Posted at 12:00 p.m.
A historic contract
Long before its appearance on the shelves of Quebec booksellers this week, the youth novel Skandar and the Unicorn Thief (Skandar and the Flight of the Unicorn, in French) had already captured the attention of the media all over the world. What piqued their curiosity? The publishing contract for the first three books in the series, whose value is in the seven figures. This would be a record sum for an author who has never been published before. The enthusiasm is not limited to the publishing house Simon & Schuster with whom the writer Annabel Steadman (A. F. Steadman of her pen name) signed the historic contract. Other publishers in the race to publish the series have also offered more than $1 million, reports The Guardian. First published in the United Kingdom on April 28, the novel for ages 9 and up, translated into 38 languages, will be released in more than thirty countries. A film is also in preparation by Sony Pictures.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY THE PUBLISHING HOUSE
Annabel Steadman
A world of unicorns
What is this first volume of a series of five that has aroused such enthusiasm in the world of children’s literature about? The author transports the reader to the Island, where unicorns are born every year. At the time of hatching from their egg, they absolutely must be in the presence of the young rider to whom fate has linked them. Otherwise, they become wild and bloodthirsty. It must be said that the unicorns imagined by Annabel Steadman have nothing to do with the “harmless mythical creatures [qui] look like big stuffed animals. Despite their potential danger, all children dream of riding a unicorn. In the novel, we follow 13-year-old Skandar Smith in the process of deciding whether or not he will become a horseman. (We’ll let you guess the answer.) However, it’s a very special year to live such an adventure since the most powerful unicorn in the world has been stolen by a mysterious enemy.
Parallels with Harry Potter
In reality as in fiction, there are many parallels between the series of AF Steadman and that of J. K. Rowling. In addition to being both British, the authors come from a modest background. In both stories, the hero is a young teenager who learns magic in a very special school: Harry Potter attends Hogwarts castle, while Skandar Smith lives in the Nest, a campus built in giant trees. In the wizarding world, students are divided into four houses: Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin. In that of the unicorns, the young and their mount are associated with an element: water, fire, air or earth. The fault line ceremony is also reminiscent of that of the magic sorting hat imagined by J. K. Rowling.
Welcome to Quebec
Skandar and the Flight of the Unicorn had a good first week in the UK, ranking fourth in the youth sales charts with nearly 7,500 copies sold. In Quebec, where the book was released on Wednesday, it is still too early to have figures. Booksellers have also declined interview requests from The Press on the reception reserved for the series by the Quebec public, the publication being very recent. Like other publishers abroad, Éditions Petit Homme, which publishes the novel here, strongly believes in the adventures of Skandar. “The circulation is quite exceptional,” says Florence Bisch, editorial director of Groupe Homme, which owns Éditions Petit Homme. Displays, posters, windows, advertisements on social networks: the marketing efforts deployed are “rather extraordinary”, she adds. What prompted Éditions Petit Homme to embark on the project? “The novel was noticed for its quality, quite simply. This somewhat unique universe immediately appealed to us,” replies Florence Bisch. The enthusiasm of the original publisher “who believed in it very, very much” and the film rights already signed also weighed in the balance.
So what ?
What did we think of Skandar and the Flight of the Unicorn ? We really enjoyed this 453-page journey through a fascinating world. The author guides the reader in her fantastic universe without ever falling into descriptive heaviness. In fact, the hero, who thought he knew the Island and its creatures well, learns information at the same rate as the reader. With its air battles of unicorns, its mysterious disappearances, its secrets to hide and this dark character named Arachne, the novel contains its share of twists. Skandar and the Flight of the Unicorn, it’s also a beautiful story of friendship, somewhat reminiscent of that linking Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Will Skandar be as successful as the Wizard? Without taking anything away from the qualities of Annabel Steadman’s novel, we doubt it. With over 500 million books sold worldwide and over $9 billion at the box office, Harry Potter is in a class of its own. Still, we are eagerly awaiting the second volume.
Skandar and the Flight of the Unicorn
AF Steadman
Little Man Editions
From 9 years old