The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands
Read by Ray Panthacki
Simon & Schuster Audio, 2015
7.25 hrs
Grades 5-9
Christopher Rowe, is a lucky lad. Plucked from the orphanage for his intellectual potential, Christopher is apprenticed to the kindly apothecary, Master Benedict Blackthorn. Despite his lowly upbringing, relayed by narrator Ray Panthacki's hint of a Cockney accent, Christopher receives training in Latin, astronomy, ciphers, potions, and other tools of the apothecary's trade. In the midst of a suspicious atmosphere following great political upheaval, a mysterious cult of murderers arises. Christopher will need all his skills and more to decode a series of clues to a dangerous plot that threatens to upset the balance of world power. Panthacki clearly defines each of
The Blackthorn Key's large cast of characters, creating distinctive voices that reflect their standing in British society. Christopher's best friend is Tom, an apprentice baker. Like Harry Potter and Ron, they are a memorable pair, and their dialogue sounds honest and warm. Whether in terror, danger, or mere horseplay, the listener feels the emotion in and between the characters. The only thing that slows the pace of adventure in this gripping mystery is the occasional reading of lengthy ciphers. Print readers may well try their hand at decoding them, but for listeners, they're primarily a drag on the action. The setting is as rich as the plot in this mid-17th century adventure brought to life by veteran actor Ray Panthacki.
My review copy was provided by
AudioFile Magazine.
My review of The Blackthorn Key for AudioFile Magazine (along with an audio excerpt) appears here. [
http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/107274/]
Samuel Pepys’s diary of the 1660s provides ample evidence that he enjoyed writing about himself. As a powerful naval administrator, he was also a great believer in the merits of official paperwork. The upshot is that he left behind many documents detailing the dangers and the pleasures of his life in London. Here are some facts about him that you may not know...
The post 10 things you may not know about Samuel Pepys appeared first on OUPblog.
Recommended for ages 8-12.
As a
Three Musketeers fan since I was twelve years old, I was of course excited to read this new time travel story, in which a 21st century boy travels back to France of the early 17th century, befriending the future musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. Author
Stuart Gibbs' fast paced, action-packed tale may well appeal to today's tweens, but I couldn't help but be disappointed in the way he interprets Dumas' classic story for the 21st century.
The story starts off strong, with a terrific first sentence that will grab any young reader: "Clinging to the prison wall, Greg Rich realized how much he hated time travel." On a trip to Paris with his family to sell the family's treasured heirlooms to the Louvre, Greg and his parents are pulled through a time warp, winding up in 1615. When his parents are falsely imprisoned for trying to kill the young Louis XIII, Greg must rescue them--by meeting up with three teenagers like himself, Aramis, a young cleric, Athos, a soldier from the lower social classes, and Porthos, a foppish rich young nobleman who's the life of the party. Greg himself becomes known as D'Artagnan (in the original a fish-out-of-water himself, as a bumbling, hot-headed young man from the distant province of Gascony. Mix in a nefarious brother of Cardinal Richelieu (the Cardinal being a central character in Dumas' novel), and a young Milady de Winter (the original villainess in the Three Musketeers), some tropes of fantasy fiction (a stone that grants eternal life), and
voila! a 21st century musketeer rehash.
Gibbs does a good job with the whole fish-out-of-water time travel tropes, with Greg disgusted by the smells of Paris, the privies, and the fleas, among others. The book of matches in his pocket make the 17th century characters he meet think he's a magician, as does his ability to swim. There's plenty of action, as Greg and his new-found friends swashbuckle their way to saving Greg's parents. At the end, they don't go back to the 21st century, which makes me think that Gibbs has a sequel up his sleeve.
While I can't help but appreciate any author that brings Dumas' characters to the attention of 21st century kids, I couldn't get over several changes to the original story that drove me crazy. First of all, the author keeps referring to Greg being in
medieval Paris. While the streets of Paris might have been similar to the way they were in the Middle Ages, 1615 is definitely not considered the Middle Ages, and I wonder how such a glaring error could have escaped the Harper editors, not to mention the professor of French history who Gibbs thanks in his acknowledgment for vetting the manuscript. Second, and what bothered me more as a fan of the original novel, which I couldn't help wondering if Gibbs had actually read, he changed many key elements of the musketeers' personalities. For example, Athos, or the Conte de la Fere in the original, was a member of the nobility, not a common soldier, as Gibbs makes him out to be. Appearing as a young girl, the character of Milady de Winter doesn't make sense with that name, since she is supposed to have married an English lord after having been married to Athos as a young girl. Also, it's not very believable that 14-year old boys would be made guards of the king! Any young person who reads this and goes on to read the original Dumas is going to discoverer the many inconsistencies, which I just don't think were necessary. And by turning t
Recommended for ages 12 and up.
Release date: April 18, 2011
Witchcraft, whether with a historic or contemporary setting, is a popular subject for young adult novels these days. British author
Elizabeth Laird mines 17th century Scottish history for her engrossing historical fiction novel for teens,
The Betrayal of Maggie Blair, published in England last year as
The Witching Hour.
Sixteen-year-old Maggie lives with her grandmother in a small Scottish village on the Isle of Bute, both her mother and father having died when she was a small child. Her grandmother, a scowling, bitter old woman who acts as the village's midwife, believes that she must make the townspeople fear her to survive. In any era in which everyone believed in the devil without question, it didn't take much to be suspected of being a witch. When a baby in the village dies mysteriously, the townspeople turn on both her grandmother and herself, charging them with witchcraft, and Maggie must take her chances and flee from the only home and family she has ever known.
She makes her way to a kind uncle and his family, where a different kind of trouble lurks--trouble of a political and religious nature. Her uncle is a Covenanter--fiercely independent Presbyterians who refused to acknowledge the English king as head of the Presbyterian church in Scotland. It's a dangerous position, and the king's soldiers are arresting Covenanters and throwing them in prison. Nonetheless, Maggie thinks she's safe; until Annie, a girl from her village shows up and worms her way into her relatives' affections, with only Maggie realizing that Annie's up to no good.
But even Maggie can't imagine how Annie will betray them all...
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, which has a more serious thread to it than many of the YA historicals--despite the witchcraft element, there is little of the paranormal or romance in this book. The religious controversies of the era may not appeal to young readers looking for a light read, but this may appeal to fans of Christian fiction, since the struggle for religious freedom and the lengths people will go to worship as they please are a major theme of this book. Does a person's true duty lie in serving God or protecting his family? The author does an excellent job evoking the Scotland of the 17th century, although perhaps using a more contemporary vocabulary (always a balancing act in historical fiction) with a lot of "lassies" thrown in for local color. Maggie is a courageous heroine who young girls will be able to root for while following her many adventures and decisions until she chooses her path.
This book was loosely based on the stories of some of the author's own ancestors, a few of whom appear as characters in this novel. The book shortlisted for the Scottish Book Trust's Royal Mail Award for Scottish Children's Books, in the older readers category.
Other blog reviews:
Musing of a Book AddictBitsy BlingLisa is Busy Nerding
4 Comments on Book Review: The Betrayal of Maggie Blair, by Elizabeth Laird (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011), last added: 4/13/2011
Yes, I agree about the movie, although you didn't mention Raquel Welch who makes a wonderfully buxom love interest for D'Artagnan.