Fantasy Literature for Children ages 9-12.
The High King by Lloyd Alexander
The High King is the fifth and last book in the truly wonderful Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander, preceded by The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, and Taran Wanderer, all of which are necessary reading if you want to fully understand and enjoy this last installment. The High King,
August 15th, 2007. Rebecca Fisher and Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | Lloyd Alexander | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Hobbit is just good clean fun, delightful for children and adults. If you’ve read LOTR and wondered how Bilbo got the ring, here’s the story. I enjoyed Tolkien’s omniscient narrator style in this book — somewhat like Thackeray’s Vanity Fair, and more recently Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell — which I suppose he adopted because he was writing for children. I think it’s charming.
I highly recommend the audiobook,
August 14th, 2007. Kat Hooper´s rating: 5 | J.R.R. Tolkien | Audio, Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Be a Player, Not a Pawn.
Garth Nix’s Mister Monday begins a brand new children’s fantasy epic: The Keys to the Kingdom. This Australian author is fast-becoming one of the biggest names in fantasy with his reinvention of the genre and his intricate, fascinating plots. Unlike other such authors, who place their heroes in a medieval realm of magical swords, horse-back riding and dragons, Nix follows the example of writers such as Philip Pullman,
August 14th, 2007. Rebecca Fisher and Ruth Arnell´s rating: 4, 5 | Garth Nix | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The River at Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston
As the third book in Lucy Boston’s Green Knowe series, readers who are moving through the books chronologically may be a bit surprised at the extreme change of formula in the story that dictated the two previous books. There is no Tolly or Grandmother Oldknow and their discoveries of past inhabitants of the house, but rather two elderly women who rent the house and send away for a niece and two children from “the Society for the Promotion of Summer Holidays for Displaced Children.”
August 10th, 2007. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Lucy M. Boston | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
At the end of The Subtle Knife, things were dire. Lyra had been kidnapped by her mother Mrs Coulter, whilst Will was left in the company of two angels with the subtle knife (which can create windows between worlds) and the altheiometer (that communicates with the mystery substance known as ‘Dust’). Refusing to accompany them to Lord Asriel, who is on the verge of war with Heaven itself, Will enlists the angels help in tracking down Lyra, and is soon joined by Iorek Byrnison,
August 5th, 2007. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Philip Pullman | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
The Looking Glass Wars, somewhat a reimagining of Alice In Wonderland, has its moments but is generally weak throughout. It’s a “multi-platform” concept, which means along with the requisite trilogy (Seeing Redd is out currently as book two), there are graphic novels and a planned movie and video game. What does all this mean?
Perhaps a wonderfully immersive experience in the world if one buys all the stuff.
July 31st, 2007. Bill Capossere´s rating: 1.5 | Frank Beddor | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
I have to admit that I’ve found Cornelia Funke’s works for the most part to be wonderful concepts whose execution never quite matched their potential. Dragonrider I thought was her most successful work so far, mostly because it didn’t reach quite so high. With Inkspell, however, Funke has finally meshed concept and execution together perfectly, creating her best piece of work so far.
Inkspell picks up about a year after the events of Inkheart,
July 30th, 2007. Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | Cornelia Funke | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
How does one review this book? Everyone knows about it, everyone has an opinion on it and not everybody likes it. Any discussion on the matter seems somewhat redundant. Deemed controversial because of its religious connotations, adored by millions of readers young and old, the subject of hundreds of different interpretations and now the focus of a blockbuster movie (with sequels still to come), it doesn’t seem the “Lion, Witch and Wardrobe” debate will end any time soon.
The four Pevensie siblings are evacuated to the country estate of Professor Kirke during World War II: responsible Peter,
July 29th, 2007. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | C.S. Lewis | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The premise of Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart, that some have the ability to call out characters from books by reading aloud, is absolutely wonderful. At first, of course, one thinks how great to have such a talent — to call out Bilbo or Willy Wonka or Aladdin, but what if you couldn’t then return them to their homes — how tragic and cruel for them. Or even worse, what if you couldn’t control your talent, so reading aloud Lord of the Rings might mean you’d get to talk to a hobbit or an elf,
July 25th, 2007. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Cornelia Funke | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
There’s good news, middling news, and bad news in the final Harry Potter installment, a book that replicates in many ways the unevenness of the series as a whole. First the good news. The main character, which has always been the book’s strength, continues in that vein through most of the book. Harry’s oh-so-realistic ongoing grief at his parents’ deaths, his sometimes-bends-but-never-breaks bond with Hermione and Ron, his coming-of-age process through idol-worship then respect then disillusionment then adult understanding with Dumbledore,
July 21st, 2007. Bill Capossere and Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | J.K. Rowling | Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.