Caput Mundi

Read Time: 2 Minutes

Kidnapping an eleven-year-old because his dad owes money sounds like a fairly grim way to open a middle grade fantasy, but fortunately for Niil, his kidnappers are quite personable for people trying to use him as a bargaining chip.

It started a little slow for me, but the pace does pick up, and I found myself enjoying the ride and finishing much faster than I thought. Aimed at the 9-to-12 age range, and with some kids around that, I am always on the lookout for something that might interest them. Anything to get them reading!

Anyways, Niil gets dragged into the middle of things after some debt collectors snatch him over money his father owes. The currency in this world is a magical metal called Enarii, which can be absorbed into your body and then shaped into anything; the only limit your control and imagination. It gets trades in vials, or portions thereof so is the default currency of the land.

Niil has a gift passed down from his mother where he can sense enarii at distance and summon it to him. Summon might be a heavy-handed word, more it reacts to his will more readily than others who usually can only manipulate it when in contact with it. A less honest person could use this skill to pickpocket at range, but not in a kids book, I think.

The pacing is on point for a kid’s book. Not overwhelming action but not slow either. A few mysteries and questions to be answered and discovered along the way woven though with a finale clearly sets up future books, which is exciting, but it also made this instalment feel slightly shorter than I wanted.

On the audiobook side, Laura Clifton gives the whole thing a very soft, breathy narration style that honestly works quite well for the target age group. There is a calm bedtime-story quality to her performance that fits the tone nicely. Possibly a little too nicely in my case. I caught myself on the edge of drifting off more than once listening late at night, though I suspect plenty of parents will consider that a bonus feature rather than a complaint!

Overall, this is a decent start to a fantasy series with imaginative magical feel. It captures the sense of wonder and adventure that makes middle-grade fantasy memorable while still offering enough depth for older readers and parents to enjoy.

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