David Walliams is one of my favourite authors, and usually his books are really funny. While his latest book, The Beast of Buckingham Palace is still funny in places, it’s a much darker, scary read than the other books of his that I have read.
The Beast of Buckingham Palace is set one hundred years in the future. The government has been overthrown and the King rules the kingdom from Buckingham Palace. But London is in ruins. Britain has not seen sunlight for fifty years. The people are hungry and desperate.
Prince Alfred, a sickly, bookish child, has never left the safety of Buckingham Palace, but then one dreadful night his beloved mother the queen, is dragged off to the Tower of London, and Alfred must find the courage to go on an epic quest to save her…and the entire world.
While this book is scary in places, I really enjoyed following Alfred’s journey from Buckingham Palace into the outside world. In many ways it’s a classic tales of good vs evil, and I can’t give the ending away, but let’s just say that Alfred surprises even himself with his actions.
Reviewer: Milla McKenzie-Brown, with Karen McMillan
Published by HarperCollins