Ancient Appetites (The Wildenstern Saga) - Softcover

McGann, Oisín

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1497665701 ISBN 13: 9781497665705

Publisher: Open Road Media Teen & Tween, 2015

Synopsis

“An exciting new steampunk adventure” featuring living machines, murderous betrayals, and Ireland’s most ruthless family (School Library Journal).

The slow collapse of the British Empire in the nineteenth century meant opportunity for anyone with ammunition and wit. Now the Wildensterns are by far the most powerful family—and the most ruthless. Trained from childhood in the arts of assassination and conspiracy and endowed with the supernatural ability to live for more than a century, the clan has grown rich, vicious, and seemingly invincible.
 
After nearly two years away, eighteen-year-old Nate has returned. But his homecoming is shattered when his eldest brother, Marcus, is mysteriously killed. Following the Rules of Ascension, which allow one male family member to murder another, Nate is being blamed. Nate knows he isn’t the murderer, but who is? With the help of his sister-in-law, Daisy, and his cousin Gerald, Nate intends to find out. Their investigation brings them into the underbelly of the Wildenstern empire, where living machines, conspiring relatives, and undercover mercenaries do their dirty work. But when a disaster uncovers the ancient remains of Wildenstern ancestors, the lives of the family members and their struggle for power will take a bizarre and gruesome turn.

About this title

About the Author:

Oisín McGann was born and raised in Dublin and Drogheda, County Louth, in Ireland. He studied art at Senior College Ballyfermot and Dún Laoghaire School of Art, Design & Technology. Before becoming an author, he worked as a freelance illustrator, serving time along the way as a pizza chef and a security guard, as well as a background artist for an animation company and an art director and copywriter in an advertising agency.

In 2003 McGann published his first two books in the Mad Grandad series for young readers, followed by his first young adult novel, The Gods and Their Machines. Since then, he has written several more novels for young adults, including the Wildenstern Saga, a steampunk series set in nineteenth-century Ireland, and the thrillers Strangled Silence and Rat Runners.

A full-time writer and illustrator, McGann is married, has three children, and lives somewhere in the Irish countryside.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 9 Up—An exciting new steampunk adventure. The story of the Wildenstern family starts with 18-year-old Nate, a younger son just returned to the British family estate from the wilds of Africa, taming The Beast of Glenmalure, a type of engimal called a velocycle. These half-animal/half-machine beasts are featured prominently throughout the narrative. The work details a murderous coup that threatens to topple the magical Wildenstern family, whose members are difficult to kill thanks to their incredible healing powers. Nate and his allies race to discover how his older brother really died, the source of a rumored plot against the family, and the true nature of the "ancient appetites" displayed by a trio of resurrected relatives. The author creates a rich fantasy world using the backdrop of 19th-century England, combined with fantastical techno-beasts and a family of humans with mythical healing powers and incredibly long life spans. The internal turmoil of this multi-generational family is intense and resembles the powerful Russian sagas written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leo Tolstoy. Thankfully, the spunky characters, accessible dialogue, and nonstop action make this novel enjoyable for contemporary teens who already enjoy the genre and are willing to tackle a dense and complex story. VERDICT For libraries looking to expand their steampunk collections.—Sunnie Lovelace, Wallingford Public Library, CT

About this edition

• Publisher: Open Road Media Teen & Tween
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1497665701
• ISBN 13: 9781497665705
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 414