The Stone Mage And The Sea: Sean Williams

Book I of The Change. It is a world where the huge red-sanded deserts are ruled by Stone Mages and the vast coastlines by Sky Wardens. It is a world where any child with any magical ability is taken to the Haunted City to be trained in the Change. Fundelry is a small town, like any other in the Strand. The people have little tolerance for stand-outs and Sal and his father are strangers, running from someone - or something. Sal is rescued from the local bully by Shilly and her teacher Lodo, a mysterious tattooed man who seems to know more about Sal than Sal himself. And oddly, Sal's father wants to stay put for a while. But soon the Sky Wardens come to Fundelry - and before then, Sal must discover the connection between Lodo and the mother he never knew, in order to escape a fate that seems to have been chosen for him before he was born. Cover art by Shaun Tan.