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The Father of Lies Chronicles
Welcome to the mobile site of
The Father of Lies Chronicles
Something wicked has been awoken under the earth...
With his Dad starting work on the new Metro tunnel, Arthur is forced to move to Dublin. While exploring a hidden underground river, Arthur and his new friends Will and Ash find a mysterious pendent. It glows in the gloom of the river and depicts a monstrous snake strangling the trunk of a tree. They soon work out that the pendent is a warning, a sign that something evil is waiting underneath the city. Something that's been imprisoned for a thousand years, something left by the Vikings, something that can – and will - destroy first the city, then the world.
What did the Vikings hide under Dublin and why did they leave it there? Who is the dark man that spies on Arthur and what is his evil plan? This hair-raising fantasy adventure will have you thrilled to the end, as only Arthur and his friends can save the world from the dreaded World Serpent.
Shortlisted in the Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards for Best Children's Book, Senior 'Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent' has been described by Eoin Colfer, author of Artemis Fowl as 'a brilliant creation... fast-paced and thrilling' and by Image Magazine as 'an exciting fantasy novel. The book is the first of a trilogy and a thrilling read for anyone 8+!
Life is finally back to normal for Arthur Quinn.
Three months ago, he and his friends almost died stopping the Trickster God Loki from destroying the world. But just when Arthur is starting to relax again, the dreams start once more; dreams of gods, dreams of war, dreams of wolves. It can mean only one thing. Loki is back.
Who is the Fenris Wolf of Arthur’s visions? Can he trust his two odd new classmates? And what’s in the National Museum that Loki is so desperate to get at? Mysteries and questions arise as, once again, it's down to Arthur Quinn, his friends and a dead Viking to save the world.
But what they don't know is that this time, Loki has help...
Following on from the enormous success of 'Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent', Arthur and his friends are back in a new exciting adventure!
Arthur Quinn has defeated the World Serpent. He's come face-to-face with the Fenris Wolf. But now he faces Loki's most powerful child, Hell's Keeper.
With his friends Ash, Ellie and Ex, Arthur sets out to stop this new menace. But Loki has a trick up his sleeve, a trick that changes everything. Arthur must confront Loki for a final showdown.
But faced with a terrible secret and enemies at every turn, can Arthur find the courage he needs to defeat the god once and for all, or has Loki finally won?
Alan Early was born in a small town in Leitrim and now lives in Dublin. He studied in the National Film School, Dun Laoghaire and upon graduation in 2008, co-founded Annville Films. From an early age Alan loved to write and illustrate short stories about Banshees and ghost animals and whatever else struck his imagination. His first attempt at writing a novel was while he was still at school and was about, amongst other things, a telepathic fish.
His first novel – Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent – was published in 2011. Described by Eoin Colfer as ‘a brilliant creation… fast-paced and thrilling’, it was shortlisted for the Best Childrens Book, Senior in the 2011 Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards. It was
also the chosen book in ‘Children Save Dublin’, the first citywide reading project for children from Unesco City of Literature.
Alan like books that have pages made of paper and also a beginning, middle and end. He is a picky eater but, despite that, quite like raisins. Alan greatly dislikes writing biographies about himself.
Find out 69 facts about Alan here!
I'm often asked if I do School Visits. Well the answer is, yes I do. I'm happy to visit schools, libraries and bookshops all over the country
The visit itself
Generally these last anywhere between 40 and 60 minutes. I can work shorter/longer sessions.
The format can change but usually includes a reading or two from my latest book, some story-creating games with the group and a Q&A session. (If a group has a lot of questions, the session can sometimes run over so it's best to let me know in advance.)
I'll also talk a bit about how I write and how I come up with my stories - (although these usually come up a lot during the Q&A also.)
I'm happy to sign any books/postcards/bookmarks/scraps of paper that the group has afterwards. If you want to buy books in bulk for the session, you could order through your local bookshop (I'm sure they'll be only delighted!) or directly through Mercier Press.
If I need anything special for the visit, I'll let you know in advance. But generally all I require is a glass of water.
A few things to bare in mind
I'm flexible with group size (ask me!) but I feel that groups of max 40 are more managable.
As I said above, I'm happy to visit anywhere in the country but you should bare in mind that I don't drive so your school or library will need to be easily reachable by public transport.
If your group hasn't had the chance to read all of my book yet, don't worry! The sessions don't rely on a lot of knowledge of my writing. Although I do suggest that you encourage them to look through the website prior to my visit.
I can do a couple of different sessions for different ages. My normal visit is aimed at fourth to sixth class but I'm also happy to speak to first to transition years about the writing process.
I find it's a good idea to get the group to write down questions beforehand. It can be difficult to think of a question on the spot but once they start flowing, they won't stop.
If you want me to visit your school, library or book club, send a message to odin@arthurquinn.ie and I'll get back to you.
Be sure to give some details about the group, including ages and numbers.
You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter & YouTube.
You can play games, get free downloads, learn about the real things that inspired Alan and upload your own Arthur Quinn art all on the full version of the site.
The full site is best viewed on a laptop or desktop computer. However, to view the full version on your mobile device, click here!
Can you work out whether the statements below are Fact or Fiction?
Click on each one for the answer.
The Vikings wore helmets with horns on them.
The Viking helmets didn't actually have horns. They were usually round in shape and made from leather.
Thursday is named after the Viking god Thor
Also, Wednesday is named after his father Odin because the original translation of his name was Woden.
The Vikings were really dirty and wild-looking.
Vikings were actually quite vain and liked to keep clean. They had combs, tweezers, razors and even ‘ear-spoons’ to clean out ear wax!
Wolves still roam the Irish Countryside.
The last Irish wolf was killed by farmers in 1786 for slaughtering sheep.
The Vikings introduced pockets to Irish trousers.
As Arthur learned in the books, the Vikings gave us pockets. Luckily for us. Otherwise, we wouldn't have had anywhere to put our mobile phones and wallets!
The Poddle is a real river.
And it actually does run under the streets of Dublin. You can even see where it flows into the Liffey as in the book. Check out the interactive map for more info on the river Poddle or watch this great video to see the tunnel itself.
Lough Faol is a real place.
Lough Faol isn't real but Alan did base it on a real place, Lough Owel. It's just as it's described in 'Arthur Quinn and the Fenris Wolf'; it's near Mullingar, runs alongside the railway and has an island in the middle. Have a look at the interactive map to see it for yourself.
Olaf really was a Viking King of Dublin.
Arthur and his friends meet an actor playing King Olaf in the Viking Experience. Olaf was actually king of Dublin from 941 onwards. He also went by the name Amlaíb Cuarán. Find out more about him here.
In the Viking legends, there were 12 gods and 12 goddesses of Asgard.
As it mentions in the books, Odin was the leader of the gods, known as the 'All-father'. If you're interested in reading more about the Norse legends, there are lots of resources online but the best place is to go along to your local library where you'll find lots of books on the myths.