Time travel officially enters the picture with Charlie Bone and the Time Twister, book two of Children of the Red King by Jenny Nimmo. The book picks up at the beginning of Charlie’s second semester at Bloor’s Academy for the Gifted as he struggles to navigate the world of the endowed. This gets tricky when he encounters Henry Yewbeam wandering the halls of Bloor’s. Henry is Charlie’s great-great-uncle and has traveled forward in time due to his cousin, Ezekiel Bloor, meddling with a time twister. Charlie must work on protecting Henry from the Bloors, his aunts Yewbeam and his Grandma Bone all while also trying to figure out where Henry would be safe long-term. However, things are difficult at Bloor’s due to the continue treachery and spying of Billy Raven but also due to the temporary absence of Tancred Torsson which upsets the balance of the endowed at the school. In the process of saving Henry, Charlie discovers numerous secrets about both the school, the family that runs it and their collective past as he meets Cook and the black lady, each of whom reveals some of those secrets.
This was a great addition and sequel to the first book, Midnight for Charlie Bone. It adds more depth and nuance to the mysterious world of the endowed and the children of the red king. However, the parts that really intrigued me the most were the new elements of Charlie’s powers. This book elaborates on his ability to hear the voices of people in photographs by also exploring the idea of hearing people in paintings and the potential option of being able to travel in and out of them. I don’t want to create outright spoilers here but I will say that the new elements were really interesting and I really enjoyed how they were used to further the storyline. It also created a really cool setup for the continued development of his powers in the later books as well so I am really curious to see where that goes over time. The introduction of magical objects was also interesting as the first book really relied entirely on the different abilities of the characters but here the entire plot hinges on a magical object, the time twister, which is a new concept for this series. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t surprised to see this element show up but I was mildly surprised with how it was introduced. The idea of time traveling by staring into a mystical marble was definitely unique, especially when it implies the trip can only be one way. At the same time, by using a member of Charlie’s own family it also allows for more backstory to be added in and used to flesh out the world that Charlie lives in. The first book revealed very little about his family background and history so it was interesting to learn a little more. Mind you there wasn’t a lot revealed but it did provide some interesting information. I am however hoping to see more revealed in future books as well. Overall, a pretty good book and one that I am happy giving 3.5 out of 5 stars.
This was a pretty good example of a kids fantasy novel and one that I rather enjoyed. If you happen to be looking for a good fantasy series for kids this is definitely one to consider. I would recommend that you read the first book though as it provides necessary information to better understand this one. However, I am not sure how well it would appeal to kids who don’t enjoy fantasy though they are welcome to try it. I am also not sure how well it would appeal to older readers. The main character is only ten or eleven so the series is obviously geared for a similar age. Older readers may not overly enjoy a book written for that age range. That being said they are always welcome to try it anyway if it sounds interesting. If you do decide to try it feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.