Aberrations Books in Order

Aberrations is Delaney’s take on post apocalyptic horror for younger readers. Britain has been swallowed by the Shole, a creeping wall of unnatural mist that twists anything trapped inside into grotesque monsters known as aberrations.

The first book, The Beast Awakens, introduces Crafty, a boy who has survived nearly a year hiding in his family’s cellar with only the ghosts of his dead brothers and a strangely friendly aberration for company. When soldiers drag him to a fortified Castle, his life changes from waiting to training.

Inside the Castle, Crafty becomes a gate grub, part of a crew who operate magical doorways that open into the Shole. Their work lets an elite order of Gatemancers scout and fight inside the mist, but the job is deadly and most recruits do not live long.

The sequel, The Witch’s Warning, expands the cast to include more trainees and Castle residents, then starts picking at the secrets behind the walls. As new and more intelligent aberrations test the defences, it becomes clear that someone inside may be helping them and that Crafty’s gift for survival is tied to stranger forces.

Everything in Aberrations is driven by atmosphere, from claustrophobic corridors and blood stained snow to the constant sense that the Shole might surge forward at any moment. The monsters are imaginative and often unsettling, but the books keep their focus on young characters trying to find courage and loyalty in a world that has broken almost every rule.

If you like the Spook’s series at its creepiest but want a story set in a ruined, mist choked Britain instead of old farms and churches, Aberrations is a good next step. It shows Delaney playing with science fiction scale stakes while keeping his trademark haunted mood.