Previous SFF Author: John Wyndham
Fantasy Literature for Young Adults (over the age of 12).
Night Flights (2018) by Philip Reeve is a collection of three short stories set in the world of the MORTAL ENGINES QUARTET (also known as the HUNGRY CITY CHRONICLES), and focuses on the character of Anna Fang, a fearless aviatrix. Its timing seemed to be connected to the release of Peter Jackson’s filmic adaptation of Mortal Engines, the first book in the series, and Reeve’s touching dedication at the front of the book confirmed this.
November 25th, 2019. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4.5 | Philip Reeve | Short Fiction, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black
Holly Black’s FOLK OF THE AIR series just gets better and better. This final novel, The Queen of Nothing (2019) is a thrilling conclusion. You need to read the first two books, The Cruel Prince and The Wicked King, first. There will be spoilers here for those books. You may also want to read The Lost Sisters,
November 19th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Holly Black | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Nora Walker is all alone in the world. Her whole family are rumored to be witches, which sets her apart from other kids her age. Her grandmother is dead, and her mother is something of an absentee parent. And now that winter has set in at Jackjaw Lake, all the tourists are gone, leaving behind only Nora in her cottage and the residents of the nearby camp for delinquent boys. Nora’s isolation increases still further when a storm drops four feet of snow on the area, cutting off the roads and knocking out the phone lines.
November 5th, 2019. Kelly Lasiter and Jana Nyman´s rating: 3 | Shea Ernshaw | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Lost and Found by Orson Scott Card
Fourteen-year-old Ezekiel has a special power. Not a superpower; though, just a small power: he’s drawn to lost items — hair scrunchies, toys, and even bikes — combined with the innate knowledge of who the owners are and where to go to return the items, and a strong compulsion to return them. Unfortunately, this hasn’t worked out so well for Ezekiel: everyone thinks he stole the things and returned them for the attention or a reward. He’s got quite a file with the police by the time he’s a teenager,
November 5th, 2019. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4 | Orson Scott Card | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Naondel by Maria Turtschaninoff
Naondel (2016) is the second book in Maria Turtschaninoff’s RED ABBEY CHRONICLES series, but it’s not a sequel; it’s a prequel. Set many years before the events of Maresi, Naondel tells the story of the women who, fleeing their own oppression, founded the Red Abbey as a sanctuary for themselves and others. It is set in what seems to be an amalgam of several Asian cultures,
November 1st, 2019. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | Maria Turtschaninoff | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Red Magician by Lisa Goldstein
Winner of the National Book Award, Lisa Goldstein’s The Red Magician (1982) is such an unusual fantasy novel. I read it because Tantor Audio has just released the first audio edition of the book.
As the story begins, a young girl named Kisci is growing up in a small, isolated Jewish community in Eastern Europe. Her family’s rabbi is visiting Kisci’s home and expressing his displeasure at the way Kisci’s school is teaching Hebrew as if it were a common language.
October 25th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Lisa Goldstein | Audio, Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
In Night Flower, Kiya and Esladas met and fell in love, beginning a journey that would, eventually, shake the city of Saryenia to its very foundation. In Court of Fives, their daughter Jessamy got her heart’s desire, the chance to train as a Court of Fives runner, at the cost of her family’s safety. In Poisoned Blade, Jes did everything she could to reunite her loved ones while rooting out royal corruption,
October 15th, 2019. Jana Nyman and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4.5 | Kate Elliott | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
Bid My Soul Farewell by Beth Revis
Bid My Soul Farewell (2019) is the sequel to Beth Revis’ novel Give the Dark My Love. You need to read Give the Dark My Love first. There will be some spoilers for that novel here.
When we left Nedra and Grey in Give the Dark My Love, they had uncovered the treachery in their government and exterminated the culprit.
October 11th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2 | Beth Revis | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Give the Dark My Love by Beth Revis
Nedra Brysstain is a new scholarship student at the Yugen academy in her country’s capital city. She comes from one of the rural villages in the north that have been suffering from the plague. She plans to study medicinal alchemy so she can learn how to heal people who’ve been infected with the plague.
Though most of the school’s wealthy students either ignore or attempt to ostracize Nedra, her talents and kind heart win her two important allies. One is the professor who takes her under his wing after he recognizes her potential.
October 9th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Beth Revis | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce
Tamora Pierce takes the best elements of the three preceding SONG OF THE LIONESS books and polishes them to a fine sheen in Lioness Rampant, the final book of the quartet. She manages to pack swords-and-sorcery, a quest narrative, kind-hearted nobles and charming scoundrels, dastardly villains, truly affecting emotional arcs, and Alanna’s never-ending journey of self-discovery into a single volume without it feeling over-stuffed or slowing the narrative. Pierce’s skills as a writer were visibly improving as she worked on this series,
October 4th, 2019. Jana Nyman and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4, 4.5 | Tamora Pierce | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Previous SFF Author: John Wyndham
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Susan, glad you enjoyed. Samuel Jackson should absolutely play him in the movie!