There are stories about people who want to live forever. This is not one of those stories. This is a story about someone who wants to stop. Alfie Monk is like any other nearly teenage boy ? except he’s 1,000 years old and can remember the last Viking invasion of England. Obviously no one believes him. So when everything Alfie knows and loves is destroyed in a fire and the modern world comes crashing in, Alfie embarks on a mission to find friendship, acceptance and a different way to live.