A poignant fantasy, set in the sort of parallel universe England you might find in Joan Aiken or Philip Pullman ... Hart is inventive but not over-indulgent and the story rattles along nicely Daily Telegraph 20060408 An exciting read ... Heartily recommended -- Wendy Axford The School Librarian 20060701 An accomplished adventure, reminiscent of Philip Pullman's Victorian swashbuckler novels but with a creative approach to fantasy that is all the author's own South Wales Argus 20060408

MATT HART is Welsh and proud of it. He has worked as a fairground operative, in an architect's office, as a bus conductor and as a building-site labourer before turning to writing full-time. He reads loads, his favourite animal is the coatimundi and THE BLACK SPHINX is his first fantasy novel.