The Blue Djinn of Babylon (Children of the Lamp, Book 2)

This second book in the “Children of the Lamp” series can be read without reading the first, but why would anyone want to do that? Both books are excellent adventures for both young adults and adults who think they’re still young, and should not be separated at any cost.We take up the story with John and Phillipa Gaunt, the djinn twins from New York, suffering from the winter blues around the time of the Halloween festivities. Being fiery beings, cold weather tends to send their powers into hibernation, necessitating the summoning of a djinn doctor who specializes in holistic health treatments, and of course lots of accompanying tonic.The twins’ mother Layla has renounced her powers to try to lead a normal life for her family’s sake, so she keeps tight control over their magical escapades, and when the doctor’s wayward son Dybbuk (call me Buck) lets them into a little secret for recharging their magical batteries, they jump at the chance for a little magic on the side.Their friend Mr. Rakshasas (an Irish-accented Indian djinn who lives in a lamp) has written a very significant and important book, and at the book-launching party their kindly Uncle Nimrod introduces them to the who’s who of djinn society, including Stan Bunyip of Australia and David Kabikaj of Canada, as well as the Cruella de Ville of evil djinn, Mimi de Ghule. At this meeting Phillipa learns that Ayesha the Blue Djinn (leader, judge and jury of all djinn, good or evil) is almost ready to retire, and is looking for a successor.Phillipa is an accomplished Djinnverso player (djinn poker, but with seven eight-sided dice) and enters a tournament at the Algonquin Hotel in New York, (the spot for the cleverest writers and wittiest actors, and the place where stylish insults are encouraged), but unfortunately things don’t go very well for her. To make matters worse, they learn that The Book of Solomon is missing. Solomon’s Grimoire is a powerful book that can help a djinn or magus to control many other djinn, and is normally kept in a safe place by the Blue Djinn herself.John and Phillipa set out on a quest to recover the book, but the rescue operation hits a snag when Phillipa is kidnapped. The cavalry then springs into action, led by John, with the assistance of Uncle Nimrod, Mr. Rakshasas, the family dogs, and the crabby, competent, and never-basically-boring Mr. Groanin, (who thoughtfully packed supplies of dog food, and an enticing Kendall Mint Cake,) and this leads us to many exciting chapters fraught with danger, packed with adventure, suspense, current affairs, humor (lots of it) and magic.Set in exciting locations such as Istanbul, Iraq and Guiana (French Guiana that is, just a whirlwind ride from Guyana in South America), this book differentiates itself from regular run of the mill fantasy stories, and prepares the stage for book three, due at the end of 2006. We can’t wait!!!Amanda Richards, May 7, 2006

When i was younger, i read this entire series from my local library and I recently found them again. The excitement at ordering these books is nothing i can compare it to. I will now have my very own set and if you enjoy books like Harry Potter, Charlie Bone, Septimus Heap, all the Rick Riordan books, then this series is for you!

We received this audiobook very quickly and though it was used and the package was in bad shape (knew this before purchase) it has been a great buy! No skips or jumps, each disk worked just fine. The family loved the first book and this one kept the adventure going. With 14 hours in the car this book kept us going for at least 10 hours. That was worth it!

got it as a gift, so she wouldn't keep library books until a fine accrued, lol. i assume she liked it, as she asked for a copy. never heard.

Great condition arrived super early overall awesome

The Blue Djinn of Babylon is the second in the Children of the Lamp series. When I read the first, "The Akhenaten Adventure" I knew I would have to read the second in the series as soon as it came out. The stories are unusual with some really weird and funny situations. Plenty of excitement and danger. A delightful read for children and/or adults.

I had to buy Book Two from a third party. Even though it was hard cover as advertised, it was a school binding and did not match the rest of the set I had bought for my grandson's birthday. It is smaller, uses cheaper paper and has no dust jacket. I was disappointed with the binding, but I my grandson will enjoy the story anyway. I just wish it had matched the others in quality.

Great book! This is a great read along with the other books in the series. Great story line, very imaginative and introduces a wide vocabulary.

Read voraciously by my grandson finished in one night.

Great book

My 12 year old who generally doesn t like to read fiction cannot put this down. Great story and very well written.

I order this product which turned up very quickly with now problems good value for money. would recommend to others

I am always afraid of reading "part two" of anything because I don't want it to spoil part one but P B Kerr has done a pretty good job of following up on the lives and adeventures of Phillipa, John and their "djinn" friends.The boss of the Djinns, "The Blue Djinn of Babylon" is dying after 250 years on earth. She wants a successor to replace her but the only candidates volunteering themselves are the wrong kind. So in desperation, she snatches Phillipa, takes her to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in modern-day Iraq and tells her to claim her destiny as the next Blue Djinn. Phillipa resists and at the same time, her brother John, aided by Nimrod, Groanin and their two dogs (Alan and Neil) begin a rescue mission.But this is Iraq, currently one of the most dangerous countries on earth and there's the not-so-small matter of the US military roaming around. What makes things even more difficult is that John can't use his djinn power as that would make the Blue Djinn realise that John is there and is coming to get his sister.Aided only by an ancient map and his two dogs, John finds the ancient city of Babylon to reclaim his kidnapped sister. While this is going on, Nimrod starts looking for a suitable candidate to replace the Blue Djinn...The action moves from Berlin to Istanbul to Iraq and then back over the Atlantic to South America and North America. For 12 years old, John and Phillipa are two well-travelled kids!Quite an enjoyable book but part one is so much better in my opinion.