The Illiterate Magician - Longlisted for the 2018 Wattys Awards

[2018 Wattys Awards. Best rankings: #1 in gaslamp, #2 in gaslight]

Cornwall, 1895. Tragedy sends 14-year-old Benjamin to boarding school at Kerkammel College. Isolated and alone, at first the medieval castle situated on the edge of a moor and unlike any other fills him with wonder, but then he learns about life at Kerkammel.
When an early encounter with bullies forces Benjamin to enter the dreaded labyrinth, he becomes lost for hours inside its myriad passages, until at last the inscrutable Arithmetic Master rescues him.
But the punishment meted out isn't what Benjamin expected. Instead of lines or detention, he is to search the library for the truth about Malcontentus the Evil.
The hunt launches Benjamin into the lost history of the castle, of ghosts, kings and the discovery that the labyrinth is actually a prison, where prisoners are held captive within their own portrait.
Then Malcom, an illiterate 16th century magician, falls from a painting at his feet and it falls to Benjamin to return him to imprisonment, before the curse of the portrait kills Malcom.
In a race against time, Benjamin must learn magic and solve the mystery of Malcom's release, pitting them against an ancient evil which threatens to destroy the world.

Malcontentus the Evil has returned!