Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

Title: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

Author: Grace Lin

Pages: 282

Genre: Children's Fiction, Fantasy

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Minli is a young girl living with her parents in the shadows of Fruitless Mountain.  All day long she toils in the fields and at night she listens to the stories that her father tells of dragons, pearls, destiny and the Old Man of the Moon. Eventually Minli determines that the only way that her families fortune can improve is if she asks the Old Man of the Moon herself. She sneaks away from her family's small house on a journey to improve their fortune.

My Review: I was surprised, but I ended up really enjoying this book.  Minli's story is interspersed with all sorts of old Chinese fables and eventually everything ties together nicely at the end.

The Princess Bride

Title: The Princess Bride

Author: William Goldman

Pages: 398

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: B

Synopsis: Most everyone knows this story at least a little bit.  The most beautiful girl in the world marries the most handsomest prince in the world, but things don't entirely go as planned.  Because the girl's true love is the man in black who will stop at nothing to get her back.  Fencing, fighting, chasing, hate, battles of wits, feats of strength, quicksand, torture, murder and love. The book has it all.

My Review: I only vaguely remember the movie, but as I read the book I was able to recall some of the different parts of the movie that terrified me when I was younger. Generally, I liked the book. What I didn't really love was the whole charade about how the author William Goldman has reconstructed the S. Morgenstern classic book, but removed all of the boring parts. I think that attempt is much better recreated in the movie than the book.  But now I need to go re-watch the rest of the movie.

A Wrinkle in Time

Title: A Wrinkle in Time

Author: Madeleine L'Engle

Pages: 211

Genre: Fantasy, Newbery Award

Grade: B

Synopsis: The unique young boy Charles Wallace and his older sister Meg are surprised by the arrival of some strange visitors on a stormy night.  Their father had been missing for years when researching alternate dimensions and tessaracts. When Meg, Charles Wallace and their friend Calvin have an opportunity to help locate Meg & Charles' father, they jump at the chance.

My Review: I'm certain that I read this book when I was younger, although I do not remember it.  I can handle and enjoy some science fiction, but this book was too strange for me.  Tesseracts and time travel, ok. Pulsing brains and talking and shape changing stars must be a bit too far (although, I did enjoy Dune and that was also a strange one). Ada likes the book and wants to read more in the series.  I'll go ahead and pass.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Title: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Author: Susanna Clarke

Pages: 1006

Genre: Fiction/Fantasy

Grade: B

Synopsis: The book is set in the early 1800s.  Magic has all but disappeared from England, with the exception of one magician in Yorkshire.  He has amassed a huge collection of old manuscripts on magic and has been studying them for years before he is discovered doing magic after raising a woman from the dead in London.  All is peachy until word begins to spread that there is another magician making a name for himself.  The second magician, Jonathan Strange is the polar opposite of Mr Norrell, but they are still attracted to each other and Mr Norrell agrees to take on Jonathan Strange as a pupil.

My Review: This book was just ok for me.  It's quite a long book.  I'm not a die hard fantasy fan and this book just never grabbed me.

The Graveyard Book

Title: The Graveyard Book

Author: Neil Gaiman

Pages: 312

Genre: Fantasy, Newbery Award

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Nobody Owens (who goes by Bod) has grown up in a graveyard.  After his family is killed when he is an infant he is raised by a guardian, who is neither living or dead, and by the ghosts in the graveyard. In the graveyard Bod is protected, but if he leaves the graveyard he will come under attack from the Man Jack.

My Review: It took me a little bit to get into this book, but once I did I really enjoyed it.  It's a book geared toward a younger crowd, hence the well-deserved Newbery Award.

Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo

Title: Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo

Author: Obert Skye

Pages: 368

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: B-

Synopsis: Leven Thumps is a fourteen-year-old boy living a dismal life in Burnt Culvert, Oklahoma.  Nothing ever seems to go right for Leven, that is until he meets his little sidekick Clover, a friend Winter, and Geth, who is a toothpick for most of the book.

My Review: This book was a little too strange for my liking.  The story was ok, and it was enjoyable, but I always felt like things were too contrived and that they author was trying too hard to come up with a fantastical story.  There was too much of the ridiculous in this one.

Fablehaven Series

Title: Fablehaven Series

Author: Brandon Mull

Books: 5

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Read my synopses of all 5 books here.

My Review: I just finished reading this series to Ada last night, and she just loved it.  Kate would show some interest off and on, but generally did not listen to me read. I think the books were just a bit above her level.  This is one of those series that we were both sad to be done with.  Luckily for us both, I'm going to start reading Harry Potter to the girls next. Hopefully Kate will find them enjoyable.

Title: The Amber Spyglass - His Dark Materials - Book III

Author: Philip Pullman

Pages: 465

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: A-

Synopsis: This is the third and final book in the His Dark Materials series.  Lyra and Will are continuing on their journey to the land of the dead, where no living soul has ever ventured.  Dr. Mary Malone is in another world with creatures that rely on the trees near their villages, but they have been dying for the last 300 years or so.  Finally, Lord Asriel continues to fight against the Almighty with his armies from many worlds, including battalions of angels.

My Review: Once again I really enjoyed the book.  The story with Will and Lyra is very easy to follow.  I wish that I was better able to understand the allegory and symbolism in the book and I am certain that I failed to understand the adult level themes in the book, so I would like to read them again in the future with a more open mind. 

The Subtle Knife

Title: The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials #2)

Author: Philip Pullman

Pages: 288

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Lyra has entered into an abandoned city in a parallel world where she meets a young boy, Will, from our world.  They are in Cittagazze, where children run wild and the adults are non-existent.  There is a tower in this city that houses a knife with the ability to cut openings into the parallel worlds.  Lyra and Will's destinies become intertwined when Lyra's alethiometer instructs her to help Will find his father. 

My Review: This book continues the quest and narrative from the first book with a few added dimensions, twists and turns, including visits to our own parallel world.  A battle is brewing between Lord Asriel and his innumerable armies and the strongest angels in the universe. Lyra must determine whose side she is on as the war moves closer.

The Golden Compass

Title: The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials - Book 1)

Author: Philip Pullman

Pages: 351

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Lyra Belacqua is an orphan living at Jordan College in Oxford, England.  Lyra's Oxford is not like our own.  Everybody has a daemon in animal form, which is analogous to our souls.  Lyra spends her days racing along the roofs of the college, playing in the mud with her dear friend Roger and wreaking havoc wherever she can.  This continues until she spies an attempt to poison her uncle, which sets things in motion that leads her on a journey to save children who are being abducted and taken somewhere to the north.

My Review: I've read this book once before, but I wanted to re-read it before I got into the rest of the His Dark Materials Trilogy (Original review).  I really enjoy the story and was excited to find the full trilogy for cheap at the DI.  Lyra is a precocious pre-teen with a big heart and who is not afraid of big ideas. 

Calling on Dragons

Title: Calling on Dragons - Book three of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles

Author: Patricia C. Wrede

Pages: 5 discs

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: B-

Synopsis: The wicked wizards are again trying to take over the enchanted forest.  This leads Cimorene and her friends on a quest to find the king's magic sword. 

My Review:  Great book for kids, but for me the dialog in this book was especially annoying.  The book ends with a big cliffhanger though, so I'll have to track down the 4th book of the series and find out how everything ends.

Searching for Dragons

Title: Searching for Dragons - Book Two of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles

Author: Patricia C. Wrede

Pages: 4 discs

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: B

Synopsis: Mendanbar is the king of the Enchanted Forest.  He finds an area of his forest that has been burned to ashes and the only clues of what has happened are 5 enchanted dragon scales.  Mendanbar embarks with the Princess Cimorene (who's official title is chief cook and librarian to the dragon king) on a quest to locate the lost dragon king.

My Review: Just like the first book of the series, I enjoyed listening to this book in my car.  The audio cd is read by a full cast of characters and is a great production.  I'm still thinking that Ada would love listening to this series in a year or two.

Dealing with Dragons

Title: Dealing with Dragons

Author: Patricia C. Wrede

Pages: 4 discs

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: B

Synopsis: Cimorene is a unique princess.  She is smart, headstrong and interested in boy things.  Every time that she tries to learn a new skill, shooting, magic, etc. her parents forbid her because "it's not what princesses do."  Her boredom gets that best of her and she takes matters into her own hands and runs away to live as a princess to a dragon.

My Review: I found out that I had to drive to Cedar City when the CD player in my car had been recently stolen, but I was able to throw this book onto my MP3 player and listen to it on the drive.  It was a fun story, one that I'll have Ada listen to in a year or two.

Inheritance

Title: Inheritance

Author: Christopher Paolini

Pages: 860

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: A-

Synopsis: The time has come for Eragon Shadeslayer, the elf Arya Shadeslayer, the Varden, the Dwarfs, the Urgals and the Surdans to fight Galbatorix.  While they know they only have the slimmest bit of hope for success, they must sacrifice for the sake of Alagaesia.

My Review: This was a very satisfying conclusion to the Inheritance Series.  There were enough unexpected twists and turns that I never felt like I knew what was going to happen.  The writing quality seemed better than any of the other books (as it should be since Paolini is quite a bit older than he was when Eragon was first published).

The Looking Glass Wars

Title: The Looking Glass Wars

Author: Frank Beddor

Pages: 9 discs?

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Alyss Hart is a princess in wonderland.  After her aunt Redd attacks the queen and Alyss in the castle, Alyss finds herself in the world that we live in where she relays her tales to Lewis Carroll who publishes them in a book, "Alice in Wonderland."  The Mad Hatter (who is actually an innovative bodyguard) is searching high and low for Princess Alyss in our world, to help her return and fight for Wonderland.

My Review:  I struggled with the first couple discs of this book, because I had no idea what was going on.  Once I got my mind wrapped around the story, I started to really enjoy it.  The story is very clever and a believable twist on the original Alice in Wonderland tales. Apparently this book is the first in a trilogy that has since been completed.

Ella Enchanted

Title: Ella Enchanted

Author: Gail Carson Levine

Pages: 232

Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tale

Grade: B+

Synopsis: This book is a new look at one of the world's oldest fairy tales. Young Ella is happy as a lark until her father ends up marrying a mean step-mother with two daughters after her mother's death.

My Review: First off, I didn't realize that this book was taken from one of the most popular fairy tales until after I had finished the book. The Newbery Honor book was a fun, quick read in just a couple of hours.

Keys to the Demon Prison

Title: Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison

Author: Brandon Mull

Pages: 593

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: A-

Synopsis: This is the fifth and final book of the Fablehaven series. The Sphinx is on the verge of obtaining all five of the magical artifacts necessary to open the demon prison Zzyzx, which houses most of the most dangerous servants of darkness and evil, including the demon king Gorgrog. It is once again up to Kendra, Seth and the Knights of the Dawn to unite all creatures of light in order to defeat those who want the demon prison opened.

My Review: I'll be honest, I really like the Fablehaven series. It was a little juvenile, but I thought the series was well-written and unique. Although this book was almost 600 pages, I felt that the author was rushing through much of the story in order to squeeze everything that he wanted into the single book.

The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King

Title: The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King

Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

Pages: 16 discs

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Frodo and Sam continue on their trek into Mordor to try and destroy the ring at Mount Doom. At the same time, the remaining members of the fellowship are fighting battles for Rohan and Gondor. Gandalf the White hatches a plan to divert Sauron's eye to them so that he will not be aware of Frodo and the ring's presence in his own backyard.

My Review: The Lord of the Rings is truly an epic story. As you read this series, there are so many stories that could have been told about everything in middle earth, which allows your imagination to fill in the blanks. My only complaint is that the climax of the story happens just over halfway through the book, but the benefit of this is that the completion of the story is very satisfying as most loose ends have been wrapped up.

The Two Towers

Title: The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers

Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

Pages: 17 discs

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: B+

Synopsis: The fellowship has broken up with Frodo and Sam sneaking off on their own to try and destroy the Ring in Mordor at Mount Doom. Pippin and Meriadoc have been abducted by Orcs who are taking them to Saruman at Isengard. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are carefully tracking their trail in an attempt to save them.

My Review: Once again I enjoyed being immersed in Middle Earth as I followed along Frodo and the others adventures. There were a couple of parts of the book that got a bit long-winded, but the story is still engrossing and enjoyable. I'm looking forward to the conclusion.

The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring

Title: The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring

Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

Pages: 18 discs

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Bilbo Baggins is preparing to celebrate his eleventy-first birthday in the Shire. All of the Hobbits are excited for the eccentric Hobbit's birthday celebration. At the end of the party, Bilbo mysteriously disappears by putting on a ring that he found in his journeys long before. He gives the ring to his heir Frodo Baggins and the wizard Gandalf tells Frodo that the ring is the ring of power that was created long ago by Sauron for evil purposes. Frodo and three other Hobbits end up traveling to Rivendell to council with the elves and on the way they are pursued by the evil black riders. In Rivendell a fellowship of an elf, two men, a wizard, a dwarf, and the four Hobbits head out on a journey to destroy the ring.

My Review: I've read these books once before and I thought that the time was ripe to read them again (this time by listening to them...). I really like the series and I've especially enjoyed listening to them because the reader has actually been singing all of the songs and poems that can be so long and boring when reading the book. The depth of the world that Tolkien has created amazes me.