Fantasy – Page 31 – Sonderbooks

Mar 9, 2015

Review of Shadow Scale, by Rachel Hartman

Shadow Scale

by Rachel Hartman

Random House, New York, March 2015. 599 pages.

This sequel to Seraphina brings us back to the rich and detailed fantasy world where dragons take up human form. In the first book, Seraphina dealt with her heritage as a half-dragon, and in this book, she seeks to find the other half-dragons.

Much of the book happens in Seraphina’s mind, which at first is a little confusing, but eventually has you wrapped up in the details. My biggest complaint is that in the big final conflict scene, I’m not entirely sure what exactly happened. But I do think I got enough of it.

This is a good book for those who like their fantasy complex. There was a rather neat solution to the love triangle (though I personally am not entirely happy with it. But it did work).

There’s war going on, and Seraphina has a role to play. But there’s another half-dragon able to enter the minds of the others and then manipulate them to her own purposes.

We’ve got intrigue and strategy combined with a virtual tour of several countries of that world. This is a wonderful follow-up fulfilling all the promise of the award-winning first book.

And why did I again think there’d be a trilogy? I’m happier with this misunderstanding than I am when I mistake a quartet for a trilogy. This book did complete the story and tie up loose ends. And though it is based on Seraphina, I didn’t remember all the plot details of the first book, but everything I needed to know was filled in. And the plot threads were all wrapped up at the end.

An intricate and satisfying tale.

SeraphinaBooks.com
RachelHartmanBooks.com
randomhouseteens.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/shadow_scale.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on an Advance Reader Copy I got at ALA Midwinter Meeting.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Mar 6, 2015

Review of Shades of Milk and Honey, by Mary Robinette Kowal

Fantasy, Fiction Review, Historical, Romance 0

Shades of Milk and Honey

by Mary Robinette Kowal

A Tom Doherty Associates Book (Tor), New York, 2010. 320 pages.
2010 Nebula Nominee for Best Novel
RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Fantasy Novel 2010

Thank you to my sister Melanie for giving me this book for Christmas.

The book is essentially Jane Austen – with magic. Now, it didn’t enchant me as much as the other Jane Austen with magic series which began with Sorcery and Cecelia. I think the reason was that the sibling rivalry was a bit intense for my taste. The younger, more beautiful sister, Melody, is intensely jealous of her older sister Jane’s accomplishments. (I missed the love between Elizabeth and Jane in Pride and Prejudice.) Those accomplishments include ability with Glamour – magical enhancement of art and music.

The story is fun, in many ways mirroring Pride and Prejudice. I rightly looked for romance to develop with the most distasteful man Jane was initially introduced to. But things do stay interesting. I didn’t particularly like the jealousy subplot, as Melody also has some men to choose from. Does she really need to like the same ones as her sister? Meeting and getting to know the various eligible men and their sisters takes up most of the book. It was also not a surprise that one of the men turns out to be a cad.

Here’s a taste from the first chapter:

When all was settled, Jane seated herself at the pianoforte and pulled a fold of glamour close about her. She played a simple rondo, catching the notes in the loose fold; when she reached the point where the song repeated, she stopped playing and tied the glamour off. Captured by the glamour, the music continued to play, wrapping around to the beginning of the song with only a tiny pause at the end of the fold. With care, she clipped the small silence at the end of the music and tied it more firmly to the beginning, so the piece repeated seamlessly. Then she stretched the fold of glamour to gossamer thinness until the rondo sounded as if it played in the far distance.

The door to the drawing room opened. Melody leapt to her feet with a naked expression of welcome on her face. Jane rose slowly, trying to attain a more seemly display. She placed her hand on the pianoforte as the room spun about her with the lingering effects of working glamour.

But only their father entered the room. “Hullo, my dears.” The plum brocade of his waistcoat strained across his ample middle. He looked around the drawing room in evident pleasure. “Are we expecting company?”

Melody said, “Mr. Dunkirk said he would honour us with a visit this afternoon.”

“Did he?” Her father looked befuddled. “But I saw him not fifteen minutes ago passing through our fields with the FitzCamerons. They looked for all the world as if they were going hunting. Are you certain you did not mistake his meaning?”

Melody’s face soured. “His meaning was clear. But perhaps he preferred to spend the afternoon in the company of a lady than a farmer’s daughter.”

Jane winced as Melody flew from the room.

If you’re in the mood for a fun old-fashioned romance with a nice dose of magic, this book is a fun read.

tor-forge.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/shades_of_milk_and_honey.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on my own copy, a gift from my sister Melanie.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Feb 25, 2015

Review of Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters, by Shannon Hale

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Princess Academy

The Forgotten Sisters

by Shannon Hale

Bloomsbury, February 24, 2015. 324 pages.
Starred Review

Look at that! The Forgotten Sisters has been released earlier than the date printed on the Advance Reader Copy. So I need to post my review!

This book is the Advance Reader Copy I was most excited about getting at ALA Midwinter Meeting – and the first one I read, immediately after the conference. This is the third book after Princess Academy and Palace of Stone. I believe readers will enjoy it more who have read the earlier books – and reading those books will be a treat, if you haven’t yet.

Princess Academy is a simple story about Miri and the other girls from her mountain village learning to negotiate and make their way in the world, while one of them will be chosen to be the princess. In Palace of Stone Miri and the other academy graduates go to the capital city in the lowlands – and learn about politics and rumblings of revolution.

In The Forgotten Sisters, the outlook gets yet broader as war comes to Danland.

But the beginning of the book simply has Miri excited about going home, back to Mount Eskel. Then she is summoned by the king moments before the traders who were going to take her home must leave. In the royal breakfast chamber, the king and queen, all thirty-two delegates and three priests of the creator god are assembled.

“Early this morning, traders sailed from the commonwealth of Eris with news,” said the chief delegate. “The kingdom of Stora has invaded Eris. The battle lasted only three days. Eris surrendered.”

Steffan leaned forward to grip a chair back. Britta reached out for Miri’s hand. Stora was the largest kingdom on the continent. Miri imagined its vast army pouring into tiny Eris like all the sands of a beach trying to fill a single jar. And Eris bordered Danland.

“Danland can no longer take for granted our longstanding peace with Stora,” the chief delegate continued. “We must secure an unbreakable alliance. Stora’s King Fader is a widower. The delegation has decided to offer King Fader a royal daughter of Danland as a bride.”. . .

“The highest ranking royal girls are His Majesty’s cousins,” said the chief delegate. “They live in a territory known as Lesser Alva. Three girls. King Fader of Stora will have his pick of them for a bride, if he agrees to our offer.” . . .

“Living in Lesser Alva, I suspect the girls are not very, shall we say, refined,” said the chief delegate. “The priests of the creator god have called for a princess academy to prepare them, and the delegation approved it. We require this girl to go be their tutor.” He gestured toward Miri without looking at her.

Miri doesn’t want to go; she wants to go home to Mount Eskel. But she works out a deal that if she does go, and if she is successful and King Fader marries one of the girls, then the people of Mount Eskel will be given the land where they live (which the king was thinking of selling) and the quarry where they make their livelihood.

However, when Miri arrives in the swamp that is Lesser Alva, she finds things not at all as she expected. The three girls do live in a white house made of linder. But the house is empty, the girls’ mother is dead, and they are destitute. They haven’t seen anything of the allowance supposedly sent to them every month by the king. They don’t have time to learn about being princesses, because they need to go out in the swamp and hunt for food.

We do come to enjoy the three sisters, Astrid, Felissa, and Sus. Here is a scene shortly after Miri has met them.

”Just so you know,” said Felissa, her smile a little timid now, “in Lesser Alva one never, ever enters someone else’s house without being invited.”

“Never,” Sus said, unblinking.

“Never ever,” said Felissa, nodding.

“In fact, we could have killed you on the spot and cut you up for meat,” Astrid said, casually cleaning out her fingernails.

“No one’s ever really done that,” said Sus.

“As far as we know,” said Astrid. “But we could be the first and no one would stop us.”

So first, Miri must win the girls’ trust. But she also needs to learn the ways of the swamp and help in the hunt for food. But it’s also urgent to find out where the girls’ allowance is disappearing – because the same corrupt people are not letting Miri’s letters get out of Lesser Alva.

However, that’s only the beginning. War from Stora does come to the swamp. Miri needs to get the girls to the capital city and King Fader in hopes of sealing that alliance. But none of that is simple, and many things turn out to be different than they seem at first.

I like all the complexities and diplomacy and cleverness that Shannon Hale builds into these books. In each of the books, somebody gets outsmarted. Miri again shows her worth – and this time the Forgotten Sisters get to contribute as well.

And I won’t give anything away, but the Epilogue puts a nice cap on the entire trilogy.

Shannon Hale has done it again! She’s written an absorbing further tale of a simple girl from Mount Eskel who makes things right, and changes the world while doing so.

squeetus.com
bloomsbury.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/forgotten_sisters.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on an Advance Reader Copy I got at ALA Midwinter Meeting.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Feb 10, 2015February 10, 2015

Review of Dreamer’s Pool, by Juliet Marillier

Fantasy, Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

Dreamer’s Pool

by Juliet Marillier

Roc (Penguin), 2014. 414 pages.
Starred Review

This was the first book I read in 2015, and I will not be one bit surprised if it ends up being my favorite book read in 2015.

I already loved Juliet Marillier’s writing. This book starts a new series completely unlike her others – but equally rich, moving, and filled with magic.

The subtitle calls Dreamer’s Pool A Blackthorn & Grim Novel. At the start of the book Blackthorn and Grim are in a wretched prison. The book begins with Blackthorn hoping for release.

I fished out the rusty nail from under my pallet and scratched another mark on the wall. Tomorrow would be midsummer, not that a person could tell rain from shine in this cesspit. I’d been here a year. A whole year of filth and abuse and being shoved back down the moment I lifted myself so much as an inch. Tomorrow, at last, I’d get my chance to speak out. Tomorrow I would tell my story.

But then a prison guard gleefully gives her some bad news:

”You must have really got up Malthuin’s nose,” he said. “What did you do to make him so angry?” Perhaps knowing he wouldn’t get an answer, Slammer went right on. “Overheard a little exchange. Someone wants you out of the way before the hearing, not after.”

“Out of the way?”

“Someone wants to make sure your case never goes before the council. First thing in the morning, you’re to be disposed of. Quick, quiet, final. Name crossed off the list. No need to bother the chieftains with any of it.” He was scrutinizing me between the bars, waiting for me to weep, collapse, scream defiance.”

However, much to her surprise, the next morning just before dawn, she is instead later brought to meet with a fey nobleman named Conmael. He makes her an offer — with conditions.

“I’m offering you a chance to be safely out of here before they come for you. You’d leave the district and travel north to Dalriada. There’d be help along the way, and a place to stay when you got there. After that, you’d need to earn a living doing what you did before. There’s always a need for skilled healers.”

“Travel north. When?”

“Straightaway.”

As I made to speak again, to say I couldn’t go anywhere because I had to appear at the council, Conmael gestured me to be quiet. “There are three conditions you must agree to meet before I grant you this opportunity. Firstly, the considerable skill you possess must be used only for good. You will not let bitterness or anger draw you down the darker ways of your craft. Secondly, if anyone asks for your help, you will give it willingly. I do not mean solely those who come to you for assistance with their ailments, but anyone at all who seeks your aid.”

“And thirdly?” It occurred to me that I could be as good a liar as anyone. What was to stop me from agreeing now, and once I was out of here, doing whatever I pleased? I might yet live beyond dawn and see Mathuin brought down before nightfall. My heart began to race.

“Thirdly, you will not seek vengeance. You will remain in Dalriada and stay away from Mathuin of Laois.”

That, I could not do. But I bit back the no that sprang to my lips. “Is there a period of time attached to this ridiculous proposition?”

Conmael gave a cool smile. “Seven years,” he said. “That is the term for all three conditions.”

“What?” Morrigan’s curse, I’d be lucky if I managed seven days, let alone seven years! Walk away and leave Mathuin behind me, his crimes not only unpunished but not even reported? Agree to every single request for help? As for using my gifts for good, all the good had been beaten out of me long ago. My spirit was as stained and foul as my reeking, vermin-ridden body. But then, what did it matter if I was bound to his stupid plan for my whole life, provided I saw Mathuin brought to justice first?

“Mathuin has done ill deeds,” Conmael said. “He’s also a powerful chieftain who enjoys the support of many fellow leaders. You are a prisoner, without family, without resources, with no home to go to and no friends to help you. Even if you did stand up at the council, even if you did make these accusations before the assembled chieftains, who would take your word against Mathuin’s? All you would achieve is your own destruction. So let us set a limit on the number of times you may break the rules. Five, I think.”

“Or what happens?”

“Or you find yourself back here, filthy, worn down, defeated, with the executioner knocking on your door. And this time, no reprieve.”

Conmael does rescue her from prison — by blowing apart the prison. The only survivors are Blackthorn and Grim.

Blackthorn would have gone to Dalriada on her own, but when Grim asks to help her, he asks in a way that makes her realize she’d be helping him to allow him to stay with her. Because of Conmael’s conditions, she can’t say no.

That’s one complex story thread of this book. And we also hear Grim’s perspective on events. But a third narrator, Prince Oram, also gives us his story. Oram is the prince ruling Dalriada, where Blackthorn and Grim are now living. He has found the love of his life via exchange of letters. But when his betrothed comes to visit, to seal the betrothal, she bathes and almost drowns in Dreamer’s Pool, near Blackthorn’s cottage. And after that, something is very wrong. Even her beloved dog wants nothing to do with her.

This is about Blackthorn and Grim starting new lives, dealing with shadows of the past, and helping people by solving mysteries. There is also a young girl who has suddenly gone missing. The people of the village think she ran off with a gypsy, but the girl’s friend thinks otherwise, and Blackthorn is good at listening.

I can’t communicate all the beauty that is in this book. Blackthorn is dealing with deep scars and pain, but the author makes you care deeply about her and the new life she is setting up. Grim is big and strong, and has a reputation for not being very bright, but we come to love him, and even Blackthorn comes to realize she can’t do without him.

There are mysteries in this book, natural and supernatural. And characters you will come to love.

My favorite thing about the book? There’s going to be more about Blackthorn and Grim.

julietmarillier.com
penguin.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/dreamers_pool.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on my own copy, preordered via amazon.com.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Jan 25, 2015

Review of Boys of Blur, by N. D. Wilson

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Fantasy, Paranormal, Starred Review 0

Boys of Blur

by N. D. Wilson

Random House, New York, 2014. 195 pages.
Starred Review
2014 Cybils Finalist

The first page of Boys of Blur pulls you in:

When the sugarcane’s burning and the rabbits are running, look for the boys who are quicker than flame.

Crouch.

Stare through the smoke and let your eyes burn.

Don’t blink.

While cane leaves crackle and harvesters whir, while blades shatter armies of sugar-sweet sticks, watch for ghosts in the smoke, for boys made of blur, fast as rabbits and faster.

Shall we run with them, you and I? Shall we dodge tractors and fire for small handfuls of fur? Will we grin behind shirt masks while caught rabbits kick in our hands?

Shoes are for the slow. Pull ‘em off. Tug up your socks. Shift side to side. Chase. But be quick. Very quick. Out here in the flats, when the sugarcane’s burning and the rabbits are running, there can be only quick. There’s quick, and there’s dead.

Boys of Blur can be thought of as Beowulf in the Florida swamp. With zombies.

Charlie Reynolds has come to Taper, Florida with his mother, stepfather, and little sister, to attend a funeral. The funeral is happening at a white church on a mound outside of town on the edge of the swamps, in the middle of muck, and ringed by a sea of sugarcane. The funeral is for Charlie’s stepfather’s old football coach, and his stepfather has been asked to coach the high school team in his place.

Charlie was in the cane where his stepfather had been raised and played his first football. Over the dike and across the water, he knew he would find more cane and the town of Belle Glade, where his real dad had been raised and played his football.

Soon, Charlie meets Cotton, his stepdad’s second cousin, and Cotton says that makes them cousins, too. He takes Charlie into the cane and shows him a mound topped by a stone. The stone has a dead snake on top, and a small dead rabbit beside it. But that’s only the first strange thing. They see a man wearing a helmet and carrying a sword.

There’s drama and danger here. There’s tension, because Charlie’s mother knows his father lives near, and Charlie sees the old familiar fear in her eyes.

And there are secrets in the cane, in the swamp, in the muck. Why do dead animals keep appearing at certain places? And what is the foul stench that comes up in the swamp at night, while Cotton and Charlie watch the helmeted man digging in Coach Wiz’s grave? And is that sound the scream of a panther?

This book is a bit more mystical than I tend to like my fantasy. But it’s excellently carried out, so it didn’t bother me while I was reading that by the end I wasn’t sure exactly what had happened. Think Beowulf in the Florida swamp — with zombies — and you’ll have the idea — Friends fighting monsters together.

ndwilson.com
randomhouse.com/kids

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/boys_of_blur.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Jan 24, 2015

Review of Nuts to You, by Lynne Rae Perkins

Animal Characters, Award Winners, Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy 1

Nuts to You

by Lynne Rae Perkins

Greenwillow Books, 2014. 256 pages.
2014 Cybils Finalist, Speculative Fiction for Elementary/Middle Grade

Nuts to You is a squirrel story. And it’s a friendship story. Supposedly told to the author by a squirrel who enjoyed her peanut butter sandwich, the book has a strong authorial voice that doesn’t get cutesy. With spot illustrations throughout, this is a gentle adventure for young readers, and would make an outstanding family or classroom read-aloud.

Right at the start our hero, the squirrel Jed, gets snatched by a hawk. As he’s flying in the hawk’s talons, he tries to distract the hawk by yelling about mice.

For an instant, the hawk, scanning for mice, eased his grip, ever so slightly.

And in that instant, Jed relaxed his muscles. It was a technique from the ancient squirrel defensive martial art of Hai Tchree, not well known because it doesn’t work most of the time. Because it is so hard to do when your situation is not relaxing.

But Jed concentrated and completely relaxed his muscles — like the great Houdini escaping a straitjacket — and he slipped like water* through the distracted hawk’s talons.

*thick water. Or perhaps like a non-Newtonian fluid. Look it up on YouTube.

However, Jed lands in a realm far from his home. Fortunately for Jed, his best friend, TsTs, is in a treetop, sees the hawk snatch him, and sees him fall, faraway. She sees that he falls near the third giant frozen spider web along the buzzpaths (utility wires). She and another friend, Chai, set out to find Jed.

But where Jed lands, there is a threat to the trees. All the trees near the buzzpaths are getting sawed down with a thunderous roar. Not only do TsTs and Chai need to find Jed, once found, they need to get back home and warn their own colony of squirrels that they need to move. But how can they possibly get squirrels to take a threat seriously?

I can’t get over the idea that this book would be a wonderful first long chapter book to read aloud to a young child who’s ready to listen to a continuing story at bedtimes. There’s adventure and danger, but a happy ending and a need to work together along the way.

LynneRaePerkins.com
harpercollinschildrens.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/nuts_to_you.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Loudoun County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Jan 24, 2015

Review of The Luck Uglies, by Paul Durham

Adventure, Award Winners, Children's Fiction Review, Cybils, Fantasy 0

The Luck Uglies

by Paul Durham

Harper, 2014. 387 pages.
2014 Cybils Finalist, Speculative Fiction for Elementary/Middle Grade

We never do find out why the Luck Uglies are called the Luck Uglies. But they are not monsters. They are mask-wearing outlaws who have been banned from Village Drowning by the Earl.

Rye and her friends Folly and Quinn live in Village Drowning and begin the story by accidentally stealing a book and running over the rooftops to escape pursuit.

The Earl who oversaw the affairs of Drowning had not only banned women and girls from reading, but went so far as to outlaw certain books altogether. None was more illicit than the book Rye now pressed close to her body, Tam’s Tome of Drowning Mouth Fibs, Volume II — an obscure history textbook that was widely ignored until the Earl described it as a vile collection of scandalous accusations, dangerous untruths, and outright lies. Even an eleven-year-old could figure out that meant there must be some serious truth to it.

There are, in fact, monsters in this book — the terrifying Bog Noblins who live outside Village Drowning in the forest Beyond the Shale. Rye herself has a close encounter with one. But someone rescues her. When she wakes up in her home, she’s worried about the village.

“Mama,” Rye said, pushing her mother’s hand away from her face. “We need to tell the soldiers. Before it, it . . .” Rye shuddered. “Comes back.”

“Darling, quiet now.” Abby eased her back down. Your close call is something best kept to ourselves. Bog Noblin attacks attract attention. The Constable — and the Earl — would be eager to speak with you. That’s not the type of attention we want.”

Rye didn’t understand.

“But what about the rest of the village?” she said.

“Riley,” her mother said. “Listen to me carefully. I’ll make sure the right people know what happened. But at the moment, you need to rest. Your encounter in the bog was not the only trouble that befell you on the Black Moon. You were poisoned.”

Rye and her friends end up in the thick of danger from monsters, in a village with corrupt leadership. They need the Luck Uglies, but can the Luck Uglies outwit the Earl’s army? It turns out they will need Rye’s help.

This book does have monsters, but it comes across as a gentle fantasy adventure in the style of Robin Hood. With girls in the thick of the action.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/luck_uglies.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Loudoun County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Jan 24, 2015

Review of The Royal Ranger, by John Flanagan

Adventure, Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy 0

The Royal Ranger

The Ranger’s Apprentice, Book 12

by John Flanagan

Philomel Books (Penguin), 2013. 455 pages.

I listened to the first two and a half books of The Ranger’s Apprentice series, but lost interest in the middle of book three. I have to say that I think John Flanagan has improved as a writer since the beginning of the series.

I wasn’t lost picking up the series with Book 12, though if I were planning to go back and read the books I’d missed, I’d know how some things turned out. I must admit I did like seeing the “futures” of so many of the characters I met in the first two books. In fact, at times I was annoyed in the early books when he seemed to be dwelling on minor characters. – It turns out they were quite important, after all.

But this book is nicely self-contained and tells a good story. The princess Maddie is acting like a spoiled teenager. So her parents ask Will to take her on as an apprentice – the first ever female Ranger’s apprentice.

Will’s got some issues of his own, becoming obsessed with revenge. I like the way this book mirrored, in some ways, the first book, where Will himself was the apprentice. Will and Maddie take on a challenge that threatens to be more than they can handle, and the title doesn’t give away the ending this time!

And there was no magic in this book, evil or otherwise. In the early books, there was a sinister sorcerer they had to fight. I found it interesting that in this book it’s more ordinary (but still powerful) evil they are up against.

For adventure and the excitement of a small person effectively and cleverly fighting bad guys and helping the weak, this series fills the bill.

worldofjohnflanagan.com
penguin.com/youngreaders

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/royal_ranger.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Jan 24, 2015

Review of Wipeout of the Wireless Weenies, by David Lubar

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Short Stories 0

Wipeout of the Wireless Weenies

and Other Warped and Creepy Tales

by David Lubar

A Tom Doherty Associates Book, New York, 2014. 174 pages.

I didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did. I thought I’d just dip into it, and the first story had me laughing out loud. Mind you, the book got a little long for my taste, but I don’t think kids will have the same problem. And there’s a simple solution: The stories are short, so just read one or two at a time. Even when I thought I was getting tired of it, I found myself picking it up again, and smiling by the time I put it down.

Think of this book as short episodes of The Twilight Zone for kids. It reminded me of Half-Minute Horrors, only with somewhat less variety, since all the stories were written by the same author. However, don’t get me wrong — there is plenty of variety. Some stories are scary, some have bad kids come to a rotten end, some are hugely funny, most have twist endings, and almost all are very clever.

This book, like Half-Minute Horrors, would be easy to booktalk. Simply read your favorite story — they are all very short — and you will immediately hook the readers who like this sort of thing.

I can’t really describe details of the stories without giving away the twists. But David Lubar covers things like what parents will do to get out of throwing a birthday party, technology gone crazy, monsters coming to life, the dangers of being all wrapped up in your phone, alien contact, and how if you’re not nice, it may come back to bite you. Basically, “Warped and Creepy Tales” sums up the book nicely.

davidlubar.com
tor-forge.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/wireless_weenies.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a book sent to me by the publisher.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Jan 24, 2015

Review of Abracadabra Tut, by Page McBrier

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Historical 0

Abracadabra Tut

by Page McBrier

Palm Canyon Press, 2014. 234 pages.

Abracadabra Tut is a fun time-travel story, taking two kids back to Ancient Egypt where they get to meet King Tut.

Fletcher is a magician in middle school with a birthday party business and dreams of greater things. He goes to an estate sale for a famous professional magician and sees many things he would love to have – but his attention is especially caught by an actual mummy’s coffin.

He talks with a woman at the auction about the mummy’s coffin. She seems impressed with his knowledge of ancient Egyptian magic, which he’s read a book about. But he’s not prepared when a mysterious benefactor – named Isis – purchases the mummy’s coffin by bidding online and gives it to Fletcher.

When the head of the Spirit Committee at school, Arielle Torres, hears that Fletcher got an actual mummy’s coffin, she asks him to do a magic show during the break at the end-of-the-school-year dance in two weeks. And she wants to be his assistant.

But she can’t be bothered to practice, and when the show takes place, everything that can go wrong does go wrong – until they both get into the coffin, and it transports them to Egypt during the time of King Tut.

In Egypt, Fletcher uses a little stage magic to impress the crowd and keep from getting killed. But then King Tut decides that Fletcher’s magic gives him luck and protects him, and Fletcher’s worried. Because he knows King Tut died when he was not much older than the king Fletcher has just met. What will happen when his luck runs out? And if someone in the court is trying to kill the king, will they kill Fletcher? And how can Fletcher and Arielle find the coffin and get back home while they’re still alive?

This book is mostly light-hearted fun, but it does throw in some facts and history about ancient Egypt. There’s adventure and humor and two kids trying to do something good when they may be out of their depth.

pagemcbrier.com
PalmCanyonPress.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/abracadabra_tut.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a book sent to me by the publisher.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!