Christopher and Tom’s friendship has a distinctly Harry/Ron dynamic to it – one is charismatic and resourceful, the other headstrong and loyal.Ĭhristopher’s master is the brilliant and endlessly patient Benedict Blackthorn (Dumbledore, basically, if we’re continuing with the Potter comparison). His accomplice is his buddy Tom Bailey, the baker’s son.

Naturally, he builds a cannon and nearly blows his own head off. Fourteen-year-old Christopher Rowe, an apothecary’s apprentice with a knack for cracking codes and a taste for risky schemes, has worked out his master’s recipe for gunpowder. The Blackthorn Key is a novel filled with history and explosions, and it’s the latter that are more memorable, by far. The charged political atmosphere helps drive the plot, but as with most of the other historical elements in this speedy and often graphically violent historical thriller, the veracity of the details is less important than the push to deliver big payouts on both sides of that genre label.

Instead of writing, say, the kidlit version of Interstellar, Sands plunks readers down amid the sights and smells of 1667 London, less than a decade after the death of Oliver Cromwell and the restoration to the throne of Charles II. Not just alchemy, but also dark conspiracies, political intrigue, mysterious codes, murder, and early treatments for asthma. I will highly recommend this book because it is very action packed, full of excitement and mystery.Toronto author Kevin Sands holds two degrees in theoretical physics, so naturally his first novel is about … 17th-century alchemy. Also the font the he used fits the time period because the story takes place in the 1600’s and the font looks like it is very olden. I really like the author’s style of writing because it’s very clear and easy to understand.

It has puzzles and not just puzzles that the character has to solve but some hidden puzzles that the character might give you. I might vote for this book because it is really interesting and eye catching, it really convinces me. This book also helps us understand the seriousness of murder and shows us the crazy reasons why certain people do certain things. Another thing I thought was that the author should have put some extra information about the time that the book takes place. One problem is that a lot of people think that this book is violent but the good thing is that not everyone thinks that it’s super violent. It’s also useful information if you were ever wondering what happened in London, England during the 1600’s. I think that this book is amazing because I like the way the book makes the reader think with all the puzzles and mysteries included in it.

The blackthorn key