The Snow Spider
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| Author | Jenny Nimmo |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's fantasy, supernatural fiction, thriller |
| Publisher | Methuen Children's Books |
| Published | 1986–1989 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
The Magician Trilogy is a series of three children's fantasy novels by the British author Jenny Nimmo, first published by Methuen 1986 to 1989. It is sometimes called the Snow Spider trilogy or series after the first book and The Snow Spider Trilogy is the title of its omnibus editions (1991 and later). The stories are inspired by Welsh mythology, with elements borrowed from Mabinogion. Set in contemporary Wales, they feature Gwyn Griffiths, a boy descended from Gwydion who discovers and develops some of the magical power in his lineage.
The Snow Spider won the Tir na n-Og Award from the Welsh Books Council, recognising the year's best English-language children's book with an authentic Welsh background, and won the second annual Smarties Prize as the year's best children's book written by a United Kingdom citizen or resident.
ISFDB catalogues the series as The Magician Trilogy. The novels were first published in hardcover editions by Methuen, the first two with illustrations by Joanna Carey, which were retained at least in early British paperbacks.
In the U.S., Emlyn's Moon was originally titled Orchard of the Crescent Moon (1989, 1990). There the novels were published a year or two after their first editions by Dutton Children's Books (an imprint recently acquired by Penguin). ISFDB does not report any interior artwork.
Omnibus editions entitled The Snow Spider Trilogy have been published in Britain. Mammoth paginated 468- and 435-page editions consecutively in 1991 and retained the Carey illustrations. Egmont UK's 2003 edition () is paginated separately with counts that match Methuen's first editions and also some reissues in separate volumes (144, 158, and 168 pages).
The stories are set in twentieth-century Wales and revolve around a boy named Gwyn Giffiths, who is descended from magicians, although neither parent believes that family lore. On his ninth birthday grandmother Nain Griffiths gives him five odd gifts that take him on a quest to discover whether he is a magician like his Celtic ancestors. They help him to unravel the mystery of his sister Bethan, who disappeared on his birthday four years ago.
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Wikipedia