Anthony Horowitz - Necropolis

The Alex Rider series:
Stormbreaker
Point Blanc
Skeleton Key
Eagle Strike
Scorpia
Ark Angel
Snakehead
Crocodile Tears

The Power of Five (Book One): Ravens Gate
The Power of Five (Book Two): Evil Star
The Power of Five (Book Three): Nightrise
The Power of Five (Book Four): Necropolis

The Devil and His Boy
Granny
Groosham Grange
Return to Groosham Grange
The Switch
More Bloody Horowitz (coming soon)

The Diamond Brothers books:
The Falcons Malteser
Public Enemy Number Two
South By South East
The French Confection
I Know What You Did Last Wednesday
The Blurred Man
The Greek Who Stole Christmas

ANTHONY HOROWITZ is one of the most popular childrens writers working today. Both The Power of Five and Alex Rider are No.1 bestselling series and have been enjoyed by millions of readers worldwide. Anthony is particularly excited by Necropolis, which he sees as a major step in a new direction. For a start, its his first book with a full-blooded female at the heart of the action. It also develops the themes that began with Ravens Gate and sets up the epic finale which he plans to begin soon. Anthony was married in Hong Kong and went back there to research the book. Everything you read is inspired by what he saw.

The hugely successful Alex Rider series, which has spurred a trend of junior spy books, has achieved great critical acclaim and Anthony has won numerous awards including the Booksellers Association/Nielsen Author of the Year Award 2007, the Childrens Book of the Year Award at the 2006 British Book Awards, and the Red House Childrens Book Award. The first adventure, Stormbreaker, was made into a blockbuster movie, starring Alex Pettyfer, Ewan McGregor, Bill Nighy and Robbie Coltrane.

Anthonys other titles for Walker Books include the Diamond Brothers mysteries; Groosham Grange and its sequel, Return to Groosham Grange; The Devil and His Boy; Granny and The Switch. Anthony also writes extensively for TV, with programmes including Midsomer Murders, Poirot and the drama series Foyles War, which won the Lew Grade Audience Award 2003. He is married to television producer Jill Green and lives, reluctantly, in London with his two part-time sons, Nicholas and Cassian and their dog, Dreary.

You can find out more about Anthony and his books at:

www.anthonyhorowitz.com

www.powerof5.co.uk

When Necropolis was first published in hardback, hundreds of readers entered a competition to ask me a question about The Power of Five. You can find many of them with my answers on the website. These were my top 12 favourite questions.

AH

How do you start to write a story? Dont you find it daunting when faced with a blank page?

Patrick, aged 12, Isle of Wight

My favourite part of writing a book is thinking up the ideas and that can start a long time before I actually sit down at my desk. For example, I first visited Hong Kong (the main setting of Necropolis) twenty years ago. I got married there - and that was when I first began thinking of a nightmarish adventure taking place there. So I get the idea, I develop it, I keep turning it over in my mind and gradually a story begins to take shape. Then I work out the structure, balancing slow chapters with fast ones, violent moments with more reflective ones. Im not daunted by a blank page. I look forward to filling it.

What was your inspiration for The Power of Five series?

Archie, aged 9, Peckham

I grew up with the Narnia books and then with Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings but I never thought Id be able to write a full-blooded fantasy sequence. Im not very good at creating other worlds. I prefer to write about the world as it is. But at the same time, its often struck me that the real world may not be quite how we imagine it. For example, if I walk past a locked-up church at night, I wonder whats happening inside. Is it actually empty or are there strange creatures coming together in the dark to engage in mysterious rituals? When I was living in North London, I used to pass a shop at the end of the street that always had furniture in the window the same things all year round. I became convinced that it was only pretending to sell furniture and I used to like imagining what really happened there. Could it be a meeting place for gangsters? What if it was actually run by visitors from another world?

I love the idea that magic and witchcraft and battles between supernatural creatures could be raging all around us but just out of our sight. This is particularly true of Necropolis. Hong Kong is being taken apart piece by piece but nobody has noticed. And I believe it could happen anywhere in the world: as one of the characters says, We see only what we want to see because that is the way of the city.

Did you base any of the characters on anyone you know?

Dan, aged 11, Hampshire

Scarlett is based on the granddaughter of a friend of mine. The real Scarlett is only nine years old but it was easy to imagine what she might be like when shes fifteen. I also met a boy who was quite like Matt he was always in trouble at school and didnt seem to be enjoying himself very much. I went back to Hong Kong recently and many of the characters and locations come from places I visited and people I met. The lady with the birds of fortune, for example, is exactly as I describe her. She told my fortune outside the Tin Hau Temple (although she didnt say if the book would be a success or not).

Did you make up the Old Ones?

Karine, aged 12, Leeds

The Old Ones began life as a bad dream. My wife had bought me a strange piece of pottery - a sort of jug with a horrible creature climbing up the side. Some of her presents are a bit on the weird side! Anyway, that night I had a nightmare in which my house was invaded by beasts and, when I woke up, the pillows were on the floor, the duvet was tied in a knot and I knew I had an idea for a new book.

That said, the Old Ones were named after characters described by a famous horror writer called H.P. Lovecraft which he in turn took from a strange, sixth-century text called the Necronomicon. Ive read it and I have to admit I didnt quite understand it but its a cheerful piece of writing that seems to be describing the end of the world. Theres even a little snatch of it in Necropolis. Youll find it at the end of the prologue.

Did writing from a female point of view feel weird?

Sarah, aged 10, Devon

Not at all. Im very pleased with the way Scarlett turned out. I was quite nervous at the thought of writing about a girl as the main character - mainly because Im known as a writer for boys and I was worried that boys might not be interested in following the adventures of a 15-year-old girl. I also wondered if I would be able to do it. Alex Rider, Nick Diamond, Matt Freeman all my heroes have been boys and in real life I only have sons. And of course I was once a boy, rather than a girl, myself.

In the end, writing Scarlett was a pleasure. Shes a little more emotional than my boy characters. Shes not afraid to cry, for example. But shes also just as tough as them as youll discover in . I like her because shes so unpredictable. So, in answer to your question - no, it never felt weird. I didnt have to put on a dress or anything like that.