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Publication Date: April 12, 2010 | Age Range: 9 and up | Series: Theodosia | Lexile Measure: 760L (What's this?)
Being able to detect black magic isn’t all tea and crumpets—and for Theodosia Throckmorton, it can be a decidedly tricky business! When Sticky Will drags Theo to a magic show featuring the Great Awi Bubu, she quickly senses there is more to the magician than he lets on, setting in motion a chain of events she never could have bargained for.
Meanwhile, back at the Museum of Legends and Antiquities, Henry is home for the spring holidays and makes an accidental discovery of an artifact that alchemists have been hunting for centuries. Soon, every black-cloaked occultist in London is trying to get their hands on it . . .
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Theodosia Throckmorton, first appearing in Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos (2007), returns in another fantastical romp, steeped in ancient Egyptian lore and set in Edwardian England. With villains from previous series installments still at large, a new threat is added to the mix: the Arcane Order of the Black Sun, a secret society focused on the occult. Once again, supernaturally talented Theodosia navigates around her etiquette-obsessed grandmother and absentminded parents in a suspenseful, satisfying fantasy that’s filled with the specifics of magical ritual sure to delight readers who miss the goings-on at Hogwarts. Grades 5-8. --Gillian Engberg
R. L. LaFevers (Robin Lorraine when she's in really big trouble) grew up surrounded by shelves of old dusty books, a passel of brothers, and a wide variety of pets, including a goat, chickens, chipmunks, a baby anteater, and, for a few short weeks, two bear cubs, who were very wild and untamed. She has also spent a large portion of her life being told she was making up things that weren't there, which only proves she was destined to write fiction. She is the author of eight books for young readers, including Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos, (Houghton Mifflin, 2007) which received starred reviews and was a Junior Library Guild selection, a Booksense Summer Pick, and nominated for the Malice Domestic's Agatha Award. Kirkus calls her most recent book, Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist: Flight of the Phoenix, (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) ". . . an exciting tale." Look for the sequel, Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist: The Basilisk's Lair (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) in Spring of 2010.
R. L. lives in Southern California with her family and spends her time daydreaming, making up stories, and wallowing in old forgotten texts. Although she no longer has any exotic pets, she does have raccoons who visit her back porch, coyotes who howl at her window, and hawks that soar high overhead.
In the wake of the Twilight craze, we've all seen far too many vampire and werewolf stories flooding the market. Not that I have anything against Dracula or the Wolf Man, but I always had a soft spot for the Mummy. Maybe there's not enough room for edgy romantic triangles in archaeology and Egyptology but it seems to me to offer plenty of fertile ground for fun stories. That's where Theodosia is a bit of fresh air - even if it does come from long buried crypts and the basements of British museums!
In this third book of the series, Theodosia is still trying to rid the Egyptian artifacts of curses in her parent's museum, the Museum of Legends and Antiquities in Edwardian London. Theo has a useful talent for detecting curses, and with a new exhibit about to open there's plenty to do. But when she attends a magic show for an Egyptian magician named Awi Bubu, it appears that he is more authentic than she expected. Soon after, she and her brother discover an emerald tablet hidden inside another artifact at the museum, and before long the Serpents of Chaos, the Arcane Order of the Black Sun, and even Awi Bubu himself are after it. The only one who doesn't seem interested is the Brotherhood of Chosen Keepers - the very group who ought to be taking a most careful notice.
Having enjoyed Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris recently, I found this one to be a little more exciting. It's a fun story with a clever wit to it.... Theodosia is a likeable heroine who finds herself in impossibly dangerous and difficult circumstances, yet seems to take it all with characteristically low-key English stride. Fans of the Percy Jackson series ought to enjoy this one.Read more ›
I have to admit, I enjoy Young Adult fiction as much as I do "regular" fiction. In some cases, significantly more. It seems to me that children's authors have to make their stories so much more original and believable in order to keep the interest of their target audience. Having said that, it can also be a big jump when purchasing a book in a series that one has never read, because the same things that attract an older audience can be the same ones that go terribly awry. So it is a pleasure to say that this was not the case with Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus.
Theo (as she is called by her friends and family) is a very special girl who works in her family's museum and, behind the scenes, rids Egyptian artifacts of their curses. She has a cat names Isis, belongs to a super-secret organization and has a pick-pocket for a friend. Really, what could go wrong? As it turns out - so many things...
The story is well written and was very enjoyable - in fact, I have recommended it to my 9-year-old to read. I enjoyed it so much that I will be heading to the library this week to find the first book in the series, and hopefully the third as well. While reading these in order is not totally necessary, enough of the first book was alluded to in this one to have me a little confused a few times. So while not strictly necessary, I would recommend it.
It's a great book in what appears to be a fun series, and I look forward to reading more!
What a refreshing change to read a book for young readers that gets the historical details of ancient Egypt (mostly) correct! "Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus" by R. L. LaFevers, was an absolute delight! Theodosia knows about malicious ancient Egyptian heka (magic) and how to combat it. Though her parents and those around her are mostly oblivious, clearly Theodosia is not the only one that is intrigued by the power and the magic of the Ancient Egyptian culture. Sometimes those who are interested have malicious intentions and Theodosia and her friends are the only ones that can stand in the way of these people letting lose powers that they clearly don't understand.
As someone who actually has a professional egyptologist in the family, it is quite obvious that LaFevers has done her research on both that subject as well as the times of Victorian / Edwardian London and the growing Theosophical and mystical fraternities of the day. I rarely endorse kids books, or indulge in reading them myself. I am one of the few people who really just did not get into the Harry Potter thing at all. However, with this particular series, as an adult and given the subject matter, I found them very enjoyable and purchased this book and the remainder of LaFevers' series for my Kindle eReader.
I like this book even better than the last one I read by R.L. LaFevers. She invented a wonderful female role model with Theodosia Throckmorton. It has a satisfying ending with the lead in to the next adventure in the series. Theodosia is a young girl intelligent beyond her years who spends her time in her parents museum taking curses off Egyptian artifacts while evil doers try to steal them for their own use. She is helped and hindered along by a full cast of characters interesting in their own right. Suspense with a splash of horror, mixed with wit and humor. Nice read no matter what your age.
Eleven-year-old cursebreaker and amateur Egyptologist Theodosia Throckmorton returns again in this sequel to THEODOSIA AND THE STAFF OF OSIRIS, and she's as feisty, capable, and trouble-seeking as ever.
Although she's fresh from saving Edwardian London from the secret society known as the Serpents of Chaos, Theo isn't the kind of girl to take a break. The book opens with her paying a visit to a stage show by a man called Awi Bubu, who professes to know real Egyptian magic. Theo has a little experience in that area, and is convinced that Awi Bubu must be a fake, but visiting his show not only proves her wrong, it plunges her into the midst of another adventure.
Things only become more complicated when her younger brother, Henry, home on holiday, accidentally discovers an emerald tablet in the museum storeroom. When museum curator Stilton--member of the Arcane Order of the Black Sun, a group obsessed with the occult who seems to think Theo is possessed by the Egyptian goddess Isis--identifies the tablet as an incredibly valuable and long-lost magical artifact, Theo is caught between helping him and revealing her secret to the Chosen Keepers. The Keepers are another organization who seems a little more sane than the Order but sometimes refuses to take Theo seriously. Add the Serpents of Chaos back into the mix, and things get pretty crazy pretty quickly.
I loved the first two books in this series, and the third is no exception. LaFevers has created a strong female character who's intelligent and resourceful, who makes mistakes (what eleven-year-old doesn't?) but mostly knows when to ask for help, and has a delightful cast of friends to rely upon.... One of the things I particularly enjoyed about this book in the series was the attention it devoted to these friends and acquaintances, from pickpocket Will to magician Awi Bubu to Theo's grandmother.
As usual, I'm looking forward to seeing the development of all of LaFevers' well-drawn characters in the next book!
