The Uncommoners

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Phoenix
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Posts: 5360
Joined: 27 Mar 2008, 21:15

The Uncommoners

Post by Phoenix »

By New Year's Day I had read all the books I took down to Hayle with me and those I had bought. My grandchildren and I were staying with my ex-wife in St. Ives for a couple of days over New Year, and fortunately St. Ives Bookseller at the bottom of Fore Street opened about 10 o'clock on New Year's Day. No charity shops were open that day so I had to bite the bullet and buy new. I struck lucky with the first two science fantasy novels by an author new to me called Jennifer Bell. The ongoing series is called The Uncommoners, the first two titles in which are The Crooked Sixpence (2016) and The Smoking Hourglass (2017). I've reached page 283 of 368 of the former. They cost £6.99 each. The blurb on the back cover says this:-

A silver bell will tell you the way.
A candle's wick will hide you.
And a crooked sixpence will be the first warning:
Time is running out.


Ivy and Seb Sparrow stumble across something uncommon when they see a feather scratch an ominous message on their granma's kitchen wall. Soon, they are lost in the extraordinary world of Lundinor, where ordinary objects have amazing powers. But where there is power, evil often lurks, and Ivy and Seb must get to the bottom of a family secret...before it's too late.

I have spotted a few points in the story that are reminiscent of moments in Joanne Rowling's oeuvre, but certainly not enough to detract from the pleasure that the reader will get from Jennifer Bell's imaginings.

Phoenix
Guru
Posts: 5360
Joined: 27 Mar 2008, 21:15

Re: The Uncommoners

Post by Phoenix »

Phoenix wrote:I struck lucky with the first two science fantasy novels by an author new to me called Jennifer Bell. The ongoing series is called The Uncommoners, the first two titles in which are The Crooked Sixpence (2016) and The Smoking Hourglass (2017). They cost £6.99 each
The third book in this series is The Frozen Telescope, which was published in 2018, also by CORGI, with no rise in price from £6.99. Positive reactions to these novels from other members who like science fantasy stories might just persuade others to dip their toes into this excellent trilogy featuring Ivy and Seb Sparrow.

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