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ADAM OF ALBION (A HEAD OF TIME)

Here’s the set-up:

Start with a few typical, ordinary teenagers.

Sure. As if there’s any such thing.

The lineup:

Adam Keane, 14, ranch kid from hardscrabble Albion, Montana; sweet and shy, but tough as nails, who’s never owned an X-box but can fix an engine or shoot an elk, and right now is a fish out of water as he visits rich relatives in England.

Artemis Wellington-Blackthorn, 13, British aristocrat, petite, brash, brilliant, wild-haired feminist Goth, steeped in ancient lore and Goddess worship.

And Orpheus, way older than the Pyramids, but a kid at heart–although technically, he doesn’t have one of those, because he’s a head. Literally. A miniature man’s head, who’s actually a cyborg super computer, created by an advanced civilization that sank beneath the sea in pre-historical times.

Throw the three of them together, with a gang of murderous, trigger-happy thugs hot on their trail, determined to steal Orpheus at any cost. Add in Orph’s ultra-genius ability to function as a time machine. Plunge them careening back through centuries to the wild, dangerous Third Crusade, where they land smack in the middle of a brawl between King Richard the Lionheart, the Sultan Saladin, the Knights Templar, and a secret cult of female Assassins.

The result? An irresistible, thrilling adventure that’s a blend of fantasy, science fiction, magic, and history–

And also the story of a passionate love that has burned for many thousands of years.
Above all, ADAM OF ALBION is wonderful fun.

We hope you’ll take this chance to adventure along with these two terrific teens–and the one and only Orpheus. (If you thought your older brother could be a pain, wait until you meet him.) He’s human in all the ways that matter–cantankerous, sly, smartmouthed, but warm and generous underneath; a little wacky, but the kind of friend who comes through when you need him; and he loves to talk, mostly about his countless hair-raising adventures as he roamed the globe, living by his wits. He claims that he’s known pretty much every important person in history and has been at every important event, and he’s not shy about bragging on it–although his stories sometimes do seem to stretch the truth.

And Orpheus is human in the most important way of all:

He’s in love. But it’s a love that’s troubled by grief, worry, and loneliness. His soul mate, Eurydice–a beautiful, glowing, ankh-shaped jewel who fit inside his skull, who was part of him since his creation–got stolen from him during the Third Crusade.

Worse still, she’s his energy source. He’s been running on empty since he lost her, and now even empty is almost gone.

If he doesn’t find her soon–he’ll die.

As Orph and the kids search the Holy Land desperately for Eurydice, fighting and scheming to stay alive among the violent knights, fierce Muslim warriors, and treachery that lurks like vipers under every rock, another facet of this complex story emerges–the world of magic enters in.

Artemis and Adam begin to learn that they are chosen, with destinies that reach far into the past and future both. This adventure is really a battle in a hidden cosmic war, and they will play a key role in its outcome, as soldiers being guided by the mysterious hand of the Goddess.

But victory is far from certain, and the next stage of their journey will depend on their brains and courage in this one–if they survive.