Having accompanied his academic mother and younger sister to Oxford, twelve-year-old Blake Winters stumbles across an ancient and magical book, secretly brought to England in 1453 by Gutenberg's mute apprentice, which draws Blake into a dangerous quest.
Having reluctantly accompanied his academic mother and pesky younger sister to Oxford, twelve-year-old Blake Winters is at loose ends until he stumbles across an ancient and magical book, secretly brought to England in 1453 by Gutenberg's mute apprentice to save it from evil forces, and which now draws Blake into a dangerous and life-threatening quest.
While visiting Oxford with his mother and kid sister, Blake finds a strange, wordless book in the college library, but as Blake looks, words begin to appear on the page--words no one else can see.
"You've stumbled on to something much larger than you can possibly imagine."
In the dead of night, a cloaked figure drags a heavy box through snow-covered streets. The chest, covered in images of mythical beasts, can only be opened when the fangs of its serpent's-head clasp taste blood.
Centuries later, in an Oxford library, a boy touches a strange book and feels something pierce his finger. The volume is blank, wordless, but its paper has fine veins running through it and seems to quiver, as if it's alive. Words begin to appear on the page--words no one but the boy can see.
And so unfolds a timeless secret . . . .
