BLOG TOUR and GIVEAWAY: The Serpent's Ring by H. B. Bolton

THE SERPENT'S RING

The Relics of Mysticus, #1

by H. B. Bolton

Paperback, 2012

ISBN13: 9781478332572

Middle Grade Fantasy

Grades 3-6

Copy received from author for blog tour.

All opinions expressed are solely my own.

ABOUT THE BOOK 

Evan and Claire Jones are typical teenagers, forced to go with their parents to yet another boring museum ... that is, until something extraordinary happens to make their day a little more than interesting. After following a strange little creature into a closed exhibit, Evan and his older sister, Claire, discover the Serpent’s Ring, one of the magical relics formed from the shattered Mysticus Orb. Purely by accident, they have awakened its powers and opened a portal to Sagaas, land of ancient gods.

Before the siblings can comprehend what has happened, the Serpent’s Ring is wrenched from Evan’s hand by an enormous bird and flown back to Aegir, the Norse god of the sea. Evan and Claire, accompanied by a band of unlikely heroes, must retrieve the Serpent’s Ring before Aegir uses its immense powers to flood all the lands on Earth.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Currently, Barbara Brooke resides in sunny Florida with her supportive husband, two adorable children, gorgeous greyhounds, and scruffy mutt. She is actively creating new worlds and interesting characters for the next book in one of her series. Shhhh, can you keep a secret? Not only does she write spellbinding, heart-pounding women’s fiction, she also writes books for the young-at-heart, adventurous sort who yearn to dive into a good young adult fantasy story. These particular books are written under the name H.B. Bolton, but that is another story altogether.

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REVIEW

With lots of excitement and magic this book works well for middle graders who aren't yet ready to tackle longer and more difficult fantasies.  Evan and his family are visiting a living museum when he sees what he takes for a monkey. He sneaks into a building under renovation and comes across a magical talisman called The Serpent's Ring. His older sister, Claire, comes up on him as he is exploring and they both try on the bracelet sized artifact. Unfortunately, before they really know what they have the Ring is stolen and Evan and Claire set off with Dunkle, the imp, the artifact's protector to recover it.

I recommend this book for those who prefer not to get bogged down in details. I myself prefer detail, it allows me to visualize the characters and settings better. Here all I know about the characters is that Evan is 14-years-older, Claire is his older sister, and their parents are a galley manager and history teacher respectively.  Plot is emphasized over character development, but for younger readers, they are more interested in plot anyway. Certainly the creatures and challenges that Evan and Claire run into are entertaining and fun to read about. A nice complement to all the recent books involving various sorts of mythology.

GIVEAWAY

1. You must be over 13 to enter.
2. Open internationally.
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