The Face in the Frost, John Bellairs
The Face in the Frost, John Bellairs
List: $15.99 | Sale: $11.20
Club: $7.99

The Face in the Frost

Author: John Bellairs

Narrator: Eric Michael Summerer

Unabridged: 5 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 03/12/2019


Synopsis

A fantasy classic by the author of The House with a Clock in Its Walls—basis for the Jack Black movie—and "a writer who knows what wizardry is all about" (Ursula K. Le Guin).

A richly imaginative story of wizards stymied by a power beyond their control, A Face in the Frost combines the thrills of a horror novel with the inventiveness of fairy tale–inspired fantasy.

Prospero, a tall, skinny misfit of a wizard, lives in the South Kingdom—a patchwork of feuding duchies and small manors, all loosely loyal to one figurehead king. Along with his necromancer friend Roger Bacon, who has been on a quest to find a mysterious book, Prospero must flee his home to escape ominous pursuers. Thus begins an adventure that will lead him to a grove where his old rival, Melichus, is falsely rumored to be buried and to a less-than-hospitable inn in the town of Five Dials—and ultimately into a dangerous battle with origins in a magical glass paperweight.

With a unique blend of humor and darkness, it remains one of the most beloved tales by the Edgar Award–nominated author also known for the long-running Lewis Barnavelt series.

About John Bellairs

John Bellairs (1938–1991) was beloved as a master of Gothic young adult and fantasy novels. His stand-alone novel The Face in the Frost is regarded as a fantasy classic. He published more than twenty novels in the Anthony Monday, Johnny Dixon, and Lewis Barnavelt series.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Bill on March 16, 2019

This short fantasy--scarcely longer than a novella--is modest in scope, unremarkable in plot; it boasts no epic battles, no wizard wars that topple mountains or cleave continents. Still, in its own delicate way, it displays wizardry at its most uncanny, disarming the reader with humor while it goes......more

Goodreads review by mark on January 10, 2012

read during my Social Work Years I Remember: a tale of wizards fighting wizards... featuring Prospero & Roger Bacon, but not that Prospero or Roger Bacon... brief, not a word out of place... humorous, but with some anachronistic funny business involved that didn't really enthuse me (which was also my......more

Goodreads review by Sue on August 15, 2018

This book has lived up to my expectations so well. The language is a wonderful mix of what one might expect from wizards well educated in the ways of many worlds. The humor sneaks by the fright to balance the nearly constant sense of dread. Bellairs was expert at creating the unknown “reality”, the......more

Goodreads review by TK421 on January 10, 2012

Mark Monday's review brought this book to my attention. His review is perfect! All I can add: WTF? Did I miss something? Was this an allegory? Was this a deeper novel than I was able to understand? Evil wizard. Good wizard. Battle(s). Scary house...or estate...or...? All I can say is that I finished......more

Goodreads review by Joseph on August 11, 2014

Another entry on the "Why the hell didn't I read this years ago?!?" list (along with The Last Unicorn, amongst others). Two wizards, Prospero (no, not that one) and his old friend Roger Bacon, find themselves in conflict with a truly ghastly opponent. In broad strokes the story isn't all that differe......more