This is book 2 in the Alexander goblinsearch stories, a sequel which can be enjoyed without reading book 1

In this rambling, swash buckling, comedy saga it's not just Alexander who disappears. His minders and his bunkbed have vanished too.

In the goblinsearch for him we meet some 18th century pirates melted out of an iceberg, two nuclear subs (one Russian, one British), the many uses of deadly fire and forget torpedoes, the correct tripadvisor rating for a Royal Navy destroyer, some anti-nuclear activists from Greenpeace, a documentary film producer who is not as he claims a genuine vegetarian, a software wizard who needs help with his business plans, some billionaires in a round the world balloon race, the features and fittings in a modern magic carpet, some software writing hedgehogs and a giant man eating shark.

Scene-wise we loiter for a dip in the arctic seas in which sank the Titanic, learn about a different type of cloud message and land back safely in the touristic dockyards of Portsmouth, pausing only for a reality check in the cellars of an old archive in Southsea.

First published as an 8 part series on goblinsearch in 2001 to 2003, the story has been rewritten and is now available for the first time as a proper book.