Well, it’s Day One of Banned Underground Week here in my little corner of the interwebs, and today I’m going to review The Amulet of Kings, the first book in The Banned Underground series by Will Macmillan Jones.  What’s it about, you ask?  Fix your peepers on this then and find out:

What could be worse?  Having to take a holiday in the (rainy) Lake District in the North West of England with an aunt who turns people into frogs for a hobby?  Or battling the local dark lord, whose attempt at world domination starts with the nearby underground dwarf mansion and its enormous collection of used pizza boxes?  Or getting involved with a jazz-loving bog troll and his dwarfish R&B band?  Or is it being miles from a McDonald’s?  Join the teenagers and find out in this comical adventure where jazz and magic make a tongue-in-cheek laugh riot!

In the first book of the series, we meet the goodies (Chris and Linda, Ben and Grizelda, Fungus and the Banned), the baddies (Ned and the Watches, the Grey Mage, Caer Surdin), and an assortment of other characters (the Edern, the Tuatha, the Bodgandor, and various dwarves and trolls) who all take part in a war to seize the Helvyndelve, home of the dwarves, and the Amulet of Kings, the power source for the whole place.  Naturally, chaos ensues and, just as naturally, the results are hilarious.

Full of jokes both good and bad (which makes them all the better, in my opinion), as well as a whole slew of rockin’ tunes, this book has it all: good food, good friends, good fun, and a good baddie in need of defeat (unless, of course, you ask him).  I first encountered this book – and its brilliant author – when it was up on authonomy, so I was beyond excited to find out that it had been picked up for publication.  I read it in only a few days – I couldn’t put it down.

Tomorrow, I’ll be reviewing the second book in the series, The Mystic Accountants.  It’s another goodie. 🙂

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