The Manticore

Maria Turtschaninoff

Original title: Mantikoran

Author: Maria Turtschaninoff

Illustrator: Peter Bergting

Published: 2024

Publisher: SWEDEN: Raben &Sjögren/Förlaget (orig.), FINLAND: Tammi

Genre: Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Reading material:

Full English PDF & Swedish edition

An illustrated middle grade novel and supernatural thriller that turns a young girl’s emotions into a magic-realistic fantasy adventure - can her new stepmother be trusted or is she a dangerous ancient monster?

The Manticore is told from the perspective of a young girl called Li,  who starts suspecting that her stepmother is in fact a Manticore, an ancient monster intending on devouring the protagonist and her baby brother. She realizes that no one can help her because no one would believe her. So as the Manticore starts fattening up the children, the protagonist hunts for a way to defeat her. She soon realizes that the only way to kill a Manticore is with a mythical object: the horn of a unicorn. But where can she possibly find one?

Maria Turtschaninoff is a multiple award-winning fantasy author, published in 30 countries, and Peter Bergting is the author and/or illustrator of over 50 books of fantasy, sci-fi and horror.

"Turtschaninoff, who is a confident stylist, creates a really nasty atmosphere that draws its discomfort from the horror of fairy tales and myths of being eaten by monsters. THE MANTICORE is a tightly wound creepy children's book. The language is nuanced, and Turtschaninoff excels in accurate phrasing about the monster that no longer lives under Li's bed, but lies in the next room beside Dad in the double bed."

- Maria Lassen-Seger of the Hufvudstadsbladet newspaper

Download reading materials

Rights sold:
SWEDEN: Raben &Sjögren/Förlaget (orig.), FINLAND: Tammi
DENMARK: Bogoo
UKRAINE: V. Books - XXI/The Black Sheep

About author

Maria Turtschaninoff

Maria Turtschaninoff is known for crafting lyrical, historically inspired fantasy stories starring strong female protagonists. In addition to J.R.R. Tolkien, she counts Philip Pullman, Ursula K. Le Guin and C.S. Lewis among her favorite authors. She is a two-time winner of the Society of Swedish Literature Prize, winner of the Swedish YLE Literature Prize, winner of the Thank You for the Book Award, a nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (2020-2024), and winner of the 2014 Finlandia Junior Prize. In 2024, Maria Turtschaninoff won the Eeva Joenpelto Literary Prize (10,000 euro award) for her literary masterpiece Inherited Land.

Her Red Abbey Chronicles YA trilogy has been sold into 30 languages, while her first adult novel Inherited Land has been sold to 23 territories. Maria has a Master of Arts in human ecology and works full-time as a writer.

Bibliography


2024, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Maria Turtschaninoff

The Manticore


2022, Literary Fiction

Maria Turtschaninoff

Inherited Land


2018, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maria Turtschaninoff

Maresi: Red Mantle


2016, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maria Turtschaninoff

Naondel


2014, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maria Turtschaninoff

Maresi