The Shepherd of the Stars

A boy spellbound by a labyrinthine forest. A brotherhood shaken by pain. What wind might be caught on night waters, where nothing feels constant but starlight? Swift Kingsley, at merely fourteen, finds himself on the brink of adulthood. The trauma of surviving a boating accident has destroyed his boyhood illusions. No longer can he believe that the people he loves will stay safe from the currents of change. Reaching the shores of recovery won't be easy. With each day that passes, Swift's family seems to drift further away. And the accident's aftermath threatens to divide him from a cherished hope that he might one day practice medicine. The accident has wreaked damage on more than Swift's body-it has crushed his ability to focus, making studying his medical texts almost impossible. And the trauma has all but dismembered his passion for sea legends, despite that he has ventured so near to deciphering the mythical Star of Atlantis. A retreat to the beauty of the Pembrokeshire coast, on the brink of the magnificent Wentletrap Forest, seems to promise healing. And in its wilds, Swift even discovers a book with hidden text-secrets that might hold the key to his healing. But on the Welsh coast there also waits a museum curator who won't rest until he has claimed the relics and knowledge Swift has won. But for all that Swift has lost, for all that he might lose, he has gained something priceless-an old friend who, like a holdfast, seems strong enough to steady Swift in the storm. And the mystical Wentletrap Forest, despite its rumors of terrors and ghosts, offers insights through its legends, its piercing starlight, its strong, ancient trees. But even the mightiest ship can break in rough waters. To salvage his dreams and to guard all that's precious to him, Swift must regain his ability to read and to learn. And in struggling to recover his confidence, his skill, Swift must face the question of whether change can be bridled to bring restoration, or if it might usher in only an ending of worlds.