Children of the Lamp

Children of the Lamp is a series of fantasy novels for senior children as well as adolescents and adults written by the British author P.B. Kerr. It tells the story of twin djinn, or genies, John and Philippa Gaunt, and their challenges with adapting to the world of djinn. The story has a variety of themes, family, adventure, and loyalty being a few.

List of books in the series:

• The Akhenaten Adventure (2004)
• The Blue Djinn of Babylon (2006)
• The Cobra King of Kathmandu (2006)
• The Day of the Djinn Warriors (2007)
• The Eye of the Forest (2009)
• The Five Fakirs of Fazibad (forthcoming)

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Tropes used in Children of the Lamp include:

• Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce: For the Djinn, the kinds of dishes that would make curry-tested men cry out in pain and agony, is the equivalent of a mildly hot meal.
• Did Not Do the Research: Red is Nimrod's favorite color, yet it was also really bad luck in Egypt.
• Fate Worse Than Death: In The Day of the Djinn Warriors, Ibis and his son Rudyard are sealed in suits of jade armour forever.
  • In the second book, when Philipa is taken captive by the titular Blue Djinn, She meets a trapped Djiin in a bottle, with only a single book as a diverison and is moved by pity to release him. When the Djinn decides to kill her, she is saved by the Blue Djinn, who gives her the choice of punishment. Philipa decides to make the guy reread the book that he had during captivity, but the Blue Djinn makes him do it again and again for as long as he lives.
  • In the third book, it is discovered Dybukk's sister Faustina is unable to attach her soul to a body and is therefore unseen by anyone.
• Foreshadowing: Before the twins learn what they are, they have a discussion about the prospect of them being geniuses. Philipa corrects John, telling him that the proper plural of "genius" is "genii". Which just happens to be pronounced identically to, and is an alternate spelling of, "genie".
• Genie in a Bottle: Duh
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: The names of the books are alphabetic, with some alliteration in some of the titles.
• Lampshade Hanging: Even though its a children's book, Groanin often makes rude comments about races other than British and the other characters just kinda ignore it until Nimrod finally says, "Groanin, you're a racist" in the fifth book.
  • Yes, sir.
• Masquerade
• Product Placement: The author often names the brand of perfumes, cars, cigarettes and other stuff with no relevance to the plot
• Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Most Djinn can live for several Hundred years and still look pretty young. They also mature pretty young and get their wisdom teeth at around thirteen years old.
  • A djinn can live forever in its lamp. In fact, a djinn can survive medical conditions that would instantly kill it if it remains in its lamp.