Description

The Creature in the Case delves deeper into New York Times bestselling author Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom. Fans of Rae Carson, Kristin Cashore, Scott Westerfeld, and Cassandra Clare will be enthralled by this rich fantasy world.

Nicholas Sayre has just fought off the Destroyer and is eager to return to the Old Kingdom. The only thing standing in his way is a party organized by his powerful uncle. But when he arrives at the party he finds a house full of guests who don’t believe in magic or necromancy and a strange creature locked up in a display case.

After a disastrous twist of events involving the guest of honor, the creature in the case drinks Nicholas’s Charter-infused blood—and breaks free. Will Nicholas be able to stop the new Free Magic creature?

Epic Reads Impulse is a digital imprint with new releases each month.


  • A Country House Mystery: Nicholas Sayre expects a stuffy high-society party, not a secret underground facility with a monster locked in a case.
  • Dangerous Magical Creatures: When the creature tastes Nicholas’s unique, Charter-infused blood, it breaks free—and it’s hungry for more.
  • Secret Government Agency: Department Thirteen is supposed to protect the country, but its director has his own dark plans for the creature from the Old Kingdom.
  • YA Fantasy Espionage: With spies, double-crosses, and magic he barely understands, Nicholas must outwit his captors and hunt the creature before it reaches the Wall.

About the author(s)

Garth Nix is an award-winning and New York Times bestselling author whose beloved Old Kingdom fantasy series begins with Sabriel. His many other novels include Shade’s Children and A Confusion of Princes, and he has written such children’s series as The Seventh Tower and the Keys to the Kingdom, as well as co-writing TroubleTwisters and Have Sword, Will Travel with Sean Williams. His work has been translated into forty-two languages and has sold more than seven million copies. 

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