Previous SFF Author: Mary Elizabeth Counselman
(1950- )
Bruce Coville writes fantasy, science fiction, and horror for children. He writes the well-known Alien series (e.g., My Teacher is an Alien). He also writes a series of re-tellings of William Shakespeare’s plays for kids. Bruce Coville’s books are availabe in audio formats. Learn more at his website.
The Monster’s Ring by Bruce Coville
Note: This book is titled Russell Troy, Monster Boy in some markets.
For kids that are too young for the complexity of the HARRY POTTER series, and yet still interested in fantasy stories, Bruce Coville‘s MAGIC SHOP books might be the thing to hook them up with. Five in total, each one revolves around a simple premise: a young child with the usual kid problems (home trouble, bullies, crushes, angry teachers,
Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3.5 | Bruce Coville | Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville
For kids who are too young for the complex Harry Potter series, and yet interested in fantasy stories, then Bruce Coville’s Magic Shop books might be the thing to hook them up with. Each book is based on a basic premise: a young child with the usual kid problems (home trouble, bullies, crushes, angry teachers, etc) stumble across Mr Elives’ Magic Shop, and leave with an unusual purchase that creates more trouble for them, but ultimately teaches them important lessons.
Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Bruce Coville | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Jennifer Murdley’s Toad by Bruce Coville
This may well be my favourite of the MAGIC SHOP books, a series of standalone stories that feature a young boy or girl entering Mr Elives’ Magic Shop and leaving with a strange artefact of some kind — one which will have taught them an important life-lesson by the end of the book (though not before causing them a heap of trouble in the interim).
Perhaps the best thing about the series is that each book is surprisingly different in tone. For instance,
Rebecca Fisher | Bruce Coville | Children | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Into the Land of Unicorns by Bruce Coville
The wanderer is weary…
I had just finished reading THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy and was in search of something lighter to read — and what could be lighter than a book about unicorns, right? Well, Into the Land of the Unicorns is squarely aimed at a seven-to-ten year old reading range, but it manages to have a certain level of depth and darkness that certainly elevates it above the usual “rainbows and candy-floss” favour that usually surrounds the subject of unicorns.
Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Bruce Coville | Children | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Song of the Wanderer by Bruce Coville
I have promises to keep, and wounds to heal…
This is the second book in THE UNICORN CHRONICLES, a four part series by children’s author Bruce Coville, which also includes a short story to be found in the unicorn-themed anthology A Glory of Unicorns. In the first instalment, Into the Land of the Unicorns, Cara Hunter was transported via an amulet into Luster, the world into which unicorns fled when Earth became too unsafe for them to inhabit.
Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Bruce Coville | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Dark Whispers by Bruce Coville
The third book in THE UNICORN CHRONICLES by Bruce Coville continues Cara Hunter’s journey through the land of Luster as she attempts to find a way to defend the unicorn population from an ancient feud involving her own family members. After discovering her heritage as the descendant of a woman who is cursed with eternal life due to the unicorn horn trapped within her heart (and therefore determined to drive them to extinction), Cara agrees to a mission given to her by the Queen of the Unicorns.
Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Bruce Coville | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A Glory of Unicorns by Bruce Coville
Bruce Coville (the compiler and editor of this anthology) promised in his introduction no sappy unicorns, tells us that unicorn love is hard and demanding, and unicorns themselves neither safe nor sweet. However, four stories into this book I found that was exactly what the book was delivering — sweet, dreamy, dear little unicorns. Contradicting his own words Coville brings us the story of ‘The Guardian of Memory’ in which unicorns have names such as ‘Arabella Skydancer’ and ‘Manda Seafoam’ and are entirely domesticated,
Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Bruce Coville | Children, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Last Hunt by Bruce Coville
The fourth and final book in Bruce Coville’s THE UNICORN CHRONICLES was published nearly twenty years after the first came out, and it appears that Coville sought to make up for this delay by making The Last Hunt more than six times thicker than Into the Land of Unicorns.
It’s impossible to start The Last Hunt without having the first three already read, as the story dives straight into the action with no preamble.
Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Bruce Coville | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Dragon of Doom by Bruce Coville
When Moongobble the magician moves to town, Edward is eager to become his new apprentice. It turns out, though, that Moongobble isn’t much of a magician after all — every time he tries a spell, he ends up turning something into cheese. In fact, he’s about to lose his authority to practice magic if he can’t prove himself proficient by completing three difficult tasks. The first task is to steal some special acorns from the Dragon of Doom, so Moongobble and Edward set off with Urk,
Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Bruce Coville | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Weeping Werewolf by Bruce Coville
Moongobble has been assigned his second task to prove he should be a magician: he must get a bottle of tears from the dreaded Weeping Werewolf who lives alone in the forest. Fortunately, Edward, Urk the toad, the Rusty Knight, and Fireball the Dragon are willing to help. When they find the Weeping Werewolf, everyone is in for a big surprise!
This charming little series of short children’s novels, beautifully narrated and enhanced with cute sound effects by Full Cast Audio is the perfect way to spend an hour with a child on a Sunday afternoon.
Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Bruce Coville | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Evil Elves by Bruce Coville
Moongobble has successfully (sort of) completed two of his three tasks to prove that he deserves to be a magician. His third task is to retrieve a jewel called The Queen’s Belly Button, which has the power to turn its owner evil, from the elves who stole it. The elves, who used to be peaceful creatures, have been badly influenced by the Belly Button and they do not want to give it back.
Edward et al. once again set out with Moongobble to help him get the jewel.
Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Bruce Coville | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Mischief Monster by Bruce Coville
The Mischief Monster is the fourth book in Bruce Coville’s delightful MOONGOBBLE AND ME series for ages 9-12. I’ve been listening to this series of short books on audio with my girls who are 6 and 9 years old. Each book is about an hour long and dramatized by Full Cast Audio, which means there’s a cast of readers playing parts rather than just one narrator.
In The Mischief Monster, Edward, Moongobble, and their friends try to return a mischievous monster princess named Snelly to her home in Monster Mountain.
Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Bruce Coville | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Beth Johnson Sonderby brings us this week’s Why You Should Read… On the face of it, Beth has written a love letter to Bruce Coville but, honestly, this is really an essay on why we should all read — enjoy!
I’d like to share a story with you. It’s a rather personal story, but I want to share it anyway. Because I think sometimes we forget what an amazing thing it is, that unique bond between writer and reader, between reader and story. We invest a lot of time in reading because we enjoy,
Previous SFF Author: Mary Elizabeth Counselman
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…
Detailed, thoughtful review, Bill. I'm going to read it for two reasons. First, Karen Russell wrote it, and second, it…
this sounds like a fun one