Three is the magic number. That is how many rooms Theo Saint has ever seen. Three is how many people he knows in his life. Three and Zero and are the amount of minutes he is allowed outside of his designated area per year. Theo has a deadly disease. He wears gloves constantly and is monitored day and night. He has to get treatment in the ‘Mercy Tube’ or the disease gets worse but one day someone kidnaps Theo!
I’ve been reading quite a few children/YA books lately and I think I’ve found a recurring theme. A good children/YA fantasy book contains the following: a young boy or girl, they have powers, it is set in a relatively modern world, it is fast paced and it has strange creatures. Candle Man by Glenn Dakin contains all of the above.
A couple of girls in my class said that the book was very good so I put it at the top of my TBR pile and was I in for a great treat. Theo for a boy who has been sheltered from the outside world for all of his life was never dull, never self loathing but took everything in his stride and everything was a great interest to him. This is a testament to Dakin himself. He wrote the story with a few subplots but never did they get in the way of the major story and in the end he tied it all up perfectly.
What I also liked about the story were the creatures that gave the book a fantasy feel to it. Gone are the usual dwarves, orcs and elves; they are replaced with smoglodytes, extinct creatures and the forgotten gargoyles (with a twist).
I can’t wait to see how much attention this book will get because it is right up there in terms of quality with books like Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.
Review written for Best Fantasy Books by Enchanté (a.k.a) Jon Snow from Sleeping With Books
As with previous volumes in the Wheel of Time series, Macmillan is making the prologue for Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson’s The Gathering Storm available for purchase before the hardcover is released on 10/27/09.
In the prologue, titled ‘What The Storm Means,’ Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn, struggles to unite a fractured network of kingdoms and alliances in preparation for the Last Battle. As he attempts to halt the Seanchan encroachment northward—wishing he could form at least a temporary truce with the invaders—his allies watch in terror the shadow that seems to be growing within the heart of the Dragon Reborn himself.
‘What the Storm Means’ is available for $2.99 as either an ebook or an audio download. You can buy the ebook from a wide range of online retailers, and it is compatible with nearly all e-reading devices, including the Sony Reader and the Kindle. The complete list of retailers can be found here.
*I wrote this review before I read Ben’s interview with Janet Lee Carey*
Kipp, a 17 year old boy is robbed of all his family except his baby sister to a deadly fire. On that night he saw Death come for his family and steal their souls with Kwaja, the soul sack. Kipp vows to get his family back and that means confronting Death himself.
Stealing Death is a novel by Janet Lee Carey written for people 12 and up. This book was a very action packed book and there is always something happening. Carey writes with a startling pace and describes her world with much flare. We are thrust into a world where people still believe in dragons and the worthiness of a man are determined by the length of their hair and the many different coloured beads in them. Slavery is still rife in this world and the punishment for crime is worst than slavery. Carey’s strongest suit is probably in her characterization, especially of Kipp. She has made Kipp in every way a 17 year old boy would be like. Young love, rash decisions, thinking what he thinks is the best for those around him are just little tidbits of Kipp’s characters and Carey really did a good job of him.
Although the book was action packed and the world intriguing, this book felt like an adult fantasy book that had been diluted for the younger readers. A few things weren’t explained enough leaving me groping for more information.
Unpronounceable names are a pet hate of mine and although these were unpronounceable they were confusing. Gwali (Death, Kwaja (Soul Sack), Techee (Fire) are but a few names that add a little bit of flavour to the story but not enough to cover the confusion we get at the beginning of the book. For younger readers it will be even more confusing (leading to one the girls in my class to put it down because she didn’t get it.)
Janet Lee Carey has a lot of potential to be a great author. Her characterizations are strong; she is imaginative, the book is action packed (which keeps the kids hooked) and she has a strong foundation for some good world building as well. However, I have a feeling that she may be writing for the wrong target audience.
Review written for Best Fantasy Books by Enchanté (a.k.a) Jon Snow from Sleeping With Books
