THE WIZARD'S NEPHEW

A boy travels by airship to the realm of his birth and helps overthrow a tyrant in Bilicki’s middle-grade debut.

Fourteen-year-old Ollie Lumenious lives in Jade City, an idyllic hamlet founded by his Uncle Zep 12 years ago. The people of the city believe Zep to be a wizard, because when he and Ollie first arrived, they flew in a state-of-the-art airship—the Silver-Blue Balloon, or SBB—and were pursued by a dragon, which Zep drove away. The people were impressed and made the man their ruler. But the truth is more complicated: Ollie learns that he’s actually the grandson of Empress Leonora of the Western Empire and that the dragon was his uncle’s family pet. Now that dragon has returned, bearing messages demanding that Zep bring the SBB back to the Western Empire. Zep wants nothing to do with the situation, but Ollie is determined to learn more about his past. Together with his friend Thomas Bredley,Ollie steals the SBB and flies it to the Western Empire’s Carlisle City. There, he finds his grandmother under house arrest. Ruling in her stead is Korbinian, the barbarous minister of war. Ollie is imprisoned and Thomas sent to work in the mines. Can Ollie unite the oppressed people of Carlisle City and put an end to Korbinian’s savage reign? Bilicki writes in an easy, informative style, mixing straightforward narrative with smooth dialogue and short but effective descriptions of characters and settings. The story lacks major surprises or dramatic plot twists, but it’s none the worse for this simplicity. Ollie and Thomas are excitable and boundlessly optimistic, and their antagonist is irredeemably villainous, leaving the boys little choice but to overthrow him. Events unfold quickly, and young readers will have no difficulty imagining themselves in the young hero’s place, saving the day. The prolonged sidelining of Thomas (who’s quirkier and less predictable than Ollie) and the underuse of Delia, Ollie’s distant relation, are minor flaws, but Ollie’s escapades make for an agreeable introduction to the genre.

A fast and uncomplicated fantasy adventure for young readers.