The Magnificent 12: The Call — Michael Grant’s Reluctant Hero with Too Many Phobias
When David "Mack" MacAvoy comes home after an exhausting and very strange day at school, he doesn’t expect his parents to listen to him. He certainly doesn’t expect to find himself already in his bedroom. The Call, the first book of Michael Grant’s The Magnificent 12 series, starts with a golem taking Mack’s place and never slows down.
Author: Michael Grant
Title: The Magnificent 12: The Call (2010)
Format: Kindle eBook, available on Amazon.es (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
Scope: First book of a comic fantasy series for middle-grade readers
Amazon: www.amazon.es/dp/B006NSGC1O (ASIN B006NSGC1O)
A Golem in the Bedroom
The double in Mack’s room is a golem, created by a certain Grimluck and determined to stand in for him while Mack goes off to do what heroes do. The problem is that Mack is the hero with more phobias than anyone could imagine. Accompanied by someone from school and funded by a mysterious society from the past, he boards a plane to Australia.
It turns out his destiny was written ten thousand years ago: he is one of the Magnificent Twelve of the present age, and he must gather the rest of the group to face the most feared enemy of all. The Pale Queen and her beautiful but not so charming daughter are threatening to destroy the world again.
Jokes for the Smartphone Generation
The book is a hilarious, comic adventure. It is up to date and full of jokes and gags about new technology, and it lays the foundations for a long and fanciful story across the series. It is the kind of book aimed squarely at pre-teens, built to become the entertainment of a generation of young readers.
Twelve Heroes, One Reluctant Leader
Mack is only twelve, he has a long list of phobias and he attracts bullies like a magnet. That is exactly what makes him funny as a chosen one. The golem that turns up in his bedroom is followed by Grimluk, an ancient wizard who explains that Mack is one of twelve young people destined to stand against the Pale Queen. The rest of the book follows Mack’s attempts to accept a mission he never asked for, with a sarcastic narrator commenting on every turn.
From Animorphs to the Magnificent 12
Michael Grant is best known for the dark teen series Gone and, with Katherine Applegate, for creating Animorphs. The Magnificent 12 is lighter than either: a comic fantasy for middle-grade readers that continues in The Trap and The Key. Readers who enjoyed Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson books or the humour of Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl will recognise the mix of mythology, action and wisecracks.
A Good Fit For
Readers aged about nine to thirteen, especially reluctant ones: chapters are short, the jokes come quickly and the Kindle edition makes it easy to try the first pages before committing.
The Reviewer’s Verdict
The original review praised the book’s humour and its modern references, which make it feel written for today’s readers rather than borrowed from older fantasy. That is fair: the jokes about phones, school and parents are what separate Mack from the usual heroic farm boy. Adults reading it aloud will find themselves laughing too, which is not something every book for this age group manages. It is a promising start to the series, and a gentle introduction to Grant before his darker books.
Why Read It Now
For readers who like their fantasy with a grin, The Call is a fast, funny start: a hero who would rather hide under the bed, an ancient prophecy, and villains who take themselves far more seriously than the narrator does. Michael Grant is also the author of the Gone series for young adults.
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