Book Review - The Shield of Beom by Renee Duke

Shield of Beom by Renee Duke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Shield of Beom” continues the adventures of the kids who helped the royal heir of Cholar gain his throne and are held in high esteem by everyone on the planet.

Well, almost everyone. A Supreme Ruler (benevolent though he is), is bound to have a few folk who object to his accession. Thus we have a villain, Drazok (Mr. Evil), who's determined to blackmail him into abdicating so he can put someone more pliable on the throne. The villain's ploy is to take advantage of the kidnapping of the monarch’s children in what first appears to be a run-of-the-mill kid-snatch. Only later do we discover...oh, wait. That's spoiler territory.

The kids are determined to thwart Mr. Evil. Adults keep telling them to stay behind and remain safe, but that sort of admonition has never stopped Meda, Kirsty, and Simon, whose response to ‘no’ is to come back with, ‘Oh, yeah!’ Even the less adventuresome Jip and Arlyne are willing to join the others in creating a complicated plan of hide and seek involving false passports and sneaking aboard freight ships to move between planets as they try to rescue the kidnapped royal children.

Then there's the Shield of Beom itself, which must come into play since it's the title of the book, but it'd be a spoiler if I let you know where it is and what power it wields.

Overall, the Side Trip tales are a wonderful mystery and action series for kids (including kids like me). I do hope there will be another. How about the Amulet of Beom or the Spear of Beom or the Aardvark of Beom? Come on, Ms. Duke, I'm ready and willing to dive once more into the adventures of Meda and company. Besides, we need to know what else happens with the AUP Consortium. Surely, that's still something be resolved.

I received an advanced copy of this book for an honest review. Which I have done.