'

'The Lost Soul Atlas marks Zana Fraillon’s triumphant return to middle-grade…Fans of Wonder, Counting by 7s and the work of Katherine Rundell will find a lot to love in the pages of this truly wonderful book.'

(Books and Publishing)

'A wise and profound fable, beautifully told and deeply affecting.'

(Anthony McGowan – Carnegie Award Winning Author)

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'A magnificent fable that straddles reality and the afterlife, Fraillon’s enigmatic work speaks to a tender relationship on the fringes of society...Lyrically written and full of memorable images, The Lost Soul Atlas is a tour de force of intelligent, emotionally resonant fiction.'

(Waterstones)

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‘Every night as I finish 50 pages and close the book I say to myself this is the book I want to be reading when I die. Like the Egyptians I want to wake up in another life holding The Lost Soul Atlas to remember the amazingly talented, erudite, imaginative writer Zana Fraillon. I want to remember how ephemeral dreams and nightmares can be caught in gossamer fine words. I want to remember the vast timeline of literature from when the first songs were sung around fires lit by nomads, from when words and stories wandered the world with the troubadours,  the entrancing word magic spun by Charles Dickens, Ursula le Guin, Isabelle Carmody and the poems that asylum seekers have brought to our shores - of how all this and more has informed the creation of this novel about loss and friendship; the  power and cruelty of some, the kindness and courage of many; about family, adventures, love, ravens, journeys, riddles and smiles. For those who love the gothic this is the book. For those who love fables this is the book. For those who love tales that set your heart racing this is the book. For those who wish for phantasgormic dreams this is the book. For those who want to think endlessly about a story this is the book. For those who want to be enfolded within lyrical prose this is the book. Juvenile fiction it is not. YA fiction it is not. This is a book for each one of us.’

(Eltham Bookshop)

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'This book is bigger than the sum of its parts. It is an extraordinary volume – the search for safety, love and truth. The story of children of the streets – a tale of a raven, a beautiful, characterful raven, meeples (who are a joy), a boy and his father and a girl too. A tale of the afterlife and memory hungry gods. Giant spiders with…bugles. There is Terry Pratchett within these covers – a book of dreams and hopes. Of homelessness too and yearning.
Fight the forgetting.'

 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

(Waterstones, Bookseller Review)
 

'There is so much to love about this book I hardly know where to begin – from the clever use of humour (and some truly awful, so-bad-they’re-good jokes) to balance the darker side of things to Flea’s hilarious insults and Kkruk’s begrudging sidekick stance; from the use and imagery of the maps and stories (“because stories are the maps for how we can be”) to the riddles, magic and characters Twig meets on his quest; from the friendships and loyalties both strengthened and challenged to the energy and life of good times in spite of the bad; from the nod to Alice in Wonderland to the distinct feel of Pratchett, especially in the Gods, to the way folklore and family tales are threaded throughout… and so much more besides...Punchy, unflinching and refusing to look away from the very real and heartbreaking situation on our streets, it is also a funny and wonderfully immersive fantasy. A magical tale of friendship, loyalty, suffering and hope, this is a story which will speak straight to your heart and to your imagination.'

 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

(Waterstones, Rachael at Altrincham)