Read The Tapestry 4 – The Maelstrom free for 7 days. £7.99/month after - less than a paperback.
Henry H. Neff's The Maelstrom is a big, dark Tapestry fantasy for 10 year olds that opens with a demon king's ship gliding into Rowan's harbour under a flag of truce.
Max McDaniels has been away for months. He comes home to find Rowan full of refugee children. A patrol of them tries to arrest him on the cliffs as a demon (he's more amused than worried).
The ship has come from Prusias, a demon king. His ambassador is carried into the great hall in an enormous glass box, and what's inside it is truly revolting. Think a skinned vulture's head on a pale, oozing, slug-like body.
His terms are simple. Rowan must swear loyalty to Prusias and rebuild the demons' embassy, which was wrecked in the spring. And it must hand over a sorcerer and Max's sword. As for Max himself, the ambassador says he's already as good as dead.
That sword is the thing that stays with you. It once belonged to a legendary hero, and even Max is frightened of it. He hasn't drawn it for months.
This is a rich, detailed read with a huge cast of teachers, warriors, scholars and odd creatures. There's a lot of history to hold in your head. The quieter moments help, like Miss Boon fussing over Max's missed lessons while everyone else is panicking about demons (she won't let him off his studies, war or no war).
A word of warning before you hand it over, though. This one reads well above its shelf. Max is nearly grown up now and a trained fighter, and his best friend David is about sixteen. The writing expects a confident reader with plenty of stamina.
It's not gentle either. That embassy, a whole demon stronghold, went into the sea with everyone inside. A little girl was once left as an offering to a monster in a well. There's also an old story about a woman who walked into the sea and never came back. For a younger or more sensitive eight-year-old, that's a lot.
It also sits well into the series, so it'll make much more sense to someone who has followed Max from the start. If your reader is a keen fantasy fan who loves a dark, detailed world, they'll have plenty to chew on.
If they haven't started yet, The Hound of Rowan is where Max first takes the train into Chicago with his dad and catches a stranger with one white eye staring at him. You'll find it in the library as well.
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