The Silver Child (Silver Sequence)

Six children leave the comfort of their homes. They are drawn to Coldharbour - an eerie wasteland of wind, rats, seagulls and rubbish tips. Emily and Freda, the twins, scuttle bright eyed and insect-like in search of the others. They find Thomas on a food tip. The gentle giant boy Walter joins them and so does Helen, who can read minds. And at the centre of it all is luminous Milo, his skin hot and bright with silver. Each of them has a unique gift, but they must learn to use their skills fast. Drawing ever closer in a maelstrom of fury is the Roar, something vast and dreadful that wants to destroy them all. As in The Doomspell trilogy, Cliff's characters really are 'the children next door' until they discover the powers they possess and he sweeps them and the reader into his worlds of magical fantasy, writing exciting, breathtaking adventures with richly imagined, vividly drawn characters, and an infectious energy, warmth and humour. The Silver Child is book 1 in a heart-stopping new sequence.

At last the long wait of nearly nine years has finally born fruit and that too a very sweet one! I had been planning to photograph this 22nd July 2009, total eclipse of the Sun all these years as I had to miss out the 2006 eclipse in turkey for the delay of just one day in getting my passport. Ever since I was desperately waiting for this to happen. I had to do a lot of planning as I knew there is gonna be monsoon around in July, and that it could throw in the spanner. So I studied a lot of weather charts, satellite images and what not, to arrive at a decision to go to Varanasi. according to my anticipation and calculation this was suppose to be the best place for the event.(though NASA had declared taregna in bihar to be the best spotfor eclipse watching) I landed at Varanasi on the 20th morning just to see the conditions there and trust me they were not too promising. there were clouds and rains on and off and the local weather prediction forecasting rain and thunderstorms! I was crestfallen. I contemplated moving out of Varanasi to a place south of varanasi called Sasaram . And in the mean time my friend Dr. Subh Mohan had also called me up telling that he will be reaching on the 21st night and we almost agreed upon moving out of Varanasi in the middle of the night. In the morning of 21st I went to the ghats for a dress rehearsal at about 4:30 am . I had a 1000 mm lens which was jacked up with canon 350 D body and I had an effective focal length of 1600mm. the main lens was alligned with a 7*25 mm finder scope both fitted with bader astro solar filters. There were dark heavy clouds all over the horizon and most part of the sky. As I was setting up the equipment a lot of curious onlookers gathered around me attracted by the sheer size of the lens. One of the foreigner told me that he been coming to ghats for the last seven days and have not seen the sun rise even for once. That observation further disappointed me. As soon as I finished aligning the main lens with the finder scope the rain came falling. It was gloomy! I rushed for cover under a shanty. I was thinking all this while that all this wait of nine years is going to go in clouds. With a heavy heart I came back to the hotel room. Dr. Shubh was to reach that night. And we were constantly in touch discussing about the plan B C and D. After showers I went back to ghats and met a few guys who were also there for the eclipse watching. I told them about my plans of moving elsewhere. they told that they will tell me later on. All this while I had my eyes on the skies. The conditions were windy. It rained in the evening. It cleared up gradually and I could see the stars in the sky. Dr. Shubs train was late and it was to arrive past midnight. I kept sitting in the balcony of the lodge and had my eyes on the skies. There were a few foreigners there and we started chatting and playing cards. One girl called Rachelle taught me how to play a particular game. And I ended up winning all the games strangely! Its only then that I thought that I might be lucky in the morning! But I had also made up my mind just in case I had to I will hire a cab and move out. But luckily the clouds stayed away for most of the time. I got ready at 4 a m and Dr Shubh had also arrived and we both proceed to the Assi ghat which was some 3-4 hundred meters from the lodge. My heart skipped a beat as soon as I looked towards eastern horizon. It was cloudy and a whole lot of clouds moving from south towards the east. I was cursing my self for not moving out. But the silver lining was that the sky was clear mostly. Nevertheless I set up the cams and aligned the two things and was waiting with the bated breath. The clouds were moving past at quite a pace. I could guess that I will miss some part of the action. The Sun had risen at about 5:20 and it was behind the clouds. At 5:30 and few seconds the eclipse began but it was behind the clouds. I could get a few glimpses of the sun through the opening s in the clouds on an off. Later on the clouds gave way and I thanked God for blessing me with the clear view of the celestial spectacle for which I had been waiting for last many many years. The entire progression of the eclipse went off smoothly barring a few initial minutes. The entire period of totality was clear. Later on I came to know that most other areas including Taregna were clouded out! This incident made me remember a dialog of SRK movie. If you have a very very strong desire for something, then all the forces in the universe come to gather to fulfill it !!! Hope u like the picture. The actual size is a few meters tall.

October 17, 2011 Katarina takes a hold of his hand as he continues to make sure she stays sturdy on her feet as she finishes descending from the stairs.

Milo, transformed into a luminous silver child, keeps watch over the teeming city of Coldharbour, now filled with children from all over the world. We meet Tanni and Parminder, who lead the frightening Unearthers, children who are virtually human drills. But who is controlling them? Why are they draining Thomas of his beauty? Where is the Roar? And what is the significance of the mud dolls that Jenny makes? In an intense and page-turning story, the destinies of these magical children unfold as battlelines are drawn around them for the biggest fight ever between good and evil.

Milo, transformed into a luminous silver child, keeps watch over the teeming city of Coldharbour, now filled with children from all over the world. We meet Tanni and Parminder, who lead the frightening Unearthers, children who are virtually human drills. But who is controlling them? Why are they draining Thomas of his beauty? Where is the Roar? And what is the significance of the mud dolls that Jenny makes? In an intense and page-turning story, the destinies of these magical children unfold as battlelines are drawn around them for the biggest fight ever between good and evil.