by Brian Jacques

Redwall Adventures
1. Redwall
2. Mossflower
3. Mattimeo
4. Mariel of Redwall
5. Salamandastron
6. Martin the Warrior
7. The Bellmaker
8. Outcast of Redwall
9. The Pearls of Lutra
10. The Long Patrol
11. Marlfox (1998)
12. The Legend of Luke
13. Lord Brocktree
14. The Taggerung
15. Triss
16. Loamhedge
17. Rakkety Tam
18. High Rhulain
19. Eulalia!
20. Doomwyte

“A mouse is small and can go unnoticed: but there is no limit to what a brave heart and a fearless spirit can achieve.”

Redwall by Brian Jacques is the story of an unlikely mouse hero who saves all of the good woodland creatures from an invading horde of savage rats led by the vicious Cluny the Scourge.

Redwall begins with the introduction of Matthias, a clumsy novice mouse at Redwall Abbey, a peace-loving community dedicated to healing and helping creatures. However, Matthias longs to be a warrior like the great Martin the Warrior who is depicted on a tapestry in the great hall of the abbey. Soon, he receives his chance as a band of savage sea rats arrive in the community, bent on conquering Redwall’s fortress.

Cluny the Scourge is the leader of these rats and enacts the perfect villain, unmindful of even his own army’s needs and demanding total submission from every creature.

Matthias the mouse must embark on am epic quest to find the lost sword of Martin the Warrior. He shows himself to be a natural leader and hero for the creatures of Redwall. He is helped along in his quest by unlikely allies, who help him defeat the dreaded viper, Asmodeus, rescue prisoners of war, and return victorious to defeat the invaders - who have just captured the leaders of the Abbey.

Pretty Cornflower also notices brave Matthias’ deeds and, being a brave young lady mouse herself, she does plenty of brave deeds on her own while humbly performing the more immediate duties of serving food to the Abbey defenders.

Along his journey, Matthias grows in character and resolves disputes involving creatures of the forest. He faces down the ferocious Snow Owl and reconciles with a cultured barn cat while exacting promises from both that they not eat another mouse or shrew in the future.

So, what becomes of Matthias? What of the cryptic poem behind Martin the Warrior’s tapestry? What does ‘I am that is’ mean? And how can Redwall Abbey hold out against this monstrous horde of angry sea rats and ferrets?

I enjoyed reading Redwall – the first book of Brain Jacques in the Redwall Adventures. It was a good, traditionally epic read. While on a seeming small scale to the human reader, the countryside surrounding Redwall Abbey is a veritable world to the small creatures therein. Matthias teaches friendship, loyalty, humor, and education to readers. In addition to his daring adventures, what more can a mouse do?

“Redwall is where safety and warmth surround you. Food, friends, music and song. Redwall will always welcome you back.”

by Patrick Rothfuss

The Kingkiller Chronicle
1. The Name of the Wind
2. The Wise Man’s Fear (coming April, 2009)

Legend has it that knowing the true name of anything gives you power to make it do your bidding. Who would know better than Kvothe the Bloodless, Kvothe the Kingkiller?

In his words, “I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I have burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread on paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep. You may have heard of me…”

The Name of the Wind is the story of one man’s search for knowledge and power while enduring seemingly insurmountable hardships from the time he loses his family and troupe to wandering as a homeless boy in the hostile streets of Tarbean and nurturing his dream of attending the famed University.

Once there, he must convince the Masters to accept him as a student, even though he is years younger than students normally admitted. And this is the mere beginning…

Magic and science co-exist in this realistic fantasy. Psychology and anatomy, as well as alchemy and other magics are explored here and fit perfectly in this new world full of new enemies and potential allies. And the music… the music to bring tears even to the eyes of readers.

Patrick Rothfuss writes with some of the most lyrical prose I have ever read. His words flow beautifully, as a minstrel or storyteller’s words should. I found myself bound to the pages until the last was turned.

And that was when I discovered that The Name of the Wind is, in fact, the first part of a trilogy. Which means I don’t have the second book, but which also means that I will definitely be buying the second… and the third. Never before have I encountered a book whose author was so unafraid of, and poignantly articulate while exploring the mind, baser emotions, and the grittiness of reality.

This book is a must for lovers of fine literature.

by Cinda Williams Chima

Book Two of the Heir Series
1. The Warrior Heir
2. The Wizard Heir
3. The Dragon Heir

In The Wizard Heir, Ms. Chima takes a turn toward the dark side of things. Seph McCauley has been an orphan since a very young age. He is raised by a very wealthy, albeit, absent, guardian who sequesters him away in exclusive boarding schools until Seph’s natural aptitude for trouble gets him kicked out of school after school.

After one particularly bad incident, Seph realizes that he has the magic of wizards. He is sent away to a secluded school deep in the country on the Maine coast. But while things there seemed promising at first, Seph soon realizes that things are not the way they should be.

The headmaster of the school, Gregory Leicester, takes an interest in Seph and offers to train him. Seph gladly accepts in order to control his powers, which have been running amok and threaten to destroy him. But this training comes at such a steep cost that Seph balks. The headmaster and his cronies keep him at the school, tormenting him to such extremes that Seph would have cracked under the pressure, if it were not for the presence of an unexpected friend, and a timely rescue by a woman he has never met, but who seems to know everything about him.

Now Seph must find a safe haven from the frustrated headmaster who never stops seeking him and trying to capture him again. But the thing he most wants in the world is to understand himself – who were his parents? How did he get this wizard power? The answers might come… they might not.

In my opinion, The Wizard Heir was a refreshing breath of wind after reading Chima’s first book in the series, The Warrior Heir. The Wizard Heir is not afraid to explore the darker sides of a haunted teen’s mind while asking deeper questions and evolving a more complex plot than we saw in the previous book.

All in all, I think that readers of every age, but especially young teenagers will enjoy sitting down with this book and reading it from front to back cover.

by Cinda Williams Chima

Book One of the Heir Series
1. The Warrior Heir
2. The Wizard Heir
3. The Dragon Heir

Raised in a small town by his mother and host of friendly neighbors, Jack considers himself a normal boy, aside from the scar on his chest, acquired from heart surgery as an infant, and the medicine he has take daily. He has girl troubles, teenager problems, homework, and soccer tryouts.

But one day, Jack forgets to take his medicine. Surprisingly, instead of feeling ill, he feels great – better than he’d ever felt before! That day, something strange happens in soccer tryouts, as a competing player is mysteriously thrown into the goalie net.

Enter Aunt Linda. She whisks him away for a few days to hunt for a family heirloom. But even more strange things happen on this trip, and Jack learns a huge secret about his family – and himself. He is Weirlind, part of a magical society people governed by wizards, and even owned by them.

Suddenly, Jack’s entire world is thrown into disarray as wizards from warring factions compete to find him and steal him to train for a great tournament – a fight for the death. He must keep himself hidden from these wizards and also train to learn control of his power – all while keeping up with school classes, soccer practices, and the fascinating girl, Ellen, from homeroom.

The Warrior Heir is vaguely Harry-Potterish with its introduction of a magical society which lives unnoticed among the Anaweir, or non-magical humans. Jack is a likeable hero, as are his friends, Will and Fitch. His Aunt Linda, an Enchanter, maintains a believable, if somewhat vague, character in this twisting plot. This is a fascinating coming-of-age story that will have readers staying up through the wee hours of the morning to finish.

adapted by Eoin Colfer & Andrew Donkin with art by Giovanni Rigano & color by Paolo Lamanna

Artemis Fowl is an incredibly clever 12-year old boy – and he knows it. Ensconced in his family mansion, he plots to regain his family’s fortune. In order to do this, he engages in an all-stops-pulled scheme to capture a fairy and trade it for gold. But to do this, he needs to find a copy of a fairy book containing the history of their race, laws, rules… and weaknesses.

Once this book is found, it needs to be translated from Gnommish – an extinct script. But Artemis is crafty, and soon finds ways to find what he needs.

Meanwhile, deep in the underground fairy city, Captain Holly Short, of the Recon, is trying to live up to the high expectations of being the only female in the business – ever. She specializes in keeping runaway fairy creatures from making contact with the human world.

But her magic is dwindling, and she needs to travel to the ancient oak to replenish her power. And Artemis Fowl is there, waiting, with his burly butler, conveniently named Butler.

Can the fairy world protect itself from exploitation at the hands of this wily 12-year-old?

I found this graphic novel highly entertaining, if just a tad bit slow in the beginning. Artemis Fowl is a highly intelligent perpetrator, and the other characters, Butler, Juliette (Butler’s sister), Captain Holly Short, and her boss, Julius Root stay true to character, adding humor and depth to the story. The depiction by Giovanni Rigano is, I must say, quite excellent.

One thing that I must mention, however, for its high annoyance factor, has nothing to do with the story, but rather with the book itself, published by Hyperion Books. It simply falls apart. Every single page that I turned came unattached. Yep. The binding is crappy, and now, instead of a book, I have a book cover full of loose pages.

So, buy at your own risk, but you might be better off just checking it out from your local library – they’ve probably already redone the binding so that your pages stay in.