When Hugo and Ada travel to their friend Dorian’s planet for the holidays, android Hugo is anxious about being accepted by Dorian’s powerful family. But when they arrive on Hydrox, there are more pressing things to worry about, as the planet has been overrun by refugee butterflies. Displaced from their home by climate change, the butterflies have been offered sanctuary by Dorian’s parents, but they’re quickly running out of space. Meanwhile, beneath the seas, a strange creature is wreaking all kinds of havoc … Can Hugo, Dorian and Ada step in before the crisis gets out of control?
Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 12+, this is a sequel to The Starlight Watchmaker, which was shortlisted for the STEAM Children’s Book Prize 2020 and nominated for the Carnegie medal. The second book in The Watchmaker and the Duke series is a 17,000 word novella which will be published in paperback and eBook by Barrington Stoke on 4th February.
Wren James is the award-winning British author of eleven science fiction & fantasy novels, including The Quiet at the End of the World and The Next Together (previously published as Lauren James). Their books have sold over 200,000 copies in ten languages, and The Loneliest Girl in the Universe was optioned for film by Amazon MGM.
Wren is a story consultant on Netflix’s Heartstopper, which was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Writing. Also a RLF Royal Fellow, Wren is the founder of the Climate Fiction Writers League and member of the Society of Authors’ Sustainability steering Committee. They work as a consultant on climate storytelling with a focus on providing optimism and hope.
They have won the Sustainable Story Award and been shortlisted for the YA Book Prize, Carnegie Medal and STEAM Book Award.
Wren’s writing has been described as ‘gripping romantic sci-fi’ by the Wall Street Journal and ‘a strange, witty, compulsively unpredictable read which blows most of its new YA-suspense brethren out of the water’ by Entertainment Weekly.
Their latest titles are Last Seen Online, a crime thriller set in the world of fandom, and The Victors, a cosy fantasy graphic novel illustrated by Beth Fuller.
Wren was born in 1992, and has a Masters degree from the University of Nottingham, where they studied Chemistry and Physics. They run a Queer Writers group in Coventry. Follow them on Instagram & TikTok at @wrenjameswriter or find out more at wrenjames.co.uk.
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