This fifth installation in the Children of the Lamp series really impressed me. This was a substantial book. First of all, I love the title, The Five Fakirs of Faizabad, wonderful alliteration!

Second, this book was very well written. It used a large vocabulary, and although it flowed wonderfully, it certainly wasn't an easy read. Matter of fact, I would say that it was a fairly difficult read and a mature book for something written in this century for children. I really feel that the author is maturing into this series. Some series start to get watered down or feel like they are stretched out or that the author is bored. Not this one. This one has lots of development and growth, especially with this particular book.

There are some deep issues explored in this book. There is the theme of guilt (which is a constant factor in my own life so I really relate to it.) There is an exploration of how to deal with criminals. The book repeatedly dips into a myriad of ideas surrounding death. All this while also being infused with wit and humor.

My one problem with this book and the series as a whole is that the author uses a lot of different locations and quasi historical events in his stories. Many of these are humorous takes on reality, but some are purely made up, and it is hard to discern which is which. I think that children especially could be likely to assume more points of both geography and history are based on fact than is actually the case. Comparing the Children of the Lamp books to other similar series such as The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series this one comes up lacking in the amount of research that went into the reality behind the fiction. Of course, it is fiction, and the author is under no obligation to make any part of the story consistent with reality, but perhaps because so many other contemporary children's authors have, I do feel that the Children of the Lamp books come up lacking in this respect.