The Cockatrice Boys (1993)

by Joan Aiken

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▾LibraryThing recommendations

Dangerous Games by Joan Aiken (1999)
Same series: Cold Shoulder Road, Dido and Pa (Wolves Chronicles)
Wild Robert by Diana Wynne Jones (1989)
The River at Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston (1959)
Same series: An Enemy at Green Knowe, A Stranger at Green Knowe (Green Knowe)
Stopping for a Spell by Diana Wynne Jones (1993)
Wilkins' Tooth, or Witch's Business by Diana Wynne Jones (1973)

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Joan Aiken wrote my favorite childhood book, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. This one wasn't nearly as good, but the opening scene hooked me. Monsters arrive to invade England via the baggage claim carousel at the Manchester Airport!...

practicalkatie | Oct 28, 2007 |

A charming, strange tale in which Britain is overrun by monsters previously thought to be imaginary. It has a definite sort of "War of the Worlds" flavor, with British soldiers complaining about the quality of the tea, then dashing off to perform heroic acts. It's billed on the jacket as Aiken's "first adult fantasy," but I would also recommend it to teens who like a touch of the bizarre. (

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Crowyhead | Oct 25, 2005 |

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1993

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Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0765342316, Mass Market Paperback)

The idea for this book might have come from National Enquirer: hideous demonic monsters invade England, laying it waste and devouring most of the inhabitants. Embargoed by the rest of the world, the English barricade themselves underground. After five years on the defensive, an armored, heavily-armed train is built to attack and, if possible, find the source of the plague: the Cockatrice Belle and her crack Cockatrice Corps crew. The train sets out for Manchester, and by chance it picks up Sauna, a young girl who embodies both cause and cure.

Joan Aiken's characters are evocatively Dickensian and strange--Sauna, Dakin, Clipspeak, Bellswinger, Tom Flint. This send-up of every other alien-invasion story is a quirky, inventive fantasy.

(retrieved from Amazon Mon, 14 Jan 2013 04:19:51 -0500)

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After monsters invade Britain with the aim of destroying civilization, an expedition is mounted to defeat them. Two children with extrasensory perception, a boy and a girl, join the expedition and it is thanks to them that the monsters are routed. With illustrations.… (more)