The Akhenaten Adventure

infobox Book |
name = The Akhenaten Adventure
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = P.B. Kerr
illustrator =
cover_artist = Petar Meseldzija
country = United States
language = English
series = Children of the Lamp
genre = Fantasy
publisher = Orchard Books
release_date = 2004
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardback)
pages = 355 pp
isbn = ISBN 0-439-67019-5
preceded_by = (This is the first book in the series)
followed_by = The Blue Djinn of Babylon

The Akhenaten Adventure is a novel by P.B. Kerr (a Scottish author) and the first book of the "Children of the Lamp" series. It tells the story of John and Philippa Gaunt and their adventures of finding out they are djinn. The book earned a place on the New York Times Best Seller list for children's books and received generally favorable reviews.It precedes "The Blue Djinn of Babylon".

Plot

The story starts as a prologue, on a hot day in Egypt with a man, Hussein Hussaout, digging illegally in a solitude desert for historical artifacts he could sell in his shop, assisted by his son, Baksheesh and his dog, Effendi. The hot desert climate slows down Baksheesh, so Hussein asks his son to take a break by going to their Land Rover and getting some food. Baksheesh obeys, however when he reaches the truck, it moves away from his out-streched hand. He tries a second time but the Land Rover moves once again, and the ground begins to shake; the beginning of an earthquake. A frightened Baksheesh enters the shaking car, however by the time the earthquake ends, he fears his father may have gone mad due to the way he was laughing; this was due to finding a mysterious stone in the ground, a stone that would apparently help them solve a mystery that had been pondered for centuries.

John and Philippa Gaunt lead an upper class life in New York City, New York. Their life changes when they have their wisdom teeth{also called dragon teeth by djinns} removed. Suddenly John's acne disappears, and they both have a sudden desire for heat as well as hitting a growth spurt. After some debate, the children are sent to spend the summer with their Uncle Nimrod.

Upon reaching their uncle, the children learn that they are actually djinn or Genies (more preferably djinni in the plural form). Their uncle begins to train them on how to use their powers. Nimrod, John and Phillippa are trying to discover where the 'Seventy Lost Djinn of Akhenaten' are hidden, which leads to the capture and binding of Nimrod, a murder of a man called Hussein Hussaout and a confrontation of Iblis, the leader of the most wicked tribe of djinn, the Ifrit. This could tip the balance in the on going fight between djinn who attempt to promote good luck, of which Nimrod is the nominal leader, and those who promote bad luck. After several adventures in Cairo, Egypt the book concludes with a battle in the British Museum where John, Philipa, and Nimrod successfully ensure that the djinn will not be used for nefarious purposes. However, while ensuring that the djinn will not be controlled by bad djinn to tip the balance of luck in the universe towards more bad luck, Nimrod gets confined in the same lamp as Akhenaten himself is confined in the same bottle as Akhenaten himself, who turns out to be a bad djinn. In order to release Nimrod from the bottle without releasing Akhenaten, they go to the Arctic. The cold temperature slows down Nimrod and Akhenaten because they are djinn, and so John and Philippa go inside the lamp as they are warm. They have to bring Nimrod out quickly so that Akhenaten, who is warming up, does not escape. But eventually they succeed, and and then go home from there (much to their mother's pleasure).