' ** If I vanished ** he wouldn't notice, if I died he ** wouldn't care. I think of him all ** the time, and he thinks of me not a ** t all. I love him, and my love ** torments me. There are times ** when I feel like a ghost beside him; ** as if he alone is real, and I'm just ** *a daydream.'

This is the story of two brothers. One is impassioned and one reserved. One is destined to go down in history and the other to be forgotten.

In Pullman's hands, this sacred tale is reborn as one of the most enchanting, thrilling and visionary stories of recent years.

The Myths series brings together some of the world's finest writers, each of whom has retold a myth in a contemporary and memorable way. Authors in the series include Karen Armstrong, Margaret Atwood, A.S. Byatt, David Grossman, Natsuo Kirino, Alexander McCall Smith, Philip Pullman, Ali Smith and Jeanette Winterson.