A city of dark and deadly secrets, a prince who must be protected, a young man who can barely use a sword. Berren's thrilling new adventure from the author of THE ADAMANTINE PALACE.

Berren is not enjoying himself. Trapped in a temple, forced to learn how to read, how to write and how to recall the histories of the Saints, all he wants is to be given a sword. As a thief-taker's apprentice he imagined a world of daring night-time chases, glorious victories and a life of excitement. His dreams aren't quite coming true.

So when a prince - the first and last prince he'll ever see - hires the thief-taker as a bodyguard, Berren is thrilled. When he hears that a troupe of Dragon Monks - exotic warriors and the best swordsmen in the world - are visiting, he sees an opportunity to learn how to fight. When one of the Monks turns out to be a girl of the same age, his future suddenly seems a lot brighter.

But when a shadowy figure launches an attack on the life of Prince Sharda, Berren finds himself plunged into a world of danger, intrigue and terror. He may discover that being trained with a sword isn't enough - sometimes, you have to know who to fight.

Sequel to the best-selling THE THIEF-TAKER'S APPRENTICE, THE WARLOCK'S SHADOW drags the reader back in to the nocturnal and dangerous world of Berren, orphan and reluctant hero. Perfect for readers of Trudi Canavan and Robin Hobb.

There are 304 pages in this book. This book was published 2012 by Orion Publishing Co .

Stephen Deas was born in 1968. He once set fire to Wales. Well one bit of Wales. Twice. When not burning principalities, he played too much Dungeons and Dragons. Despite this he managed to study theoretical physics at Cambridge, get a job at BAE, marry and have two children. He now lives in Essex.