City of Ice, by Laurence Yep (2011)

City of Ice, by Laurence Yep (Starscape, a Tor imprint, 2011, middle grade, 384 pages), is the second book in a trilogy set in 1941 in an alternate version of our world, a place where there are dragons, and shape shifters, and all manner of other "mythological" creatures living among human-kind. And in this world, there are also gods and goddesses...not always kindly, but incredibly powerful.

In City of Fire, young Scirye swore an oath to the goddess Nanaia to avenge her sister's death at the hands of a foul dragon, and his foul master, Mr. Roland, and to rescue the priceless artifact that they had stolen, one of the Five Lost Treasures of Emperor Yu. If Mr. Roland gains control of them all, he will have mastery over the whole world.

Scirye and her brave lap griffin are joined in this quest by two street urchins Leech and Koko, both of whom have more to them then meets the eye, and by Bayang, a dragon whose mission to assassinate Leech (its a long story) takes a back seat to the more important goal of revenging herself on Mr. Roland's dragon, an ancient enemy of her people.

In City of Ice, the quest of the odd assortment of companions takes them to the frozen north (where Canadian mounties patrol the skies riding on the backs of giant birds, among other marvels). There they must confront Mr. Roland and his minions (both human and monstrous ones), but there they find new friends, not least of whom is the great bear spirit of the north himself.

The action and adventure are virtually non-stop, and the pages are full to the brim with fantastical creatures and places. Yep's world is a place where ancient peoples are alive and well-- the Sogdians, the masters of the Silk Route, are thriving as traders in the wilds of the north, and Scirye's people, the Kushans, ancient rulers of the region around Afghanistan and northern India, are still a major world power. For shear extravagant fun with alternate world building, this series is hard to beat.

My one reservation is that there wasn't enough time spent on character development (plot comes out ahead here, hands down). I think that part of the problem, for me, is that the point of view keeps switching between the three main characters, so that we don't get to see for ourselves what they are thinking and feeling, we are told. The introduction of several new major characters here in City of Ice further diluted the personalities of the main characters.

There is, however, one truly interesting relationship, that between the boy Leech and the dragon Bayang (who is hands down the most interesting character). I'm curious to see how this relationship plays out in the third book, but what I'm really hoping for that Leech and Scirye, who up to this point seem not particularly interested in each other in any way, despite being travelling companions, Notice each other and emotional complications ensue. One thing that makes it clear this is a middle grade book is that so far in the series there are no hints of any romantic feelings whatsoever!

Perhaps in book 3, City of Death, things will be different, and this will happen. I'll definitely be reading it--like I said, the world building is tremendously fascinating...and even though I lean toward character, I still enjoy an exiting story, such as this series offers.

This is a series that deserves more attention than it seems to have gotten--what with the adventurous pursuit of the bad guys, the direct participation of sundry deities in the course of events, the panoply of monsters and mythological creatures, and the quirky cast of characters, it's one I'd recommend to younger fans of Percy Jackson, for whom the romance aspect of that books was the least interesting part!

Added bonus: the diverse cast of characters (none of the central characters are European, or of direct European descent), and the non-Eurocentric mythological background, makes this another one for my multicultural sci fi/fantasy list.

Here's another review, at Eva's Book Addiction

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

Chronicles of the Red King, Book 3--Leopard's Gold, by Jenny Nimmo

Leopards' Gold (Chronicles of the Red King Book 3), by Jenny Nimmo (Scholastic, 2013), continues the saga of Timoken, who left his African home 300 years ago, and who has now established a magical castle in Britain.   But even the magic of Timoken and all his companions can't keep his family safe from treachery.

Petrello is one of Timoken's younger sons, watching as his siblings come into their inheritance of magic, and wondering if he will ever manifest a gift of his own, and Leopards' Gold is primarily his story.   When his father is captured by an evil spirit, the more mundane forces of the real world close in, and it's no longer clear who within the castle can be trusted, Petrello finds himself in the role of hero....whether he wants it, or not.

This is one of those third books in a series that works best for those who have books 1 and 2 fresh in their minds.   Readers who remember everyone will enjoy seeing them again, and there is plenty of magic to add interest.   The plot is kind of a piling on of bad things, and not that subtle, but it works well enough.

However, the shear number of characters means it was hard be convinced I was caring about them as individuals.   The book really is excessive in this regard--surely nine siblings gives one plenty of scope, without having to bring in two more orphaned kids to add to the mix.   Though I have read books 1 and 2, it was a while ago....and I kept getting distracted from the main thrust of the story by a feeling that I was at a family reunion of someone else's family.

I was also bothered by the fact that Timoken and his wife are pretty awful parents.   I myself would try to take steps not to let my kids grow up into psychopathic sadists with magical powers (and in fact I'm doing well on that front).  Some of these kids do nasty, bullying things to each other that everyone just shrugs off, and it was not nice.

So in any event, I enjoyed the first book of the series (The Secret Kingdom) lots, the second (The Stones of Ravenglass) was fine, but this third one just didn't work for me.

Disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher.

Chronicles of the Red King Book 2--The Stones of Ravenglass, by Jenny Nimmo

The Stones of Ravenglass (Chronicles of the Red King, Book 2), by Jenny Nimmo (Scholastic, June 1, 2012, ages 8 and up).

Long before the story of Charlie Bone began, a boy named Timoken fled from his African home, protected by strong magic from the supernatural enemies who killed his parents, and who seek to destroy him. The first part of Timoken's adventures is told in The Secret Kingdom, in which he finds new friends (including a lovely camel, with whom he flies through the air, and three magical leopards, as well as human companions), looses his sister, and survives attempts to kill him.

In The Stones of Ravenglass, Timoken's hope that he and his companions have found a safe haven in a British castle are shattered by the evil machinations of its steward, and Timoken is imprisoned. He and a mysterious wizard (along with Gabar, the camel) escape...and Timoken sets off on a new quest.

This time, instead of looking for refuge, Timoken will build one--a place where he and his friends can be truly safe. But in a war-torn land, safety is hard to come by...even when a friendly dragon joins your cause.

This series is, I think, extremely well suited for children on the younger side of the "middle grade" spectrum--third and fourth graders. As with the first book, there's a fairytale feel to it, a sense of events unfolding in a somewhat episodic way, a story told to the reader as if it happened long ago. It's a story filled with magic--rather miraculous magic, coming from a source external to the main character, in fairytale fashion.

In the first book, I felt somewhat distanced from Timoken as a person--here that distance is lessened, but he still seemed to me "the hero of the story" rather than a fully developed character. I think that although this might not be what I as a grown up am looking for, this might make him a very appealing hero for the younger reader--I imagine it would be very easy for such a reader to step into his shoes, and trill to his adventures.

And those adventures, although not on the grand and sweeping scale of the previous book (which might be a disappointment to that one's readers), have exciting moments of great magic (literally), and the ensemble cast of camel, kids, wizard, and dragon work well together to create an interesting story.

In short: a good one for its target audience, though not one I'd insist that the five or so grown-ups I know of who visit here looking for books for themselves (you know who you are!) get a hold of for their personal reading pleasure.

And yay! for an African boy hero, shown as such on the cover. 2012 has been a year in which multicultural speculative fantasy and science fiction seems especially thin on the ground (I have only encountered 2, besides this one*), and so I hope it does really well.

(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)

*In case anyone is curious, these are The Book of Wonders, by Jasmine Richards and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again, by Frank Cottrell Boyce. Please let me know of any others you've read!

Chronicles of the Red King, Book One: The Secret Kingdom, by Jenny Nimmo (2011)

Chronicles of the Red King: The Secret Kingdom, by Jenny Nimmo (Scholastic, 2011, middle grade, 224 pages)

Long ago, in a secret kingdom in Sub-Saharan Africa, a baby boy named Timoken was given wondrous gifts by a forest jinni--a cloak of moon spider silk to give him magical powers, and a vial of the water of life--and his sister was given a magical ring. But when Timoken was still a boy, evil viridees, deadly spirits from the forest, came hunting for the gifts, and overran his peaceful land. Timoken and his sister were the only survivors, escaping by flying away into the night....

Now Timoken and his sister are wanderers. Joined by a camel, also alone in the world, they search for a place that they can call home. But as they fly over Africa, and beyond, the viridees pursue them....and Timoken's sister is lost to him.  Timoken and the camel travel on, and at last meet an unlikely band of allies--children captured from Europe to be sold as slaves. To bring these children home again, and to find a home for himself, Timoken must draw on all his powers and confront the viridees head on.

This story is a prequel to Nimmo's Charlie Bone series--Timoken will grow up to become the Red King of legend, Charlie's ancestor. But it is not at all necessary to have read those books first. The Secret Kingdom stands on its own, although Charlie Bone makes cameo appearances.

This book has an old fashioned, fairytale feel to it, quite different from the Charlie Bone books (which might disconcert, and even disappoint, fans of that series). The story is unfolded slowly, and is told in somewhat formal language. There's a sense of things described rather than intensely lived, and a slight distance from the thoughts and feelings of the characters. I'd suggest reading this before the Charlie Bone books--it seems to me more suited for younger readers who want a linear story-line, where event follows event in (more or less) unbroken flow.

That being said, this isn't a passive story in which nothing much happens. There is action, some of it violent; once Timoken meets up with the other children, the pace quickens, and dangers are more immediate. People are killed, but not gruesomely. Three magical leopard cubs somewhat randomly, but not unpleasantly so, add to the excitement.

But it is the fairytale images of Timoken, innocent and brave, and Gabar the camel, grumpy but loyal, flying over the world, always in danger, never at home, that stick in my mind. Although I can easily imagine young readers enjoying this on their own, I think it would make a particularly lovely book to read out loud--it's easy to imagine the eight year old child asking eagerly for more...

"Spring came, and the boy and the camel moved on. Sometimes they would stay on the edge of the same village for almost a year, and sometimes they moved on, swiftly. They flew over a sea that Gabar thought would never end. They soared over mountains so high that the camel's hair froze into rigid tufts of ice, and Timoken thought his cold nose would drop off. But still the ring urged them on. "Not safe, yet," it would whisper." (page 95)

I was a tad disappointed that the fantasy elements didn't have more of a Sub-Saharan African feel; it seemed like a missed opportunity. But on the other hand, it a refreshing change to see an African boy becoming a hero king with magical powers, and shown as such on the cover!

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Race Against Time, by Frank Cottrell Boyce (2013)

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Race Against Time (Candlewick, March 2013) is Frank Cottrell Boyce's second book about what happens when a modern family rebuilds the famous flying car, which takes them one fantastical adventures during which they must a powerful, twisted villain (Tiny Jack) who wants Chitty for himself.

The first book (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again, my review) ended when Mr. Tooting accidentally yanked Chitty's chronojuster, sending the family hurtling back into the Cretaceous.  Little Harry, the baby of the family, is thrilled to see his first T-Rex, but his sibling, Lucy and Jem, join their parents in a more adult reaction--terror.  Fortunately they escape, but Chitty doesn't take them home to England....she has an agenda of her own, and takes them to New York in the 1920s.

There she seems determined to compete against her maker's newer, shinier car in a cross-continental road race.  And the Tootings have no choice but to enjoy the ride, even when it takes them to the lost city of El Dorado in the Amazonian jungle...but in the meantime, the stage is being set for Tiny Jack to reveal his true, twisted, identity....and will the Tootings ever get home again? (and will Chitty win her race?).

In a nutshell:  fun time-travelling adventure.   Adjectives that could be used include "fresh" "bright" "zesty" and "absurd."  It is pleasantly absurd, without coming close to farce, even when little Henry's T-Rex egg hatches in New York city.  Numerous black and white illustrations add to the fun--I love the one of Chitty flying through the skyscraper canyons of Manhattan.

What makes this book particularly nice is that the Tootings are a family who care about each other--rare is it to see the mother and father along for the ride.  It's also nice that the Tootings are a multi-racial family.  This isn't mentioned in the text, and has no bearing on the story, but they are shown as such in the interior pictures.

This isn't clear on the cover though, where Mrs. Tooting is only a teensy bit browner than her family--pity.

So if you are looking for fun fantastic adventure to share with a 7-10 year old who hasn't lost his heart to to High Fantasy/Talking Animals on Quests/Mythological Creatures (naming no names, but looking right at my own 10 year old), you could do far worse than to fly through time and space with Chitty!

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again, by Frank Cottrel Boyce

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again, by Frank Cottrel Boyce, illustrated by Joe Berger (Candlewick, 2012, upper elementary/middle grade, 192 pages)

The Tootings (mother, father, Lucy, Jem, and the baby, little Harry) were a normal English family, with a normal English car. This all changed when Mr. Tooting lost his job...and the car that went with it. But when Mrs. Tooting brings home a derelict camper van, the Tooting family embarks on an adventure more fantastic than they could have dreamt.

Dad and Jem get the camper van running again, and supply Lucy with the black paint she needs to make her corner of it feel homey. And they set off to see the world. But first, they stop at a local salvage yard with an extraordinary past, and find a new engine for the van--one of incredible power, though it has to be started with a hand crank. When it gets going, it becomes clear that this new incarnation of the van has a mind of its own...and it can fly. Not only that, but it is a van on a mission!

Soon the Tooting family is zooming off to Paris, spending some quality time on the tip of the Eiffel tower,where the old engine is reunited with its original headlights. Next stop, Egypt...where the original wheels ended up. But Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, as the van is now called, has attracted the attention of unscrupulous, fabulously wealthy bad guys! There is Danger! Brushes with Death! and finally, a daring escape....

It's lots of fun, made more so by the cheerful illustrations of Joe Berger (I especially liked the drawing of how everything fit into the camper van! The bad guys are over the top, but heck, if you can enjoy and accept a flying car searching for its missing pieces, what are a few implausible bad guys. The Tooting family are all nicely distinct people--fun and quirky and occasionally difficult.

In short, it's a fun, fast book that's both a lovely homage to the first book (which is more enjoyable than the movie!) and a fine read in its own right.

Note 1: it turns out that Chitty can do more than fly--we learn at the end of the book that she also has a Chronojuster, and it still works. So I almost counted this as a time travel book...but that really seems to be another story, which I hope is forthcoming.

Note 2: it's not mentioned in the text, and has no bearing on the Story, but the Tooting family happens to be multiracial--Mrs. Tooting is shown in the illustrations with dark skin, Mr. Tooting with white, and the kids fall in between. Yay! Another book for my multicultural sci fi/fantasy list.

Celia's Robot, by Margaret Chang

Celia's Robot, by Margaret Chang (Holiday House, 2009, 211 pages)

Fifth grade is proving to be a somewhat rocky road for young Celia. She's feeling self-conscious about being Chinese-American, the boy who was her childhood friend, Tim, has turned into a teasing, mean, pest, and her parents are busier and more stressed than ever with their careers (robotics for dad, music for mom). They just aren't around enough to make sure she'd done her homework and has clean clothes...in short, her life is a disaster.

Fortunately, her father has a solution, and presents Celia with a gift beyond her wildest dreams for her birthday--her own personal robot. This prototype of all that is wonderful in the field of robotics not only gets Celia up and out of the door, with her schedule completely under control....but becomes someone for her to rely on.

But evil robotics competitors have their greedy eyes on Celia's robot...and one snowy day, the robot is kidnapped!!!! It's up to Celia, and (not that she planned on it) Tim to save it...regardless of the very real dangers that lie ahead of them....

I so enjoyed the detailed descriptions of Celia's life with her robot, which comprise the bulk of the book (the dangerous bit comes late, and isn't that long). The minutiae of life with an automaton are beautiful explored in the context of an ordinary, stressful, fifth grade experience. And Celia, in her extraordinary circumstances, does manage to be ordinary, in the way that great middle grade heroines often are--plucky, dense at times but with a good brain and a good heart, curious hobbies (old fashioned lock picking), often times frazzled....Somehow she just hit the spot for me (maybe because I could use a robot myself to make sure I don't forget my own lunch...).

I highly recommend this to the general middle grade audience, boy or girl, but especially to those that like robotics (or those whose closets are nightmares and whose homework is frayed). As an added bonus, Celia's experience growing up with Chinese father is described in quite a bit of detail, but it never felt in the least little bit as if Chang were forcing this part of Celia's life uncomfortably into the story.