Literature and Fiction / Children's Books · Hardback

The Key

Norwegian title: Underbyen: Nøkkelen

Aleksander Kirkwood Brown

Two Hulders are trying to steal Tyri’s medallion, a key she has promised her father to protect at all costs. Tyri and Peter realize something is going on, and they must hide the key. At the midnight market in Oslo's Royal Park, they meet Bhurai, who reveals that the key protects the Floral, an ancient and powerful magical artifact. If the Floral's power is unleashed, it could have devastating consequences for the world. Together, Peter and Tyri descend further into the underground city, facing unknown dangers in their quest to protect the artifact.

This is the second book in a critically acclaimed urban and magical graphic novel about friendship and commitment, based on fairytales, folklore and intense action.

Aleksander Kirkwood Brown is skilled at creating exciting and original stories, based mostly on fairytales and Norse folklore. Kirkwood Brown is original in the sense that he combines the vernacular folklore traditions with an urban, modern story and personal challenges which contemporary readers can recognise. Luis Guaragna is a well-known and talented graphic novel illustrator with an international career. In The Undercities series he wishes to combine his own Italian-Argentinian background with the Norwegian world of fiction. Both his illustrations and characters are rich with traces of folkloric traditions – emphasising that the population of the Underground City is just as diverse as those of us who live above ground.

Reviews

«The second book in the Undercities series makes the reader thirst for more. ... a refreshing and different fantasy title.»Empirix

«Undercities 2: The Key does exactly what the middle part of a fantasy trilogy should do; it sharpens the conflicts, expands the universe, and pumps up the tension ahead of the grand finale.»D2

«Magical realism is a literary term, but with The Undercities series one may be able to launch a new term: realistic magic. Brown and Guaragna manage to bring people and supernatural beings to life in a very convincing way.»Serienett.no