Talisman is a
series of four children's books written by
Allan Frewin Jones and published in 2005. The main characters are Olivia (Olly) Christie and Josh Welles who live with Olly's father and Josh's brother, who are
archæologists, and the plot concerns the hunt for the 'talismans of the moon'.
Although there are only four books currently in the series, there are more than four of the 'Talismans of the Moon'.
The Tears of Isis
Olly and Josh are in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, searching for the 'tears of
Isis
Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...
', the first of the talismans of the moon. The tears of Isis are
sapphire
Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sapphir ...
s, hidden away in an ancient Egyptian
pyramid
A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...
. But is someone else on the tears trail? Who will reach them first?
202 pages
The Mooncake of Chang-O
This time, Olly and Josh are in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, on the hunt for the second talisman of the moon, the '
mooncake
A mooncake () is a Chinese bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節). The festival is about lunar appreciation and Moon watching, and mooncakes are regarded as a delicacy. Mooncakes are offered between f ...
of
Chang-O
Chang'e ( ; , alternatively rendered as Chang-Er or Ch‘ang-o), originally known as Heng'e, is the Chinese goddess of the Moon. She is the subject of several legends in Chinese mythology, most of which incorporate several of the following elem ...
. They are there at the right time too-it's
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...
! But will the celebrations help or deter the friends on their mission?
201 pages
The Amulet of Quilla
Olly and Josh are looking for their third talisman of the moon, the 'Amulet of Quilla', in
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
n ruins. Signs appear all around them, but which do they follow?
200 pages
The Elephant of Parvati
Olly and Josh are on the trail of another talisman of the moon-the 'Elephant of Parvati', in India. However, someone else seems to always be one step ahead of them on their quest...
202 pages
External links
The Tears of Isis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Talisman
2005 British novels
Series of children's books
British children's novels
Novels set in Egypt