[3][4] It features an orphaned boy who runs away to search for his lost brother in the magical city of Zombay.
[5] His first published speculative fiction was a seven-page short story, "The Birthday Rooms" (Zahir, Summer 2005), which earned a 2006 Calvino Prize nomination.
[6] Alexander acknowledges that his writing style is influenced by well-known fantasy and mystery authors, including Ursula K. Le Guin, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Susan Cooper.
[10] British editions of both novels were published later that year by the Much-in-Little imprint of Constable & Robinson.
Alexander has noted that Ghoulish Song is "not precisely a sequel ... the two happen at the same time, in the same city, and involve several of the same characters, but the books also stand alone.