Novel Ideas: Fantasy/Novel Ideas: Science Fiction, edited by Brian Thomsen (DAW, 2006)

These two books are best looked at as a pair, since they look at the two sides of the same coin. Every so often, it seems, a story or novella comes along which is just so good, so powerful, or … Continue reading

Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide To The Fantastical World Around You, by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi (Simon and Schuster, 2005)

This is the long-awaited capstone to the bestselling, highly popular Spiderwick Chronicles, and is actually a replica of the book which carries much of the story’s plot. In the books, the three Grace children find their uncle’s Field Guide to … Continue reading

Eldest, by Christopher Paolini (Alfred A. Knopf, 2005)

No sooner has one battle ended for young hunter-turned-reluctant hero Eragon and his dragon Saphira, than another begins. For the world has become an ever more dangerous place, filled with uncertainty and potential betrayal around every corner. The Empire now … Continue reading

Spirits That Walk In Shadow, by Nina Kiriki Hoffman (Viking, 2006)

For those who attend college, freshman year is perhaps the strangest, most trying period of their time there. Away from home for an extended period of time, with ready access to drugs, alcohol, and the opposite sex, exposed to all … Continue reading