‘Relic Hamilton: Genie Hunter’ by Joseph Coelho
Big Book Award 2026 shortlisted title:
Relic Hamilton is just your average 12-year-old, living a quiet life with his grandfather above their old antiques shop in Chinatown in London.
Until one day, while polishing some mysterious brass lamps in the basement, something extraordinary happens. Relic feels spine-chillingly cold. Breathless. Scared. And suddenly, a real, live genie stands before him!
But this is no kind, benevolent genie. This genie is evil … and it feeds on hope.
Relic finds himself catapulted to the centre of a fast-paced underground community of genie hunters, led by the excitable Professor Latimer and the tech-savvy Doctor Raphaela. Together, they travel in their one-of-a-kind jet, the Aladdin, secretly chasing rogue genies before they can wreak havoc on the world…
Published by Walker Books
The Big Book Award 2026 Longlist Reading Panel of children from Rushbury CofE Primary School said…
“I wanted to keep reading to find out what happens next.”
“Mind-blowing but believable.”
“Descriptions are amazing.”
About the author
Joseph Coelho was the Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2022–2024, and is an award-winning poet, playwright and writer. In 2024 he won the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing for The Boy Lost in the Maze and was awarded an OBE for his services to the arts, to children’s reading and to literature. His first poetry collection, Werewolf Club Rules!, won the CLPE Children’s Poetry Award in 2015, and he has been writing and performing ever since.
His picture books include If All the World Were… illustrated by Allison Colpoys and the Luna Loves… series illustrated by Fiona Lumbers. His poetry books for children include Overheard in a Tower Block illustrated by Kate Milner, A Year of Nature Poems illustrated by Kelly Louise Judd, and his novel in verse, The Girl Who Became a Tree.
Originally from London, he now lives in Edinburgh.
Pupils taking part in Book Award 2026 are invited to post their comments and reviews below. (All comments will be moderated by Bookfest before they’re published.)
19 responses to “‘Relic Hamilton: Genie Hunter’ by Joseph Coelho”
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It was a great book and I really liked how there were all the twists and turns. I especially liked were he travelled back in time. 🙂👍
Not really the book for me. I lost interest pretty quickly.
I love that this book at some points is really surprising, like when it wound out Relic’s grandpa is a genie hunter and Relic is the wielder of the lamps. I give the book a 8/10.
Very exciting at the start. 8/10
One of the best books ever. 5 stars. It’s amazing. I loved Kabir and the gigantic mega sprite. Also the bird sprite was cool with the genie-saurs. I can’t wait till the second book.
I really like how Relic joins the genie hunters and immediately wants to help save his grandfather.
I liked Relic Hamilton. I loved Gamber, he seemed so cute. I also liked how it was set in London. I loved how you got to see the character’s style and age. I would recommend this book to 8 to 12 year old children and people who are into adventure stories.
I love how Relic travels into the past and befriends a pirate. I was a bit annoyed when the story ended with a cliff-hanger, but overall I loved it! 🙂
Best book by a long shot 🔥🔥
Love gamber, really makes me want to read a sequel!🧞🧞♀️🧞♂️
Fabulous book
Loved the action bits
Lakshmi was my favourite character/sprite cus I thought he was really cool.
🧞♂️🧞♂️🧞♂️
Marvellous book including adventure, ups and downs. Especially the pictures – they are brilliant. Me and Max love this book. My favourite character is the captain – a proper pirate and a fantastic one.🤩 Read it now.
Full of excitement and joy. I loved all of the going back in time with fab characters. Me and my friends all loved this book with ups and downs and a funny time of reading it. I’ll put ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🤩always be better brilliant. READ IT NOW😅
Amazing book.
Didn’t finish the story well – like what happens to Taya?
Apparently there is going to be a sequel though.
Overall great book.
Deffo recommend.
🧞🧞♀️🧞♂️
I like this book because it has magic and adventure in it but I don’t understand it from time to time which makes it complicating. My dislike is that I think genies would be good. I like the sketches of the characters and the first four pages that show you what they look like and what their skills are…
I’d really call this one a “page turner”; I went on and on reading before bedtime and could not stop myself. I thought the plot of the story was very exciting, as was the blurb. There was also a lot of amusing bits of the story as well. This was definitely one of the best books I read. I would really recommend this book for anyone who likes adventure stories such as Harry Potter and Percy Jackson.❤️🧡💛💚🩵💜
I like it because it is an adventure and I like adventure stories.
We enjoyed this book very much. The idea is genius! Magic and mystery, adventures and more. You can really picture what is happening and what it looks like. The sprites are an amazing idea! We would recommend.
I really liked the character in this book. It really brings people out of their seat.
Also, I think it was a really good idea to make the genies evil. I think Joseph Coelho is a really good author! I might even buy the second one! I couldn’t put it down! Well done Joseph! 😊
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I loved the ending when he found out that…spoilers. But I didn’t love the start because I think there could have been a bit more variety of conjunctions. However, overall it’s a great book and I think other people should read it.