In 1877, in an enchantment shop on the last of the Faerie roads linking New York City to the Land of the Fey, just after twelve-year-old Oona opts to relinquish her apprenticeship to her uncle, the Wizard, and become a detective, her uncle is stabbed, testing her skills.

Young Tom, the seventh son of a seventh son, starts work as an apprentice for the village spook, whose job is to protect ordinary folk from "ghouls, boggarts, and all manner of wicked beasties."

As the Spook's apprentice, Tom Ward must protect the country from the creatures of the dark. But now a dangerous ancient witch, Ordeen is about to rise. If Tom joins the army Tom's mother has mustered to confront Ordeen, the Spook will abandon him as his apprentice. What sacrifices will be made for the battle against the dark?

On an island on the edge of an immense sea there is a city, a forest, and a boy. The city is called Asteri, a perfect city that was saved by the magic woven into its walls from a devastating plague that swept through the world over a hundred years before. The forest is called the Barrow, a vast wood of ancient trees that encircles the city and feeds the earth with magic. And the boy is called Oscar, a shop boy for the most powerful magician in the...

Working as an artist's apprentice in Renaissance Florence, thirteen-year-old Arduino makes a discovery which may cost him the chance to become a painter.