THE REVENGE OF BOTAN THE BONE CRUSHERReading Age: 9-12Approx. word count: 36,000Following 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.