The Prydain Chronicles, by Lloyd Alexander
pros: classic fantasy; great characters and world; fast, easy read; there is reality and the darkness of war and evil, but has an overall upbeat and positive feeling; Gurgi; Kaw; the magic gifts at the end of The Book of Three; Taran’s banner; the final ending
cons: repetitious elements of characters habits and sayings get a little annoying; some pat situations and solutions; a little predictable; Eilonwy was headstrong and foolish; Glew
misc: The Book of Three; The Black Cauldron; The Castle of Llyr; Taran Wanderer; The High King; Assistant Pig-Keeper; Caer Dallben; Hen Wen
ISBN: various editions and an anthology
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The Demon and the City, by Liz Williams
pros: great idea; interesting characters and plot; Chinese culture and mixture with Indian pantheon; Zhu Irzh; the badger/tea pot; the guild of dowsers; Mhara; Robin Yuan; the forgotten temple; the ultimate fate of the angry dowser and his goddess
cons: very violent; the demon’s lover is just unlikable, although a bit sympathetic; too much mayhem and collateral damage; reality is very dark and ugly; what happened to the second celestial being?
misc: Singapore 3; meridians; Chi and feng shui lines; viral drugs; wealthy society vs. working and poor; earthquakes; Celestial boat; Celestials; Jade Emperor; demoted goddess; Bad Dog City; Chinese afterlife; Detective Inspector Chen; Sergeant Ma; exorcists; sorcerors; black pill; devas; Hell money
ISBN 1597800473; 256pp; pub. 2007
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Wolf Who Rules, by Wen Spencer
pros: sequel to Tinker; we learn more about Elvish society and the importance of their presence near Pittsburg; we learn a lot more about Windwolf and his household; the friction between human society and the elves; Tinker’s evolving personality; the dream elements; the dragons; the Tengu; this one is a lot more complex than Tinker; good action, believable situations and characters; Tinker’s evolving relationship with Pony and Stormsong; the political situations; the paparazzi and the elves’ reaction; Pony and Stormsong; Tinker’s reaction when watching The Wizard of Oz movie.
cons: Nathan’s fate; Esme’s role; Lain doesn’t appear very much; Tooloo’s role is in question
misc: Oni; Tengu; Riki; quantum physics; ghostland; Alice in Wonderland; Wizard of Oz; Vicereine
ISBN 1416520554; 368pp; pub. 2006
Amazon link
Cast in Secret, by Michelle Sagara
pros: the great characters; more seems to get resolved this time; Kaylin keeps growing; Severn; the Oracles; the water; the world of the Tha’alaan; the dragons; Kaylin’s dress; the Keeper; more depth to this story, the grittiness felt more believable; the flow of the story is more smooth than in previous 2
cons: Kaylin is still chronically late and apparently a slob; while there’s a hint of tension between Nightshade and Severn, the relationships with Kaylin are still murky; deliberately mysterious hints; action is still a bit choppy
ISBN 0373802803; 521pp; pub. 2007
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The Troll’s Grindstone, by Elizabeth Boyer
pros: Norse mythology; complicated situation with complicated characters; grand scale; simple and complex heroes; lots of scenery and imagery; Fridmarr and Gotiskolker; Thurid; characters have flaws; the Rhbus; the water sisters; the dogs
cons: a bit old-fashioned with the stoic hero and the beautiful, strong, tragic heroine; strong, tragic heroine only has a small part in the story, mostly as inspiration for the heroes
misc: Alfar; alar; scipling; heart of the mountain; mines; limp; Elbegast; Leifr; swords/knives, etc. not keeping an edge, crumbling; Pentacle; Sorkvir
ISBN 0345012046; pub 1989
The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss
pros: well-written; interesting characters; interesting world; Auri; Denna; Kvothe; Sim and Wil; Ben; the trials at the Arcanum are very realistic and characters are well-written
cons: a bit too wordy; not enough action; I would have preferred more information on what it’s really all about; the whole world seems to be against Kvothe; a little too deliberately mysterious
ISBN 075640407X; 896pp; pub. 2007
White Knight, by Jim Butcher
pros: Harry Dresden; Lash; Thomas’ job; the scene in Thomas’ apartment; Mouse; Ramirez; Murphy’s new gun; Justine’s new role; Harry’s guitar playing; Harry and Lara’s escape
cons: not as many jokes and humor as in past 2 books; it ended; not enough Butters
misc: Black Council; Black Hats; Cowl; ghouls; vampire courts; Skavis; Malvora; White Council; Grey cloak; Wiccans; freeholding lord; Walkers or Outsiders
favorite quips: “cult of porn-star sorceresses” and “age is always advancing and I’m fairly sure it’s up to no good”
ISBN 0451461401; 416pp; pub. 2007
Cry of Justice, by Jason Pratt
pros: thoughtful author; good ideas and situations; some very likeable characters; lots of things happening; Seifas
cons: special terms were too similar to Spanish or Latin words and felt awkward; a bit preachy or pedantic; some characters were annoying; choppy rhythm due to use of journal entries and alternating POV; too many descriptions and explanations – the story would have been shorter and the flow would have worked better with less dissertation
misc: Seifas; Jian; Portunista; philosophical; redemption; responsibility; really big birds; mysterious origin/purpose of good guy (Jian)
ISBN 0977888401; 480pp; pub. 2007
Shapechangers, by Jennifer Roberson
pros: interesting idea; female lead stands up for herself; Carillon matures; the animal lir
cons: female lead is more headstrong and stubborn than strong; reads too much like an old gothic romance; council-sanctioned rape and forcing pregnancy on captives to increase a race is disgusting and ruined the whole book and series for me
misc: Cheysuli; hawk; wolf; crofter’s daughter; half-breed; Old Ones
ISBN 0886771404; 224pp; pub. 1984
Amazon link
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling
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SPOILER WARNING!
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pros: it’s more of Harry; it’s resolution, finally; doesn’t coddle the reader – bad things happen; Snape, after all; Neville; Ron; the final resolution wasn’t exactly what I was expecting; the house elves; mobilized Hogwarts
cons: the very last part could have been left out and story would have been more powerful for me; so many deaths; the Malfoys don’t get destroyed; the wrong heroes get most of the glory; Dobby’s fate; how did Neville get the sword?
ISBN 0545010225; 2007
A Small Elderly Dragon, by Beverly Keller
pros: funny; fast-paced; humor and quirks outweigh the cliches; the “hero”; the dragon and the parrot; the twist on the Black Knight; the final resolution – all in such a short book; the Happily Ever After isn’t ideal
cons: probably hard to find; the cliches; the overlooked, unappreciated, yet extraordinary heroine was a bit overdone and was a disservice to the character; Miles; the King; what ever happened to her mother?
ISBN 0688025536; 143pp; 1984
A Night in the Lonesome October, by Roger Zelazny
pros: it’s by Zelazny; animal characters, especially Snuff, the dog; use of literary and historical characters like Sherlock Holmes, a druid, Cain, Dr. Frankenstein (I may not have recognized all of them); action; dog hero’s “rounds”; surprise with the rat; catnappery world of dreams; portrayal of story from animals’ viewpoints
cons: I didn’t care for the ending, it was both a little anticlimactic and predictable; I didn’t like that one particular character dies; Holmes was annoying; a little confusing at times (it is a Zelazny, after all); end of the world threat sort of fizzles out, doesn’t really work as driving conflict in story; a little negative about cats’ nature
ISBN 0380771411; 280 pp; pub. 1994
To Ride a Rathorn, by P.C. Hodgell
pros: part of Kencyrath, Jamethiel Priest’s-Bane series; setting and dilemmas build on previous book and some problems resolved, including rathorn problem; ghost-horse; Jame is more appreciated and liked in this novel even though she still makes enemies; Jame finds out she’s a specific type of shanir; chaos is not so seemingly random; ending
cons: chaos in her wake; more questions are raised about her role and how her brother’s stability is such an issue; collateral damage–some good, interesting characters die or don’t get rescued; burning man dilemma still seemed confusing or unresolved
ISBN 1592221025; 432 pp; pub. 2006/2001
Immortals series, by Tamora Pierce
pros: interesting, likable characters, good female lead; suitable for YA; beast talking; action-packed; lots of transformations and maturing of characters
cons: some predictability in villains and plot; a little juvenile for my taste
ISBNs: Wild Magic, 1416903437; Wolf-Speaker, 1416903445; Emperor Mage, 1416903372; The Realms of the Gods, 141690817X
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