Jun 28, 2010: The first chapter begins like an old-time YA adventure series. Two brothers are travelling to meet a mysterious professor. The older one is very serious as he remembers his mother’s instructions to look after his younger brother. Both are reacting to the exotic setting in their own way. The site includes some very nice black and white drawings.

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Sep 20, 2011: "The Alarna Affair" is part of the Blackfeather series, and if the rest of the series is anything like the first, it should be a reliably enjoyable experience. It’s a fantasy epic set in a world like our own Victorian Era, with trains and steam-power, but also with magic and intrigue.

Jon Gardner, 9, and his brother Tam, 13, are travelling from their home to visit a famed archaelologist, Professor Sheridan. Jon, it seems, is a precocious young genius, while Tam [more . . .]

May 25, 2016: As the first in a series of books, "The Alarna Affair" gives a glimpse of a fascinating mashed-up world of steam and paranormal. The writing is descriptive and well-paced; hints of something larger and more mysterious than two boys on a train appear immediately, encouraging the reader to continue.

I would have liked a bit more reaction from Jon. Upon seeing a winged figure (which is apparently quite fantastical and unbelievable in this world) swoop through a train station, Jon only [more . . .]