Lizzie Lights Nan Chauncy (ouP 15s). Cliff- hanging psychological drama
set on a craggy lighthouse island off the Tasmanian coast. A tight little community of beacon-keepers dis- plays all the uncomfortable symptoms of Pinter's isolation syndrome when their fastness is invaded by a malevolent thirteen year old. An observant and striking book.
The Treasure of Li-Po Alice Ritchie (Hogarth Press 15s). Brilliantly received on their first appearance twenty years ago, Miss Ritchie's six slight, spare and engaging stories were eminently worth reprinting.
The Weathermonger Peter Dickinson (Gol- lancz 18s). A curious first novel, part science fiction, part fairy story, with a dash of Boy's Own and liberal borrowings from Tolkien and T. H. White. England has gone Luddite : all machines (except the Beaulieu Silver Cloud) are put out of action, witches, wolves and leeches roam the country; and the malig- nant perpetrator of these irregular goings-on is discovered to be none other than that old campaigner, Merlin, huge, hirsute and main- lining on walloping doses of morphine. Won't stand up to adolescent scrutiny.
The Black Pearl Scott O'Dell (Longmans 16s). Strong meat for those who don't like fish. The story concerns a horrendous manta ray (imagine a skate weighing two tons and measur- ing ten yards across from fin to fin) generally considered to be in league with the devil. Fine local (Mexican) colour, and the ravish- ing monster churns the waters with great dash.
The Signposters Helen Cresswell (Faber 16s). Dyke Signposter and family looked after the signposts of Flockshire: painted them, carved designs on them and measured the miles of gently rolling countryside between them. Suit- able for cosy little girls, whimsy mums and undemanding simple-lifers.
Big Doc Bitteroot C. Everard Palmer (Andre Deutsch 16s). Doc Bitteroot, showman, quack and bully extraordinary, takes over a small Jamaican village with intent to plunder. Mr Palmer has a good ear for the local drawl and a knack for the picturesque: village politics at their most leisurely and entertaining.
Star Man's Son Andre Norton (Gollancz 18s). Science-fiction tale concerning the post- holocaust world and the mutants who inhabit it: Fors, an independent lad, is outlawed from his tribe for having night vision and silver hair and spends the rest of the book battling against the Beast Things—mutants inconceivably more horrid than himself, with a penchant for tame rats, red meat and devilish torture. Generous on blood and thrills.
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