ICO: Castle in the Mist

High fantasy and true love come to life in this novel based on the hit video game.

Created by Miyuki Miyabe | MoreLess about ICO: Castle in the Mist

A boy with horns, marked for death.

A girl who sleeps in a cage of iron.

The Castle of the Mist calls for its sacrifice: a horned child, born once a generation. When, on a single night in his thirteenth year, Ico’s horns grow long and curved, he knows his time has come. But why does the Castle of the Mist demand this offering, and can the castle keep Ico’s destiny from intertwining with that of the girl imprisoned within its walls?

Delve into the mysteries of Miyuki Miyabe’s work of fantasy: a grand achievement of imagination, inspired by the award-winning game for the PlayStation 2, soon to be remastered in high-definition for the PlayStation 3.

Miyuki Miyabe’s debut story, “Warera ga rinjin no hanzai” (Our Neighbor’s Crime), won a new writer award in 1987, and since that time, she has become one of Japan’s most popular and best-selling authors. Miyabe’s fantasy novel Brave Story won the Batchelder Award for best children’s book in translation from the American Library Association in 2007. The Gate of Sorrows is an adult novel in the same universe as The Book of Heroes (Haikasoru, 2010). Her other works available in English include All She Was Worth, Cross Fire, The Sleeping Dragon, Apparitions, ICO: Castle in the Mist, and more.

ICO: Castle in the Mist

When a boy named Ico grows long curved horns overnight, his fate has been sealed—he is to be sacrificed in the Castle in the Mist. But in the castle, Ico meets a young girl named Yorda imprisoned in its halls. Alone they will die, but together Ico and Yorda might just be able to defy their destinies and escape the magic of the castle.

Based on the video game filmmaker Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) called a “masterpiece,” Japan's leading fantasist Miyuki Miyabe has crafted a tale of magic, loss, and love that will never be forgotten.

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