The Akhenaten Adventure
by P.B. Kerr (2004)
In P.B. Kerr’s first book of his Children of the Lamp series, having wisdom teeth pulled out means more than a bit of discomfort, a large dental bill, and the possibility of developing dry socket. For twelve-year old twins Philippa and John Gaunt, having their wisdom teeth pulled means something else entirely.
As twins with loving (and wealthy) parents, they’ve always considered themselves to be pretty lucky. Once their wisdom teeth have been removed, they discover their good fortune goes far beyond luck and stems from who and what they are. They are Children of the Lamp; they are djinn (not genie, mind you, djinn as the term genie is prosaic and repugnant to djinn). With their wisdom teeth gone, it is time for their fallow djinn powers to begin burgeoning.
The twins’ parents (mother-djinn; father-standard order human) have hidden their “djinn” nature from them in attempts to help them lead normal lives. The twins, however, are not content to be ordinary and jump at the chance to go visit their Uncle Nimrod and have him explain some of the mysterious things that have been happening to them.
From their Uncle Nimrod, they discover that there are actually multiple tribes of djinn–not all of them are bestowers of good fortune and caretakers of humankind. Instead the djinn have split into the good (the Marid, the Jinn, and the Jann) and the evil (the Ifrit, the Shaitan, and the Ghul). As descendants of the Marid tribe, Philippa and John are on the good side, and they soon find themselves embroiled in the battle to defeat the evil djinn in their plan to discover the lost tomb of the evil djinn Akhenaten and to release him along with the seventy other djinn he had bound into his service (and you probably always thought he was just another pharaoh…). Whomever releases these seventy djinn will have the power to command them and thus disrupt the careful homeostasis of good and bad luck that the good djinn attempt to maintain.
Children of the Lamp: The Akhenaten Adventure chronicles the twins discovery of their djinn identity and their growing understanding of the responsibility that comes with power. Due to the relationship among djinn, heat, smoke, fire, and the like, smoking plays a larger role in this book than is typical in children’s literature. Still, the story contains more than exposition, smoke and fire, and good versus evil battle, Kerr also makes room for humor, particularly in the development of his secondary characters. Mr. Rakshasas an older, wiser, agoraphobic djinn who has spent many a year trapped inside a bottle frequently inserts cryptic (but fitting in-context if you pause to think on them long enough) interjections into the conversations. For example:
“The cat is his own best advisor, right enough”
“There’s many a time a man’s mouth broke his own nose.”
“To be sure, it is a shame to try to make a goat’s beard out of a fine stallion’s tail”
Overall, Kerr has created a fully developed fantastic world that exists alongside reality as we know it (a la series such as Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, So You Want to Be a Wizard, the Bartimaeus Trilogy, etc.). Detail-by-detail he has laid the groundwork for creating more stories centering around the historical battle between the good and evil djinn. Some readers may relish the detail and the fully-created djinn history, while others may long for less exposition and more action.
The Akhenaten Adventure is Kerr’s first work for children, and the series may pick up in pace now that the world has been developed. It’s a fun work for younger readers who want to delve into a fictional extrapolation about the lives of genies, errr, I mean djinn. It’s also been rumored to be coming soon in movie form.
Uncle Nimrod also passes on some sage commentary on humans and wishes:
“…it’s usually best that they [humans] get the thing themselves. Through their own hard work. That way, they tend to appreciate it more when they get it…Equally, there are many occasions when they just don’t think their wish through. When they don’t consider the full implications of actually having their dearest wish come true.”
“They [wishes] can be unpredictable…When you play around with the future, there is a random, unexpected, even unpleasant aspect to what you’re doing.”
And if you emjoy the first book, you’ll be happy to know that there are more books in the Children of the Lamp Series:
Blue Djinn of Babylon (Children of the Lamp Book 2)
Cobra King Of Kathmandu (Children Of The Lamp Book 3)
Day Of The Djinn Warriors (Children Of The Lamp Book 4)
You can also check out P.B. Kerr’s official website.
posted in series, middle grades, fantasy, children's literature | 0 Comments
