Review by Ian Keogh

The Maze of Bones adapts Rick Riordan’s young adult novel, the first of a series of adventure stories by various writers sharing a world. 39 clues are scattered around the world, and solving them all will reveal a family secret. Readers’ sympathies are directed toward Amy and Dan Cahill. They live with their aunt, who’s unpleasant, a trait shared with so many of the vastly extended family who attend the funeral of Grace Cahill. She was an exception to the family’s nastiness, and grandmother to Amy and Dan, with whom they had a loving relationship. At the funeral the extent of the Cahill family’s influence in the past is revealed, and the current generation are given the choice of taking a million dollars as their bequest, or taking a clue that could lead to the world’s greatest treasure.

Riordan’s set-up is immaculately conceived and an instant hook, while Ethan Young designs the cast perfectly. Readers will instantly know who’s to be trusted and who not, unless of course someone’s just pretending to be nice. Young has an advantage over Riordan, as he can draw the visual clues, whereas the original novel had to describe the assorted family crests, for instance. He keeps the art simple and easy to follow as the real fun is in following the clues.

Amy and Dan miss their parents, but don’t really know what happened to them, which hangs an extra sorrow over them, and while they’re the primary characters and the people to root for, we also see what other family members are up to on occasion. Accompanied by their aupair Nellie, Amy and Dan are led from one clue to the next, with the value of libraries constantly reinforced, just as important even in the digital age. Is it perhaps allegorical that not every library introduced survives the experience?

The various forms of unpleasantness provide different types of threats, and the further into The Maze of Bones we go, the greater the significance of various family branches. Some aspects are a little too telegraphed, partially down to having too many villains, but there’s a lot to be learned about Benjamin Franklin, not just a face on the $100 note. Some clues seem a little too complex, and one wonders whether Amy would have figured them all out at her age, despite it being stressed how much she reads. That the novels have been such a success would tend to disprove thoughts of complexity.

With another nine books to be adapted, don’t expect an ending here. One False Note will presumably be adapted shortly, but there are enough thrills and adventure here for a captivating start.