Artefact Books in Order

The Artefact series, written by Rhys Dylan as Rhys A. Jones, is a middle-grade science-fantasy adventure centred on eleven-year-old Oz Chambers. It begins with The Obsidian Pebble, when Oz is living in Penwurt, an old house with a creepy reputation and plenty of rooms that seem to be keeping secrets.

Oz is still grieving for his father, and he does not want his mother to sell the house. A Halloween mystery, unexplained footsteps and a parcel left for Oz by his father lead him to a black obsidian pebble. It is not an ordinary keepsake. The object has astonishing capabilities, and it begins to reveal connections between Oz's family, Penwurt and a larger mystery.

Oz does not tackle it alone. His friends Ruff and Ellie are key to the adventure, bringing their own skills and opinions as the three of them face puzzles, school troubles, strange technology and adults who may not be as trustworthy as they seem. Their friendship is one of the series' anchors.

The pebble changes everything.

In The Beast of Seabourne, Oz and his friends are drawn further into the hunt for unusual artefacts. A school science project, attacks on pupils and a centuries-old mystery collide with a missing ring and a creature known as the Beast of Seabourne. The series keeps one foot in everyday school life while the other steps into increasingly strange territory.

These are adventures with ghosts, secrets and danger, but they also make room for family loss, money worries, sibling tension and the pressure of fitting in at school. Oz has to work out what his father's legacy means, whom he can trust and how to use something powerful without letting it use him.

Start with The Obsidian Pebble. The second book builds directly on its discoveries, its friendships and the unanswered questions surrounding the artefacts.