The Alchemist S Cat

Animal fantasy. Sorcery, villainy, murder. 10 yrs+

In 1664, London, Will Godwin becomes an assistant to a wicked alchemist.

The year is 1664 when young Will Godwin comes to London. In order to survive, he becomes an assistant to a wicked alchemist, Elias Theophratus Spittle. On an errand one freezing night, Will finds a mother cat and her three kittens, and brings the family back to his master's lab. Among the bubbling bottles and evil smelling jars of his master's apothecary shop unfolds an extraordinary tale of villainy, sorcery, and murder. The Deptford Mice trilogy witnessed the harrowing battles between the mice of Deptford and Jupiter, lord of darkness and treacherous disguises. Now in this gripping prequel, Jupiter's secret history is revealed.

Set in the winter of 1664, 'The Alchymist's Cat' describes how Will, an alchymist's assistant brings a mother cat to his master's apothecary. There, among the bubbling concoctions and vile-smelling jars, Jupiter is born.

Consider a world inhabited with only cats and dogs: a society recognizable as our own, but with its eccentricities being the norm, rather than the exception. A world where the charm of Kenneth Grahame’s Wind In the Willows meets the exotic world of Ian Fleming’s Bond. A world where fluffy just got dangerous. These are the Velvet Paw of Asquith Novels, also known as the Dooven Books: welcome to the genre of New Fable. When Oscar stumbles across an arrogant bard named the Dodosette and the beautiful cat Vaasi-Vee, he unearths a plot to plunge the world into darkness. After some begging, a lot of snow and an industrial-sized vat of soup, the three animals argue all the way to the infamous land of Vra to do something about it. They did not, however, anticipate having to fight invisible Rottweilers, smash kitchens to pieces, lick frozen cars or fund taxi drivers’ sisters' eye operations. Although, for Oscar Teabag-Dooven, such things are not unusual.

"Doppleganger! What's a Doppleganger?" Amy asked her granddad as she watched the liquid in the bottle change colour. "A Doppleganger was a magical creature which could change shape and become whatever it wished." he told her. Amy couldn't believe that granddad was secretly an Alchemist and could make magic potions, but maybe this new potion he had created could solve her problems. She would be able to deal with that bully Kristian once and for all! However, Amy's problems had only just begun. When granddad is kidnapped she must use her new shape changing powers, along with the help of an apprentice alchemist and some magic potions to rescue granddad and the other missing alchemists. Amy Alice and the Alchemists is a fast paced magical adventure featuring secret laboratories, fairy tale creatures and magic potions and is suitable for children aged 8-12 years old.

Look what The New Yorker dragged in! It’s the purr-fect gathering of talent celebrating our feline companions. This bountiful collection, beautifully illustrated in full color, features articles, fiction, humor, poems, cartoons, cover art, drafts, and drawings from the magazine’s archives. Among the contributors are Margaret Atwood, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Roald Dahl, Wolcott Gibbs, Robert Graves, Emily Hahn, Ted Hughes, Jamaica Kincaid, Steven Millhauser, Haruki Murakami, Amy Ozols, Robert Pinsky, Jean Rhys, James Thurber, John Updike, Sylvia Townsend Warner, and E. B. White. Including a Foreword by Anthony Lane, this gorgeous keepsake will be a treasured gift for all cat lovers. Praise for The Big New Yorker Book of Cats “The Book of Cats comes a year after The Big New Yorker Book of Dogs—a publishing slight that, though it stings, I’ll forgive, as the latest anthology was worth the wait. . . . Two standout articles feature real-life obsessives of ages past who reveal today’s Caturnet devotees—with their GIFs and Tumblrs and hastily aggregated listicles—for what they truly are: amateurs. . . . Eat your heart out, Cute Overload.”—The New York Times Book Review “A beautiful hardcover.”—Jenny McCarthy, People “This irresistible anthology of articles, poems, essays, fiction, cartoons, and covers pulled from the New Yorker is a veritable treasure trove for cat lovers. Just dive right in; with stories from the likes of John Updike, Maeve Brennan, Roald Dalhl, and Haruki Murakami interwoven with hilariously wry cartoons, one can’t help but be enthralled. A must-have.”—Modern Cat “A shiny, well-fed tome . . . The anthology embodies the cat’s defining characteristic: its cluster of opposites, rolled together into a giant hairball of cultural attitudes—something, perhaps, at once uncomfortably and assuringly reflective of our own chronically conflicted selves.”—Brain Pickings “This gorgeous book has earned a permanent spot on my coffee table. It is an absolute joy to read and browse through, and I know it will bring me hours and hours of pleasure for years to come. And it makes a purr-fect gift for the special cat lovers in your life.”—The Conscious Cat “[A] sumptuous volume.”—The Dallas Morning News