A wizard contends with a mysterious enemy in The Face in the Frost, a delightful fantasy that offers laughs and genuine chills in equal measure.
WARNING: Here be spoilers! Read further at your own risk!
As our story opens, we're introduced to a wizard named Prospero (no, not that one, as the book helpfully reminds us), who lives in a run-down house loaded with all sorts of knickknacks and wizarding paraphernalia, including a sarcastic talking mirror. He wakes up one morning with a feeling that something is somehow wrong, and that he's in some sort of danger. As he proceeds about his day-to-day business, the feeling continues, compounded by some unsettling incidents. Fortunately, that night, his old friend and fellow wizard Roger Bacon drops by for a visit. Bacon's been researching a book of magic written in a mysterious cypher for Prospero, and they wonder if it has anything to do with whatever may suddenly be after him. The next morning, it becomes evident that whoever has the book is gunning for Prospero for some reason, and Prospero and Roger set forth to find out who is after him and why. But their foe is growing stronger every day, attempting to create a permanent winter over the world, leaving behind a ghostly face in the frost-coated windows as his sigil.
If you want a fun, spooky, fantasy adventure that won't take up an entire bookshelf, The Face in the Frost ought to be right up your alley.