Sebastian Darke: Prince of Spies

by Philip Caveney

A perilous journey across vast ice fields, dodging ravenous vulpins, is only the beginning of Sebastian Darke's final adventure. He, Cornelius and Max are on their way to Golmira, Cornelius's beloved home kingdom, on a rescue mission, for Golmira has been invaded by the cruel Tannisians and its people cast out of the city into the frozen Badlands. What madcap scheme can the three friends come up with this time? They will become spies, enter the city in disguise and find a way to drive out the Tannisians. Sebastian must brush up on his jesting skills, Cornelius take on the challenge of his life and Max - if he can ever stop moaning - will need all his strength if they are to pull off their most daring plan ever. This is the fourth and final book in the hugely successful Sebastian Darke series by best-selling author, Philip Caveney. Don't miss it. Praise for Sebastian Darke: "Unputdownable"� CBBC Newsround. "Sebastian Darke: Prince of Fools. Fast-paced, funny and studded with sparkling buffalope one-liners, this is perfect reading for Shrek fans." Boys Into Books.

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2012

About the author

Philip Caveney was born in North Wales in 1951. The son of an RAF officer, he spent much of his childhood travelling the length and breadth of Britain and spent several years in Malaysia and Singapore.

He attended the Kelsterton College Of Art where he obtained a diploma in Graphic Design. Whilst there, he became drummer (and latterly vocalist) with rock band, Hieronymus Bosch.

After leaving college, he worked extensively in theatre both in London and Wales and wrote the lyrics for rock adaptations of The Workhouse Donkey and Oscar Wilde’s Salome.

His first novel, The Sins Of Rachel Ellis, was published in 1976.

Published Works for Adults

The Sins Of Rachel Ellis: St Martin’s Press/ Robert Hale/Berkeley Press. ‘a spine chilling debut.’ – Doubleday Book Club magazine
Tiger Tiger – ‘ St Martin’s Press/Granada ‘…an intriguing tale of rivalry and honour ‘– Flintshire Chronicle
The Tarantula Stone – Granada - ‘breathtaking action.’ Kirkus
Cursery Rhymes Cornerhouse Books– ‘wickedly funny’ – City Life
Speak No Evil – Headline/Headline Review/ ‘cracking summer reading.’ City Life
Black Wolf – Headline/ Headline Review/ nominated for WH Smith Thumping Good Read award.
Strip Jack Naked – Headline/Headline Review - ‘a triumphant thriller’ - Evening Post
Slayground – Headline/Headline Review ‘,,, breakneck pace’ – Daily Mirror
Skin Flicks – Headline/headline Review – ‘Caveney uses the central image with considerable skill’ – Sunday Times
Burn Down Easy – Headline/Headline Review – ‘the fiction equivalent of standing on Semtex’ – Pure Fiction
Bad To The Bone – Headline/ Headline Review ’10 little Indians on speed!’ Tangled web
1999 – Headline/Headline Review ‘more than just a return to form.’ City Life
Love Bites – Xlibris – ‘a frighteningly funny read!’ Tregolwyn reviews.

Published works for Children

Cursery Rhymes(with Bob Seal) (Cornerhouse Books)
Sebastian Darke - Prince Of Fools (2007) (Random House)
Sebastian Darke: Prince of Pirates (2008) (Random House)

Coming soon…

Sebastian Dark: Prince of Explorers (2009) (Random House)
Alec Devlin: The Eye of The Serpent (2008) (Random House)
Alec Devlin: The Kingdom of the Skull (2009) (Random House)

He wrote the screenplay for the short film Dream Factory, directed by Philip Davenport and has recently written his first full-length screenplay The Sick House for director Curtis Radclyffe.

He is also an advertising copywriter and has been the co-ordinator for the Manchester Writers Workshop for over twenty five years.

Reviews

[Sony · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad to have finished the series, but the ending was definitely rushed (or perhaps it was exactly what Caveney wanted?). I was hoping for a longer read, and an unpredictable twist towards the end, which was common for the other books in the series. Well, not much I can really do about it. Hopefully, there might be spinoffs, and who knows - there may even be a movie!

[Booker G. A. Feniks · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final adventure in the Sebastian Darke series, & an amazing end for our group of heroes. Going into this series, I hadn't expected to like it so much. I knew nothing about Sebastian Darke, or Philip Caveney & his previous works. I hadn't even had a clue where the books came from! But, in the end, the series took me on an amazing journey that I'm unlikely to forget. The ending, especially, was a joy to go through, however short it was, & I really feel that this was the exact ending that Max, Sebastian, & Cornelius (& Jenna too!) deserved.

[Yami · Rating 4 out of 5]

not my favourite I like the previous more,but I am very VERY satisfied with the ending

[Nik · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.1

[Marcus Leong · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final adventure of the Sebastian Darke trio, this time it hits closer to home, especially for Cornelius as he learned about the invasion of his homeland at the end of the previous book. And almost like a form-changing superhero, following the previous volumes, Sebastian is now the Prince of Spies! And to do that, he will have to go back to his roots of being the Prince of Fools.

The homage to the first role of Sebastian Darke was a nice touch, and the key characters did not fail to entertain with their highly disharmonious synergy. And yes, the ending is definitely what Sebastian Darke deserves.
Having written that, the ending was rather rushed, and many loose ends from the previous books left untied. Especially on the fate of Cornelius...it just didn't make sense to me.

Nonetheless, a satisfying conclusion to the Sebastian Darke series!

[linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfection❤️