Fantasy Literature for Children ages 9-12.
Robin Hood is one of the generally excellent series of MYTHS AND LEGENDS by Osprey Publishing, this one written by Neil Smith. It follows the same general format as the others, with a brief intro, retellings of the stories, examination of historical background to the stories and the setting, a brief look at the legend in modern multi-media retellings, all while interspersing throughout some sidebars to fill in some non-essential but often quite helpful and interesting information.
March 18th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Myths-&-Legends | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Have Space Suit — Will Travel by Robert A. Heinlein
More than anything, Kip Russell wants to go to the moon, and that means he needs to go to college first — the best college he can manage to get into and pay for. So, with the encouragement of his father, who has (gleefully) pointed out the deficiencies in Kip’s public education (and complained extensively about taxes), Kip educates himself and works hard to earn money. When he enters a slogan contest for a national soap company, he hopes to win the money he needs for tuition,
March 13th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Robert A. Heinlein | Audio, Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Lake of Souls by Darren Shan
In The Lake of Souls, the tenth book in Darren Shan’s CIRQUE DU FREAK series, we take a little breather after the horrid events at the end of the previous novel, Killers of the Dawn. Darren has just lost someone who’s really important to him and he’s grieving. So, when Mr. Tiny shows up and tells Harkat it’s time to find out who Harkat really is, Darren wants to go with him. They embark on a quest where they cross weird landscapes,
March 7th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Darren Shan | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Killers of the Dawn by Darren Shan
Killers of the Dawn, the ninth of Darren Shan’s CIRQUE DU FREAK books, continues right where Allies of the Night left off. The vampaneze have taken Debbie hostage in the tunnels under the city, but they’ve let Darren, Mr. Crepsley, and Vancha go. After escaping, Darren and company decide (not too smartly) to go back to the apartment they’ve been staying in where they have a run-in with the police. The rest of the plot involves captures,
March 4th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Darren Shan | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Allies of the Night by Darren Shan
In Allies of the Night, the eighth book in Darren Shan’s CIRQUE DU FREAK series, Darren, Mr. Crepsley and Harkat return to Mr. Crepsley’s hometown to investigate the vampaneze activity there. This is the city we visited many years ago in the third book, Tunnels of Blood, where Darren met his first and only girlfriend, Debbie. Darren still has the body of a young teenager so when he gets to the city, he is discovered by the authorities and forced to go to school (Very Unlikely Event #1).
March 1st, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Darren Shan | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Hunters of the Dusk by Darren Shan
Hunters of the Dusk is the seventh book in Darren Shan’s CIRQUE DU FREAK series. Though Shan always does a nice job of quickly and sufficiently recapping the plot, it’d be best not to start here. Go back and begin with A Living Nightmare. And be warned that this review will contain spoilers for previous books.
It’s been six years since the events of The Vampire Prince.
February 27th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Darren Shan | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Vampire Prince by Darren Shan
Warning: This review contains spoilers for the previous books.
In the previous book, Trials of Death, author Darren Shan left us on a cliffhanger and I’m pretty sure that most readers will be running out to pick up this book, The Vampire Prince, no matter what anybody says. Still, it’s my job to say something about it, so I’ll do that.
OK, it’s no big surprise, I guess, that Darren survived the events of Trials of Death.
February 26th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Darren Shan | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Trials of Death by Darren Shan
In Vampire Mountain, the previous book of Darren Shan’s CIRQUE DU FREAK series, Darren was asked to prove himself worthy of being a vampire by surviving a series of trials. If he fails, he dies. These trials will remind many readers of the tests Harry Potter endured in The Goblet of Fire. For example, for the first trial he must escape from a maze that’s filling with water. As the tasks go on,
February 25th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Darren Shan | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Vampire Mountain by Darren Shan
It’s been six years since the events of the previous book, Tunnels of Blood. Darren and Mr. Crepsley have been travelling with the Cirque du Freak, but this is the year that the Vampire Council meets in Vampire Mountain and so it’s time for Mr. Crepsley to present Darren to the other vampires. Thus they set off on the long and perilous journey to Vampire Mountain, bringing with them two of the mysterious Little People who belong to the even more mysterious Mr.
February 22nd, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Darren Shan | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Tunnels of Blood by Darren Shan
Warning: This is the third book in the CIRQUE DU FREAK series, so this review will contain spoilers for the previous books. You don’t have to read the previous books because author Darren Shan gives a short but sufficient recap, but starting at the beginning would be ideal.
Mr. Crepsley is the only full vampire that Darren had ever met until Gavner Purl, Vampire General, shows up at the Cirque du Freak. After Purl meets with Mr. Crepsley, Darren is told that he and his mentor will be taking a little break from the freak show and going to live in a city while Crepsley takes care of some business there.
February 20th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Darren Shan | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the giallo genre! I love how the post highlights her unique…
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
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…