The Clockwork Queen
By (Author) Peter Bunzl
Illustrated by Lia Visirin
HarperCollins Publishers
Barrington Stoke Ltd
16th August 2022
2nd June 2022
United Kingdom
Children
Fiction
Childrens / Teenage fiction: Family and home stories
Childrens / Teenage fiction: General, modern and contemporary fiction
Childrens / Teenage fiction: Steampunk
Childrens / Teenage general interest: Queens, kings, princesses, princes etc
Childrens / Teenage fiction: Crime and mystery fiction
823.92
Long-listed for Our Best Book 2023
Paperback
128
Width 130mm, Height 198mm, Spine 14mm
220g
Chess prodigy Sophie Peshka inherited her love of the game from her grandmaster father. But now that he has been imprisoned in the dungeons of the Winter Palace in St Petersburg by powerful Empress Catherine the Great, Sophie must use all her strategic skill and cunning to help him escape.
Part of Sophie's plan involves an incredible chess-playing automaton called the Clockwork Queen, but will the Queen be able to outwit the Empress in a game where the stakes are a matter of life and death
"This rollercoaster adventure is a thrill ride not to be missed... Full of all the visual drama and rich imagination that have brought [Peter Bunzl] such success" -- Lancashire Evening Post
Imaginative, captivating and heart-warming ... Sophie is a character that readers will take into their hearts - Books for Topics
An absolute cracker ... Intrigue and mystery hang firmly in the air and exciting story-telling ensure a genuine page-turner ... A superb piece of historical fiction -- A Word About Books
"Exciting and moves with pace. The language used by Peter Bunzl is accessible but challenging ... When the action moves to St. Petersburg there is a brooding atmosphere of wealth and danger" -- Just Imagine
Eighteenth century Russia, Catherine the Great, high-stakes chess and Trojan horse style intrigue combine to create a gripping story you wont be able to put down -- Scope for the Imagination
PETER BUNZL started his career as an animator and film-maker working on everything from commercials to BAFTAwinning children's TV programmes. He is now best known as the awardwinning and bestselling children's author of the Cogheart series. Peter's debut novel, Cogheart, was nominated for several prestigious awards including the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, the Branford Boase Award and the Carnegie Medal.