Synopsis
The Children of the Red King series of books begins with Midnight for Charlie Bone (June 2002). The stories focus on Charlie Bone, aged ten, one of the many descendents of the Red King and an inheritor of part of his magical powers. Charlie is determined to find his lost father, Lyell, who stood alone against his family in trying to prevent what he considered to be a crime. Lyell was horribly punished for his courage and Charlie almost suffers the same fate. But his good nature and indomitable spirit win him loyal friends, and together they endeavour to overcome the evil that threatens them. The children that help Charlie come from very different backgrounds and ethnic groups. Olivia, Fidelio, Benjamin and Emma have their own battles to win and their small victories are interwoven with Charlie's long and dangerous quest. Their struggles, sometimes scary and sometimes humorous, take place during five terms spent at Bloor's Academy, an ancient school where the endowed descendents of the Red King can be watched and controlled. The evil Bloors have many willing accomplices among the pupils; werewolves, hypnotists, mind-readers and witches do their best to defeat Charlie. Not least of his troubles are the machinations of his sinister grandmother and her three grim sisters. There will be five magical adventures of Children of the Red King in all. Here the eternal conflict within families, the battles of siblings divided by jealousy and by their perceptions of good and evil, right and wrong, are resolved and an extraordinary family is healed by the courage of Charlie Bone.
Recommendations
Bartimaeus: Amulet of Samarkand, The (Book One)
by Jonathan Stroud
Like Charlie Bone, your protagonist here is a young person discovering hidden magical abilities while navigating a world where power corrupts institutions—in this case, a London controlled by magicians. Stroud builds his magic system with the same meticulous detail Nimmo uses for the Red King's descendants, and the cat-and-mouse dynamic between the boy and his enemies has that same blend of genuine danger with moments of dark humor that kept you turning pages.
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The Inkheart Trilogy Inkheart; Inkspell; Inkdeath
by Cornelia Funke
Funke shares Nimmo's gift for creating worlds where the stakes feel genuinely high for children, and where ordinary kids must outwit adults who've weaponized their own gifts. The relationship between Mortimer and his daughter mirrors Charlie's journey of discovering family secrets, but here the magic is tied to stories themselves—there's something almost literary about how the plot unfolds that gives it a different flavor from Midnight for Charlie Bone while hitting many of the same emotional beats.
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The Princess and the Goblin
by George MacDonald
Here's your surprise pick: this reads less like typical fantasy adventure and more like a character study wrapped in court intrigue, yet it has the same warmth and moral clarity that makes Charlie Bone so appealing. The protagonist is an outsider thrust into a dangerous institution (a palace instead of a school) where he must navigate complex family dynamics and hidden enemies—but Addison focuses on how he wins people over through kindness rather than magical combat, which gives it an unexpectedly literary quality.
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The Mysterious Benedict Society
by Trenton Lee Stewart
Stewart writes with the same affection for ensemble casts that Nimmo does—your ragtag group of friends each with distinct personalities and abilities feels very much like Charlie's circle of Olivia, Fidelio, Benjamin, and Emma. The mystery unfolds at a similar pace, with each book revealing new layers about the villains' plans, and there's that same sense that intelligence and loyalty matter as much as magical power in overcoming obstacles.
View bookAbout Jenny Nimmo
J
Jenny Nimmo
Born 1944
Biography coming soon.
View author page