The publisher who discovered the Harry Potter books 11 years ago claimed yesterday that stories of a boy archaeologist may follow the boy wizard as the must read for children after the final volume by J K Rowling is published next month.
Two unknown authors have amassed advances of more than £500,000 for their debut book. Tunnels is a fantasy adventure book that Barry Cunningham, who snapped up J K Rowling's first book in 1996, believes will be the next major children's success story.
Tunnels, the story of a "boy archaeologist, merciless villains, a lost world and a journey to the centre of the earth", will be published on July 2.
Obviously, we won't be seeing them bravely measuring sherd diameters. . . .