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A magical part of H.B. Bolton’s childhood was being swept into worlds of enchanting characters, fantastical creatures and extraordinary powers—simply by picking up a book. As a mother and a teacher, she was compelled to create imaginary worlds of her own in order to share them, not just with her children, but with all children. H.B. Bolton lives in Florida with her supportive husband and two highly spirited children. Shh, can you keep a secret? Not only does she write books for the young-at-heart, adventurous sort who yearn to dive into a good young-adult fantasy story, she also writes spellbinding, heart pounding women's fiction. These particular books are written under the name Barbara Brooke, but that's another story, altogether.
Reviewed by Katelyn Hensel for Readers' Favorite
In The Serpent's Ring, H.B. Bolton introduces us to the Relics of Mysticus series, a mythical and fantastic adventure for young adults. Readers meet Evan and Clare Jones, your typical American kids. Like many kids, they get dragged around by their parents to do boring things such as look at museums and generally have a bad time. But today is different. An odd creature entices the two into a closed exhibit during their parents' latest museum excursion, where they discover the Serpent's Ring. This ring is a magical relic and Clare and Evan have accidentally woken it from its centuries-long slumber. It opens a portal to Sagaas, the home of ancient gods, both friendly and evil. Now they have to try to stop Aegir, the sea god, from using the ring to destroy the earth with a massive flood!
This book definitely brought to mind Percy Jackson and other Rick Riordan favorites. I have to say that the plot was cool and those who appreciated the Percy Jackson series will probably love this one just as much. In my opinion, I could have used a bit more history and mythology than what I got. I happen to know a lot about the Norse gods, and while this book did an okay job familiarizing readers with Norse mythology, there was a lot of good plot building information that was left out. While this book is described as YA fiction, I believe it is much closer to Middle Grade fiction for the 10-13 age group.
