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Greenwitch is the third book in The Dark is Rising series, and it is necessary to be familiar with the first two books Over Sea, Under Stone and The Dark is Rising to fully understand what is going on in this volume. In the first book siblings Simon, Jane, and Barney uncovered the grail from its hiding place, but unfortunately lost the lead-incased manuscript that would decipher the inscription on the grail’s side. Now after the grail has been stolen from the museum,
March 19th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Susan Cooper | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
Despite multiple awards and a talent that is up there with the best of the fantasy authors, Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising series is often overlooked by readers in general. A five-part series, it deals with the battle between good and evil as waged by the Old Ones, several contemporary children, a range of mystical objects, and figures from history and legend. It sounds like pretty generic stuff, but Cooper’s gift lies in the telling of the story, and manages to take these well-trod aspects of the fantasy genre and turn them into something truly memorable.
March 15th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Susan Cooper | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Pearl of the Soul of the World by Meredith Ann Pierce
As the last installment of the Darkangel trilogy, The Pearl of the Soul of the World had a lot to live up to, as well as a lot to wrap up. In the first book The Darkangel, slavegirl Aerial saved the darkangel Irrylath from the misery of his own existence under the power of the White Witch and returned him to his mother’s house. In A Gathering of Gargoyles she undertook another task,
March 5th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Meredith Ann Pierce | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Louise Cooper’s Dark Enchantment books are a series of reasonably short novels, all stand-alone stories, that cater well to the young teenage girl who likes a blend of romance, mystery, mild horror and fairytale. Though I don’t fit into that age group anymore, the books in the Dark Enchantment series are nice, quick reads, perfect for cold wintry nights by the fire, just complex enough to hold my interest.
In Heart of Ice,
February 21st, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Louise Cooper | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Resenting the Hero by Moira J. Moore
Sometimes, a fantasy story comes along that simply isn’t meant to be taken seriously. This is one of them.
Not to say that that’s a bad thing. On the contrary, it’s wonderful. Resenting the Hero happily mocks a number of fantasy standards, yet manages to avoid completely sacrificing its own story to do so. The plot is not mindblowing or anything, far from it, but it is well suited to the humorous type of story that Resenting the Hero is.
February 8th, 2008. Beth Johnson Sonderby (guest)´s rating: 5 | Moira J. Moore | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Witch Week by Diana Wynne Jones
So says the note that Mr Crossley finds hidden between the exercise books in class 2Y. In any other world, this would be seen as a harmless joke, but at Larwood House for witch orphans, in a world run by Inquisitors and where witch-burnings still take place, such things are taken deadly seriously. Who is the witch? Chubby Nan Pilgrim, named after the most famous Arch-Witch? Sullen Charles Morgan, who holds a sympathetic view toward witches? Or weird Brian Wentworth, who behaviour gets stranger by the day?
February 7th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Diana Wynne Jones | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Beyond the Summerland by L.B. Graham
Beyond the Summerland is a magnificent work — an adventure story that is compelling, fast-paced, and full of deep and rich characters. Deep in scope, filled with intimate duels and the clash of armies, it is a work that still maintains a sense of what man is and how his choices lead either to ruin or rejoicing. The race to an exciting and surprising conclusion will leave you hungering for more.
The story is seen primarily through the eyes of Joraiem,
February 5th, 2008. John Ottinger (guest)´s rating: 5 | L.B. Graham | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A Gathering of Gargoyles by Meredith Ann Pierce
A Gathering of Gargoyles is the second of Meredith Ann Pierce‘s Darkangel trilogy, beginning with The Dark Angel and culminating in The Pearl of the Soul of the World, which together create one of the most beautifully crafted and presented stories that I have ever come across. As told in The Darkangel, the story is of Aerial, a simple slave in a wealthy household whose mistress Eoduin was captured by one of the dreaded winged vampyres,
February 5th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Meredith Ann Pierce | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
THE RIDDLE-MASTER TRILOGY by Patricia McKillip
Your Eyes are Full of the Sun…
My entirely subjective opinion of “epic fantasy” is that it is tedious, predictable and just plain boring most of the time. The same line-up of stock characters go on the same quest to save a land that is permanently stuck in the Middle-Ages. On the way they meet the same supporting characters (gruff dwarf, regal elf, mysterious wizard), collect the same treasures, get in the same tavern brawls, are betrayed by the same turncoats,
February 1st, 2008. Rebecca Fisher, Kat Hooper and Ruth Arnell´s rating: 5 | Patricia McKillip | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones
Diana Wynne Jones’s novels, Charmed Life is possibly her most famous, and her most read. It is the first published of her Chrestomanci novels, and it stars many of her most famous characters with her requisite twisting plot and quirky sense of humour. Set in a parallel world ripe with magic, wizards and magical creatures, DWJ’s Chrestomanci quartet were clearly inspirational to J.K. Rowling in her creation of Hogwarts and her wizarding world — a lot of comparisons can be made between the two.
February 1st, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Diana Wynne Jones | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
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