The first book in the Camelot Code series, The Once and Future Geek , mixed time travel between the medieval world of King Arthur and our own, and it is a very entertaining book. The second book in the series, Geeks and Holy Grail (Hyperion, October 2019), is also entertaining (though not quite as funny; King Arthur as a modern day high school student is hard to beat....). When Morgana, sworn enemy of King Arthur, attacks the druids of Avalon, Nimue, the youngest of them, takes the Holy Grail and runs with it. King Arthur is dying, and only the Grail can save him. Desperate to keep it from falling into Morgana's hands, she stumbles into Merlin's Crystal Cave. But instead of Merlin there to help her (he's on vacation in Los Vegas, in our time), there's only his very inexperienced apprentice, Emrys. His attempt to hide the grail works, in a sense--as a small, flatulent dragon, it sure doesn't look much like a grail. But it isn't much use to Arthur as a...
(which is appropriate, given what the book is about. But sigh).
In any event, this is the story of a little boy, Albie, who doesn't speak. He does, though, communicate telepathically with his loving big sister, Mary, sending her "memes," as she thinks of his messages. One snowy day Mary, Brit and Albie are out for a walk, when Albie sends a frightening meme--"Bad order." He can't convey anything more specific, but it's clear that he's perceived a wrongness. Then the kids see a mysterious red mist, that pulls at them. To their horror, anyone pulled in by the mist becomes distorted, angry, and violent. Clearly the mist is part of the "bad order" Albie was sensing.
When news of the violence engendered by the mist spreads, the Feds arrive to try to stop it, but the agents are no better at fighting it than anyone else. Fortunaly three holographic alien constructs, trying (and failing) to pass as human, also arrive, and they help the kids get out of the hands of the Feds via a flying Volkswagon bus. They also explain that the bad order is much worse than the mist; there's a rip in the interdimensional fabric of the universe. Albie, who is linked to the creation of that rip, can fix it again...maybe.
It was impossible for me to not think of a Wrinkle In Time. There's the special little brother and his protective big sister, the three aliens trying to be human, the group of friends trying to save the universe, and there's even Mary and Albie's missing scientist father, whose final experiment went wrong. But though this similarity was a distraction, it didn't keep me from appreciating Bad Order on its own merits (and this was helped by Mary and Meg being nothing alike).
Partly this was because the group of kids, including Brit's big brother Lars (a helpful, goodhearted teen, who takes the kids seriously, which is pretty rare in middle grade fantasy), are really likeable. Partly it was because the three alien constructs are really truly funny. Partly because the threat was explained in almost believable science, and so suspension of disbelief was pretty easy. But mostly because the red mist was terrifying, transforming ordinary people into monstrous versions of themselves, and the horror the kids felt was really well done.
So if you are in the mood for a horror tinged book that comes to a warm ending after some sci fi high jinx, this might be just the thing for you!
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher.
disclaimer 2: my first try was better. Sigh again.
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