The Blade Series

Blade 1: Enemies
Blade 2: Flight
Blade 3: Firestorm
Blade 4: Endgame

Meet Blade. But be careful. You might not like what you see. He’s dangerous. He needs to be. Because there are people who want him dead.

‘From the Carnegie Medal-winning author of River Boy, Starseeker and Frozen Fire comes something completely different. Contemporary, pacy, and utterly gripping, Blade takes you on a roller-coaster ride through the secret, dangerous life of its unforgettable narrator. This thrilling series for teenagers combines an enormously likable and engaging central character with the harsh realities of street life and the youth gang culture that is so prevalent in today’s news.’
Oxford University Press

‘A remarkable and riveting series.’
Books for Keeps

‘A modern classic.’
School Librarian

‘Nobody in children’s writing is producing anything like this.’
Bookbag

Background
Reviews
Other Blade Titles
Tim's Blade Interviews
Background

‘The Blade series is an odyssey about a fourteen-year-old boy with a dangerous past and an uncertain future. I have tried to write a pacy thriller that not only focuses upon an engaging central character but also touches upon issues that concern me: gang culture, the exploitation of young people in fragmented communities, youth violence, and especially knife crime. It horrifies me to think of young people using knives and while I am a storyteller rather than a crusader, I cannot deny that one of my reasons for writing the Blade series was to try to show young readers that you cannot wield a knife without devastating consequences both for your victims and yourself. Knives have nothing to do with honour or respect. They are instruments of pain, mutilation and death and the use of them requires a committed act of personal savagery. The Blade series does not glorify, romanticise or in any way exalt the knife but seeks instead to show the hideous reality of knife culture. The boy at the heart of the story has lived by violence but he is not a thug. He is smart, articulate, even likable, and he’s in terrible danger. His enemies are drawing nearer, he’s becoming increasingly haunted by guilt for the things he’s done, and he’s struggling to find some kind of redemption. His life now hangs in the balance.’

Tim Bowler

Reviews

‘Nobody in children’s writing is producing anything like this. It’s electrifying.’
The Bookbag

‘Yet another captivating creation from Tim Bowler.’
Lovereading

‘Taut, intimate and wholly gripping…a remarkable and riveting series.’
Books for Keeps

‘A modern classic.’
School Librarian

‘My heart felt as if it was a lot further up than its normal position as I raced through Blade.’
Bookwitch

‘A gripping story.’
Julia Eccleshare

‘The tension is palpable and anyone who starts this book will not be able to stop.’
Cindy Mitchell, Kiss the Book

‘Sharply written without a wasted word.’
Irish Independent

‘An intense, gripping story.’
Publishers Weekly

‘Bowler’s use of short, clipped sentences creates a breathless tone that keeps readers on edge and turning pages at breakneck speed.’
Patricia McClune, School Library Journal

‘Fast and addictive.’
David Maybury

‘An addictive blend of paranoia and suspense.’
The Horn Book

‘Stunning new thriller’
Becky Stradwick, Publishing News

‘It was a thrilling and exhilarating novel and I would give it 10 out of 10 in a star rating.’
Lee Mein, Firrhill High, Teen Titles

‘As sharp as its title suggests, this is a relentless and brilliant page turner.’
The Bookseller

Other Blade Titles

Readers wishing to buy the complete series are sometimes confused by the sight of other Blade titles on the net. The problem has arisen because the Blade series was originally published in eight short books with different titles and the American Blade series then added further new titles. All these titles are now obsolete but many are still available on the net and this has sometimes made things confusing for readers. Fortunately the problem is easy to solve. To read the complete Blade series, you simply need to acquire the four books mentioned above. Ignore all other titles.

Tim's Blade Interviews