Children of the Red King
Encyclopedia
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".
Life should be absolutely perfect for Charlie now that he's found his long lost father, who was disguised as Mr. Pilgrim. But mystery and adventure always find him. This time, Asa, a fellow classmate who changes into a beast at dusk, and Charlie's sometime-enemy, is missing. His parents are away on a holiday. Manfred is holding Asa captive in a forest cave and now Charlie needs the help of the Flames (Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius) Claerwen (his wand that is now a moth) and all of his friends to rescue his classmate. Manfred has also taken the new endowed student, Dagbert Endless, under his wing, and Charlie is highly suspicious of the pair. Can Billy, Claerwen, Charlie and all his other friends rescue Asa without being caught by Manfred and Dagbert? Or will Dagbert drown their plans?
Plot Summary
Charlie Bone and his Uncle Paton are visiting Charlie's old house while his parents are out whale watching. While in 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 Bloors 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 little 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 defiantly not a wolf as everyone else thought, but more of a human. When the town holds a meeting, Charlie's friend Benjamin thinks of 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 Venita dropped her new children at Indiglews bookshop. Little Erik was endowed, but Miranda was not.
When Charlie goes back to Bloors 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.
Amy Bone (née Jones) - 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 greengrocers shop and has no endowment.
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 hypnotised 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.
Grizelda Yewbeam - She is Lyell Bone's mother and sister to Eustacia, Venetia, Lucretia, and Paton Yewbeam. She has no endowment.
Paton Yewbeam - He is Charlie's great-uncle and is one of the few good Yewbeam characters. He is a power-booster, meaning he can explode lights.
Ezekiel Bloor - He is the father of Bartholomew Bloor and Harold Bloor, the principal of Bloors' Academy, and is also a (failed) magician.
Manfred Bloor - He is one of the evil characters in the series. He is also 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 could generate and control fire.
Asa Pike - Asa is a shapeshifting were-beast who would change his shape at dusk. He was originally an evil character and was Manfred's sidekick until book 5 when he helped Charlie and his friends. For this he was punished.
Dorcas Loom - She has two brothers, and can bewitch clothing. She is also an evil character.
Billy Raven - Billy is an albino, and has the ability to speak to animals. He is an orphan.
Emma Tolly - She was hypnotized by Manfred Bloor for eight years and renamed Emilia Moon. Charlie and his friends rescue her from that and she lives with her aunt, Julia Ingledew. She is a good character.
Olivia Vertigo - Olivia is an illusionist, which she finds out in the fourth book. She is constantly changing her appearance, especially her hair color.
Tancred Torsson - He can command thunder, rain, wind, lightning and snow(shown in the fifth book). He proves this in 'The Time Twister' when he gets upset and goes into a mood that was very destructive and lasted a long time. He's Charlie's friend.
Lysander Sage - Sander can call up his spirit ancestors, and he 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.
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 - Gabe's endowment is Psychometry, meaning he knows what happened to the people whose clothing he wears. He also breeds gerbils. He has three sister, June, Mai, and April who are all unendowed.
Benjamin Brown - He is one of Charlie's best friends and lives across the street from him. He has no endowment. His dog is Runner Bean.
Cook (Treasure) - Cook, whose real name is Treasure, is the 'lodestone' at Bloors'. She keeps the balance.
Julia Ingledew - She is the owner of Ingledew's Bookstore and is Emma Tolly's Aunt. She has a relationship with Paton Yewbeam.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
author Jenny Nimmo
Jenny Nimmo
Jenny Nimmo is a British author of numerous books for children, including many fantasy and adventure novels, beginning reader books, and picture books....
. It is also known as the "Charlie Bone" series and, before it was extended to eight books, as the "Red King Quintet".
Midnight for Charlie Bone
When Charlie finds out he can hear voices in photographs, he is sent to Bloor's Academy, where there is a hypnotised girl named Emilia Moon who 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. He wakes Emilia up using a case given to him by Emilia's aunt, called Tolly Twelve Bells. Once woken up, it is revealed Emilia is actually named Emma Tolly. Emma is then taken to Bloor's and locked up. Emma escapes by flying and joins her Aunt Julia Ingledew. 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. 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.Charlie Bone and the Wilderness Wolf
Plot IntroductionLife should be absolutely perfect for Charlie now that he's found his long lost father, who was disguised as Mr. Pilgrim. But mystery and adventure always find him. This time, Asa, a fellow classmate who changes into a beast at dusk, and Charlie's sometime-enemy, is missing. His parents are away on a holiday. Manfred is holding Asa captive in a forest cave and now Charlie needs the help of the Flames (Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius) Claerwen (his wand that is now a moth) and all of his friends to rescue his classmate. Manfred has also taken the new endowed student, Dagbert Endless, under his wing, and Charlie is highly suspicious of the pair. Can Billy, Claerwen, Charlie and all his other friends rescue Asa without being caught by Manfred and Dagbert? Or will Dagbert drown their plans?
Plot Summary
Charlie Bone and his Uncle Paton are visiting Charlie's old house while his parents are out whale watching. While in 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 Bloors 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 little 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 defiantly not a wolf as everyone else thought, but more of a human. When the town holds a meeting, Charlie's friend Benjamin thinks of 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 Venita dropped her new children at Indiglews bookshop. Little Erik was endowed, but Miranda was not.
When Charlie goes back to Bloors 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.
Characters
Charlie Bone - Charlie is the main character of this series. He grew up relatively normal with his mother, two grandmothers, and his great-uncle Paton until his talent was discovered. Charlie is descended from the Red King's youngest daughter, Amoret, oldest son, Borlath, and 2nd oldest son, Amadis. He is also descended from a Welsh magician named Mathonwy, a friend of the Red King, through his mother, Amy Bone (née Jones)Amy Bone (née Jones) - 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 greengrocers shop and has no endowment.
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 hypnotised 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.
Grizelda Yewbeam - She is Lyell Bone's mother and sister to Eustacia, Venetia, Lucretia, and Paton Yewbeam. She has no endowment.
Paton Yewbeam - He is Charlie's great-uncle and is one of the few good Yewbeam characters. He is a power-booster, meaning he can explode lights.
Ezekiel Bloor - He is the father of Bartholomew Bloor and Harold Bloor, the principal of Bloors' Academy, and is also a (failed) magician.
Manfred Bloor - He is one of the evil characters in the series. He is also 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 could generate and control fire.
Asa Pike - Asa is a shapeshifting were-beast who would change his shape at dusk. He was originally an evil character and was Manfred's sidekick until book 5 when he helped Charlie and his friends. For this he was punished.
Dorcas Loom - She has two brothers, and can bewitch clothing. She is also an evil character.
Billy Raven - Billy is an albino, and has the ability to speak to animals. He is an orphan.
Emma Tolly - She was hypnotized by Manfred Bloor for eight years and renamed Emilia Moon. Charlie and his friends rescue her from that and she lives with her aunt, Julia Ingledew. She is a good character.
Olivia Vertigo - Olivia is an illusionist, which she finds out in the fourth book. She is constantly changing her appearance, especially her hair color.
Tancred Torsson - He can command thunder, rain, wind, lightning and snow(shown in the fifth book). He proves this in 'The Time Twister' when he gets upset and goes into a mood that was very destructive and lasted a long time. He's Charlie's friend.
Lysander Sage - Sander can call up his spirit ancestors, and he 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.
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 - Gabe's endowment is Psychometry, meaning he knows what happened to the people whose clothing he wears. He also breeds gerbils. He has three sister, June, Mai, and April who are all unendowed.
Benjamin Brown - He is one of Charlie's best friends and lives across the street from him. He has no endowment. His dog is Runner Bean.
Cook (Treasure) - Cook, whose real name is Treasure, is the 'lodestone' at Bloors'. She keeps the balance.
Julia Ingledew - She is the owner of Ingledew's Bookstore and is Emma Tolly's Aunt. She has a relationship with Paton Yewbeam.
Books
There are currently eight books in the series:- Midnight for Charlie Bone
- The Time Twister (or Charlie Bone and the Time Twister)
- The Blue Boa (or Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy)
- The Castle of Mirrors (or Charlie Bone and 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
- The Secret Kingdom (Chronicles of the Red King Book 1)