Customer Reviews

Charlie Bone and the Beast [With Headphones] (Playaway Children)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In this sixth installment, Charlie faces two challenges: 1) There is a new student, Dagbert Endless, whose talent seems to be drowning other people (and making trouble for Charlie); and 2) Asa, whose talent is to change into a beast at dusk, is missing. You may remember that Asa was a former "henchman" of the petty tyrant, Manfred Bloor, and that he recently helped Charlie. You can be sure that his assistance did not please the Bloor's, and if any of the preceding books tell us anything at all about the Bloor's, it's likely that they have more than a little to do with Asa's disappearance.

Dagbert is a particularly interesting character. He comes off immediately as clever and unprincipled, and this, we know, does not spell FUN for Charlie Bone.

Charlie is given the unfortunate task of introducing Dagbert to Bloor's Academy, and Dagbert responds to this kindness by making snide remarks to all of Charlie's friends, alienating him from some people. That Charlie is upset by his friend's lack of faith in him (i.e., they should know that he wouldn't believe the things Dagbert is saying) is demonstrative of a normal twelve-year-old, and it's nice to see that Charlie is human. It fleshes him out, makes him more enticing and tangible.

Once again, Ms. Nimmo takes us on an enjoyable adventure with a likable protagonist and clearly defined antagonists. I'm always impressed by Nimmo's use of magic - here, specifically that all children have different talents, which is a nice metaphor to real life.

We don't see much of the Bloors in this book, and I'd like to. I'd like to see more of the humanity that Charlie has been infused with given to them. They are, as always, scheming to bring ruin down about them, and sometimes I find myself asking why, and not finding answers.

My main criticism would involve a character that appears toward the end of the book and offers considerable and unlooked for help in Charlie's struggles. I'm uncomfortable with any fantasy that introduces characters (or different likenesses of characters) late in the story with little or no introduction, especially if that character plays a critical role. It feels too manipulated. There's a literary term for that type of solution: Deux Ex Machina. The term finds its roots in Greek Mythology, when the Gods reached down and with a flick of their wrist (or suitable appendage) change the course of the story. In ancient Greece, this device was acceptable. It's not thought well of today - several thousand years later. We demand that our writers be more creative in their solutions. (That's not to say that it's easy to do so.)

By the end of this book all readers will know exactly why the Bloors have had it out for Charlie and his family from the very start. That was a welcome revelation, as their somewhat fanatical hatred for Charlie has often been a cause for confusion.

This is marketed to the younger readers of Harry Potter, and it should appeal greatly to that audience.

This series began with great promise. I remember reading the first book (Midnight for Charlie Bone) in a matter of hours. I'd like to see that immediacy return, and I have every reason to believe that Ms. Nimmo has the ability to do so.

3½ stars, rounded up to 4

I really have enjoyed this series and found this installment as satisfying as the others. These books are not an insult to my intelligence and imagination, and keep me moving. The plots are interesting and build from one book to the next to keep me wanting more. The characters are well developed and their interactions are interesting and make me want to know them even better.

The only thing lacking in this volume, I felt is that it asks too many questions without tying up loose ends. I almost felt like there was too much to wait for for the next installment. I want to feel a little more satified at the end of the book.

All in all, it is an excellent book and I recommend it for all children who are about 8 and up and also adults.

I have purchased all of the Charlie Bone books for my grandson (age 9). He loves them all and has reread them all at least once.

jenny nimmo brings a world of fasination, mystery and a need for another book with charlie bones and the friends of special talents.

each book brings a great adventure for all her readers.

I am not happy with the change of narrator for this book. I prefer Russell Simon Beal as the narrator. I like the book just not the narrator.

This was another good title in the Charlie Bone series. This is a series for intermediate readers who have exhausted their copies of the Harry Potter Books. Charlie is an "endowed" student at Bloors Academy in England like Harry but it is not magic with everyone having the same powers or degrees of power. All of the children who are endowed are descendants from the Red King but not all of the students at the school are endowed. Each has diffrent powers. Charlie can hear the voices of people in paintings or photographs and can even venture into the picture it's self. Lots of villians and good guys to enjoy.

Read by Simon Jones. #6 in the Children of the Red King YA fantasy series. This book is read by a different reader than the previous five, and I'll start off by saying I did not enjoy his reading as much--too many of his varied voices sounded alike, and unlike with the previous reader, you couldn't always tell who was speaking just by the voice. The voices of individual persons also varied a little each time they spoke, as though he'd forgotten who he was.

Still, I enjoyed the story itself, as the new boy at Bloor's Academy, Dagbert Endless (who has as his endowment the ability to call the sea--he's a self-proclaimed "Drowner!") tries to come between Charlie and his friends by sowing dissension and whispering gossip. Meanwhile, in the town, a wolf beast has been howling and the citizens are up in arms, organizing a hunt. Charlie believes that this is actually Asa Pike, the wolf-boy who was previously the sidekick of Manfred Bloor, but who stepped in to save Charlie at the end of the last book. Charlie believes that Manfred is holding Asa prisoner somewhere and is planning to rescue him, but with half of his friends not speaking to him because of Dagbert's whisperings, it's proving a little difficult. Charlie's mum and dad are absent in this book, off taking an extended second honeymoon, since they've been apart for ten years, Lyle Bone having been believed dead in a car crash.

Looking forward to the next one, although I do hope the reader gets a grip on his characters' voices a little better by then.

In Ms. Nimmo's sixth book in the series featuring Charlie Bone, a kettle of trouble is brewing. Charlie and his friends once again lead the reader on a breathtaking adventure through the world of Bloor's Academy.

Charlie is appointed official monitor to a new student who can control water. Charlie is not thrilled to have Dagbert following him everywhere. It soon becomes clear that Dagbert is doing everything he can to split up Charlie and his friends. Especially when strange things begin happening on Piminy Street.

A strange beast, part human, part something else, howls in the night. Stone statues begin to move. Rivers overflow their banks without warning. Trolls come alive, and a blacksmith forges steel late into the night. Even Cook is afraid. Who are these strangers from the sea? Will Charlie and his friends be able to save Asa from the Bloors?

There is a similarity between Ms. Nimmo's books and the famous Harry Potter series; the students go to a special school. But the similarity ends there. The books are written on an easier reading level for the younger reader. Ms. Nimmo is exceedingly imaginative in creating her characters and their endowments. I would love to see these characters on the big screen. She artfully doles out just enough morsels of the Red King's history to satisfy, while leaving a few crumbs behind to eagerly lead the reader to her next book.

Ms. Nimmo has created another terrific page turner. I recommend that if you have read none of the CHILDREN OF THE RED KING series that you read them in order. But mostly...I recommend you read them.

Reviewed by: Cana Rensberger

I really enjoyed this latest book by jenny nimmo (although I always wonder if her last name is owwin spelled backwards). All of our villains make great showings in this book.Two new villains are introduced, Dagbert Endless whose talent is to drown people and Aunt Venetia's new stepson who has the ability to move stone. They and the rest of the bloor's crew are out to prevent charlie from saving Asa who angered the bloors by changing sides in the last book. Now that the red king's tree and charlie's dad have awakened all craziness is breaking loose. Dagbert is especially interesting as he is developing new powers throughout the book and we see he needs gold sea figurines to control himself, although we don't know why. The book feels as if it is the beginning of a new series of adventures so don't expect all of the new questions to be answered

An altogether delightful book.

I thought this was Jenny Nimmo's best book yet, and I've read them all. It was well-written, with a good, exciting plot and storyline. The characters were well developed and I liked them. I thought it was a satisfying continuation of the series' story.