writer who might just get better with every book. And, if you haven't yet discovered Taylor but are on the lookout for more solid fantasy writing in the vein of Philip Pullman, this is an excellent read to check out. Shana Taylor

ANNOTATION

In 1756, as a deadly comet hurtles toward London, Dr. Sabian Blake and his fourteen-year-old housemaid, Agetta, struggle against dark forces that seek an ancient, powerful book in Blake's possession that would enable them to carry out an evil plan in which Agetta unknowingly plays a pivotal role.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

G. P. Taylor's epic follow-up to the bestselling Shadowmancer

Panic fills the streets of London on a night in 1756 when the earth suddenly lurches forward and starts spinning out of control. Within moments, eleven days and nights flash through the sky, finally leaving the city in total darkness. Is the end of the world at hand?

Agetta Lamian fears so. She's the young housemaid of Dr. Sabian Blake, a scientist who has recently acquired the Nemorensis, the legendary book said to unlock the secrets of the universe. And what he sees through his telescope confirms what he has read: This disaster is only a sign of things to come. Agetta overhears Dr. Blake's prophecy that a star called Wormwood is headed towards London, where it will fall from the sky and strike a fatal blow.

Dr. Blake believes the comet will either end the world as he knows it or hearken a new age of scientific and spiritual enlightenment. But whatever the outcome, he must cope with the madness that grows in London as the comet approaches -- as well as with his fears that the Nemorensis' power could be clouding his own reason and drawing dangerous spirits to his door. Soon even Agetta seems to have been seduced by the book, and whom she ultimately delivers it to will determine much more than just her fate.

G. P. Taylor has woven another thrilling tale of Good vs. Evil, where fallen angels and dark spirits vie for allegiance during a time of treachery and deceit.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In his second novel, Taylor brings some cohesion and depth to his series, but the prose, atmospheric though it may be, is still convoluted. Here he introduces a London doctor named Sabian Blake. One night, a stranger delivers to him a mysterious book called the Nemorensis ("It was said to touch the Nemorensis was to hold the secrets of the cosmos in your hands"). A handwritten note in the book's margin describes a prophecy about a comet called Wormwood (the comet will "fall from the sky and poison the waters and bring death to many"). The plot quickly thickens, often to a muddied soup, but the reappearance of Abram Rickards, who aided Thomas and Kate in Shadowmancer, signals that the doctor is a good guy ("I am your angel," Abram says to Blake). Meanwhile, Blake's housemaid, Agetta, discovers that her father has imprisoned an angel in one of his rooms. And her father's "business" partner is none other than Dagda Sarapuk, the parson from whom Demurral won the Vicarage in a cockroach race in Shadowmancer. The evil entity behind Wormwood turns out to be the sister of Pyratheon, the demon force in Shadowmancer (the climactic skyshower of that novel indicates the beginning of Wormwood in this one); she wants to be queen of earth and heaven, and her plans culminate on Halloween night. Taylor is even more explicit in this title about his allegory's tether to Christianity (Abram says, "Open your eyes, you ape of Eden, and see what is really happening"). Those who enjoyed the first book will welcome this one. Ages 12-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Janet Crane Barley

The theme for this dark and violent book is the struggle between good and evil. Problem is there is so little good, it is hard for the reader to care whether the characters survive all the horrible situations they encounter. The good humans are limited to Sabian Blake and Agetta. Blake is a self-absorbed scientist who predicts that a comet he has spotted in the sky and identified with the help of a cabalistic book will destroy London. Agetta, his young servant girl, supplements her wages by stealing money from him and the friends who visit him. A guardian angel and a fallen angel also are on the side of, well, the angels. The bad guys have no sympathetic features at all. The book is filled with gruesome and violent occurrences told in graphic detail, making it a lively action-adventure novel. It lacks the nuances and interwoven wisdom found in memorable apocalyptic novels like The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray. It is set in London in 1756, a historically interesting time when appearance was everything and inconvenient people were banished to the Colonies. But the author does not take advantage of the opportunity for social commentary. This novel could have as easily taken place in Dickens' London. Mr. Taylor's previous novel, Shadowmancer, sold briskly in Britain, then was published in the United States, where it led the New York Times' bestseller list. 2004, G. P. Putnam's Sons, Ages 16 to Adult.

KLIATT - Michele Winship

Taylor's newest novel takes readers back to the 19th-century London of Shadowmancer where fantasy and fact intertwine, creating a dark world where both angels and demons lurk among the shadows. Dr. Sabian Blake supplements his scientific studies with the lore he finds in the Nemorensis, an ancient volume of prophecy and sorcery. A strange handwritten entry predicts the comet that speeds toward London, defying natural law and unleashing madness and panic; and Blake struggles with his desire to immortalize his name for discovering the comet and his moral conscious that urges him to warn Londoners of the impending danger, foreshadowed by a skyquake that turned night into day. His young housemaid Agetta, whose innocence is in question, is drawn into a conspiracy with a secret society led by a mysterious woman of many names. A sip of an intoxicating liquid and a symbol burned into her hand compel Agetta to steal the Nemorensis. However, she rescues a fallen angel who, in turn, protects her from the dark powers that seek the volume's magic in order to begin a new world order. Taylor's writing is sensuous and spellbinding, drawing readers into a place where masked dark angels battle over human souls and immortality. KLIATT Codes: S—Recommended for senior high school students. 2004, Penguin, Putnam, 256p., Ages 15 to 18.

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-In this unremittingly dark fantasy set in 18th-century London, Dr. Sabian Blake, a scientist/Cabalist, receives a strange gift-a book of arcane knowledge that foretells the approach of a cataclysmic comet. As Wormwood draws near, bedlam breaks out and humanity's sinister side comes forward-all conveyed in exquisitely detailed scenes of violence and mayhem. When Dr. Blake's 14-year-old servant, Agetta, steals the book, she is pursued by demons, angels, and gargoyles come to life. Warring factions of an occult group seem to be vying with each other for possession of the volume, but in truth, it's all a plot to sacrifice Agetta so that the fallen angel Lillith can live on in her body. The horrors that evil begets are made palpable, but goodness has little purpose in this book. When the angel Rafael says, "It is not for power that the universe was created, but for love," it leaves less of an impression than the eye-popping murders he carries out by spraying his victims with his explosive blood. Indeed, the author seemed to be more concerned with special effects than with plot or character development. Agetta is nothing more than a pawn, the adults around her are unrelentingly self-interested, and the characters who do discover how their lust for power has made them blind persist in their blindness anyhow. Teens with a taste for the gruesome will be attracted to this supernatural thriller, but they'll find little sustenance here.-Carolyn Lehman, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews