Archive for June, 2008
Monday, June 30th, 2008
Key of Light, by Nora Roberts
I don’t very often review romance novels, but I was out of town all weekend and this was the only book I read in four days. (My apologies for how late it is.) In any case, it’s a paranormal/fantasy romance, so I’m claiming it. Nora Roberts, as a lot of people know, is one of [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in book reviews, fantasy, romance novels by Stephanie
Friday, June 27th, 2008
The Rope Trick, by Lloyd Alexander
The recently-deceased Lloyd Alexander, of the Chronicles of Prydain fame, was actually an American author. I’d always assumed he was British, but he was from Pennsylvania and was born just before the Great Depression. He wrote dozens of books, mostly children’s and YA fantasy. The Chronicles of Prydain were vaguely based on Welsh mythology; many [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
Switchers, by Kate Thompson
Kate Thompson, of recently-reviewed The New Policeman fame, has, as I noted in the other review, written quite a few other books. Switchers is, obviously, one of them. Like The New Policeman, it’s got fantasy elements, and it’s set in Ireland. Unlike The New Policeman, though, it’s set in Dublin, and has a more urban [...]
No Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
The Wizard Test, by Hilari Bell
This is Book 3 in my “Hilari Bell Is Not A Teeny-Bopper” Penance. Hilari Bell is still a librarian and certainly not a teenybopper. I’ve reviewed two of her books prior to this, The Goblin Wood and The Prophecy. Apparently in the near future, she’s writing sequels to The Goblin Wood, and she has also [...]
No Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, by Joan Aiken
Joan Aiken is a big name in children’s literature; she also wrote a handful of adult novels before her death in 2004. A good deal of her children’s (middle-grade) novels fall into the Wolves sequence, of which this is the first; it was originally published in 1963. Several of her adult novels are continuations or [...]
No Comments » - Posted in alternate history, book reviews, children's lit by Stephanie
Monday, June 23rd, 2008
The Raging Quiet, by Sherryl Jordan
I’d actually read this book a few years ago, but when looking for something short enough that I could finish it Sunday afternoon, I decided this fit the bill. Sherryl Jordan is from New Zealand; she’s written several novels, most prominently Winter of Fire, Secret Sacrament, and this one. She also writes picture books; she [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Friday, June 20th, 2008
Once a Princess (Sasharia en Garde, book 1), by Sherwood Smith
Sherwood Smith is the author of The Trouble with Kings, published earlier this year by Samhain Publishing; she has also written Crown Duel, the Wren books, and a couple books about Inda, in addition to a couple published by Norilana Books. Other than the Wren books, the majority of her work is set on Sartorias-deles, [...]
10 Comments » - Posted in book reviews, fantasy by Stephanie
Thursday, June 19th, 2008
The Swan Maiden, by Heather Tomlinson
I found this book at the library, and I don’t really know whether I would have picked it up or not, except that the Ink Mage gave it a mostly favorable review. I don’t know anything about Ms. Tomlinson; the internet tells me that she has a degree in French from Wellesley and she currently [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg, by Gail Carson Levine
Gail Carson Levine is the Newbery Honor winning author of Ella Enchanted, and also the author of Fairest and Ever. She lives in Brewster, NY, with her husband and an Airedale named Baxter. This novel was released as a part of the Disney Fairies franchise; there is also a sequel, called Fairy Haven and the [...]
No Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
Colman, by Monica Furlong
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there was an eleven-year-old named Stephanie who had just read Alanna: the First Adventure by Tamora Pierce, and was looking for other children’s fantasy. Unfortunately, the year was 1993 (or 4) and Harry Potter hadn’t hit yet. Publishers were loath to publish fantasy for children. [...]