What Readers are saying
Such a fantastic book, packed with so many ideas... it’s hard to sum it up in one sentence.
... I loved this book and hope I can read more Kip Bramley adventures in the future. Thank you Loris Owen for creating a new favourite book that I've told all my friends about!
https://toppsta.com/books/details/694411/the-ten-riddles-of-eartha-quicksmith#reviews
WILL THERE BE A SECOND?!
... I loved this author's style of writing and would love to join Kip and his friends on another adventure as soon as possible. A very heartfelt and surprising read. If you love puzzles this is perfect for you!!!!!!
https://toppsta.com/books/details/694411/the-ten-riddles-of-eartha-quicksmith#reviews
This was a great book, I really enjoyed it. From the start the book makes you want to find out more, I really liked the main character kip. How he changes from a quiet person to a real adventurer, using science and technology to help him. I would definitely recommend reading this book to anyone who enjoys mystery and adventure.
https://toppsta.com/books/details/694411/the-ten-riddles-of-eartha-quicksmith#reviews
Stuffed with likeable characters and a plot that will keep you guessing until the very last page. One of the best children’s fantasy books I’ve read so far this year. Do not miss it!
The strange energies, the remarkable inventions and the weird creatures that inhabit this school are wonderfully compelling... This is more than just a thrilling edge-of-your-seat adventure it’s about learning to believe in yourself and the power of friendships to become unstoppable collaborations even in the darkest of times.
The teaching at Quicksmiths is so cool and really makes me want to attend. This book will make people want to go to the Quicksmiths College of Strange Energy like how the kids of my generation desperately wanted to go to Hogwarts. I love the locations there, the atmosphere - all of it.
https://www.waterstones.com/reviews/the-ten-riddles-of-eartha-quicksmith/loris-owen/9781913102319
An entirely fresh take on the ‘child-from-the-normal-world-gets-magically-transported- to-boarding-school’ genre...I recommend this to anyone looking for an alternative to Harry Potter or the Nevermoor stories.
Venturing into the world of Quicksmiths for the first time brought that same buzz and excitement that I felt when I first visited Hogwarts...The Ten Riddles of Eartha Quicksmith does for the sci-fi world what Harry Potter did for the magical world and this is a wonderful thing.
With brilliant team building and camaraderie throughout, celebrating differences and talents and believing in yourself, this will be a popular book for readers 9+. Fun inventions and gadgets, the use of wormholes and other technology, this is a super scientific celebration!
...those who feel alone, knowing there is something special about themselves that no one else really understands. Children who love a challenge intellectually and thrive on solving puzzles will be pulled in from the very first page.
https://scopeforimagination.co.uk/2020/08/17/the-ten-riddles-of-eartha-quicksmith-by-loris-owen/
There are plenty of imaginative and creative ideas, making this an original take on boarding school stories. Friendship, teamwork and loyalty are all seen to be important and the puzzles are well plotted ... a thoroughly enjoyable story, full of imaginative details and plot twists! Great fun!
https://www.northsomersetteachersbookaward.com/blog/2020/8/16/the-ten-riddles-of-eartha-quicksmith
This is a fast-paced adventure that combines magic and science in an entirely new world where science isn't quite as we know it ... the college itself is somewhere children will be desperate to go to, from the dorm rooms to eating in the Buttery, the different classrooms and everything the grounds hold...
...an amazing job of keeping the characters and the readers on their toes with brilliantly seeded puzzles that are challenging, clever and unbelievably imaginative...Eartha Quicksmith and her riddles are the stars of the show...
https://www.thebreadcrumbforest.com/2020/09/upcoming-release-ten-riddles-of-eartha.html
Wow, what a book this is! I was in a bit of a reading slump then this popped through the letterbox and rescued me!
...the story is fast paced and really keeps you on the edge of your seat. It certainly had me telling everyone about it – at work, home, anyone I spoke to was told about this fantastic book I was reading!
https://www.mybookcorner.co.uk/the-ten-riddle-of-eartha-quicksmith-by-loris-owen/
I was on page 68 when I picked up to read again yesterday. I then finished the rest ... I couldn’t put it down, each chapter ending made me have to know more. This was such a unique, creative book. Kip was a great character, & he makes some amazing friends who really help him in more ways than one... a grand mystery & adventure. A fast paced page turner ... Amazing cover w/just as amazing illustrations sprinkled throughout inside too.😍😍 Highly recommend!
I absolutely loved this book, it is easily the best KS2 fiction I have read in a long time. Without the use of a single magic wand or spell, Loris Owen has used the notion of 'strange energy' to create an absolutely thrilling, magical read.
This is undoubtably an amazing story of strange happenings and adventure, skilfully interwoven with messages of friendship and resilience. A fantastic read for anyone young or old, and an ideal choice for whole class reading.
https://www.readingzone.com/books/the-ten-riddles-of-eartha-quicksmith/#review26842
A world of puzzles, riddles, friendship, danger and incredible adventure opens up within these pages...
The plot is filled with twists and turns that keep the reader guessing. This is indeed a strange new world; inventive, imaginative, intelligent, full of mystery and humorous mayhem. The first in a new series; it’s simply wonderful.
1. The world building is complex and detailed. Full of fun facts and jokes, the world of Quicksmiths is one all children will want to visit.
2. Kip and his friends all have different strengths ... its nice to see everyone's differences and individual talents celebrated.
3. The riddles helped keep tension and stakes high and made me desperate to keep reading once they started.
https://heatherfjames.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-ten-riddles-of-eartha-quicksmith.html
When a drone delivers a coin and a mysterious note, Kip finds himself at the beginning of a puzzle filled adventure. Invited to enrol in Quicksmith’s College of Strange Energy, Kip is soon engulfed by a world of wormholes, slipstreams and timestretch limousines. An adventure story reminiscent of Harry Potter or Morrigan Crow.
The idea of Strange Energies is so intriguing and I recognised it immediately as that ‘something’ that I can always sense in the atmosphere and from the corner of my eye, so I’m sure that enthusiastic young readers will too. Like Kip, I wanted to uncover all the scientific mysteries that lay within Quicksmiths’ walls.
One of my favourite things about this book was how it was so clearly a celebration of childhood wonder and the magic of being young.
...an inventive, mind-bending, dimension-hopping adventure, crackling with the fizz of magical science ... children will delight in getting to know Quicksmiths College.
Science should be seen as a subject that allows the imagination to break its boundaries, and this is a book that will encourage children to view it in such a way.
Science rules over magic here. But here’s the thing, science can be so much more exciting than magic because it’s real!!!
This is a great book for any fans of science fiction or magic lovers who need a push in the right direction. I loved it and I know that it’ll be enjoyed by many UKS2 readers...
Oh and one last thing. THIS BOOK HAS HOVER BOARDS!
https://misterbodd.wordpress.com/2020/09/17/the-ten-riddles-of-eartha-quicksmith/
This book is mind-blowing! Full to the brim of adventure, fantasy, wit, and wonder...
I actually found myself laughing out loud many times throughout the book - something I have only ever experienced a few times in my whole reading life!
Every single thing about this book is so creative and inventive.
In a plethora of books that follow this kind of 'chosen one going to a special school' genre it can take something special to make it feel new and interesting, and this is precisely what Loris Owen has managed to do with The Ten Riddles of Eartha Quicksmith...
This refresh of the genre also plays into the plot in ways that make it new and exciting ... it also packs in plenty of excitement and surprises, along with a host of supporting characters that are a load of fun in their own right.
https://trans--scribe.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-ten-riddles-of-eartha-quicksmith-by.html
I love this book. Right from the start I was gripped by its mysteries and its puzzles, and it just pulled me further in to this fantastical world. It's exciting, it's funny, and it's very clever ... this is definitely a series you want to get into now, at the start!
https://www.bookwormhole.co.uk/2020/07/review-ten-riddles-of-eartha-quicksmith.html
...a fast-paced full of action-adventure with some rather big surprises along the way. The storyline stretches the imagination like an elastic band propelling the reader on a great fantasy ride full of fun and enjoyment. It's a really great sequel that takes you further into a creative world of discovery that is unlike any book I have read for some time. Packed with inventions, teamwork, and gadgets that will have you scratching your head...
https://www.mrripleysenchantedbooks.com/2022/07/loris-owen-myriad-mysteries-of-eartha.html
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