Children of the Red King

Children of the Red King is a popular series of children's fantasy and adventure novels written by British author Jenny Nimmo. It is also known as the "Charlie Bone" series and, before it was extended to eight books, as the "Red King Quintet".

Plots

Midnight for Charlie Bone

When Charlie finds out he can hear voices in photographs, his Grandmother, Grizelda Bone, sends him to Bloor's Academy. Charlie agrees to go to the school once his family is threatened by his grandmother and his three wicked great-aunts. Once at Bloor's he meets some new friends, Olivia an inspiring actress, Billy an albino who can talk to animals, and Fidelio a great musician. He still has his old friend Benjamin though and Ben's dog, Runner Bean. Mr. Onimous and his cats Leo, Aries, and Sagittarius, he leads Charlie and gives him clues on what he must do. He tells Charlie about a girl at Bloor's who is hypnotized she is named Emilia Moon she can fly, who he must wake up. He has trouble, because the Bloor Family is out to stop him and will try everything, including setting a werewolf to find him who is actually Manfred Bloor's assistant, Asa Pike. Luckily, Emilia's dad made a machine to wake her up. Dr. Tolly, her dad, is sadly diseased though. Charlie wakes Emilia up using a case given to him by Emilia's aunt, called Tolly Twelve Bells, the machine made by her dad. Once woken up, it is revealed Emilia is actually named Emma Tolly. Manfred takes Emma and is then taken to Bloor's and locked up. Emma escapes by flying and joins her Aunt Julia Ingledew, who Charlie's uncle , Paton, has a crush on. At the end of the book, on the longest night of the year, Emma and Miss Ingledew have a party, and everyone has lots of fun and thanks Charlie for his bravery and skill in helping him save Emma. Charlie's evil grandma insists they don't want Tolly Twelve Bells anymore, but Charlie knows they do, because his father is still alive and they don't want him woken up.

The Time Twister

Charlie Bone's great-great-uncle, Henry Yewbeam, shows up at Bloors Academy, saying that his evil cousin, Zeke, used a time twister to send him away through time. Avoiding his evil Aunts: Lucretia, Eustacia, and Venetia, hypnotic Manfred Bloor, and the jet-lag of time travel, Charlie must protect his relative, and stop the Bloors before Henry becomes just another casualty as the threads of the Red King's children are drawn tighter together than they've been for 500 years.

The Invisible Boy(The Blue Boa)

The group finds out about an invisible boy named Ollie Sparks.

The Castle of Mirrors

Billy Raven has a distant relative who is trying to adopt him but who ends up dying for Charlie's uncle Paton.

Hidden King

Charlie finally finds his Dad, it was Mr. Pilgrim the piano teacher.

The Beast(Wilderness Wolf)

Charlie Bone and his Uncle Paton are visiting Charlie's old house while his parents are out whale watching. While there he finds that his whole upstairs floor area was ripped up and they find that there were people inside the house earlier. When Charlie goes to Bloor's Academy he finds a new boy is there that he has to guide around. His name is Dagbert Endless because his last names are "as endless as the seas". Dagbert's endowment is to drown other people, controlling water. Dagbert has to be around Charlie all the time, so he starts to drive his friends away by insulting them. Later Charlie finds out that his great Aunt Venita is getting married to a man who has two young children.

Meanwhile, there is a weird howling that the whole town could hear. The town decides to call it the "wilderness wolf" and thinks that it's dangerous. When Charlie goes home for the weekend his Uncle gets bitten by a creature outside their house. He claims that the things were definitely not a wolf as everyone else thought, but more of a human. When the town holds a meeting, Charlie's friend Benjamin proposes the idea that Charlie's classmate Asa Pike might be the creature since earlier he betrayed Manfred Bloor and helped Charlie get his father back. Charlie's great Aunt Venetia dropped her new children at Ingledew's bookshop. Little Eric was endowed, but Miranda was not.

When Charlie goes back to Bloor's he is told by Billy Raven that the Wilderness Wolf is shouting "Help". When there is gunshots one night Billy tells Charlie that he heard it howl "Father". Later that week Charlie wakes up to his friend Naren sending the message goodbye. When he tried to talk back Dagbert sees the message and Charlie confronts him. While talking Dagbert experiences wild symptoms, such as glowing and pain. He keeps telling Charlie to get his Sea Gold Creatures from under his pillow. When he gets better Dagbert explains how it is his birthday and how he is now more powerful then his father. When Charlie goes home for the weekend Benjamin explains his plan about Asa Pike and Charlie thinks that that could be right. He decides that he has to help Asa because Asa risked everything to help him and his father. So he, Olivia and Runner Bean go into the forest looking for him. Instead they find Asa's mother as they realize that Asa's father was shot and was now dead. On their way across a dangerous metal bridge the water rises so high that Runner Bean was washed away. Charlie's wand ends up helping them from drowning and Charlie sees the red knight across the bridge. Benjamin goes off to find Runner Bean and Charlie and Olivia bring Mrs. Pike to the Pet's Cafe. There she explains her story of how she thought that Asa would be good at Bloors Academy with Manfred as his friend, but they explained how they took him away because of how he betrayed them. Charlie leaves and remembers that he has to pick up Billy's Rat from a Kettle store. When he gets there the lady gives him a strange kettle that gets warm when he was in danger.

Charlie and Billy make a plan to go save Asa from under ground. When they go they see Asa in his beast form, but Charlie finds that Billy lost his endowment. They decide that he needs to change back into his human form before they can talk to him. When Billy uses his special candles and Charlie uses his moth Asa turns into his human form as they leave the area. They see the Red Knight and they agree that Asa should go with him. Asa thanks Charlie for helping him and leaves.

The Shadow(Shadow of Badlock)

The enchanter Count Harken is back to take his revenge on the Red King's heirs, starting with Charlie Bone's family! Charlie's ancestors have been kidnapped and imprisoned in the dark, forbidding land of Badlock, and it's up to him to save them. Traveling through a painting to the terrifying countryside, Charlie and his best friend's dog, Runner Bean, take up the quest. But when Runner Bean gets stuck in the painting, Charlie needs the help of his friends. Can they get past an army of trolls, rescue Runner Bean and Charlie's ancestors, and get out before it's too late, or will Count Harken finally succeed?

The Red Knight

In this book, Charlie and his friends are searching for a will that will reveal everything.

Major Characters

Charlie Bone

Charlie Bone, the protagonist, can travel into photographs and pictures. Through his father, he is descended from the Red King and through his mother, from Mathonwy, a Welsh magician and friend of the Red King.

Amy Bone

Amy Bone is Charlie's mother. She is married to Lyell Bone (who is missing, presumed dead) and her mother, Maisie, lives with them. She is also descended from the Welsh magician, Mathonwy. She works at a greengrocer and is not endowed.

Lyell Bone

Lyell Bone is the son of Grizelda Yewbeam and Montague Bone, who disappeared after "breaking the rules" according to Grizelda. Everyone thought that he was in a car accident, and that he drove off a cliff. Lyell was hypnotized by Manfred Bloor, and he was looked down on for marrying Amy Bone because she wasn't endowed. He was discovered to be Mr. Pilgrim at the end of book 5.

Maisie Jones

Amy Bone's mother and descendant of Mathonwy, the Welsh magician and friend to the Red King.

Grizelda Yewbeam

Grizelda is Lyell Bone's mother and sister to Eustacia, Venetia, Lucretia, and Paton Yewbeam. She has no endowment.

Paton Yewbeam

Paton is Charlie's great-uncle and is one of the few good Yewbeam characters. He is a power-booster, meaning he can explode lights. Paton has a developing relationship with Julia Ingledew.

Ezekiel Bloor

Ezekiel is the father of Bartholomew Bloor and the grandfather of Harold Bloor, the principal of Bloors' Academy, and is also a (failed) magician.

Manfred Bloor

Manfred is one the antagonists in the series and he is a hypnotist. He hypnotized Lyell Bone, causing Lyell to lose his memory. Toward the end of the series, Manfred's endowment changes and develops into that of his ancestor Borlath's, meaning he can generate and control fire.

Asa Pike

Asa is a shape-shifting were-beast who can change his shape at dusk. He was Manfred's sidekick until book 5 when he helped Charlie and his friends. For this he was punished.

Billy Raven

Billy is an albino, and has the ability to speak to animals. He is an orphan, was briefly adopted in book 4 but the parents were horrible.

Emma Tolly

Emma was hypnotized by Manfred Bloor for eight years and renamed Emilia Moon. Charlie and his friends rescue her and she lives with her aunt, Julia Ingledew.

Olivia Vertigo

Olivia is an illusionist, but she does not discover her endowment until the fourth book. She is constantly changing her appearance, especially her hair color.

Tancred Torsson

Tancred is a storm-bringer. His Scandinavian ancestor was named after the thunder god, Thor. Tancred can bring wind, thunder, snow, rain, and lightning.

Lysander Sage

Lysander is descended from an African wise man, and can call up his spirit ancestors. Lysander is Tancred's best friend. Lysander has two sisters, Hortense and Alexandra, who are both unendowed. He inherited his ability from his mother, Jessamine Sage. Lysander's father is a powerful judge in the city.

Joshua Tilpin

Joshua has magnetism. He is descended from Lilith, the Red King's oldest daughter, and Harken, the evil enchanter who married her.

Fidelio Gunn

He is not endowed, but is excellent with music. He come from a family of musicians and owns a deaf cat. He is one of Charlie's best friends.

Gabriel Silk

Gabriel can feel scenes and emotions through the clothing of others. He comes from a long line of psychics.

Benjamin Brown

He is one of Charlie's best friends and lives across the street from him. He has no endowment. His dog is called Runner Bean

Julia Ingledew

She is the owner of Ingledew's Bookstore and is Emma Tolly's Aunt. She has a relationship with Paton Yewbeam.

Minor Characters

Dorcas Loom

She has two brothers, and can bewitch clothing.

Cook (Treasure)

Cook, whose real name is Treasure, is the 'lodestone' at Bloor's. She keeps the balance.She is currently hiding from a man who she refused to marry.She has a sister who is looking after one of Charlies relatives who is also in hiding from the same man (he killed her parents and destroyed her home after they refused)

Orvil Onimous

husband of Onoria Onimous and co-owner of the Pets Cafe. Also is an expert on the Red King and his history. He and his wife help Charlie and his friends in every way they can.

Onoria Onimous

Wife of Orvil Onimous and co-owner of the Pets Cafe.

Una Onimous

Niece of Orvil Onimous and Onoria Onimous, has the endowment of invisibility.

Dagbert Endless

Follower of the Bloors

Books

There are currently eight books in the series:

• Midnight for Charlie Bone
• The Time Twister
• The Blue Boa (or Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy)
• The Castle of Mirrors"
• Charlie Bone and the Hidden King
• Charlie Bone and the Wilderness Wolf (or Charlie Bone and the Beast)
• Charlie Bone and the Shadow of Badlock (or Charlie Bone and the Shadow)
• Charlie Bone and the Red Knight

External links

• Jenny Nimmo's official site