Move over, vampires: the trolls have arrived. Amanda Hocking, author of the Trylle Trilogy, is already a publishing phenomenon, selling millions of copies of her books and becoming one of the biggest-selling names in ebooks. Yet she’s only 26 and in 2012, her books are being published in print for the very first time. Hocking’s character-driven books feature trolls, but not as we think of them. These trolls may be a little shorter than the rest of us, but they look like humans, just a little more beautiful. And they are living amongst us …

In Switched, the first book in the series, 17-year-old Wendy has already had an unusual life after her mother tried to kill her when she was six, claiming she was a monster. She now lives with her brother and aunt but has trouble making friends, and they move regularly due to her authority issues. When dark stranger Finn arrives at her new school, events escalate and Wendy soon discovers the truth – she is a troll who was switched at birth for a human child. She must now return to her true family, the Trylle, where she is destined to inherit the throne.

The plot may not sound extraordinary, but the story is so well paced, the characters just the perfect blend of dark and light, the dialogue pitch-perfect, and the action so thrilling that it is almost impossible to put down. Thank goodness the books will all be published by March, so there won’t be long to wait between sessions of devouring the Trylle. Amanda Hocking is definitely an author to watch and, like the Twilight series, her books will be enjoyed late into the night by fantasy readers of all ages.

[[angela__crocombe]] Angela Crocombe is the Children’s Book Buyer at Readings St Kilda, mother to a precocious two year-old, and the author of two books on sustainable living,