The Secret of the Moonshard

Orphan Domino lives with the Science Barons in the Scientarium Celestis, a floating laboratory. Allergic to magic, she is forced to stay here, tormented by the other children, a complex problem for the Barons to solve. However, when a Science Baron returns and requests Domino as his assistant, she discovers that everything she has been told is a lie and escapes to Abzalaymon, a city full of wonders. Pursued by the Barons, Domino discovers magic, secrets and a sinister plot.

This is a breathtakingly good fantasy which no attempt at a summary can possibly do justice to! Domino’s world is so vividly created with such attention to detail and imagination that the reader is immediately captivated and drawn deeply into this compelling adventure.

Domino is a fabulous heroine. Feisty and impetuous, she is trapped in the Scientarium from where she can see the city beneath which she longs to visit. Constantly bullied and despised by the other children and described as ‘an intolerable nuisance’ by the Science Barons, she strikes back by devising pranks to gain revenge, allowing her to feel some small measure of control.  She is just one of the many memorable characters who come to life in these pages.

Should you read this one? Absolutely!

The Secret of the Moonshard

Struan Murray, illustrated by Vivienne To

Puffin   ISBN: 978-0241535585

First reviewed for Reading Zone.