As they draw ever closer to the heart of the Diadem, Score, Renald, and Pixel must track down a shapeshifting magician with uncertain motives before they can unlock the secrets of an ever-increasing evil. Original."
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
John Peel was born in 1954 in Nottingham, England. He attended Nottingham University and began his writing career as the editorial assistant for England's Apparel Production and Marketing. He later worked as a comic-strip writer for Marvel Comics in London, and was until recently the overseas television critic for England's Starburst magazine. Since immigrating to the U.S.A. in 1981, John Peel has worked as a contributing writer and editor for numerous media-based magazines. He now writes novels full-time from his home on Long Island, where he resides with his wife, Nan, their wirehair fox terrier, Dashiell, their orange, spotted tabby, Amika, and their miniature pinschers, Loki (aptly named after the Norse god of mischief and destruction), Bartleby, Shadow, Reggie, Tievel, Rocky, Anubis Princess and Lady Penelope.
He has just sold his first film script, Haunting Adrian, which is expected to commence shooting in the near future.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
He has just sold his first film script, Haunting Adrian, which is expected to commence shooting in the near future.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
p r o l o g u e
"So, they have managed
to kill Aranak."
The wizard looked up from her
scrying pool and glanced at her familiar.
He was, as usual, perched on his
little padded tower and apparently
asleep. "They're more dangerous than
I thought." Winding a strand of hair
around her finger thoughtfully, she
added, "It might help if you actually
woke up and did some work for a
change."
The red panda opened one eye and regarded her for
a moment. "I am awake," he answered, with a yawn.
He rearranged his long, fluffy tail and closed his eye
again. "I just haven't been paying attention."
The wizard snorted. Blink and she had a stormy
relationship at best. She, the Wizard Shanara, was a
whirlwind of activity. Blink spent ninety-five percent
of his time sleeping or trying to sleep. "Well, pay
attention," she snapped. "Those three children have
killed Aranak, and they may be after me next. In
which case, you'd starve."
With a sigh, Blink opened both eyes. Heaving himself
reluctantly into a seated position, he started to
groom himself. "Very well," he answered, as if she'd
just condemned an innocent man to death. "Tell me
about it."
Shanara counted to ten to keep her temper. If she
didn't need Blink's help, she had plenty of ideas on what
to do with him. Most of them meant he wouldn't live
very long. "There are three youngsters," she said.
"There's one named Score. He's some kind of street
urchin from Earth. There's one called Renald, from a
world called Ordin. She disguised herself as a boy, which
fooled some people, but not me. And the last one's
Pixel, from Calomir. The three of them were taken by
Bestials to Treen. There they were taught magic by
Aranak. In a showdown, they managed to defeat and
kill him before coming through the Portal that leads
them here. They're now on Rawn. I've been observing
them in my scrying pool for the past hour while you
slept. They have the pages that they discovered, and
they may even know that I have one more. At any rate,
it looks like they're going to be on their way here."
"Oh, dear," Blink yawned. "That sounds too much
like work to me."
"Yes," she agreed. "That's just what it is. We have to
slow them down and give me a chance to come up
with a plan to defeat them."
"Where are they?" asked Blink.
"In the Jagged Mountains," Shanara answered, studying
their images in her pool.
"Well, then, you probably don't have to bother worrying
about them," the panda answered. "Considering
what's in there with them."
"They're more powerful than they look," the wizard
countered. "I'd be a fool to rely on the dangers of those
mountains alone to stop them. No, I'm going to have
to take an active hand in this one."
"Ouch," grumbled Blink. "And I know that means
work."
"Yes," Shanara agreed. "But it will eliminate a
potential threat. If the mountains don't get those kids,
then we shall." With a faint smile, she returned to
studying her pool. Blink sighed again and wondered
about his chances of catching forty more winks before
he actually had to-shudder!-work . . .
1
Score stared all around, alternately
fascinated and appalled. He, Renald-
no, Helaine!, he had to get used to her
being female-and Pixel had emerged
from the Portal ready, or so they had
thought, for anything. Mostly, they
had expected to be either attacked or
captured. Instead, there was nobody
waiting for them at all.
And they had emerged on the edge
of a precipice.
All around them were mountains shaped like jagged
teeth. They were obviously high up, with a very chill
wind whipping about them, as if it were trying to push
them over the edge. Score swallowed hard. He was a
city boy, born and raised in New York. He wasn't used
to wilderness, and he certainly wasn't used to mountains.
And he was pretty sure he hated being stuck on
the side of one.
Behind them was a blink of light, but it was just the
Portal closing down, its job done.
"Well," Score said heavily. "That's it. We're stuck
here now."
"I don't like it," Pixel admitted, stepping back slightly
from the edge of the drop. "It looks dangerous. What
do you think, Renald?"
"It is dangerous," Helaine said, a little of her old temper
showing through. She seemed to have grown to like
Score and Pixel a little, but she was still impatient with
them from time to time. Score supposed it came from
being brought up as a spoiled daughter of a wealthy lord
and also as a warrior. She was the only one of the three
who could fight properly, and this had a tendency to
make her arrogant and short-tempered. She was, however,
trying to control it. "And call me Helaine, please.
I prefer my real name, now that you know who I am."
"Well, I prefer my street name," Score commented,
shivering. "It's cold, and I'm not exactly dressed for
mountaineering."
"None of us is," Pixel agreed, his teeth starting to
chatter. "We'd better get out of this wind and make
plans."
Score glanced around, trying not to get sick when
he saw how precarious their perch was. Above them,
low clouds clung to the peak of the mountain, obscuring
the view. He gestured down the narrow path they
were standing on. "There's a cave down there," he
said. "Let's get inside it. Then we can whip up a fire to
get warm."
"Good idea," Helaine conceded. She moved past
him to lead the way down. Score was about to object,
but decided not to. It wasn't worth fighting over. And
if anyone fell, it would be her and not him. Cautiously,
they all followed the narrow path down the side of the
mountain. Finally, they all stumbled into the small
cave he'd seen.
It was about ten feet deep and, after a narrow
entrance where they had to stoop, it was about eight
feet tall. It was also, thankfully, empty of other life.
Once inside, the bitter chill of the wind was gone. It
was still very cold, though.
Score concentrated on a loose rock on the floor. He
visualized a flame in his mind, one that would warm
them up, and heat the rock through. Then he focused
this image on the rock. "Shriker Kula prior," he murmured,
using the incantation to create fire.
A sheet of flame leaped up, almost singeing Helaine.
With a curse, she stumbled back. "That wasn't funny!"
she snapped.
"I wasn't trying anything," Score protested, amazed.
The flame died down a little, but burned brightly and
warmly in the small cave. "I was just trying to start a
small fire. Not a volcano."
"It's because we've crossed from the Outer Worlds
to the Middle Circuit," Pixel said quickly. "Remember
what Aranak told us? That the closer we get to the
center of the Diadem, the stronger the magic grows?
Obviously, a spell that would cause a small fire on
Treen can cause a larger one here."
Helaine studied the flames thoughtfully. "And
probably a forest fire if we get any closer to the center
of the web of worlds," she suggested. "We're going to
have to be very careful about using our powers here,
until we can be sure we know what effect they'll
have."
"If we can tell what effect they'll have," Score pointed
out. "Don't forget, something is messing up the
source of magic and sending spells all wrong."
"I'm not forgetting," Helaine answered. "But since
it's unpredictable, we just have to deal with it as it
happens." She warmed her hands at the fire. "Well,
I'm feeling better now. It might be an idea to take
stock of what we've got, and see how much sense we
can make of it. Let's pool our resources."
Score glared at her. "Will you stop always taking
command?" he complained. "I think we should vote
for a leader, not just allow you to take over the role."
Helaine snorted. "And we'd all vote for ourselves,"
she pointed out. "That's a dumb suggestion. Look, I'm
just the best person for the job. I'm used to giving
orders and making plans."
"So?" Score snapped back. "Just because you were a
royal pain in the butt on your world doesn't mean a
thing here. I'm really bad at taking orders, especially
from a girl."
She moved her hand to the hilt of her weapon. "A
girl with a sword," she said softly.
"Hold it, guys!" protested Pixel, moving between
them. "Arguing like this isn't going to get us anywhere.
We've got to learn to work together, remember? That's
what Oracle told us."
Score took a deep breath. "You're right," he agreed
reluctantly. "We won't solve anything behaving like
this." Then he scowled again. "But I still say we have no
reason to trust Oracle. He claims to be helping us, but
he's sure managed to get us into a lot of trouble."
The mysterious, flickering character had betrayed
Score to a street gang on Earth, and the other two on
their worlds also. He claimed to be on their side, but
spent all his time spouting silly rhymes and avoiding
direct answers to any of their questions.
Pixel nodded. "I'm not sure I trust him, either," he
admitted. "But he may be able to help us here. Surely,
it can't hurt to ask him?"
"I don't know... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
"So, they have managed
to kill Aranak."
The wizard looked up from her
scrying pool and glanced at her familiar.
He was, as usual, perched on his
little padded tower and apparently
asleep. "They're more dangerous than
I thought." Winding a strand of hair
around her finger thoughtfully, she
added, "It might help if you actually
woke up and did some work for a
change."
The red panda opened one eye and regarded her for
a moment. "I am awake," he answered, with a yawn.
He rearranged his long, fluffy tail and closed his eye
again. "I just haven't been paying attention."
The wizard snorted. Blink and she had a stormy
relationship at best. She, the Wizard Shanara, was a
whirlwind of activity. Blink spent ninety-five percent
of his time sleeping or trying to sleep. "Well, pay
attention," she snapped. "Those three children have
killed Aranak, and they may be after me next. In
which case, you'd starve."
With a sigh, Blink opened both eyes. Heaving himself
reluctantly into a seated position, he started to
groom himself. "Very well," he answered, as if she'd
just condemned an innocent man to death. "Tell me
about it."
Shanara counted to ten to keep her temper. If she
didn't need Blink's help, she had plenty of ideas on what
to do with him. Most of them meant he wouldn't live
very long. "There are three youngsters," she said.
"There's one named Score. He's some kind of street
urchin from Earth. There's one called Renald, from a
world called Ordin. She disguised herself as a boy, which
fooled some people, but not me. And the last one's
Pixel, from Calomir. The three of them were taken by
Bestials to Treen. There they were taught magic by
Aranak. In a showdown, they managed to defeat and
kill him before coming through the Portal that leads
them here. They're now on Rawn. I've been observing
them in my scrying pool for the past hour while you
slept. They have the pages that they discovered, and
they may even know that I have one more. At any rate,
it looks like they're going to be on their way here."
"Oh, dear," Blink yawned. "That sounds too much
like work to me."
"Yes," she agreed. "That's just what it is. We have to
slow them down and give me a chance to come up
with a plan to defeat them."
"Where are they?" asked Blink.
"In the Jagged Mountains," Shanara answered, studying
their images in her pool.
"Well, then, you probably don't have to bother worrying
about them," the panda answered. "Considering
what's in there with them."
"They're more powerful than they look," the wizard
countered. "I'd be a fool to rely on the dangers of those
mountains alone to stop them. No, I'm going to have
to take an active hand in this one."
"Ouch," grumbled Blink. "And I know that means
work."
"Yes," Shanara agreed. "But it will eliminate a
potential threat. If the mountains don't get those kids,
then we shall." With a faint smile, she returned to
studying her pool. Blink sighed again and wondered
about his chances of catching forty more winks before
he actually had to-shudder!-work . . .
1
Score stared all around, alternately
fascinated and appalled. He, Renald-
no, Helaine!, he had to get used to her
being female-and Pixel had emerged
from the Portal ready, or so they had
thought, for anything. Mostly, they
had expected to be either attacked or
captured. Instead, there was nobody
waiting for them at all.
And they had emerged on the edge
of a precipice.
All around them were mountains shaped like jagged
teeth. They were obviously high up, with a very chill
wind whipping about them, as if it were trying to push
them over the edge. Score swallowed hard. He was a
city boy, born and raised in New York. He wasn't used
to wilderness, and he certainly wasn't used to mountains.
And he was pretty sure he hated being stuck on
the side of one.
Behind them was a blink of light, but it was just the
Portal closing down, its job done.
"Well," Score said heavily. "That's it. We're stuck
here now."
"I don't like it," Pixel admitted, stepping back slightly
from the edge of the drop. "It looks dangerous. What
do you think, Renald?"
"It is dangerous," Helaine said, a little of her old temper
showing through. She seemed to have grown to like
Score and Pixel a little, but she was still impatient with
them from time to time. Score supposed it came from
being brought up as a spoiled daughter of a wealthy lord
and also as a warrior. She was the only one of the three
who could fight properly, and this had a tendency to
make her arrogant and short-tempered. She was, however,
trying to control it. "And call me Helaine, please.
I prefer my real name, now that you know who I am."
"Well, I prefer my street name," Score commented,
shivering. "It's cold, and I'm not exactly dressed for
mountaineering."
"None of us is," Pixel agreed, his teeth starting to
chatter. "We'd better get out of this wind and make
plans."
Score glanced around, trying not to get sick when
he saw how precarious their perch was. Above them,
low clouds clung to the peak of the mountain, obscuring
the view. He gestured down the narrow path they
were standing on. "There's a cave down there," he
said. "Let's get inside it. Then we can whip up a fire to
get warm."
"Good idea," Helaine conceded. She moved past
him to lead the way down. Score was about to object,
but decided not to. It wasn't worth fighting over. And
if anyone fell, it would be her and not him. Cautiously,
they all followed the narrow path down the side of the
mountain. Finally, they all stumbled into the small
cave he'd seen.
It was about ten feet deep and, after a narrow
entrance where they had to stoop, it was about eight
feet tall. It was also, thankfully, empty of other life.
Once inside, the bitter chill of the wind was gone. It
was still very cold, though.
Score concentrated on a loose rock on the floor. He
visualized a flame in his mind, one that would warm
them up, and heat the rock through. Then he focused
this image on the rock. "Shriker Kula prior," he murmured,
using the incantation to create fire.
A sheet of flame leaped up, almost singeing Helaine.
With a curse, she stumbled back. "That wasn't funny!"
she snapped.
"I wasn't trying anything," Score protested, amazed.
The flame died down a little, but burned brightly and
warmly in the small cave. "I was just trying to start a
small fire. Not a volcano."
"It's because we've crossed from the Outer Worlds
to the Middle Circuit," Pixel said quickly. "Remember
what Aranak told us? That the closer we get to the
center of the Diadem, the stronger the magic grows?
Obviously, a spell that would cause a small fire on
Treen can cause a larger one here."
Helaine studied the flames thoughtfully. "And
probably a forest fire if we get any closer to the center
of the web of worlds," she suggested. "We're going to
have to be very careful about using our powers here,
until we can be sure we know what effect they'll
have."
"If we can tell what effect they'll have," Score pointed
out. "Don't forget, something is messing up the
source of magic and sending spells all wrong."
"I'm not forgetting," Helaine answered. "But since
it's unpredictable, we just have to deal with it as it
happens." She warmed her hands at the fire. "Well,
I'm feeling better now. It might be an idea to take
stock of what we've got, and see how much sense we
can make of it. Let's pool our resources."
Score glared at her. "Will you stop always taking
command?" he complained. "I think we should vote
for a leader, not just allow you to take over the role."
Helaine snorted. "And we'd all vote for ourselves,"
she pointed out. "That's a dumb suggestion. Look, I'm
just the best person for the job. I'm used to giving
orders and making plans."
"So?" Score snapped back. "Just because you were a
royal pain in the butt on your world doesn't mean a
thing here. I'm really bad at taking orders, especially
from a girl."
She moved her hand to the hilt of her weapon. "A
girl with a sword," she said softly.
"Hold it, guys!" protested Pixel, moving between
them. "Arguing like this isn't going to get us anywhere.
We've got to learn to work together, remember? That's
what Oracle told us."
Score took a deep breath. "You're right," he agreed
reluctantly. "We won't solve anything behaving like
this." Then he scowled again. "But I still say we have no
reason to trust Oracle. He claims to be helping us, but
he's sure managed to get us into a lot of trouble."
The mysterious, flickering character had betrayed
Score to a street gang on Earth, and the other two on
their worlds also. He claimed to be on their side, but
spent all his time spouting silly rhymes and avoiding
direct answers to any of their questions.
Pixel nodded. "I'm not sure I trust him, either," he
admitted. "But he may be able to help us here. Surely,
it can't hurt to ask him?"
"I don't know... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Diadem's characters,
By
This review is from: Diadem: 2 (Diadem No.2) (Hardcover)
If you want to no a little bit about Diadem's characters I'll tell you.Pixel is a boy from another planet.He's from another planet were everyone lived in cyberspace so he doesn't have a lot of expearence with the real world but that's Okay because he's really smart.Hellaine is an arrogant girl that is a really good swordsmen and is really brave.She's from a rich family that was really powerful so she thinks that she is better then everyone else.Score(my persenel favorite) is a cocky homless boy from earth that thinks having friends is bad because they will just let you down.Despite his wisemouth attitude he is actually very smart.I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE THIS BOOK and would recemend it to anyone that likes magic and adventure.I hope John Peel writes 100000000000 more Diadem books.I have read all 6 Diadem books 4 times and I really love them.I think you should go out get#1 and start reading it.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
one of the best books i have ever read,
By "laeli" (United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Book of Signs (Diadem: A Fantasy Mystery, No. 2) (Paperback)
I have personally only read the first book of this series (the book of names). My older brother bought it from a bookfair, and has only read it once. During a black-out I read it, and instantly fell in love. It kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through-out the book. I re-read it for about the billionth time today, and I have just ordered 2-6 of the series I love it so much. I encourage other people to read it as well, it is an excellent book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved it!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Book of Signs (Diadem: A Fantasy Mystery, No. 2) (Paperback)
If you love guessing what's going to happen next, and love logic problems, then this is for you. I loved trying to figure out the symbols and mysteries of the book along with the main characters. Isuggest this to anyone with a large imagination.
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11
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- Revolution (2099, #4) by John Peel in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Firestorm (2099) by John Peel in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Meltdown (2099) by John Peel in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- in Front Matter
- Book of Reality (Diadem Series) by John Peel in Front Matter
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