Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy (The Children of the Red King, Book 3) (edition 2004)

Some character development and interesting plot twists

- Generally emotionally superficial; action somewhat illogical and inconsequential

This is the third book in the Children of the Red King/Charlie Bone series. I'm ambivalent about this volume. On the positive side, we learn more about Charlie's history, the Bloors, and the legacy of the Red King. While many of the images and events, such as talking to a giant magical snake, resonate heavily with Harry Potter, it's also true that there are a limited number of motifs from which to choose when drawing on mythic imagery. Skarpo's reappearance has some unexpected twists, and Billie's character is fleshed out and made more complex.

On the down side, the book suffers from the flaws of the previous two in the series, which are in my reviews so I won't reitterate most of them here. While there is some effort at character development, the children all seem flat and the adults even moreso. The adults are cruel yet highly ineffective, raising the question of why they are still in charge. The plot is often illogical (for example, Ollie's explanation of why he never left the Academy; Mr. Bodova's sudden return to normalcy) or inexplicable (why Ollie never contacted his family) or insufficiently prepared for (Venetia suddenly is described as someone who makes magical clothes). I understand why Ollie might not want to be invisble, but it seems like an invisible boy could be very useful in the battle against the Bloors and the wicked endowed. As was the case in the second book, plot elements are discarded after they are nominally resolved. This lends a picaresque air to the enterprise and works against finding any satisfaction in a long story arc. Events are disconnected from each other and thus largely inconsequential. What of the knight and his casket from the first book? What of the dagger the villains hoped Charlie would pick up in the second book? What happened to Henry? While I hope that these questions are ultimately answered, I don't see much evidence that they will be. I think it is unlikely that the many dangling elements will be resolved by the end of the series.

Oddly, multiple official reviews of this book repeat the statement that Mr. Boldova is a new art teacher. However, he was introduced in the previous book. Also oddly, the book begins with a statement that the Red King's time twister can be dangerous and unpredictable; however, this has nothing to do with this volume, and appears to have been accidentally transposed from the second book. This contributes to the impression that these books are under-edited. ( )

(FYI, this review was dictated by a 7-year-old girl. Warning, minor spoilers contained herein)

This book is very adventurous. This is why: because Charlie and his friends have to go to the rescue of a boy who is turned invisible by a boa. Charlie has to help him before it is too late. The book made me feel excited because when the characters got so close to finding out how to turn the boy visible again, someone got hypnotized by someone very mean indeed..... ( )

Review by: Matthew L

It starts with a boa sold to the red king. The red king used the boa as a mentor and helper. One day, his oldest son took the boa and tourtured it until his mind is full of nothing but misery. His sister put a spell on the boa so when it sneezed at somebody, they turned invisible. The boas first invisible victim was a young boy named Ollie. At Charlie's home his three aunts brought a visitor named Belle who, by then end, was the girl who placed the spell on the boa. With the help of billy, an endowed who could talk to animals, charlie sneeked out of the boa and turned ollie back to normal.

Review by: :-)

it was okay...but i got kinda bored of it, but its still good
Review by: karen

i thought it was a great story... i loved it. it had me hooked on by like the first five pages then i couldnt stop reading it. i was like falling out of my seat because i was so excited to figure out what was going to happen next...
so this book was very intresting and the author did a great job i cant wait to read the rest of the books...
Review by: Bryce B

I thought it was a magnificent book!!!! especially when the author said the words he did in this book. ( )

great book loved reading about how charlie tries to turn ollie sparks visible for his big brother its nice to know that in a world of evil endowedments there are some used for good. ( )

In this third book about Charlie and his friend. They discover that someone in Bloor's Academy has been turned invisible by a magical boa. This is the adventure of trying to turn the boy visible and right what has been wronged.