Ranger's Apprentice

Published Information

Author:	John Flanagan
Genre:	Fantasy

Ratings

Violence:	PG-13 (Fantasy violence)
Sexual Content:	PG
Language:	PG
Reading Age:	Junior High
Buy Recommend:	Hardbound(My wife and children also love the books)
Overall Rating:	8 out of 10 (I recommend this to everyone I know that have children)

Plot Summary

The Ranger's Apprentice follows a young man, Will, who is apprenticed by one of the king's Rangers, an elite corp of trackers and archers who are trained to go throughout the kingdom and take care of problems for the king. It is said: "One riot, one ranger." Will's friends were also apprenticed into different disciplines and as the series progresses, different friends are brought it to work with him on missions or errands.

Most of Will's adventures involve his mentor, Halt who trained him as a ranger, and Horace, Will's best friend who was trained as a knight. They travel around the country investigating rumors and rescuing people.

Book Summaries

1. The Ruins of Gorlan (June 2005, 256pp) - Story of Will, a young boy who becomes the Ranger Halt's apprentice. Will and many of his friends have worked toward the day where they can be accepted into a school that they want. When the day comes, all of Will's friends are accepted into their chosen school of apprenticeship, but Will isn't accepted into any of them. But Halt, the King's ranger in the area, recognize some talents that the Rangers value, and take him into training.
2. The Burning Bridge (June 2006, 272pp) - Will, Horace, and another Ranger, Gilan, are sent into a neighboring country to follow up on some news that they have received. When they arrive, they find that Lord Morgarath about to invade. As they investigate, the find a huge bridge that is being built that will allow Morgarath and his armies to invade without any challenge. It is up to the trio to warn the king of the danger, as well as slow down the invasion enough to save the kingdom.
3. The Icebound Land (June 2007, 260pp) - After being captured at the end of book 2, Will and Evanlyn are heading to Skandia as slaves. Halt and Horace vow they will rescue Will and Evanlyn and are expelled from their groups because of this devotion. As Halt and Horace travel towards Skandia, they are attacked by various knights who are trying to build their reputations. But because of Horace's skill, they begin attracting the notice of various knights and rulers in the area.
4. The Battle for Skandia(March 2008, 272pp) - Will and Evanlyn have now escaped their Skandian captors, but on their return to Araluen, they find that the Temujai are invading Skandia, with Araluen being the next on the list. It is up to Will, Evanlyn and other friends to now help the Skandians repulse the invaders to protect them, as well as Araluen.
5. The Sorcerer in the North (Nov 2008, 304pp) - Several years have passed since the previous book. Will is now a ranger of his own fief. Things seems easy until one of the lords in the area die by a mysterious illness. One of Will's friends, Alyss, join him as he investigates what is happening. As he investigates, things get much more interesting. Sorcery is suspected and traitors are everywhere. On top of everything, Alyss is captured. Will will have to make a choice between he mission and his friend.
6. The Siege of Macindaw (Aug 2009, 320pp) - This book takes over right after the events of the previous book. A rogue knight, Keren, has taken over Macindaw, and Alyss is being held captive. As he investigates, he finds that Keren is working with one of the border kingdoms in an attempt to overthrow Araluen. Fortunetaly, Horace joins Will to help. Will the two be able to overthrown Keren, restore the royal family and save Araluen from invaders?
7. Erak's Ransom (Jan 2010, 400pp) - This book jumps back in time (chronologically between books 4 and 5) to the period just before Will is made a ranger and tells the story of how he earned his Silver Oakleaf to enter the Ranger corps. The Rangers learn that the Skandian leader, the man Will worked with to form a truce between Skandia and Araluen, has been captured. As they go to rescue him, they are caught in a trap and taken into the desert. Will and his friends have proven themselves against the forests, the cold, and the cultures that live there. But can they do it in the desert.
8. The Kings of Clonmel (May 2010, 314pp) - Now, back in chronological order, Will, Halt and Horace are called on to track down a religious sect that promises to protect villages from marauders. Little do the people know, the marauders are under the bankroll of the sect. They work together and rob the villages of their gold and other riches. Unfortunately, Halt knows about this sect and knows this will be a dangerous group to overcome. Not only do they rob the people, they do it in a way that makes the village people want to keep the sect in power. They are slowly taking control of more of Araluen...
9. Halt's Peril (Oct 2010, 384pp) - The book continues with Will, Halt and Horace chasing after the leaders of the outlaw group, the Outsiders, from the previous book. Soon, the leader becomes aware that they are being followed and send out his assassins to take care of Will, Halt and Horace. In the encounter, it appears that the assassins have been beaten. However, their weapons were poisoned and Halt very quickly falls to its effects. Should Will save his mentor and friend and find a healer, or continue after the Outsiders?
10. The Emperor of Nihon-Ja (April 2011, 352pp) - As the book begins, Horace is about to leave from the country of Nihon-Ja on a mission to understand and learn the warfare techniques in that country. As he prepares, a revolt is staged against the emperor and Horace finds himself making enemies as he protects the emperor. As the emperor goes into hiding, Horace follows. Will, Halt and others learn that Horace has gone missing, so they go to find him. As they do so, they end up working together to find a way to save the emperor.

Comments

These are some of the best books I have read in a while. It is meant for a younger audience, so if you are looking for a heavy read, this is not it. From the books, most of them have less than 400 pages, so they are quick and straight forward, but very entertaining. The language could be a little better, but the language that is a big strong is few and far between. If you are looking for books to interest your pre-teen through teen, these might be it.

Series: Kingmaker, Kingbreaker

Published Information

Author:	Karen Miller
Genre:	Fantasy
Titles:	Innocent Mage (July 2005, 672pp) Awakened Mage (October 2007, 736pp)

Ratings

Violence:	PG-13 (Fantasy violence)
Sexual Content:	PG
Language:	PG-13 (Fisherman swearing frequently)
Reading Age:	High school
Buy Recommend:	Paperback (Great book, but will only read once or twice)
Overall Rating:	5 out of 10 (More swearing than needed, otherwise, very enjoyable)

Plot Summary

The series sits in a world of two races that were forced upon one another centuries ago: the Olkens and the Doranen. The Doranen were powerful mages who fought wars of magic to gain power, etc. However, one of their race, Morg, became too powerful and began slaughtering all he found that resisted. As the mages ran from Morg, they found the Olken living in a corner of the world. One of the Doranen was able to wield a powerful magic that created a barrier separating Morg from the surviving Doranen and Olken. From that point forward, weather magic must occur to keep the barrier going. The magic causes incredible pain and bloody suffering to the holder, but it is also exquisitely beautiful working the power. The weather worker is always the king.

Thus, with the barrier in place, the two races were preserved, but they were also not able to leave the country they had sealed off. Also, to protect future generations, the mages hide their most powerful magics and created rules so that no one would ever attempt the devastating magics that had almost destroyed them.

Now, the two races live in a kind of harmony. The Doranen, with their magic skills, rule the land. The Olken are a lower class that serve the Doranen. It is in these circumstances that we are introduced to our main characters: Asher, who is an Olken fisherman that has traveled to the capital city in search for wealth that will enable him to take care of his father, Prince Gar who is the son of the king but born without magic, and Dathne, an Olken bookstore owner who is part of a secret circle of people who know the true history of the Olken people, and await an Olken mage that will eventually save the kingdom from unspeakable horrors. Dathne is able to help Asher and Gar meet and Asher quickly rises in the social rankings until he is Asher's right hand man.

In the first book, Morg is allowed into the kingdom because of a curious mage that uses a spell he didn't fully understand. However, Morg is not at his fullest powers. A part of him was not able to come through the small window in the barrier. So he must manipulate and force others to do the work of destroying the barrier in order to be whole again with all his powers. At the end of the book, Morg creates an accident that destroys the king, queen, and sister, leaving Prince Gar to be the king. Morg also gives Gar a semblance of magic. Enough that he can work the magic of the barrier, and then destroy it through Morg's manipulations.

The second book comes in the after math of the royal accident. Gar and Asher figure out that something isn't quite right, but can't figure out who is causing the problems. Soon after the accident, Gar looses his magic again can't do the weather magic anymore. As Asher and Gar try to figure out how to keep the magic going, they realize that somehow Asher also has magic and is able to do the weather working. However, one of the rules created when the barrier was established was that Olken would not practice magic on pain of death. So how can Asher continue to work the magic to keep the barrier running, but not get caught and be executed? Moreover, Dathne knows that Asher is the prophesied innocent mage that will save the country. How can she reveal her secret without exposing that she has been lying to him since the day they met?

Comments

So a couple of quick comments with the series. First, I truly enjoyed these two books. It was original (as far as the background, history, story line, etc) with a great story line, not to mention wonderful characters, but it did have an over abundance of swearing. In fact in the books following these, it gets worse to the point that I might not finish the second set of books in this series. Most of the swearing comes from Asher and other Olken (again, lower class, fisherman, etc) but some of the exclaimations that everyone says are fairly vulgar also. I went back and reread and had a hard time getting through it because of the swearing. Never the big words, but enough of others to make it hard to ignore.

Elantris

Published Information

Author:	Brandon Sanderson
Published:	May 2005
Genre:	Fantasy
Pages:	656 (paperback), 499 (hardcover)

Ratings

Violence:	PG-13 (Fantasy violence, two fairly detailed)
Sexual Content:	PG
Language:	PG
Reading Age:	High School
Buy Recommend:	Hardcover (Many of family will read multiple times)
Overall Rating:	8 out of 10 (BRIEF EXPLAINATION)

Plot Summary

The book is set in the land of Arelon which up until 10 years ago, was ruled by the city of Elantris. The inhabitants of Elantris held incredible magic that made seem god-like. Even their appearances were more beautiful and glorious that other men. Every so often, someone local would go to sleep and wake up as one of the "gods" and move to Elantris. But 10 years ago, something changed and the "gods" that lived in that city have fallen. They no longer control magic that allowed them to be so powerful and beautiful. Elantris is now the city of damned souls. And now, when people change, their skin blotches, and their hair falls out. Once this happens to someone, they are considered dead by all, and are sent to live in Elantris.

Now, Prince Roaden is engaged to marry Princess Sarene. They have written and communicated through several months and recognize the alliance will be very beneficial to both countries. Additionally, they both recognize something in each other that might allow their marriage to be one of more than convenience. But as she travels to meet Roaden and to be married, he dies. Their marriage contract was written so that if either died before they could actually perform the ceremony, it would be as if they had already wed. So Princess Sarene finds herself widowed without ever having met her husband. As she arrives, she finds that the city is having difficulties, politically and otherwise, and decides that since she is now a princess of this country, she will make it her home and help fix the problems. However, unknown to her, Prince Roaden didn't die. He was changed, and now lives in Elantris.

As Prince Roaden enters Elantris, he finds that things are not what they seem. They people there don't need to eat, but their bodies also don't heal. So any pain felt doesn't go away. So hunger becomes a constant state and, when added to the small pains that occur from little (and not so little) accidents, the pain drives the people of Elantris into a vegetative state where they give into the pain, lie down, and slowly become buried in the muck of the streets. Roaden, seeing and recognizing what is happening to this people, his people, he decides to see what he can do to help them.

At the same time, a leader of the Shu-Dereth faith, named Hrathen, arrives in the land with the mandate to convert or destroy the land within three months. This land, as well as Princess Sarene's home land are the last two countries still to be converted to the Shu-Dereth faith. Unfortunately, conversion is often forced through Shu-Dereth lead insurrection, or through war. Will the same happen in these two lands?

Comments

This is one of my favorite books of all time. There is so much to read into the narrative. Leadership, religious differences, and prejudices are all discussed in the book, and done in such a way that the storyline is not interrupted.

One of the main themes of the book deals with when good (or in the book "god-like") people "fall from grace." In our lives, we often see those who seem to be doing everything right. They work hard, they are good to their friends, live their religion, and yet bad things still happen to them. In this book, the fall from grace has nothing to do with how the Elantrians lived or how good they were. Rather, there was some aspect of their environment that was out of their power. How do we react when that happens in our lives? Do we give up after we have hurt too much? Or do we endure no matter what the difficulties and survive?

The Alchemyst

Published Information

Author:	Michael Scott
Series:	The Secrets of the Immortal Nicolas Flamel #1
Published:	May 2007
Genre:	Fantasy
Pages:	400

Ratings

Violence:	PG-13 (Fantasy violence)
Sexual Content:	PG
Language:	PG (Don't remember anything bad)
Reading Age:	Junior high, though might be a bit scary
Buy Recommend:	Hardbound (This book will be read several times in my house.)
Overall Rating:	6 out of 10 (Fast paced, enjoyable read)

Plot Summary

Sophie and Josh Newman are 15 year old twins who have taken up summer jobs in San Francisco. Josh works in a book shop for Nick Fleming and Sophie lands a job at the coffee shop across the street working for Perry Fleming, Nick's wife. In the first couple of chapters we learn that Nick and Perry are anything but normal and are actually near immortal humans. Specifically, Nick is Nicholas Flamel, the famous alchemist, and Perry is a very powerful sorceress. Both have been living for centuries and now work to protect the earth from being destroyed by the Dark Elders, basically evil gods who once ruled the earth, but were beaten by humans and their iron.

On top of everything, it turns out that Sophie and Josh are also a part of saving the world, and are part of a prophesy in which they will have the power to save or destroy the world. They problem is that they don't understand this magic world, have no magic of their own that they are aware of, and are just learning to drive. How can they be the prophesied twins to save the world from the Dark Elders? Fortunately, Nick and Perry, along with an ancient vampire, will all work together to train them. But will it be soon enough? The Dark Elders have also discovered their existence and are sending all of their servants, as well as themselves, to try and capture, if not kill the twins.

Comments

So a couple of things on this book. First, vampire books are becoming popular, as are books about the gods. This is the first one that I have read that attempts to blend the two. Of course, vampires are a little different that we normally think, as are the gods. But they are still present, and in an enjoyable form

Second, the author makes a habit of describing something a character does by explaining it from a non-standard point of view. For instance, most authors might say the following: "Joe said some words and then cracked a smile. Jane noticed the smile and wasn't sure what it meant." This author says (in some instances): "Joe said some words. Jane wasn't sure what the smile meant." In other words, it is implied that Joe cracked a smile. There were several times where I went searching back into the book to figure out when "Joe smiled." It took most of the book before I figured out this grammatical structure/style and it was very frustrating until then. In fact it was still frustrating because you are not sure Jane was talking about Joe's smile, her smile, or a random smile that appeared in the air.

Third, "deux ex machina" is a standard in this book. There are several times when there is no possible way to escape, but all of the sudden, the main characters are able to call upon a here to fore unknown power to fix the problem. That is one of my pet peeves. That being said, it isn't as obvious as I have seen in other books so it didn't bother me so much.

Overall, the book was enjoyable and a good page turner. At the end of the book, you find that the author has based much of the book on research of people that really did exist. That has made me want to go back and re-read just to see the real human aspect of the characters. Obviously, they didn't have mystical magic powers, but they were real scientists of their times.

Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex

Published Information

Author:	Eoin Colfer
Series:	Artemis Fowl
Published:	August 2010
Genre:	Fantasy
Pages:	368

Ratings

Violence:	PG-13 (Not much detail, but many people die in bad ways)
Sexual Content:	PG (Artemis is temporarily besotted with Holly)
Language:	PG (Standard Fairy swearing)
Reading Age:	Junior High
Buy Recommend:	Paperback (My daughter and I will read it, but probably not more than once)
Overall Rating:	4 out of 10 (Still fun, but hard to follow, and not of same caliber as the rest of the series)

Plot Summary

As the book begins, we find that Artemis has a mental illness that only affects magical creatures called Atlantis Syndrome, with symptoms of paranoia, multiply personalities, OCD, and a few other things. But he has also come up with a plan to save the world (human and fairy) to help rid him of the guilt he has felt (which brought on the illness). He heads off into the Arctic area to show off his new idea to several important people in the fairy world.

At the demonstration, things go well and most of the group begin to buy into his idea. However the discussion is cut short when Artemis picks up an invisible craft flying towards their meeting. This craft is a space probe Foaly sent out years ago that, for some reason, is no longer responding the Foaly's instructions and commands. The probe basically kills all those at the meeting except Artemis, Foaly, and Holly. They are able to escape by using the machine Artemis has invented to save the world.

In a pod they were able to recover, they follow the probe as it drills into the ice and water. Very quickly they realize its destination is Atlantis. Their mission becomes returning to the surface to be able to transmit a distress signal to the fairy community (that and they are running out of air and will die if they don't get out). They are able to get the message and Atlantis is evacuated.

At the same time, Butler has received a message that his sister is in trouble. Butler goes out to meet his sister and shows up just in time for he and sister to be attacked by thousands of mesmerized humans being controlled by an unknown fairy. They are able to escape, but are tracked by some criminal dwarfs intent on killing them. Once again they escape and realize Artemis must be in trouble. Using a tracking device Butler put on Artemis, Butler tracks Artemis and saves Artemis' group from the pod.

Now that they are back together, the realize the events must be related, but are not sure who the perpetrator is. They must work quickly to figure out who is behind all of this and catch them before more damage can be done.

Comments

While the book was fun, it was a disappointment to me for several reasons. First, the book is very different than the others, meaning, Artemis isn't as important as he is in other books in the series. Instead he is more of a comic relief character. I found some of the best parts of the previous books have been the interaction with Artemis and this change was hard for me to accept.

Second, a new villain is introduced, Commander Root's brother to be exact, but we don’t really have time to connect with him. It seems the character development with him is very weak, and he is killed off by the end anyway. Though he is killed off through his own choice. Through the whole book, he seems like a self serving, egotistical type criminal, but it the end, his love for his human wife, whom he mesmerized, who is now very old and about to die, is enough for him to walk off into the sunset with her, saving the day. Just seems out of character.

I also don't like that the book starts you off in a very confusing situation. We have been use to the Artemis of old that is smart, can solve any problem, does whatever it takes, but from the first minute in the book, we know Artemis is not his normal self. He seems crazy, weak, etc. The best way for us to begin this book would have been for the author to walk us through his transition into craziness, especially as he begins to realize he has a problem, rather than drop us the middle. That can sometimes work, but in this case it left me very unsatisfied. It was almost as if the writing was being limited in some fashion outside of the book/story. For example, having to meet a deadline so the author cut some content, or having a limit on the number of pages. I can't imagine any other reason why some of the pieces of the story were summarized rather than detailed. Especially when the last couple of books in the series were quite a bit longer. So why not this one?

Additionally, we now know that there are two Opals running around in the world (from the last book), and she gets a passing mention in this book. That is especially irritating because there were several items I wanted cleared up from the last book regarding her. So what was the point of the book? Add a new villain just to kill him off? Was this whole book basically a setup for the next book where Opal is dealt with? Was the book just to set the stage for how Opal would be released? It seems like a waste of effort if that is all that is achieved.

Finally, for some reason, I had thought the plan was to do seven books? I remember reading that 4 or 5 books ago. So what happened? Story get too big for the series? Making too much money to just end it? I am all for a continuing series, but set that expectation, or at least don't set the expectation of the number of books, and then change. I feel the same way as I felt when Aragon became a four book series. Brandon Sanderson did this as well, but he warned people about it before releasing and explained his reasoning so most people were ok with it. Aragon and Artemis Fowl did not set expectations, and so once again, it was a surprise. And if the next book (assuming there is one) is not of a better quality, then it's not a good surprise.

Overall, compared to the rest of the series, it seemed like a rushed effort and was not up to the caliber of the rest of the series. It almost seemed to me like one of those webisodes that are becoming popular with TV shows these days. Keep the main story running and then add small inserts here and there to explain away plot lines that are about to be introduced.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella

Published Information

Author:	Stephenie Meyer
Series:	Twilight, parallel to series
Published:	June 2010
Genre:	Urban Fantasy
Pages:	192

Ratings

Violence:	PG-13 (You are aware of extreme violence occuring, but not many instances of it being described)
Sexual Content:	PG-13 (Romance is not a key element of this book in the series, but there are cases of using sexuality to control others)
Language:	PG (Can't recall much, but I do think there were some occasions)
Reading Age:	High school
Buy Recommend:	Borrow (Not a normal novel, but fun experience. Buy only if you need to have all of Meyer's books)
Overall Rating:	5 out of 10 (Not really meant to have own plot, etc)

Plot Summary

This book is meant to be a companion to Stephanie Meyer's Eclipse. It basically tells the story of a fairly minor character that you meet at the end of Eclipse. At the conclusion of Eclipse, there is a battle between the team of Cullens and werewolves against Victoria and her recently created Newborn vampire army. In the end, Bree surrenders to the Cullens rather than get killed. However, the Volturi show up just after the fight to "clean up the Newborn army" but arrive too late. When they discover that one has survived, Bree, they kill her.

So the book lasts a couple of weeks or months starting from the point Bree is turned, to the point where she is killed. Basically, you watch her try to fight her urgings to kill without much success. You also meet several other characters, one of which I think shows up in the fourth book, but I am not sure. Anyway, the story was built up so that the actress playing the part of Bree in the movie Eclipse would have some method of understanding the character. Since the effort taken to get most of the story out, Stephanie Meyers just put in a little extra time to fill in the details and release the novella.

Comments

This book isn't meant to be a stand alone. Much of the background to what is happening will be missed without having read the others. Additionally, the book is almost 200 pages, but there are no chapters. There are a couple of breaks that you might normally see in a chapter signifying a new time period or new point of view, but no called out chapters. If you are not into the Twilight series, I don't think this book will be as enjoyable as it could be.

City of Glass

Published Information

Author:	Cassandra Clare
Series:	The Mortal Instruments #3
Published:	March 2009
Genre:	Urban Fantasy
Pages:	560

Ratings

Violence:	PG-13 (Graphic fantasy violence, death, killing)
Sexual Content:	PG-13 (Assumed incest, kiss between two guys)
Language:	PG-13 (B-word used, along with other words of that class)
Reading Age:	High school
Buy Recommend:	Borrow (I wouldn't recommend, unless I knew people liked the first couple)
Overall Rating:	4 out of 10 (Mostly low from personal feelings, see below)

Plot Summary

Valentine now has the first two mortal instruments (the cup and the sword) and is looking for the third, the mirror. Jace and Clary want to do everything they can to stop that from happening. Of course, no one seems to know where are what the mirror is. Jace and Clary want to go to the City of Glass to figure out anything more that they can, but Jace doesn't want her to go. It is just too dangerous because the leadership of the shadow hunters cant be trusted. Jace is able to trick Clary into missing the portal, but gets ambushed by some forsaken. Several of the shadow hunters are injured with one being killed, but they are able to teleport to the city. In order to save him, they also take Simon with them, but since he is a vampire, he is not suppose to be there and is in a different kind of danger. Simon is healed, but is imprisoned to be studied. He is the only vampire alive that can walk in the sun. Through the book, Simon realizes that is because Jace allowed him to drink of his blood to save him in book 2. Jace has told Simon that his blood is special (giving him additional speed and strength, just like Clary can create new runes), but they are not completely sure why. The people studying him want to figure out the secret, but Simon continues to tell them he doesn't know anything.

Clary partly wanted to talk to the council to help them figure out what is going on with Valentine, but she also wants to visit a warlock in the city that can help her revive her mother, so Clary is furious that Jace would leave without her, and in her anger, creates a portal herself (which she isn't supposed to be able to do) and steps through, with Luke grabbing her and tagging along. Unknown to her, though, the city is protected from portaling and Clary and Luke end up in Lake Lyn which is poisonous for shadow hunters. In a desperate attempt to save Clary, Luke takes her to his sister's, who is not on good terms with him.

Now all the main characters are in the city and are meeting new friends and reuniting. While they know danger is approaching, they feel fairly secure in the city, since it is protected from demons. However, Valentine has told them he knows a way around protection. The council ignores the warning, and soon, the wards are brought down and demons invade and destroy much of the city and its population. Now, they know Valentine can destroy them by summoning more demons and it is just a matter of time before they are overwhelmed. Valentine offers them an option: surrender and agree to him being king, or he will kill everyone. Finally, it is up to Jace and Clary to figure out how to protect the city and stop Valentine.

On top of the main plot, there are various subplots regarding relationships. For example, Jace and Clary are still very attracted to each other, but know that they can't possibly have a relationship since they are siblings. Simon is still in love with Clary, but knows she doesn't return the sentiment. Not to mention Alec, who is gay, has not come out of the closet, in particular, about his attraction to one of the warlocks. These are all resolved in the book.

Comments

The book was quick moving and I had a hard time putting it down, but it was still a bit of an uncomfortable read for me. Partly from the relationships, and partly from the religious undertones of the book. With the relationships, Jace and Clary have an incestuous relationship going, or so we think throughout the book. Turns out this is not the case, but we don't know that until the end. The assumption in the book is that attraction knows something about siblings, and even through Jace and Clary thought they were siblings, the attraction they felt knew better. We see the opposite as well where Clary meets her real brother (she is ignorant of the relationship) who is handsome, etc, but when he tries to kiss her, she is revolted because he seems to close to her in some way she can't describe. Also, Alec's relationship is dealt with, in the end, by having him kiss the warlock in front of a large crowd of shadow hunters, including his parents. Being that this is a teen action/adventure/romance, both of these are fairly major themes in terms of the plot.

With religion, there were several references to biblical events. I don't mind when religion is brought up in a fantasy book, but I start having problems when Christianity is brought in. For example, the mark of Cain is used to save someone, and angels are summoned and captured by men. I don't think I would have minded if angels were generic creatures fighting for good, like the demons fight for evil, but when specific angels from the bible are summoned, captured, forced to fulfill wishes, and killed, I have a more difficult time with it.

Choke

Published Information

Author:	Obert Skye
Series:	Pillage #2
Published:	June 2010
Genre:	Fantasy
Pages:	352

Ratings

Violence:	PG
Sexual Content:	PG
Language:	PG
Reading Age:	Junior high
Buy Recommend:	Paperback (We will not read more than once)
Overall Rating:	5 out of 10 (Fun, but not as original as the first, contrived in some cases)

Plot Summary

It has been eight months since the dragons were released and destroyed by Beck. And while you might think causing city wide destruction might be cause to help you change, Beck still gets himself into trouble. During the first couple of chapters in the book, he successfully destroys the shop classroom by trying to inflated an earth ball that turns out to be a weather balloon in the room, and puts Kate and himself in the hospital from the injuries. Once again, everyone at school thinks he is the boy to be avoided… Including Kate's parents.

As he waits to heal, strange things start happening again: a rose plant attacks him for no apparent reason, a very white man, whom Beck nicknames Whitey, appears in the hospital and threatens him with a sword if he doesn't release the queen dragon, and a reporter from a nearby city approaches him several times trying to get him to reveal what he knows about dragons. Things aren't normal by a long shot and most adults don't believe any of it.

When he gets out of the hospital, he gets back together with Kate (after apologizing, and convincing her how sorry he is) and Wyatt and they discuss what to do about the situation. They decide to find the last dragon egg that supposedly was lost in the last book, and hatch it. The intent is to kill it once the dragon hatches, but plans never goes as expected.

Comments

I didn't like this book as much as the original. While it was still funny and fast paced, there were almost too many plot twists (literally and figuratively) to enjoy. It seems that much of the story line is contrived to enable a specific action sequence to occur. So young kids (older elementary or junior high) will still love it just as much as the first, but I would guess most others will force themselves to read it because of how good the first one was and hope the next one (the book left it wide open for a sequel, but I haven't heard anything official… not that I am really connected.) will be more original.

Pillage

Published Information

Author:	Obert Skye
Series:	Pillage #1
Published:	August 2008
Genre:	Fantasy
Pages:	312

Ratings

Violence:	PG-13 (Dragons killed by stabbing neck)
Sexual Content:	PG
Language:	PG
Reading Age:	Junior High
Buy Recommend:	Hardbound (My family has read it together)
Overall Rating:	7 out of 10 (Fun, fast-paced)

Plot Summary

Beck Phillips has had a difficult life. He doesn't remember his dad, his mom is a bit crazy, and he tends to act first and think later, which gets him into trouble all on his own. When his mother dies, his uncle sends for Beck to come live with him. His uncle is fairly well off and owns a mansion in the hills, so Beck thinks things are looking up. That is, until he reaches Kingsplot, where his uncle lives. Turns out, his uncle doesn't know he is there and won't come out of the attic of the house, there are only a couple of stewards in the entire house (six including himself), and worst of all the butler, Thomas still lives in the 50s and doesn't believe in modern conveniences such as TVs, video games, and regular toothpaste.

Additionally, like the rest of his family, his uncle is quite crazy himself and laughed at by most of the people in town. That being the case, many of the kids at school also laugh at him. But Beck hasn't never backed down from bullies or others that have tried to pick on him and he very quickly gets into trouble. However, plants have begun helping him. In one case, vines wrap up some boys who are picking on him and take them out of the school. In another case, the salad on everyone's plates in the cafeteria rise up and try and smother the boys. The rest of the school realizes something is different about Beck, but aren't sure what to believe.

Fortunately, Beck does make two friends: a boy, Milo, that he runs into in his yard while he is exploring, and a girl, Kate, that he met on the train ride up. Since Beck's uncle hasn't been to forthcoming on speaking with Beck, they decide to explore the grounds (something that has been forbidden) and look for the basement (something that he has been told doesn't exist). In there adventures, they discover some of the truth about the Phillips family. Specifically, they can make plants grow faster than normal and do things that plants normally can't (which explains the plants that attacked the bullies). Also, there is a curse on the family that is related to dragons. Only the Pillage line can awaken them to enjoy the plunder of the dragons. But the curse states the women in the family will go crazy and the men will be killed by the dragons before they can enjoy the riches.

Of course, with Beck's propensity for trouble, he finds the eggs and allows them to hatch without realizing the full portent of the curse.

Comments

The book is simple and full of humor, most of it coming from Beck's mouth and getting him into trouble. The first chapter is one of the funniest chapters I have ever read. The rest of the book is a little more mellow than the first chapter, but just as entertaining. Many times, when he got himself in trouble with his choices, I found myself sitting in his stead. How many times have you been tempted to do something dumb, try to talk yourself out of doing it because nothing good with come of it, and then go ahead anyway. I know I have done that many times in the past, and it is great to be able to laugh at myself through the eyes of Beck.

Beck, though he does not think about what he does before hand does believe in finished what he starts and in taking responsibility. In this case, Beck decides he has to destroy the dragons once they start pillaging, even though he was tricked into releasing the dragons in the first place.

All in all, the book is an easy read that most young children will enjoy, but is full of humor based on human nature and modern culture that will get adults to laugh.

Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox

Published Information

Author:	Eoin Colfer
Series:	Artemis Fowl #6
Published:	July 2008
Genre:	Fantasy
Pages:	432

Ratings

Violence:	PG-13 (Fantasy violence, not extreme)
Sexual Content:	PG
Language:	PG (Fairy language swear words)
Reading Age:	Junior High
Buy Recommend:	Hardbound (Several in my family will read this many times)
Overall Rating:	8 out of 10 (One of my favorites of the series)

Plot Summary

Artemis comes home one day to find that his mother is dying of a very advanced form of what appears to be a magical disease that the fairies thought they had eradicated years ago (about 8, to be precise). He calls in Holly, Fouly, and N^O1 to help him figure out what is wrong and what can be done about it. To his horror, he finds out the only cure is found from liquids drawn from the body of an extinct monkey species that he helped eradicate eight years ago to fund his search for his father.

Through manipulation and out right lying to Holly and the others, he convinces them to help him go back in time to steal the monkey before his younger self can sell it. Problems start occuring as they go back. First, things aren't happening as he remembers them. Then, because of "poor memory", they are captured by the much younger butler. Holly and Artemis (the older version) escape and have to match wits against his younger version. The older version is more experienced and knowledgeble, especially with fairies, but the younger version hasn't learned that he has limits yet.

However, as the older Artemis continues his efforts, he begins realizing that there is more at work here than just a simple disease. Some one pulling strings that he can't see. In the end, Opal makes an appearance and forces both Artemises to work together to survive.

Comments

Just as with the other books in the series, there are plenty of topics to discuss and think about. In particular, when comparing the two Artemises, there are plenty of comments made about how far Artemis has changed, and most importantly, why he has changed.

This was my favorite book in the series. Partly because of the paradoxes that are there and the way they make you think. What would you do if you could go back in time? That is always fun for me to think about.

One thing I didn't like. The Opal in the past turns out to be this all powerful fairy because of some of the research she has done on exotic animals. She is so powerful that very little stands in her way, not even Artemis, except for some quick thinking. However, the Opal we have met in the past (meaning previous books) didn't have near the power or intellegence that this Opal from the past (meaning 8 years ago) had. So what happened. And now (spoiler alert) that both Opals are in the present, as well as both Artemises, how will things get resolved such that the Opal from the past is reverted to the Opal from the previous books? I hope the seventh book explains that...

Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony

Published Information

Author:	Eoin Colfer
Series:	Artemis Fowl #5
Published:	September 2006
Genre:	Fantasy
Pages:	400

Ratings

Violence:	PG-13 (Demons fighting, tense situations)
Sexual Content:	PG (Artemis is becoming a teenager and noticing girls)
Language:	PG
Reading Age:	Junior High
Buy Recommend:	Hardbound (Family will read multiple times)
Overall Rating:	8 out of 10 (One of my favorites of the series)

Plot Summary

In Artemis' study of the fairies, he learns a bit about an eighth lost race of fairies (first seven I think are pixie, elf, dwarf, troll, goblin, gnome, and centaur). The legend is that when fairies decided to hide below ground to be safe from humans, demons, the eighth race, decided to move their entire race into Limbo until such time as they were strong enough to return and retake the above ground area.

In his studies, he begins to see that the spell wrought by the demon warlocks to move their colony to Limbo is slowly desolving and that if something isn't done soon, the demons will all reappear if our time, once again causing rippling affects across the human/fairy relation (meaning there will be one). Artemis resolves to do something about it and tries to talk with a demon that is scheduled to reappear. All appears to go wel until Artemis realizes another human has discovered that demons are real and it trying to capture a demon for her own goals. This person is Minerva, a ten year old female genius, similar to Artemis.

As the story unfolds, Artemis and Minerva go head to head with capturing the demon, with Artemis succeeding. But as he does so, one of Minerva's henchmen, who is very unstable, decides to take matters into his hands to capture the demon for his own reasons. Once again, Artemis to the rescue, but this time to save the girl and the demon colony that is slowly disolving.

Comments

First off, while demons are very prevelent in the book, they are not what we often thing of when we hear of demons. Rather than being fiends of hell, they are simply another form of fairy that are aggressive in their normal state, at least as adults.

One of my favorite things about the book is discussion about this new race. They have been gone for 10,000 years as far as humans are aware and have changed over time. Specifically, their animosity towards humans has grown, and the normal leaders, warlocks which are much more intellectual rather than aggressive, no longer exist. We know all about elves, dwarfs, etc, but to learn of a new race altogether was fun.

One of the best themes of the book is the idea that different is not bad. Different is just different. This is discussed from the point of Artemis and Minerva being unique humans, as well as N⁰1 not being a normal demon. And yet it is through their very uniqiness or differences that they are able to bring about change.

One pet peeve. At one point, their is no way out for the main characters and you wonder what will happen. Specifically, they need five magic beings, and they only have five. All of the sudden a magic demon appears (now granted, he was mentioned once, but he was presumed dead) that allows them to fit their need. I really don't like it when problems are solved by something that could not have been foreseen. The greatest thrill in a book for me is figuring out, or at least thinking about, solutions to the problems the characters are facing. When clues are dropped in such a way that when the solution is presented (whether I figured the clues out or not) and I realize I could have figured out the solution, I am fulfilled. When the solution is presented, though, and there was no way for me to figure it out, deux ex machina, it bugs me. Mr Colfer doesn't do it very often so I continue to enjoy the books.

Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception

Published Information

Author:	Eoin Colfer
Series:	Artemis Fowl #4
Published:	May 2005
Genre:	Fantasy
Pages:	352

Ratings

Violence:	PG-13 (Very intense scenes, one death of main character)
Sexual Content:	G
Language:	G
Reading Age:	Junior High
Buy Recommend:	Hardbound (EXPLAINATION)
Overall Rating:	7 out of 10 (Very enjoyable)

Plot Summary

Upon helping stop the goblin revolution, Artemis had his mind wiped. This book begins with Artemis not remembering much of fairies, but still a better person (with morales, etc). However, Opal, who was one of the masterminds of the goblin revolt, has arranged to escape from her prison. She faked a coma for a year, and then replaced herself with a clone.

Once freed, she plans to wreck revenge on all those her spoiled her plan. Specifically, she wants to kill Holly, Root, Artemis, and Fouly. Since they all think she is encarcerated, they miss clues that they are being led into traps specifically designed to ruin each of them. Holly, in particular, is framed for killing Root, but told, by Opal, that she still has a chance to save Artemis. So after "killing" Root, she flies as fast as she can toward Artemis, thus looking like she is fleeing a crime scene.

Holly is able to track down Artemis, but arrives there just as a bio-bomb is going off. Bulter, though, was able to save Artemis. So Holly now must work with Artemis, who doesn't remember anything, and Mulch, who is now her partner in a private detective agency, to find Opal. Once they do find her, they unravel a plot that would put humans and fairies on a collison course that can only end with fairies being discovered, and then, destroyed. They have saved fairies before, but now they are running from the LEPrecon force, Artemis doesn't remember anything about fairies, and they are running out of time.

Comments

Once again, a great installment in the series. I am having a hard time keeping all the books separate, at least when making comments, but here goes. As I was reading this book, I found a comment online critizing the book for being too focused on technology. That is very true. Very little of the book relies on magic to keep the story line flowing. Rather, it is the new LEP suits, or fairy cloning.

As with all books in the series, the story line is well thought out, and if you are sharp or are looking, you will find the clues left by the author to explain how Artemis figures out his ways out of the problems. Of course it is easiest to find them on later readings, once you know Artemis' solutions. As always, a great and quick read.

Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code

Published Information

Author:	Eoin Colfer
Series:	Artemis Fowl #3
Published:	May 2003
Genre:	Fantasy
Pages:	320

Ratings

Violence:	PG-13 (Scenes of violence, concussion grenade shatters teeth of several people)
Sexual Content:	G
Language:	PG
Reading Age:	Junior High
Buy Recommend:	Hardbound (Great book, family will read multiple times)
Overall Rating:	8 out of 10 (Exciting, page turner, well thought out)

Plot Summary

Now that Artemis' mother and father are safe and back at home, his parents are trying to convince him to leave the family business of crime (which they are doing) and do something good. Artemis decides he needs to pull one more big money making scheme and then he will be done. He builds a cube based on fairy computers and his own intellegence that can read anything (translates, cracks codes, hooks into networks and satellite feeds, etc). Basically it can do just about anything to computer systems and information. He scheme is to threaten a big time criminal billionare, Jon Spiro, that Artemis will release the cube to the market now (and destroy Jon's investments, etc) if the Jon doesn't pay him a huge sum of money. The go through a demonstration of the cubes powers and Jon recognizes what the cube can do. Unfortunately, Jon prepared for the meeting and steels the cube, injuring Bulter.

During the demonstration, one of the systems that is tapped is the fairy system Fouly has created for the People. From the tap, they now know someone human can find out about the fairies and they send Holly Short to investigate. Holly shows up in time to find and heal Artemis and Butler. As they talk, they realize they have to help each other, once again, to recover the cube before Jon Spiro is able to break Artemis' code and activate the cube for his own purposes. However, the fairies have one requirement. Since the problem for the fairies is happening because of Artemis' scheme, he has to submit to a mind wipe after they have recovered the cube.

Comments

As the books have progressed, it has been fun watching Artemis change. By the end of this book, Artemis has developed morales, is willing to help because it is the right thing to do, and forms friendships. But the best part of this progression, especially as seen in this installment, is that changing to become a better person doesn't mean that you don't have to face the consequences of your past actions.

For example, even though they are able to pull off the rescue (I can't imagine anyone reading this would be shocked by that revelation...), Butler has aged 15-20 years and is not as mobile as he once was, and Artemis must still submit to a mind wipe. Grant it, it is understood by the fairies as well as the reader that Artemis will try and beat the wipe, but that is for another review... Anyway, the point is that even when we do change, we still have to pay the piper for what we have done in the past. We can atone for it, but consequences often times can't be skipped.

Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident

Published Information

Author:	Eoin Colfer
Series:	Artemis Fowl #2
Published:	May 2002
Genre:	Fantasy
Pages:	288

Ratings

Violence:	PG-13 (Non-graphic violence, many scenes)
Sexual Content:	G
Language:	G (Fairy swear words)
Reading Age:	Junior High
Buy Recommend:	Hardbound (Not as good as first, but most of my family will read more than once)
Overall Rating:	7 out of 10 (Great story, but not as original as first)

Plot Summary

Now that Artemis has successfully stolen fairy gold, was able to avoid a brain wipe, and was able to bribe them into healing his mother, the fairies are cautious and keep an eye on him. So, when a goblin crime occurs in fairy world where human technology is involved, Artemis is implicated, brought into custody, and questioned. Artemis is able to prove he isn't involved, but is willing to help... for a favor. Artemis has located his father and will need fairy help to recover him.

And so, Artemis, Butler, Holly and the others join forces to figure out what is happening with the goblins and how human technology has been involved. And if they are able to safeguard the fairy security and stop the goblin problems, they will all be off to the Arctic Circle in Russia to save Artemis' father.

Comments

This is a great follow up to the original. Even though it is common to find authors joining enemies to accomplish a common goal, Mr Colfer does it in such a way that it seems natural. There are still gabs at each other, but also a grudging respect for each other. The fairies, Holly in particular, begin to trust and understand him. And as the story progresses, Artemis shows an even more uncharacteristic human side where he is willing to give up everything to help his father. Once again showing that love and compassion can change even the greatest criminal beings.

Artemis Fowl

Published Information

Author:	Eoin Colfer
Series:	Artemis Fowl
Published:	May 2001
Genre:	Fantasy
Pages:	288

Ratings

Violence:	PG (There is one scene fairly intense)
Sexual Content:	G
Language:	PG (There is swearing in fairly tongue...)
Reading Age:	Elementary
Buy Recommend:	Hardbound(This is one of my most favorite books of all time)
Overall Rating:	9 out of 10 (Funny, good for children as well as adults, very fast paced)

Plot Summary

Artemis Fowl is a 12 year old boy who has lost his father, and his mother has gone crazy. He is also a genius criminal mastermind. In his searching for ways to make money to find his dad and heal his mother, he has discovered a secret. Fairies exist, they do hoard gold, and they have a book of rules they must follow. With that combination, Artemis realizes he can exploit the fairies and make enough money to fund his future plans. One challenge is that no one has ever successfully laid claim to fairy gold. Of course, the fairies have never dealt with someone like Artemis Fowl.

Comments

This is the second time I have read this book. I love it! While the rest of the series is excellent, the first is still the best. It is full of humor and had me rolling several times, even being the second time reading the novel.

This book/series is also one of those that are difficult to classify. It has all the magic, creatures, and adventure of a fantasy, but has techology and gadgets like you would expect in a Sci Fi. It is targeted towards young readers who are advancing to more advanced, long chapter books, yet the story and writing style still keep an adult entertained.

Some of the interesting themes or aspects of the book revolve around Artemis' style of a criminal. He has no problem exploiting anyone, but he usually does it for a specific reason. In this case, gathering enough money so that he can hunt for his father. Also, by the end of the book, he begins questioning his motives and recognizes he has crossed bounderies that he is not comfortable crossing. As the series unfolds, it becomes clear that he is slowly getting out of the criminal game. With the last book coming out in a couple of weeks, it will be interesting to see how he ends up.

The Red Pyramid

Published Information

Author:	Rick Riordan
Series:	The Kane Chronicles #1
Published:	May 2010
Genre:	Fantasy
Pages:	516

Ratings

Violence:	PG-13 (Fantasy violence, rough fighting)
Sexual Content:	PG
Language:	PG-13 (One main character takes Lord's name in vain frequently)
Reading Age:	Junior High
Buy Recommend:	Hardbound (My family will probably read this several times)
Overall Rating:	6 out of 10 (Fun and fast paced, and good themes, but deus ex machina is rampant)

Plot Summary

Carter and Sadie are brother and sister, but they only get to see each other twice a year. And they don't look forward to it. But this year, when they meet up, the witness their dad destroy an Egyptian relic and unleash a powerful magic, including an evil being that magically puts their dad in a coffin, and "sinks" him into the earth.

Turns out that Carter and Sadie are from a long, royal line of Egyptians that have magically powers to communicate, fight, and in some cases, work with long thought dead or imagined gods. (Note: in this book, gods are simply very powerful beings that have been around for a long time, not all knowing, all powerful entities that created all existence, etc) Their dad seemingly released several gods in an attempt to save their mother, his wife, from the dead. But his plans seem to have backfired and the gods are taking their revenge on him and his children.

To make matters worse, there is also an organization, the House of Light, that has existed for centeries that have made it their business to make sure humans do not work with gods in any way. They thing Carter and Sadie have entered into a pact to work with the gods and help them escape their prison confines, to which they were bond by the House of Light, centuries ago. That being said, they are trying to kill the children before they can do any real damage.

So, in fact, Carter and Sadie do turn to some of the gods for teaching and training to figure how they can come into their powers, avoid capture by the evil gods and the house of light, and save their parents, both of whom have been thought to be dead.

They will find life was much simplier when they didn't know anything about these Egyptian gods.

Comments

This was a great book. I loved reading it and finished it much sooner than I should have. The story was fun and full of action for the characters, as well as very humorous. I found myself laughing out loud a few times in the book. The plot was well devised, though predictable at times. Of course, Mr Riordan was targeting pre-teen through teen for an audience. They will love it.

I only had two major complaints. First, Sadie says the Lord's name in vain frequently. Enough so that it bothered me. It wasn't needed and didn't add anything to the story. Second, there were several spots in the book where the characters would just about die, or get seriously hurt when all of the sudden, someone would appear, as if by magic, and save them. Or, worse, they would come into more super human magical ability that would save the day. I don't mind when a book is saved at the last minute by something that should be expected to save the character, but when a character that was thought to be dead shows up and kills all the baddies, that is a little too much.

All that being said, it was a great book, more so, for the message portrayed. In particular the idea that power is not evil when we don't allow it to control us, but rather use if for the benefit of others. Also, the idea that we do have power within us that is beyond what we can believe, if we just give it a chance.

My children will love this book, and I am sure it will be just as popular as the Percy Jackson set, if not more.

The Naming

Published Information

Author:	Alison Croggon
Series:	Pellinor Series #1
Published:	March 2006
Genre:	Fantasy
Pages:	528

Ratings

Violence:	PG
Sexual Content:	PG
Language:	PG
Reading Age:	Junior High
Buy Recommend:	Paperback (My daughter might enjoy it, but I don't think either of us will re-read it)
Overall Rating:	5 out of 10 (Fun and simple, and in some cases predictable)

Plot Summary

Maerad is a slave girl that doesn't know much about her past and is living in a city ruled by a cruel slave-master. Fortunately for her, other slaves and residents believe she is some kind of a witch and so leave her alone. One day, while doing chores, she meets a bard, Cadvan, that only she can see. This interests him greatly so he offers to take her from that place.

She agrees to go with him, but finds that his company is more dangerous than living as a slave. Soon, she is helping withstand magical assaults and dark, evil creatures. During their journey they visit a bard school and it becomes evident that their meeting was more than chance, and Maerad's destiny is important to the whole world in defeating a powerful, evil entity known as the Nameless One. She is the prophesied "Fated One" destined to overthrow his final assault on the land.

During their journey, they find help in places in which it wasn't expected, and danger where safety should have been assured. This book is but the beginning of Maered's tale. She must avoid the dark, and come into her powers, which seem to be very formidable, if she is to fulfill her destiny.

Comments

One of the main themes of the book is power. Power is a sweet temptation that, if not tempered, can become very evil and corrupt. The first instance of this is Maerad's slave-master. He is the lord of the small town we meet her in. The town is isolated from civilization, so he has complete power over all within the town. To the point that it is discuss that the walls of the town are for keeping people in rather than bandits, etc, out. There are ways to control him, but for the most part, he is able to do whatever he wills with whoever he pleases.

As we move forward in the book, another is brought up who isn't a servant of the dark, but is just as bad. He has realized that the dark can give him powers beyond what others can have and with it, he is able to become very powerful in the land. It is discussed that none think he is a slave to the dark, meaning he is not a "Hull" controlled, but he uses the dark in what he thinks is a controlled way, but in the end, it doesn't matter. If you are not serving the people and the light, you are just as bad.

Finally, as with other books, the discussion revolves around the fact that true greatness and knowledge is found through humility and acknowledging how much you do not know, and that true, good leaders are those who don't seek for it, but rather step into the position because there is no one willing to do what is right.

I have two comments. First, a petty one. Every other sentence that is narrated ends with an exclamation point. There are so many that it seems to me it is meaningless. Probably just a style thing, but it loses value in my eyes. Second, there are too many instances of Maered coming into a power just in the nick of time. It might play out that there is some kind of reason for it in later books, but it seems too "deus ex machina" for me. There are also occurances where Cadvan tells Maered about a power she should have (later in the book) and she is intuitively able to do it. Again, I think that abilities should be learned/earned. She goes to school briefly and picks up writing and swordplay, but magic just happens for her.

Graceling

Published Information

Author:	Kristin Cashore
Series:	No series, but several books are in same world
Published:	October 2008
Genre:	Fantasy
Pages:	480

Ratings

Violence:	PG-13 (Talk of torture, detailed fights)
Sexual Content:	PG-13 (One specific, but not explicit scene, see below)
Language:	PG (Don't recall anything bad)
Reading Age:	High school
Buy Recommend:	Paperback (Very good but dark, will not re-read)
Overall Rating:	7 out of 10 (Good, believable story, fast paced)

Plot Summary

Graceling takes place in a medieval world where a small group of people are graced. That is, they have a grace that allows them to be experts in some field. And no two graces are alike. Some have fighting graces such as sword fighting, archery, or running incredibly fast. Others have passive graces such mind reading, or weather forecasting. Music, baking, climbing trees, etc, are all skills that can be presented in a grace. And if you have a grace, you are called a graceling and the king has the option to take you into his service in order to use your grace. Lastly, if you are a graceling, each of your eyes are different colors. Your eye color doesn't come at birth, but once the different color eyes manifest themselves, the king will take you into his service until your grace is understood. Then either he enlists you in his service, or releases you.

When she is 8 years old, her grace manifests itself in the form of killing a man when he tries to take advantage of her. It is understood that her grace is killing. The king, of course, recognizes a potential for power that he didn't have before and enlists her in his service. She becomes his thug and kills, maims, or hurts anyone who has displeased the king. Though she refuses to kill unless necessary.

During her first years with the king, she is feared by all in the kingdom, but also realizes she can use her talent to help people get out of predicaments they are in when they can't defend themselves. She forms up a council, without the knowledge of the king, to find situations where she can help.

During one of her excursions for the council, rescuing an old man from a prison, she runs across another graceling named Po who can use a sword almost as well as her. He ends up knocking him out and escaping with her mission intact. He turns up at her king's court looking for the old man, who turns out to be his grandfather.

One day, she is called upon to hurt someone who has disobeyed the king, but realizes that this is a circumstance where she should be helping instead of hindering. She makes the decision to separate herself from the king and begins working with Po to figure out who wanted to harm the grandfather. As they work together, they fall in love (of course), and begin to understand how to work together. And both of their graces are not as they seem.

Comments

The book is very well told and has some great opportunities for discussion with youth. The story is mostly about youth who have potential/talents/graces that they don't understand. Moreover, about youth that don't understand how they fit into the world with the gifts they have been given. As the book progresses, both Katsa and Po realize the potential of who they are and are able to take graces that are thought to be monstrous and turn them into great value for good. It is all about taking responsibility for your life even when you think the life you have is unfair, hard, or poor. By taking control of your life, rather than blaming circumstances or others, you find the true ability to make a difference in the world.

Note: there is one scene that is a sex scene where you know they are having intercourse and the feelings during the act are expressed while occurring, but nothing explicit is described. In movies, it might be analogous to hearing sounds in the bedroom and knowing what is happening, but not actually seeing it. I was close to putting the book down, and decided against it. If you are going to have your youth read this, please review the book first to see what you think.

Soprano Sorceress

Published Information

Author:	L. E. Modesitt Jr.
Series:	The Spellsong Cycle #1
Published:	Jan 1998
Genre:	Fantasy
Pages:	672

Ratings

Violence:	PG-13 (War violence, people burned to death)
Sexual Content:	PG
Language:	PG-13 (B-word is common, one f-bomb)
Reading Age:	Young adult
Buy Recommend:	Borrow (Story is ok, if like singing, fun story)
Overall Rating:	5 out of 10 (Enjoyable, but too long)

Plot Summary

Anna Marshal is a soprano from Iowa who is just passing her hay-day in opera singing and is slowly being pushed aside at the university where she teaches. Her life is not the best and she makes a wish that she were somewhere else. At that moment, a minor sorceress in a world called Erde is attempting to conjure a sorceress to help her in her world. Anna is the one that is magically summoned to Erde.

Erde is a world ruled by magic. And that magic is controlled by singing. When Anna arrives, many of the local rulers notice, through magical means, her appearance and recognize that she must be very powerful. As some of these leaders begin to approach her, either to garner her support or assasinate her, she realizes she needs to figure out how the magic works and develop her skills, or she will find her life ending sooner than expected. Once she understands her skills, she must decide who she will endorse and support, if any one... and how much she trusts them.

Comments

A couple of major themes in this book: power should only be held by those that don't want it, and sometimes the best intentions still cause problems.

On earth, she went through a messy divorce, dealt with politics in the university, and suffered through the death of one of her children. In essence, she has had to deal with a lot more that most should, and she has been toughened from the experience. When she arrives, because she is a woman, people treat her with disdain and as an object to be dismissed or mocked. In order to gain most people's respect, she has to resort to violence through magic. Though she is able to gain respect and support through force, she feels it shouldn't work that way. Throughout the book she works to change the culture where ever she can so that women, specifically, and anyone else that is in a lower class, are treated with equity and respect.

Additionally, she finds some of her changes cause unexpected problems. For example, at one point she uses magic to force a man to leave her alone by means of a spell that repels him anytime she is near. Unfortunately, he starts getting angry and takes out his anger on his wife for letting Anna stay with them. The point of the author, though, is not to avoid changes, but rather recognize that when changes occur there will be consequenses. Are the changes worth the consequenses? That is the question we should ask.

Overall, I enjoyed the plot. The plot was consistent and easy to follow, though a little predictable. One minor annoyance of mine was that the author used the first person present whenever someone other than the main character was running the storyline. For example, when the author showed us councils from the leaders looking for Anna, they would say things like "the speaker looks up and says 'Yo.' He thinks this is cool. He sits down" rather than the normal voice. Not a big deal but I didn't care for it.

Wizard's Bane

Published Information

Author:	Rick Cook
Series:	The Wiz Biz
Published:	October 1997
Genre:	Fantasy
Pages:	Online

Ratings

Violence:	PG-13 (Fantasy violence, one graphic scene)
Sexual Content:	PG
Language:	PG-13 (B-word, Sh-word, Lord's name)
Reading Age:	High School
Buy Recommend:	Borrow (Niche story)
Overall Rating:	4 out of 10 (Not best writing)

Plot Summary

The book is about a systems programmer, Wiz, from Cupertino who is summoned to a magical world to help good wizards overcome the evil wizards. When he is summoned, the wizard who did the summoning casts an infatuation spell on him so that he will follow a beautiful hedge witch, Moira, around. The wizard is then killed by the evil wizards who have been looking for just such a summoning. Through most of the book, he is fairly useless and causes more problems than he solves.

But he then discovers that magic can be structured like a computer program and builds a compiler, assembler, etc, that allows him to write magic programs that no one has ever seen before. At this point, Moira is captured and he must use his programs to find and save her before she is killed.

Comments

This is actually one of my favorite books of all time. I have read it several times and will probably read it more. But, this book is not the best fantasy I have read by a long shot. In fact, it is fairly simply and in some cases predictable. It also seems like the writer's original profession was not writing. But it is a quick and enjoyable read.

As mentioned above, I love the idea that magic can be controlled by programming. Being a programmer, this is one of those books that just appeals to me. That being said, there are very few people I would recommend this to. I recommend it to every programmer I know, but no one else.

Note, the entire book is available online for free. Click on the book image to go there.