The Brimstone Key - The Clockwork Chronicles #1

THE BRIMSTONE KEY

THE CLOCKWORK CHRONICLES #1

By: Derek Benz and JS Lewis

FIRST SENTENCE

“Terrified, Max Sumner forced himself to walk down the long corridor.”

SUMMARY
from goodreads

A year ago, the Grey Griffins were just regular kids from Avalon, Minnesota.  That was before they learned about the existence of evil fairies, werewolves, and other things that go bump in the night.  Now they are monster hunters, celebrated heroes, and allies to the legendary Templar knights--- but even heroes have to go to school.  When the Griffins enroll at Iron Bridge Academy, a school to train young recruits in the fight against the forces of evil, they find themselves at the center of a whole new adventure. The Clockwork King, a Templar foe from days past, has returned to finish his plan he set in motion decades ago.  A plot to steal the souls of changelings --- humans infused with fairy blood and supernatural abilities --- in order to power his clockwork army of war machines

REVIEW

Steampunk meets the modern world in Minnesota.  It may sound weird, but IT WORKS.  I was drawn into an amazing world of supernatural beings (fairies, unicorns, changelings) and wild clockworks (robots with a reason for being).  The descriptions were spot on and made this crazy world come to life.

The main characters, Max, Natalia, Ernie, and Harley, were typical kids in a world that was anything but typical.  I liked that they got along and worked together so well.  My favorite character was Natalia.  She didn’t care about fitting in with the cool crowd, instead she was just happy being herself.  You all know how much I love that sort of female character.  Just be yourself!

Changelings sound so cool.  Ernie has the power of super speed.  There are other powers such as walking through walls, teleporting, and hearing the thoughts of others.  That’s the power I would want – hearing the thoughts of others.  I bet I could put that one to good use! 

My favorite scene was the first day of school at Iron Bridge Academy.  There were all sorts of wild things going on at the school – disappearing changelings and a collapsing ceiling make for an interesting first day.  The ending is a bit of a cliffhanger.  Hopefully the next book is out sooner than later. 

The Brimstone Key is the first book in The Clockwork Chronicles trilogy that follows the Grey Griffins trilogy.  While I haven’t read the first trilogy yet, I was able to follow the story just fine.  I definitely want to go back and read it now though because I want to know more about what happened earlier.   I recommend this book for middle grade and young adult readers alike. 

Thank you to JS Lewis for sending this book for me to review.

RATING

5        Plot

5        Characters

5        Attention Grabbing

4        Girlie Meter

4        Ending

23      TOTAL

5        STARS