Peter Bunzl Books In Order

Publication Order of The Cogheart Adventures Books

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Children's Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Peter Bunzi is a young adult, children’s and fantasy author best known as the author of “The Cogheart Adventures” series of novels. The author was brought up in a rambling Victorian house in South London alongside his sister, two dogs and three cats. His artist mother and antique dealer father got him interested in creative and artistic pursuits from a very young age. As a child, he was inspired visiting film and TV sets of the likes of “Postman Pat” and “James Bond” where his mother was a costume designer. When he went to college, he studied film and art and then went on to work in commercial and pop videos as an animator. He would direct and write two critically acclaimed short films before he decided to try his hand at writing. He published “Cogheart” his debut novel in 2016 and has never looked back since. The novel was nominated for several awards including the Carnegie medal, Branford Boase Award and the Children’s Book Prize by Waterstones. He currently lives with his partner in North London.

Growing up, Peter Bunzi was a huge lover of comic books that included the Donald Duck Adventure comics, Goscinny, Mickey Mouse by Carl Bark, Tintin by Herge and Asterix by Uderzo. He also loved to illustrate his own stories and draw comics and this was a great foundation for his later career as an author. Apart from the comics, he was also a huge fan of several authors such as Lewis Carroll, Philip Pullman, CS Lewis, Joan Aiken, Ursula Le Guin and Terry Pratchett among many others. He also read a ton of young adult and contemporary children’s authors such as Lara Williamson, Katherine Rundell, Emma Carroll and Robin Stevens. She is honored to have met most of these authors with some becoming her very good friends. She was also influenced by films such as the “Seven Dwarfs,” “Star Wars,” “Snow White” and “Watership Down.”

It took Peter Bunzi three years to pen “Cogheart” her debut novel though she had been writing for five years before that but was never impressed enough with what she had to bother with publishing. Most of the manuscripts she wrote during this time are now hidden in her drawers so that no one can get them out and embarrass her. She was also writing short films during this time and was lucky enough to get some of them made. It took a lot of rejections and almost gave up until a friend encouraged her by asking her not to take things personally. However, the more submissions she made the less the rejections she got. In the early rounds of her agent submissions for her debut novel, she got some nice personal replies and several full request and this convinced her that she had a great idea. About a month after her agent submitted to various publishers, she got five offers and had to decide on which publisher to go with. She finally went with Usborne and had her first work published in 2016.

In “Cogheart” by Peter Bunzi, Malkin is the only survivor when an airship belonging to Professor John is attacked. He usually functions as pseudo protector and family pet. He now needs to send a message to Lily who is John daughter but the journey is treacherous even for a clever creature like him. Thinking and slinking, he never notices that a teenage boy had spotted him. The boy had been having insomnia and was looking out of his window when he spotted the fox. The boy realized that what he was looking at was a mechanimal that could help him in his work at the DAs office. Malkin and Robert are an unlikely duo but despite their misgivings now need to collaborate if they are to have any chance of getting to Lily while an enemy is on their heels. Mr. Scary-Face Creepy Mirror Eyes and his equally dangerous looking friend have been appearing out of nowhere and terrorizing everyone. It is soon clear that they are both looking for Lily even though their reasons could not be any more different. One group is after the invention for selfish purposes while the other wants to provide comfort and protect Lily.

Peter Bunzi’s “Moonlocket” is a fascinating story about Jack Door, a notorious criminal. At the start of the novel, he is on a quest to get back the “Blood Moon Diamond” after escaping prison and it is up to Robert and Lilly to stop him. Lily has never felt like she is like other people, particularly ever since she learned that is a hybrid. She has a cogheart rumbling her chest even as she is also fully human. She struggles with feeling like an outsider but then realizes just how important family can be. Robert has a similar conundrum having been left by his mother as a child, and is now eager to find his family once again. But his perception of family is not the conventional one. In the meantime, Jack Door is looking for the Moonlocket, a mysterious piece of jewelry that is the key to finding the “Blood Moon Diamond” that had been given to Queen Victoria by Albert. When Lily and Robert have a bizarre confrontation with Jack, they unleash secrets that could lead them to finding the precious jewelry before Jack does.

“Skycircus” by Peter Bunzi sees Lily discover more about the mother she just found out about. She has learned that her mother learned how to fly and was a huge fun of flyology. While she is celebrating turning fourteen and believes her birthday will be better than last year, her father is nowhere to be seen as he is too busy celebrating getting an award. When she goes through her mother’s things, she finds an old Skycircus Flyer, an old diary and VIP tickets. The flyer has a bizarre portrait of a young girl who seems to have appendages that look like wings. Reading her mother’s diary she believes the girl could have some critical information about her mother. She grabs Malkin, Robert and Tolly who had been visiting and together they head to the circus after abandoning the dinner party held for her father. But they could never have imagined what they would find as the hybrids are exploited by the ringmasters. Things turn ugly when Lilly gets kidnapped since someone has apparently outed her as a hybrid. They now have to find a way to get Lily out of the circus if they are to survive and free everyone in there.