WORMWOOD

In his second novel, Taylor brings some cohesion and depth to his series, but the prose, atmospheric though it may be, is still convoluted. Here he introduces a London doctor named Sabian Blake. One night, a stranger delivers to him a mysterious book called the Nemorensis ("It was said to touch the Nemorensis was to hold the secrets of the cosmos in your hands"). A handwritten note in the book's margin describes a prophecy about a comet called Wormwood (the comet will "fall from the sky and poison the waters and bring death to many"). The plot quickly thickens, often to a muddied soup, but the reappearance of Abram Rickards, who aided Thomas and Kate in Shadowmancer , signals that the doctor is a good guy ("I am your angel," Abram says to Blake). Meanwhile, Blake's housemaid, Agetta, discovers that her father has imprisoned an angel in one of his rooms. And her father's "business" partner is none other than Dagda Sarapuk, the parson from whom Demurral won the Vicarage in a cockroach race in Shadowmancer . The evil entity behind Wormwood turns out to be the sister of Pyratheon, the demon force in Shadowmancer (the climactic skyshower of that novel indicates the beginning of Wormwood in this one); she wants to be queen of earth and heaven, and her plans culminate on Halloween night. Taylor is even more explicit in this title about his allegory's tether to Christianity (Abram says, "Open your eyes, you ape of Eden, and see what is really happening"). Those who enjoyed the first book will welcome this one. Ages 12-up. (Sept.)