The Fablehaven Series by Brandon Mull
Fablehaven
Rise of the Evening Star
Grip of the Shadow Plague
I have read the first two book so far and absolutely love these books. If you need a fantasy fix you should definitely check these out.
Kendra and Seth are just a normal sister and brother until their first visit to their grandparents’ estate. Their grandparents have always been aloof and mysterious. They hardly visit and when they do it is only one or the other but never both. When they arrive at the estate only Grandpa Sorenson is there to greet them, and lays out bizarre rules they have to abide by. They are given a chicken, to care for, forced to sleep in the attic, and not allowed to venture onto the grounds of the estate. Kendra is given however three small keys as part of a riddle. The riddle leads her to a seemingly empty journal, but she finds a small inscription towards the back, “Drink the Milk.”
Once she and her brother drink the milk, their eyes are opened to the reality of the estate - it is a giant preserve for mythical and magical creatures, Fablehaven. The butterflies they have been seeing are actually fairies. Seth inadvertently offends the fairies when he captures one and starts a chain reaction that turns their first visit to their grandparents into an adventure of life and death proportions. Soon a demon is loosed and is about to tear Fablehaven asunder. It is up to Kendra and Seth to save the preserve and find out about Evening Star, a shadowy organization who is really behind all the mischief in Fablehaven. The second and third books continue the children’s exploits at Fablehaven as they fight to stand against the overwhelming forces of the Evening Star.
This series is incredibly well written and highly enjoyable. After reading the first volume I had to pick up the second right away. I would have read the third by now but it was checked out. This series is enjoyable for all ages. Anyone who likes magic, fairies, ogres, satyrs, witches, and demons will love this series as much as I do.
September 20th, 2008
Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Two stars
Imagine putting a completely inexperienced rider on a spirited stallion and sending them on a journey with no means of escape; If for some miracle, the rider doesn’t fall and kill themselves after three steps, you could guess the tug of war that would ensue between rider and horse. That’s what happened to this author, who seemed to have created the characters with some ideas of what who they would be, but finds to late they have a mind of their own, and them tries to pull them back, she slips, they are someone wholly different, to pull them back … this tug-of-war ended in a prince a inch from schizophrenia, and several one dimensional characters who seem unnecessary.
Anyway, I think the intended story is one of a old fashioned, but slightly modern day, princess who is revoking the typical Cinderella story with a unusual princess, a mystery and a love story with real love.
Reality check: There are hundreds of stories with mostly the same plot and moral. But anyway this is the story. When Ben’s (Princess Benevolence) mother is killed, father disappears and uncle (who is the king) dies, you don’t really feel it at all. You don’t even KNOW these people and now the author is expecting you to be crushed?! but I digress. Then the queen (Ben’s aunt), Sophia, has Ben come and live in the castle because she herself has never produced a heir and so Ben will be queen when she comes of age. So she take her to the castle and tries to train her to be a queen. Ben doesn’t like it so the queen gives her a bedroom at the top of the tallest tower where Ben finds a secret entrance to a wizards room and starts learning magic.
All in all, I would not say this is a good story, but I think a eleven-year-old just finding the world outside the juvenile section would really think it was good.
At least until she find the two hundred other princess stories next to it.
September 20th, 2008
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
Five stars
This was a very good book. It has a developed plot, strong characters, and unforeseen turns.
Princess Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee was born Crown Princess of Kildenree and did not open her eyes for three days. As the first child and heir, her mother, the queen, waited and paced to have her child see the world for the first time, worried more about the future of Kildenree then the health of her daughter. When the Queen fell asleep on the third day the nurse-mary, who was the queen’s sister, took the babe and sang her eyes open.
As Ani grew older she spent almost all her time with her odd aunt. far more time them she spent with her mother or her father. During these years, her aunt started to teach her to talk to animals as she could. But Ani could only talk to birds. When Ani was five years old her Aunt left, and Ani’s next nurse-mary was sour and cold. When trying to get her to take Ani to the pond she told her that she could take to the Swans there, something her aunt had told her never to do. The nurse was horrified and told the Queen, who said that Anidori could never go there again and that she should give herself over to her training as the future Queen and forget talking to birds.
Ani’s spend two years this was until she tried to run away at seven. She find her way out of the Palace, and too the pond, but falls asleep there with the swans. In the morning one of the guards find her. By that time she has a terrible fever and is sick for three weeks. After that she is treated as though she would break.
Skip to when Ani is fifteen, out riding her horse, who she can talk to, since she was with him at birth when he said his name, as only horses can, Falada, and her father tries to jump a fence too high for him and falls. For three days he is unconscious. On the third day he opens his eyes, smiles at his third child, Napralina-Victery, and dies.
Ani is very crushed by the death of her father, and doesn’t feel better when, at the burial, her mother says that her son and second child, Calib-Loncris, is going to be her heir. Ani is confused and hurt, since the first born is always heir. after the six week mourning time she goes to her mother to ask why she is not heir. Her mother tells her she arranged a marriage for her the neighboring county Bayern, and that, since she turned sixteen over the mourning time, she would be leaving very soon.
On the road to Bayern, she find that her Lady-in-waiting, Selia, is plotting to kill her and go in her place as the Princess Anidori. About week later, she is attacked and runs away with Falada, but falls off him after hour of riding fast to get away.
Ani walks on foot until she reaches a small house at the side of the forest with a fever. And faints in the carrot patch. After this she has to hide her light hair and pretend to be someone else, until she can tell the king of Bayern who she really is. And somehow finds herself the goose girl.
This book made me think someone was something, made me think he wasn’t, and then when I thought it couldn’t happen, tell me he was. All in all a very good book.
August 29th, 2008
Magyk by Angie Sage
4 Stars
Septimus Heap is the seventh son of a seventh son, but is stolen away by the midwife who calls him dead.
On the same night Septimus’s father finds a baby girl with violet eyes in the snow. He takes the baby with him, but when he gets inside the gate a fellow wizard (did I forget to say that?), Marcia, tells him to raise the child as his own and never tell anyone otherwise.
When he home, planning to tell his wife this odd warning he got, he finds his distraught wife trying to fallow the midwife as she takes baby Septimus away. Not knowing what else to do, they raise the girl-child they named Jenna telling her she is their daughter.
Then, a few months later, they find out their ruler, the Queen, has died. And it seemed she died months ago, on the very night she had her heir, a baby daughter. And the ExtraOrdinary Wizard is dead too, and Marcia is the ExtraOrdinary Wizard. And only her and nine Heaps know where the Queenling is.
They will find Jenna. And only one powerful Wizard, two not-so-powerful wizards pretending to be her parents and six wizard-to-be boys, are in the way.
This is a good book, not as good as Harry Potter (if there is anything better then Harry Potter) but better then some. All-in-all a good book, good enough that I will read the next one.
August 26th, 2008
Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing With Fire by Derek Landy
If one more person’s head gets squashed like a grape this book would be even that much better. I really cannot explain how much I enjoyed this Playing With Fire. I like this one a lot better than the first one. It has more of everything, more action, more villains, more magic, more gore, and more humor. In this case more is definitely the merrier.
Skulduggery and Valkyrie find themselves facing off against Baron Vengeous, an acolyte of the Faceless Ones, and is all set to let loose the Grotesquery on the world. The Grotesquery is a Frankenstein’s monster-like creation, except it is made up of many different magical creatures, all of which are extremely lethal. And if the Grotesquery is resurrected then it will call out to the Faceless Ones who will then return and destroy the world.
Like I mentioned before the adrenaline is jacked up a few notches for this sequel. Fans of magic and horror will love this book. It is a pretty intense book, with a high body count and a good amount of gore. I really can’t wait for the third book. This is now my favorite series by far. This book is appropriate for anyone in sixth grade and up, if they don’t mind the blood and guts.
July 18th, 2008
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
Wow. I really enjoyed this book. Like, it’s-my-new-favorite-thing enjoyed this book. If you liked the action in Harry Potter but wanted more of it with more wit, then this is the book for you.
The novel follows a young woman named Stephanie. Her uncle, a famous horror writer, just died and the family gathers to listen to his will. There she meets Skulduggery Pleasant for the first time. He is a mysterious man, most likely because he is hidden from head to toe behind a long coat, gloves, scarf, sunglasses, wig, and a hat. Stephanie is immediately drawn to him because she is not like the rest of her family. They are only interested in what they will get from her Uncle’s will. No one really cares about his death, or how he died. They just really want his stuff. To Stephanie’s surprise she is the one who receives the majority of his estate. She even gets her Uncle’s house, which Stephanie and her mother soon set out to explore. Once they get there their car breaks down. After some pleading with her mom, Stephanie is left alone at the house while her mother rides with the tow truck to the mechanic. Stephanie putters around the house, reading her Uncle’s unfinished novel, until she starts getting harassing phone calls. The voice on the line wants a key. Stephanie hangs up. And that is about when the man on the phone bursts through the window and attacks her. And then the door explodes, revealing Skulduggery Pleasant. In the melee Skulduggery’s attire comes loose and Stephanie realizes that Skulduggery is actually a living, walking skeleton. Afraid for her life, stuck between a skeleton and an attacker, Stephanie sets out on an adventure to find out why her uncle died… That is if she survives.
Did I mention I loved this book? It has tons of action and is actually really funny. Skulduggery has that dry James Bond understated humor down pat. The novel also combines fantasy and horror extremely well. It also references the monsters and the tone of H.P. Lovecraft. Between the magic, the humor, and the creeps, it is a perfect combination. Highly recommended. It’s appropriate for 6th grade on up, although it is a bit more intense then Harry Potter.
I’d like to note that I read the book by listening to the audiobook. It is a wonderful adaptation that rivals the quality of the Harry Potter audiobooks. It is an excellent read and an excellent listen. Enjoy!
And it’s sequel is already out! Hooray for me! 
July 9th, 2008
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
This book deserves 4 stars
This book is a sort of retelling of Alice in Wonderland that says Alyss Heart is the heir to the throne of Wonderland. Her evil aunt Redd killed her parents and took the throne for herself. Alyss escaped to our world, but she has to return now to reclaim her rightful throne as Queen of Hearts.
June 18th, 2008
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