About the Book

Teenage Sigrun is sick of all the apocalyptic news about the “situation” and, worse, her parents’ obsession with it. Sigrun’s family—along with everyone else—decides to hibernate in their TimeBoxes®, hoping for someone else to fix the world’s problems . But when Sigrun’s TimeBox® opens too early, she discovers an abandoned city overrun by wilderness and joins a band of kids who are helping a researcher named Grace solve the “situation.”

The world, according to Grace, is under an ancient curse. There once was a princess named Obsidiana, who was trapped in time by the greedy king of Pangea. To protect Obsidiana from dark and gloomy days, the king put her in a crystal casket made of spider silk woven so tightly that time itself couldn’t penetrate. The king’s greed for power doomed his kingdom and the trapped princess. Sigrun sees eerie parallels between the tale of Obsidiana and the present-day crisis, and realizes it’s up to her and her friends to break the ancient curse and fix the world.

Praise for The Casket of Time

Winner of The Icelandic Literary Prize for Children and Young People’s Books

Winner of The Icelandic Booksellers Prize for Best Teenage Book of the Year

Nominated for the Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize

Nominated for the The West Nordic Literature Prize

Nominated for the Reykjavik Children’s Literature Prize

"I loved this book so much — it is a cerebral tale, well told and unabashedly philosophical. So grim that I fear it will not be for everyone…But despite the beheadings, the grave-robbing, the people casually thrown to the lions, the central message of the book is clear, and it’s welcome. Greed hurts us; power ruins us; and time has never been our enemy. Indeed, Magnason reminds us, as long as our tendency toward self-destruction doesn’t get in the way, time is the earth’s, and humanity’s, greatest healer.”

—Kelly Barnhill, New York Times Book Review

“Andri Snær Magnason has created an intimate epic that floats effortlessly between genres as diverse as fairy tale and political commentary, science fiction and social realism. The Casket of Time spans the chasm between ‘once upon a time’ and ‘have you heard the news today’ in a way that makes his philosophical fable feel both timely and timeless.”

—Bjarke Ingels, Architect

“The story confronts the concept of time and twists old fairy-tale memories with a passionate creativity.”

—The Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize Citation

“[A] beautiful and haunting Snow White–inspired tale…. Magnason, a celebrated writer and the second runner-up in Iceland’s 2016 presidential election, has woven a literary fantasy with environmentalist themes that will find fans among thoughtful young readers.”

— Eleanor Roth, Booklist

“The power of story animates a tale that communicates—but is not overpowered by—urgent messages.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“The largest box of chocolate written in the Icelandic language that I have ever laid my hands on... This is confectionery for the mind!... This is a book for the 3 year old, the 30 year old, the 300 year old.” 

—Audur Haraldsdóttir, Channel 2, National Radio (Iceland)

"This is a book I would put on a shelf with The Hobbit, Alice in Wonderland and The Little Prince. A children's story but it would be very good for adults to read it as well."

—Eric Lorberer of Rain Taxi Review