A time slip trilogy for readers aged 8 to 12 (and up!), published by Scholastic.
All three volumes are out now in Australia and New Zealand. They will soon be published in Russian by Eksmo Publishing.
Read about book one: Brimstone
December 1940. London lad Christopher Larkham finds an ancient Roman ring, inscribed with a phoenix, on the bank of the Thames. That ring, and its mysterious powers, propels Christopher through time in each of the books.
Brimstone is set during the Blitz in London, and during the Great Fire of London in 1666.
Read about book two: Phoenix
May 1941. Christopher and the firewatchers face the worst night of the Blitz. But the ancient ring takes him away – not back to his friends in 1666, but to an older city called Lundenwic, where a brave Saxon girl tries to defend her town against the fearsome Vikings.
Read about book three: Vigil
June 1944. The war is finally turning against Hitler, but he has one last secret weapon: flying bombs, sent to destroy the City of London. But Christopher has to solve the riddle of the phoenix ring. He journeys back to its source: early Roman Londinium, now surrounded on all sides by the armies of the British queen, Boudica.
Reviews
Brimstone is an exciting book and Christopher is a most engaging character… Gardiner has brought together many strands, time travel, history and action, all rolled into one exciting adventure that will prove fascinating for the reader.
The fire burns through each page, crackling and smoking as you read, and feel the fear and uncertainty of both events, even though today, in 2019, we know the outcomes of each event.
For Christopher, living through the Blitz and witnessing the Great Fire of London, the two events could start to bleed together, as he travels back and forth, and has to check where he is each time. Christopher is a great character – he’s smart, and not wholly perfect – which is what makes it all work so well, as does seeing two of the most terrifying events in London’s history through the eyes of children and the realities that they had to face. In an exciting new trilogy, history and time travel collide with mystery as Christopher is pulled into a mystery involving Brother Blowbladder.
Hold onto your hats, kids of all ages; this one’s double the fun. In her new children’s fiction series, The Fire Watcher Chronicles, Kelly Gardiner introduces us to not just one period of history, but two! For someone who loves historical fiction as much as I do, this was an incredible experience.
As a writer, it is a novel to envy and admire in equal measure…
Kelly Gardiner is a wonderful story teller which she proves again in this grand adventure through history. She packs a great deal into this book, with everything from magic, heroics, tragedy and reunion.
Kelly Gardiner 