"The Balance Keepers #1: The Fires of Calderon" (2014) by Lindsay Cummings REVIEW

As a fan of Lindsay Cummings's young adult debut novel titled The Murder Complex, I was eager to read the first installment to her middle-grade fantasy series The Balance Keepers.

On a job to send a letter to someone who not only lives in the middle of the woods, but under it as well, eleven year old Albert Flynn discovers that he is a balance keeper, a destined guardian of the three realms that lie in the earth's core. His job? If one of the realms were to fall out of balance, it is up to him and his teammates (cautious Leroy and spunky Birdie) to restore its balance by finding a special item in the unbalanced realm before the earth is destroyed. However, before they can go into the realms, they must harness their magical abilities that are given to them through special Tiles. Leroy has a super sharp memory, Birdie can breathe underwater, and Albert... well, no one is entirely sure what power his Tile gives him. Unfortunately, as time goes on, the realm of Calderon becomes more and more unstable. In fact, it seems that Albert, Birdie, and Leroy may have to enter Calderon before they're fully trained or can figure out what Albert's Tile does.

The Balance Keepers may remind some of Harry Potter or Percy Jackson & the Olympians, but it is different enough to be its own original work. The concept is very imaginative, the world-building vivid, and the characters are very likeable. Keeping in mind that this is a book for eleven year olds, I still found the book very intriguing and, at times, very gripping. The action, much like Lindsay Cummings's debut novel, is very detailed but keeps a fast and gripping pace. I found myself to be like Albert in the story, not wanting to leave this world and dreading the time the book is completed. Fear not, though, because the ending is very satisfying.

My only complaint for this book is that I felt the story moved a bit too fast. I felt that there should have been chapters or scenes where Albert and his friends explored more of what the Core had to offer during their free time, but perhaps that is for the next two installments.

4/5 Stars
Rating: All ages

You can order your copy from Amazon right here!

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