Charlie Bone and the Magickers

I just finished two fantasy series. I picked up The Magickers by Emily Drake first. The third book, The Dragon Gate, was out last year in the spring then I was picking up some more young adult fantasies on a buying jag. I hit all the used bookstores looking for something to read, when I wasn't reading Harry Potter. I was looking for other good books with magic and punching. I like series books. That third Magickers book had a blurb on the back. "The Magickers is America's answer to the Harry Potter series." - BookBrowser. Who the hell is BookBrowser? That boasty statement and a dragon on the cover got me interested in the series. I'm easily fooled and for some reason I have been collecting dragon's the last year or three. Not sure why, I have just learned to go with the flow when these moods take hold of me and enjoy. I bought the first three Magickers at that time and left them unread. That happens. I must have picked up close to two hundred books over the last couple of years. There are stacks of them waiting to get done over. This year I am falling behind on my reading. I have only read 26 books this year so far. Way under last year. Got to cut down on the tv. Then there are some books that just don't lend themselves to being read. At least to me. The Magickers are one such series. I read the first one last year and was disappointed so I didn't start the second until March. The main character is Jason. Before the book starts his real mom dies and after a while his dad remarries. Still off screen as it were. Then his dad dies and Jason's step mom remarries. Still backstory. He's now living with his step mom and her new husband, and a daughter from some other marriage. I forget who's her daddy. The whole series is like that, way over written. I read number 2 and 3 quickly, but I was skimming a lot. I still don't like the writing, it wore me down, and the magic was way lame. They use crystals for most of the magic and there isn't much of it. Teleportation is big, and laying protective wards. There were several negative reviews on Amazon and several positive. It's just not a series for me. I actually still haven't finished the 4th book yet. I read many other books in between the 3rd and 4th books and a whole series after starting the 4th. I don't care for the covers of the book either, they look weird, false.

I read the whole Charlie Bone series by Jenny Nimmo with hardly any breaks between books and they were great. They were everything that The Magickers were not. Fun, witty, interesting characters, lots of animals and a nice 5 book story arc that follows Charlie through his quest to find his father. I had picked up the first three last year and hadn't gotten around to reading them. I was at a Half Price Books a month ago and found the 4th. The fifth one just came out. It seemed to wrap up the story, so I went and bought it for full price. I like reading a large hunk of books in the same series and this really is a 2000 page novel. One book picks up soon after the last and the main element that runs through the series is Charlie's on going quest to find his father. At nine his endowment becomes clear and he is sent to study at the Bloor Academy for Music, Art and Drama. Charlie is a descendant of the Red King and many of those descendants have special powers. Charlie can hear what was spoken when a photgraph was taken or a painting painted. He can travel into them mentally. Other kids have other powers. Hypnotism, shapeshifting, weather control, magnetism, various mental powers, etc. There is a great interesting and detailed mythology in Charlie's world and he's at the very heart of it.

I liked Charlie and his friends right from the beginning. There's a great assortment of them, and their pets, to meet as Charlie's new world opens up to him. That cast of secondary players are all wonderful, fleshed out as needed and tossed into the fray. It's a battle between good and evil. The Bloor's lead a small cadre of evil descendants from their seat of power in the Academy. The evil Yewbeam sisters, Charlie's crappy aunts, are on the Bloor side. The good Yewbeam brother, Paton, a power booster, has hidden himself in Charlie's house. He blows up light bulbs quite well, so it's hard to go out during the day, thank you very much, and the nights no picnic either. Charlie brings him out of his shell and he too joins the fight. That's another of Charlie's powers, he can win people over to his side. It's a constant struggle in Charlie's world. But he's tough kid and he wins out with the help of a great bunch of friends. Nimmo has a nice easy to read style, like JKR or Diana Wynne Jones. She pulls you along quickly, showing you one interesting thing after another. She's been writing since the mid 70's but I hadn't heard of her. She mostly writes children's books. I'm planning to keep an eye open for some other one's. I don't mind reading kid's books at all. If the story is good, winner. If there is good writing, bonus. This series is a big scorer. I plan to reread this one. And they have nice covers, especially the US versions.

Comments

[Mitch]

One of the attorneys I work with brought her 11 year old son & 10 year old daughter to work with her this morning. Both are huge Harry Potter fans; so I shared your review of the Charlie Bone series with them. Now they've got their Mom talked into taking them to the bookstore on their way home so they can buy the books. So your review had an immediate impact on two kids' summer reading -- Good Job!

[Garth Danielson]

Best that could happen.
Thanks for letting me know.

[Gary]

I haven't read the first series you mentioned but I have read most of the Charlie Bone books. I liked them a lot. Definitely a good series. Have you read Eragon and Eldest by Christopher Paolini? I'm just finishing up Eldest. I liked this series although it is a lot thicker a slower than the Charlie Bone books. Have you read The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi? I also liked The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell.

[Garth Danielson]

I have Eragon but haven't read it. Part of the harvest last year. That reminds me I haven't been to half price books in a while. I read and liked The Spiderwick Chronicles. I thought it was a bit skimpy in each book. I have Edge Chronicles 1-4 but haven't gotten to them either. Right now I'm reading the fourth in Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series. It's ok. Simba really likes them but I just like them. The guys has too many flaws. There seems to be this movement in fiction to portray the hero as a flawed man. Sometimes the writers go too far. Butcher's kind of yacky and there's not much magic. Mostly Dresden moaning about the new shit storm he's put himself into. I read the first 3 last year and put the rest aside to read later. Now I'm on number four and Harry's in a shit load of trouble. Oh, my.I'd read Charlie Bone over, I won't read Butcher again. Life is too short. Time for lunch!