Bookworm

Elaine is an orphan girl who has grown up in a world where magical ability brings power. Her limited talent was enough to ensure a magical training, but she's very inexperienced and was lucky to get a position working in the Great Library. Now, the Grand Sorcerer-the most powerful magician of them all-is dying, although initially that makes little difference to Elaine; she certainly doesn't have the power to compete for higher status in the Golden City. But all that changes when she triggers a magical trap and ends up with all the knowledge from the Great Library stuffed inside her head. The knowledge locked away in the Great Library was meant to remain permanently sealed and letting it out could mean a repeat of the catastrophic Necromantic Wars of five hundred years earlier. Elaine is forced to struggle with the terrors and temptations represented by her newfound knowledge, all the while trying to stay out of sight of those she fears. But a darkly powerful figure has been drawing up a plan to take the power of the Grand Sorcerer for himself; and Elaine, unknowingly, is vital to his scheme. Unless she can unlock the mysteries behind her new knowledge, there is no hope for those she loves, the Golden City, or her entire world.

Not every ugly duckling becomes a swan . . . In the wake of the disastrous attack on the Golden City, Lady Light Spinner has become Grand Sorceress and Elaine, the Bookworm, has been settling into her positions as Head Librarian and Privy Councillor. But any hope of vanishing into her books is negated when a new magician of staggering power appears in the city, one whose abilities seem to defy the known laws of magic. Johan is a Powerless, a person born to a magical family yet lacking powers of his own. His dreams of a better life are curbed by his family, who see him as a cripple at best and a burden at worst. But when a political protest goes horrifically wrong, Johan discovers that his true powers have merely been buried, waiting for their chance to explode into the world. As he comes to grips with his newfound talents, he discovers that he finally has a chance to realize his ambitions . . . But for the Golden City, reeling after the devastation of six months earlier, he may be the greatest threat the city has ever seen. Elaine must unlock the mystery behind his powers before the political factions can kill him . . . or use him to unleash a nightmare. Returning to well-loved characters from Christopher Nuttall's bestselling Bookworm and introducing new ones, Bookworm II: The Very Ugly Duckling explores power-and the effect it has on the human mind.

Elaine and Johan are preparing to leave Golden City, with Daria and the travelers, in order to search for the Witch-King. The Grand Sorceress instructs Inquisitor Cass to help them. But before Elaine can leave she is arrested by two Inquisitors on the orders of the Emperor. When she resists she is hit with a powerful spell that forces her to concentrate all her efforts on protecting her mind from its intrusion. Taken to the palace she finds that the Grand Sorceress has been removed and the Throne has accepted an heir to the Empire. Realizing this has to be the work of the Witch-King, Elaine must defeat the spell that is eating away at her defenses if she is to escape and destroy him. Meanwhile, Johan, Daria, and Cass are trying to find a way to get to Elaine and break her out of the cell in which she is being held. The Golden City is still widely devastated from the disastrous battle for power that followed the death of the previous Grand Sorcerer. The recent escalating breakdown of social order can only be made worse by the return of an Emperor and the imposition of martial law. The Privy Councillors and Heads of the Great Houses succumb to the power of the new Emperor, as he amasses a huge army. It is up to Elaine and her friends, with some unexpected help, to prevent an all-out war. The third installment in the Bookworm series, The Best Laid Plans follows immediately from the events in The Very Ugly Duckling, with Elaine and Johan joined by other favorite characters as they try to track down the Witch-King.

A new Emperor has arisen . . . and the Empire is collapsing into chaos. Having escaped from the Golden City, Elaine, Johan, and their friends-including some strange allies with goals of their own-race desperately towards Ida, hiding place of the ancient Witch-King. Behind them, the armies of the new Emperor-a man permanently poised on the verge of madness-give chase, unleashing monsters and spells from the long-buried past on everyone who stands in their way. Ahead of them, the Witch-King waits, biding his time as he prepares for his ascension. As they endure terrible dangers-and figures from the past-Elaine and Johan come to realize that Elaine's knowledge of magic and the bond between them may be the only thing standing between the Witch-King and godhood. But if they cannot prepare a defense in time, the entire world will die when the Witch-King rises from his tomb . . . The fourth and final installment in the Bookworm series, Full Circle continues from the events in The Best Laid Plans, with Elaine and her friends heading for Ida to confront the Witch-King.