The Magician and the Merchant — David Phillips

Pelagius is a young man in an old town. Bored by the safe and dull, he decides to leave home to make his fortune his own way. In this world, money does not grow on trees, so he takes on the career of a merchant. Loading a cart with fancy goods, accompanied by his faithful horse and cunning cat, he starts his journey to a distant town. To get there safely he must cross a land of thieves. Once there, he will meet two wise men. One is a scientific magician. The other is the secretive chief of police. Pelagius learns the strange ways of that city and begins to sell his goods. But it is a vain and dangerous place. Indeed, it plans an invasion of his own home town. The magician has a love of football, so offers to join him on condition that they create a proper football team while preparing the town for defence. Helped by his wife (our hero married young) and the children of the local school, our friends must come up with one cunning plan after another to save them all. First, Pelagius crosses the sea to find allies. These turn out to be an alien tribe with a logic different to our own. The story builds to a climax when the two sides must battle each other. This is a story enlivened by humour and some original songs. It is written clearly enough for younger readers but has some advanced ideas that will appeal to all ages.