This might just be one of the best children's books I've read all year. And given how much I read, I don't say that lightly. "The Lost Magician" is a beautiful book which takes the central premise of the "Narnia" stories and turns it into something unique of its own. There are some fun easter eggs for fans of the original C.S.Lewis story, the name of the Captain of the Secretary's guard being one of my personal favourites as well as the allusion to a personal favourite quotation, "What do they teach you in schools these days?" Yet these elements are modernised in a way that irons out several of my issues with the original text, not least how the betrayal by one of the children is handled.

Don't come expecting a straight up Narnia retelling, though. Yes, this is an allegorical fable, borrowing from the best traditions of 'children go on a magical adventure' in a way that worms its way under your skin. But those aspects just add to the beautiful lyrical prose and how the story celebrates reading, by reminding you just why you fell in love with reading books in the first place. Reading this book was like revisiting all my happiest memories of obsessively reading the Narnia books or Enid Blyton or Swallows and Amazons, and wanting to slip right into the story. I doubt it'll be long before I come back.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. I adore Piers Torday's writing and had been so much looking forward to reading this!

Written in the great tradition of fantasy adventures like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and E. Nesbit's books, this is set at the end of World War II and follows Simon, Patricia, Evie and Larry as they are sent to the mysterious Barfield Hall. In the attic they discover an even more mysterious library - whose door is not always there - which contains shelves for the Reads, Unreads and Never Reads. 

It appears that the final showdown between Fact and Fiction is in full swing, and that the children are drawn into this. Larry has chosen the Reads - stories, while Evie prefers hard facts and chooses the Unreads, tempted by the vision of the future shown to her by their leader in much the same way that Edmund is under the spell of the White Witch. However, this battle pales into insignificance in the face of the greater threat of the Never Reads - those who know nothing - and Simon and Patricia's search for The Librarian.

This book was filled with so many quotable lines, and some enchanting characters - I particularly enjoyed Roderick, the maths-loving, rainbow-hued, flying unicorn. 

As well as being a great adventure, there is much wisdom about reading here, although it is so subtly and skilfully woven in that the messages are delivered almost invisibly. The power of the Reader in books, for instance, is such a great idea, and I also loved that although Simon is dyslexic, he has an important role and cannot be excluded from this book-based adventure.

A charming read, which I greatly enjoyed, and which fans of 'There May be a Castle' won't want to miss.