The Charlie Braithwaite Stories Series

Always fascinated by magic, eleven-year-old Charlie Braithwaite buys a book of wizardry from the village hall bring and buy sale. It is an old book, written hundreds of years before he was even born and as soon as he takes the volume home he sets out to discover if the spells it contains really do work. They do, his cat can bark, his dog meow and Charlie is having great fun; but when he has a visit from the book’s author, the wizard – Argetlám, will his life ever be the same again? For someone, in the goblin and witch infested Darklands of the Cumbrian Underworld, is watching him from afar. Watching him through evil and envious eyes. That someone is the wicked Witch Queen – Nemetona; the most beautiful of witches but by far the most evil. Nemetona will stop at nothing to get her hands on Charlie’s book of spells and with this in mind despatches a goblin familiar to the Overland [where humans live] to steal it. Caught by the goblin in the act of reading the forbidden book, Charlie’s cousin, Joanne, is kidnapped and spirited away into the terrifying dimension of the Darklands. Now, Charlie and the wizard must go after her. Firstly, to rescue Joanne, afterwards to retrieve the precious book of spells. It is now that Charlie’s adventures really begin, as along with the wizard and his very peculiar friends, they battle goblins, dragons and witches as they continue their quest to find – the lost works of the arch wizard – Argetlám.

'THE ESCAPE OF ATHELWAN' The second book in the Charlie Braithwaite series finds our young English hero at home in his bedroom. It is a boring, wet afternoon, when suddenly his old friend the arch wizard Argetlám appears on his computer screen. At first delighted by the return of his friend, he soon discovers that the wizard has a job for him that is both extremely dangerous and possibly, crucially important to the freedom of everyone living in modern Britain if not the world. Argetlám explains to Charlie that Athelwan, an evil sorcerer punished for his wicked ways by entombment in a cavern, centuries earlier, has escaped. Furthermore, he has materialised during the Battle of Britain, in 1940s England. The sorcerer has taken the job of headmaster of the local school and Argetlám is convinced that he is trying to help Britain’s sworn enemy, the evil Nazis. Should he succeed in his scheme, Britain may well lose the battle and therefore, her freedom. The consequences of this re-writing of history being that even people as young as Charlie could be seriously affected, perhaps not even born! Our hero is therefore persuaded to travel back to September 1940, in the guise of a London evacuee. Once there, he is to enrol at Athelwan’s school (the sorcerer has taken the name Benson) in order to spy on him. This is another story about Charlie and the friends he made during the adventure – 'The Witches of Lewthan Mountain', as they spy on the forces of the Dark Side in an attempt to foil their evil ways. The question the reader must ask is – against all the powerful odds ranged against him, will, or even can, Charlie succeed? Further, if he cannot, what will that mean for the free world as we know it?

The Theft of the Crown of Bodran Charlie is in class, listening to a boring geography lesson when his old friend, Argetlám the wizard, suddenly appears before him. Invisible to both Charlie’s teacher and the rest of the class, the wizard quickly tells his young friend that the much coveted and prized crown of the elfin King Bodran has been stolen. He also tells him that he would like Charlie’s help in finding the thief and recovering the king’s stolen property. Thus begins yet another adventure for our young hero. This time, as with The Witches of Lewthan Mountain, Charlie has to venture deep into the Cumbrian Darklands, a strange and dangerous dimension dominated by hostile witches, giants, goblins and other dark forces of evil. His journey takes him via the English Cumbrian lake known to humans as Wastwater, but better known to the wizard as the Mere of Ffion; home to Queen Ffion, sovereign lady of the water nymphs who dwell there. Whilst at the lake, Ffion presents Charlie with a sword that has strange magical and healing properties and once owned by the young Sir Galahad of Holy Grail fame. It is from there that they cross into the awesomely dangerous dimension of the Darklands where they immediately stumble across elves and goblins fully engaged in a battle to the death and it is then that Charlie’s third, great adventure, really does begin.

THE REVENGE OF BOTAN THE BONE CRUSHER Reading Age: 9-12 Approx. word count: 36,000 Following on from The Theft of the Crown of Bodran, this sequel deals with the attempted revenge of the awesomely unpleasant giant – Botan, who was so cleverly duped by Charlie and his friends when they retrieved King Bodran's stolen crown. After finding himself in a great deal of trouble with a supply teacher, due to a case of mistaken identity, Charlie soon finds himself the centre of attention of the furious giant’s spies. Charged with locating his home in the Overland, the place where humankind live, the spies eventually run Charlie to earth and report back to their master. Delighted that he has at last discovered the home of one of his greatest enemies, Botan decides to invade the Overland and capture Charlie, or one of his cousins, for ransom. Eventually, with Botan on the rampage in the Darklands and his dwarf army and coven of witches mobilised for war, Charlie and his friends have to join battle with him to save the world. Like most of Ross's stories, there is humour as well as tension and the former is best seen in the shape of a couple of really dopey and totally incompetent dwarves. However, it is the tension that will keep the reader’s head in the book as from page-to-page and chapter-to-chapter, it seems that Charlie, and his family and friends, are at the mercy of an extremely frightening and very angry – colossus.