July 12, 2010

Children of the Lamp 1 - by P. B. Kerr

Two nice American children, Philippa and John, were just minding their business and having their wisdom teeth removed, when all of a sudden their strange English uncle visited them in a dream and tells them to come visit him right away.  It's odd enough that they had the same dream, but when they ask their parents to go, things start to get really weird.  Talk about weird, it turns out that Uncle Nimrod is a djinn, a genie descended from a famous family of genies, and has both magical powers that astound the children, and important responsibilities that frighten them.  John and Philippa end up having more in common with their uncle than they ever would have expected, and as they learn the true story of their family they must also help him to capture or destroy the leader of an enemy clan of djinn.

It's interesting stuff, and lovers of magic will enjoy this story, and the many others in the series.  If you love Egypt, genies (djinn), fantasy history, weird uncles, magic, spending lots of time in tiny little bottles, turning into a camel, or the classic stories in The Arabian Nights, then this is truly the book for you.  Note: There are at least three different covers, and the most popular one (not shown) is really cheesy, but the book is not.

1 comment:

Ms. Yingling said...

The titles in this series are in alphabetical order. How brilliant is that?