Staff Pick – The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains by Neil Gaiman

Set in Jacobean times, a Scottish dwarf engages a reaver, Callum MacInnes, to guide him to the cave in the black mountain that is reputed to hold treasure. He claims to want the treasure to restore the King to his throne, but in reality his heart is consumed with revenge.

The cave will give up its treasures, but in return, the seeker must give up a part of himself.

The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains: a tale of travel and darkness with pictures of all kinds by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Eddie Campbell is a magical, yet dark and disturbing story. It’s setting in the wilds of Scotland are beautifully brought to life by Campbell’s illustrations, adding to to this compelling story’s tension and suspense. I love the way Gaiman grabs the reader and builds suspense on the very first page.

“You ask me if I can forgive myself? … I hate myself for that, and nothing will ease that, not even what happened that night, on the side of the mountain.”

Gaiman proves himself, once again, to be a masterful storyteller. You will race your way through this story, then return again and read slowly for the sheer delight of it.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connelly is about a lonely and angry boy whose books begin to whisper to him as his family disintegrates. Like Gaiman’s Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains, The Book of Lost Things is a fantasy novel which takes the reader on a voyage of self-discovery.

“High in his attic bedroom, twelve-year-old David mourns the death of his mother. He is angry and alone, with only the books on his shelf for company. But those books have begun to whisper to him in the darkness, and as he takes refuge in his imagination, he finds that reality and fantasy have begun to meld. While his family falls apart around him, David is violently propelled into a land that is a strange reflection of his own world, populated by heroes and monsters, and ruled over by a faded king who keeps his secrets in a mysterious book… The Book of Lost Things.” publisher