It's been done to death, you know. It was old in Earthsea, and positively exhumed for Rowling. Yet this book was, quite honestly, one of the most enjoyable "teen gets magic" reads to ever have crossed my bookshelf. There's something about Mort, his personality is infectious, his style and whit both quick and memorable and the surrounds were very nicely done too.

There's a rather marvelous shift from third to first person narration in chapter 18, one of the most deftly executed and intricately written bits of POV work I've seen, it's only done in a couple of sentences but I really Grokked it.

I also really like Manning's pricing structure; each of the books in the series costs a little more than the others. It's almost like he's saying "if you think I'm worth it, pay that bit more to carry on". The most expensive is no more than a decent pot of coffee or a sandwich, which in my opinion is a damn good bargain. This one, book 1, costs less than £1: you can't even take a shopping trolley around a supermarket without a quid, you know! Both sequels are on my wish list and will be the next thing I buy for personal gratification without a doubt.