Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

418 pages

"A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.

It puts this entire castle in jeopardy--and the life of your friend.

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiance--not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then, one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie...and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for." -Dust Jacket

Love, love LOVE this second book. There is so much that happens in this book and it takes you on an emotional rollercoaster full of highs and serious lows. Celaena goes through so much in this book and at first I was sort of annoyed with her. It's the typical boy kept a secret from her and she's mad so she punishes him when she's keeping secrets from him as well. But, like I said about the first book, she is a traumatized teenager who's asked to do some pretty messed up things and serve the man who killed her family and invaded her homeland. This complicates her feelings for Chaol and for Dorian. (I'm Team Chaol but Dorian is a close second.)

This is a great fantasy series. It's really well written and I can't wait to read it again. Unfortunately the last two books aren't out yet. There are some new elements that are introduced in this book that will be interesting to see how they develop. The biggest twist in this book was pretty predictable I thought. I have two objections: The author uses a four-letter word in this book that I don't think is necessary and she also references homosexuality which I didn't like either.

{Spoilers}

In this book, Celaena is doing the King's bidding and killing people that are apparently traitors to the crown, but she's walking a dangerous line because she's not actually killing them but helping them escape. She's trying to discover the secret to the King's power and learns that he has at least one Wyrdmark but might have more. The clock tower is one of them. He and several members of his cabinet wear black rings which somehow connects them.

Celaena and Chaol grow closer in this book and she plans an awesome birthday celebration for him. They are really cute together but their relationship is virtually destroyed when Chaol is captured and held as bait to draw Celaena out of the castle. Chaol's been keeping the secret that there was an anonymous tip that Nehemia's life was in danger. He knows that if he tells Celaena and word gets back to the king that the king will brand him a traitor. On the night that Celaena rescues Chaol, Nehemia is brutally murdered in the castle, and because Chaol knew about the threat, Celaena snaps and almost kills him. Dorian's newly-discovered magic is the only thing that saves him. Celaena can't forgive Chaol but Chaol continues to protect her. Celaena exacts revenge on the murderer and it creates this conundrum for Chaol. He loves her yet she's capable of so much darkness and violence. It's hard for him to reconcile the two sides of her.

Dorian has discovered that he has magic in his blood for some reason and this is a fact that will get him killed if his father ever finds out. He can't control it and it comes out when he's angry or scared. Celaena opens a portal to another world at the end of the book, trying to contact Nehemia, and Dorian has to help her close it. It's in this other world that Chaol sees Celaena transform into her true form--a Fae...and she can summon and breath fire. She's got fangs and everything. He doesn't know how to handle that knowledge but ultimately protects her yet again and sets a plan in motion that will send her back to the realm where the Fae still live. He convinces the king to send her to Wendlyn to kill the royal family. What he doesn't know is that the king has told Celaena that if she doesn't complete her missions he will kill Chaol and Nehemia's family. She's supposed to kill the royal family at a celebration and so she doesn't know how she's going to not kill them and keep Chaol alive. Chaol comes to see her off on the ship and Celaena whispers a date in his ear--it's the date her parents were killed and the date she snapped in Endovier. Chaol puts two and two together back and the castle, realizes that she's the rightful heir to the Terrasen throne (the pretty obvious plot twist), and that he's just sent her back to her people with dangerous information about his king that could destroy the kingdom he's fought to protect and given up his birthright for. Despite all they've been through, Celaena tells him that she'll always pick him. The interesting thing will be whether or not Aelin (Celaena's real name) will. (I seriously hope so.)

Celaena learns that Nehemia knew that she would die, even helped orchestrate it, so that Celaena would be forced down the path that she and Elena needed her to take. The assassin who was sent to kill her parents took her and trained her instead of killing her. Celaena vows to free Nehemia's homeland because she wants to prove she's not the coward Nehemia accused her of being.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

404 pages

 "Nothing is a coincidence.
Everything has a purpose.
You were meant to come to this castle,
just as you were meant to be an assassin.

When magic has gone from the world, and a vicious king rules from his throne of glass, an assassin comes to the castle. She does not come to kill, but to win her freedom. If she can defeat twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition to find the greatest assassin in the land, she will become the King's Champion and be released from prison.

Her name is Celaena Sardothien.

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her.

And a princess from a foreign land will become the one thing Celaena never thought she'd have again: a friend.

But something evil dwells in the castle--and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying, horribly, one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival--and a desperate quest to root out the source of the evil before it destroys the world." -Dust Jacket

A good friend told me that I had to read this series and I love it when a fellow reader recommends a good book. Fortunately, the first four books, plus a prequel, have already been published, so I won't have to be reading this series for years on end.

I flew through this book because I couldn't put it down. It starts with Dorian (the Crown Prince) and Chaol (Captain of the Guard and with a name I have no idea how to pronounce) going to find Celaena in a prison/salt mine where Celaena, the most feared and deadly assassin in the kingdom, has been a prisoner. She's been whipped and nearly starved and they offer her the chance for freedom. She agrees to compete to be the King's Champion and if she wins, after four years of service, she'll earn her freedom but they decide it's better for her to compete using an alias.

Of course, like with most books in this genre, there is a love triangle and Dorian and Chaol are both equally likable. One's the suave prince who can have any girl he wants but gets bored by most and has a good heart and the other's a strong captain with a sense of honor and a growing friendship and respect for Celaena. Dorian and Chaol have grown up together. There are some jealous moments between the two but the main element of the story is the competition and the evil lurking in the castle. Celaena has been trained by a group of assassins but she fears that one of them betrayed her which led to the death of a good friend and her being imprisoned. She's locked a lot of those memories away and doesn't really want to consider the possibilities of who might have laid the trap that ended with her capture. Dorian's father has rid the kingdom of magic, but it's not all gone.

Celaena is a strong character yet she's also a teenage girl which is always a good combination for these types of books. She has the skills to kill but she also has the insecurities and fears of an 18-year-old. She's been hurt and she hasn't dealt with that yet. I like that both of the guys are likable but not perfect. It'll be interesting to see where this story goes.

{Spoilers}

Celaena discovers a secret passageway in her bedroom and as she explores the tunnels it leads to, she finds a burial room of King Gavin and Queen Elena. There are wyrdmarks on the floor and ceiling which Celaena recognizes as also being on and around the clock tower. Elena's spirit appears and tells Celaena that she hasn't come there by accident, that she must become the King's Champion, and destroy the evil that's in the castle before it's too late. She also gives her an amulet to wear that offers her protection.

One of Celaena's competitors, Cain, is using dark magic to summon a creature that kills the other competitors and gives Cain their strength. She discovers him underneath the castle and is almost killed by the creature. Nehemia saves her life.

During the various trials, Celaena has been told to stay in the middle of the pack and not draw too much attention to herself. Cain wins almost every trial and Celaena knows that she's going to have to face him in the duels. She continues to train, spends time with Dorian and Chaol, and befriends Nehemia who is a princess from a land that's been conquered by the king. She's there under the guise of learning the language and customs of Adarlan but really she's there to get information that will help support the rebels working against the king.

Celaena faces Cain in the final duel but she's been drugged by Kaltain, an ambitious girl who has her eyes set on the prince and is using a duke to get to him, so she becomes disoriented and hallucinates. Dorian figures out what's going on and wants to stop the fight but he knows that if he does she'll be disqualified. Chaol also tries to help her by telling her over and over to get up. Cain attacks her, nearly killing her, but Elena appears and with Nehemia's help, they get rid of the evil Cain's summoned and the poison in Celaena's body. Celaena then defeats Cain and Chaol is forced to kill him when he tries to stab Celaena as she's being helped away.

Celaena becomes the King's Champion and breaks things off with Dorian because she realizes that she can't be the champion and be with him even though he loves her.

Five Kingdoms: Death Weavers by Brandon Mull

502 pages

"Since arriving in the Outskirts, Cole and his friends have fought monsters, challenged knights, and battled rampaging robots. But none of that has prepared them for Necronum.

In this haunting kingdom, it's hard to tell the living from the dead, and secret pacts carry terrifying dangers. Within Necronum lies the echolands, a way station for the departed, where the living seldom venture.

Still separated from his power, Cole must cross to the echolands and rely on his instincts to help rescue his friends. With enemies closing in, Cole risks losing everything to find the one thing that might save them." -Dust Jacket

This is the 4th book in the Five Kingdoms series. I like that Brandon Mull thought outside the box a little for this book. Each of the books takes place in one of the five kingdoms and each kingdom is so different from the previous one. Necronum is no exception. There were lot of things I'd forgotten from the previous books (that's the problem with having to wait a year plus in between books and not wanting to re-read them!). There are a lot of characters in this series and I probably should have looked them all up online to refresh my memory, although I could remember the main ones. I think a young reader would get lost in this story and not be able to follow all the back and forth between the mortal world and the echolands. As an adult, I liked that it made me have to think and keep track of things more than most kids' books do.

At the end of the book Mull writes a note to the reader saying that he's going to slow down his writing pace a bit and the final book in this series will come out fall 2017. I don't really like having to wait that long but at the same time I think it will really help him write a great conclusion. I think this book sort of showed that he's been rushed with publishing dates and the story and editing have suffered because of it. I'm anxious for the sequel to the Fablehaven series and hopefully that book with get the same consideration. I'm willing to wait longer if the end result is better.

{Spoilers}
Here is perhaps one of my favorite parts of this book and also one of the most disappointing: in what I thought was a genius move, Mull has Cole meet two of my favorite characters from the Beyonders series in the Hall of Glory--Drake and Ferrin. I cried at the end of the last Beyonders book because Mull killed off some favorite characters which I love and hate. To bring them back in this series as echoes was so cool...and then they don't get to do anything! Cole meets them and then they all split up and Cole doesn't go with Drake or Ferrin so the reader doesn't get to read more of them until Cole rescues them from prison and then that's it. I really wish that Drake and Ferrin would have gone with Cole. I think that was a huge mistake on Mull's part. For someone who hasn't read Beyonders they would have been two additional, interesting characters, but for someone who has, it would have been like a little treat within the story.

It'll be interesting to see how Cole uses his newly healed powers to defeat the torivors and the king in the final book. I think I might have to re-read the series before then so that I can remember everything that happened in the first four books. I read this one really fast because I'm really anxious to start my next book! I need a cathartic cry and I think it'll provide one.

The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson

2228 pages

I spent my summer reading this trilogy. I enjoyed Sanderson's Steelheart and Firefight but this series is much better by far, probably because it's more for the 16+ crowd. It's a lot smarter and written for adults. Younger readers would definitely get lost in some of the philosophical stuff and trying to keep track of all the metals and the abilities they give Allomancers. Plus it's also a little bloody and violent in parts but not graphically so. I was told that I should read them all in a row because there's so much going on and it's easy to forget if you read things in between. (I did discover a summary at the back of each book though which is helpful.)

So here's what I love about fantasies: They are usually stories about people who do hard or nearly impossible things and often at great cost to themselves because it's the right thing to do. They have strong friendships, they make sacrifices, and the story doesn't always end wrapped up in a nice symbolic bow. I admire authors that are able to kill characters that they know a reader will grow to love because it suits the story better than having them miraculously survive everything. I also love a story that makes me cry or feel some strong emotion when I'm through. This series was exactly that. I loved how the author wove everything together, especially in the last book, and explained some things that had kept you guessing in a really smart way. I want to read it again sometime...right after I re-read all 4,000+ pages of Harry Potter. There just aren't enough hours in the day!

{spoiler alert}

1. Vin is a great main character. She's strong yet vulnerable. I love that the author wrote her as being short and slight yet he gives her incredible powers that make her a force to be reckoned with. She finally learns how to reconcile the two parts of her--the part that grew up on the streets, being part of thieving crews to survive, and the part that enjoys being a noblewoman and an emperor's wife.
2. Elend is the perfect match for Vin. He's insufferable when she first meets him and yet he's drawn to her because she's different. (Probably because she's impersonating a noble woman when she's really a thief.) Elend is a scholar at first but has to become so much more by the end of the series and he really comes into his own in a way that makes he and Vin perfectly matched for each other.
3. Their ending is gut-wrenching. When Vin turns into Preservation and then has to watch Elend die it sort of rips your heart out. I love the line where she says that she gave him up at the Well of Ascension and that their time since then had been a gift.
4. Kelsier is one of my favorites. He was arrogant and determined. He was Vin's tutor and mentor and probably the first person Vin felt like cared about her. His death was a shock at first but so necessary to the story.
5. Marsh is the tragedy of the book for me. He becomes an Inquisitor in order to help Kelsier spy on the Lord Ruler and then he becomes Ruin's Inquisitor and retains very little of his own will. He's a terrifying mental image with 20+ spikes implanted in him, including two through his eyes. The way those spikes are placed is one of the more gruesome revelations in the third book.
6. Sazed is the heart and soul of this series in my opinion. He's the Keeper of the Terris people and has been a servant for most of his life. He studies religion and then when he loses the one woman he loves, he loses his faith and has to regain that. He ends up being the Hero of Ages, taking both Preservation's power and Ruin's power and turning the world back into what it once was.
7. The Kandra were the most interesting race of the ones created by the Lord Ruler and their purpose and where they came from (revealed in book 3) is genius. OreSeur and TenSoon were both great additions to the story, especially when they're in wolfhound form. I liked that they both formed a friendship with Vin that was against their nature.
8. Allomancy and Feruchemy. These took a little while to understand but I think the author had a firm grasp on their powers and how they work alone and together. The scene at the end where Elend and his army burn all the atium, which is really Ruin's body, is awesome. Elend and his men know they're going to die but they're going to take Ruin with them.
9. Hermalurgy. This is the reason for the metal spikes and their placement grants the person certain powers stolen from other people. Ruin controls and influences people with these spikes. Vin's earring is revealed to be a spike placed by her mother and that is how Vin can hear Ruin talking to her and trying to influence her. I loved that Marsh is able to assert his will long enough to rip it from her ear and allow Preservation to take over Vin.
10. The ending. The world this story takes place in is a black and dreary one. The land is covered in ash from the ash mounts which keep the sun from burning everything up and they get worse and worse as the story progresses. There's no color anywhere. The mists cover the land and make people afraid because sometimes the mist kills. (Finding out that the mist was turning people in Allomancers was so cool.) By book 3 there are earthquakes and things seem pretty bleak. When Sazed uses his vast amounts of knowledge to bring back flowers and grass it really makes you realize what a shock that would be to the people who'd just survived.

Slathbog's Gold by M.L. Forman

400 pages

"The sign is small, tucked into the corner of Mr. Clutter's book shop window: Adventurers Wanted. Apply Within. No one but fifteen-year-old Alex Turner even seems to notice it is there. And for Alex, who has wished for a change in his life, it is an irresistible invitation. Upon entering Mr. Clutter's shop, Alex is swept away to a faraway land filled with heroic warriors, mysterious elves, and hard-working dwarves. Alex becomes the eighth man in a band of adventurers seeking the lair of Slathbog the Red, an evil dragon with a legendary treasure. Along the way, Alex and his friends must battle dangerous trolls and bandits, face undead wraiths, and seek the wisdom of the Oracle in her White Tower. Alex's adventure takes him to distant and exotic lands where he learns about courage, integrity, honor, and most important, friendship." -Amazon description

I read this on the recommendation of my daughter who read it and really liked it. It was a fun book but I had the same complaint she had: the battle with the dragon is a let-down after the build up to it. For hundreds of years no one has been able to defeat the dragon, and it's over relatively quickly. (Hope that's not a spoiler...if the dragon won then there'd be no sequels!) Alex is a likable character and I like that he's older (almost 16) than most characters are in these types of books.

Alex is the only one who can see the sign in Mr. Clutter's window and once he enters the new land he discovers that he's actually capable of becoming a great wizard which is uncommon, yet Alex doesn't let it go to his head. He feels his inadequacies and doubts his abilities. His seven companions treat him with respect though and teach him the rules of being an adventurer.

The magic bags were fun, very much like Hermione's bag in Harry Potter that can expand and store lots of things. Alex can add rooms to his bag and the group uses them to hold their supplies and treasure. One thing that I'm not sure how I feel about with this book is that it was very much, sometimes too much like, like Lord of the Rings, my favorite books. There are men, elves and dwarves who go on this adventure. The dwarves are light-hearted yet hard working and brave fighters. The elf has lived for a long time and seen a lot of things. He and the dwarves tease each other. The leader of the group is a man who has been on many adventures. There's a part of this book where the wraiths almost kill Alex and he has to be rushed to the elf queen to bring him back to the light. He then recovers in the woods where the elves live for several days. That part was just a little too similar for me. But, having said that, I think this is a book that's better suited for younger readers and if they don't ever read LOTR then it will be fun for them. I just didn't like how similar that part was. It felt like a Tolkien rip off. It didn't ruin the book for me and I liked the twist at the end that tied in the world Alex knew before his adventure and the one he now knows. I'll definitely read the sequels.

Five Kingdoms: Crystal Keepers by Brandon Mull

479 pages

"Cole Randolph still can't believe the ways his life has turned inside out. Stuck in a strange land far from home, he has found his friend Dalton and has survived the first two kingdoms of the Outskirts, but none of that has prepared him for the magnetic highways and robotic bounty hunters of Zeropolis.

Ruled by Abram Trench, the one Grand Shaper who stayed loyal to the evil High King, the government of Zeropolis uses advanced technologies to keep tight control. Luckily, the resistance in Zeropolis is anchored by the Crystal Keepers--a group of young rebels with unique weapons.

On the run from the High King's secret police, Cole and Dalton hope to find more of their lost friends and help Mira locate her sister Constance. But as their enemies ruthlessly dismantle the resistance, time is running out for Cole to uncover the secrets behind the Zeropolitan government and unravel the mystery of who helped the High King steal his daughters' powers." -Dust Jacket

This is the third book in the Five Kingdoms series. Zeropolis is the most modern of all the kingdoms so far and it's fun to read the differences. This more modern kingdom allowed Mull to think of fun ways to use technology for good and evil. The city is powered by crystals. Everything is based on technology that's tightly controlled by the government because the supercomputer Aeronomotron once infiltrated all the computer systems and killed thousands attempting to take over the city. Cole and company are headed to Zeropolis to find Mira's sister, Constance. They meet some members of the resistance and get to use things like warboards and battle suits.

In the author's note to the reader in the back, Brandon Mull says that he's referenced Lyrian in this book, which is the land The Beyonders takes place in. I didn't catch that reference but I'm definitely going to watch for it in the next books. These first three books came out six months apart but the next two will be a year apart as he's focusing on the Fablehaven sequel. I'm excited for that, but I was really liking this two books a year. Brandon Mull's books may not be the most perfectly written books but they're definitely some of the most fun. I've never been disappointed by a Brandon Mull book. I'm looking forward to seeing if Cole is able to make it home and if he'll want to if/when that time comes. Everyone he meets tells him that it's impossible. I'm also curious to see how he gets his power back.

{Some spoilers ahead}

This book starts with the group being chased by the Enforcers and running to Trillian's kingdom where Skye has decided to stay and learn from the torivor. They have to use their animal masks to get away and Trillian agrees to help them in exchange for the masks staying with him. They are powerful and Cole feels that pull to stay a mountain lion as he has a hard time taking off his mask. They use their animals to get them to the border where they take a monorail into the city. You have to use an ID to go places and buy things in Zeropolis so the government can track you. Joe's fake ID is flagged and he's captured but not before he's told the group to go to Axis, an arcade where they will find help. They split up and make their way there where they meet Roulette, a Crystal Keeper. She takes them to meet Googol who's part of the resistance. He has created some robots, which is illegal, that help Cole. Sidekick, a robot that's been made to look like a cleaning bot, provides some much-needed comic relief and quickly becomes a favorite in this book. He helps Cole out of some tough situations. Joe reveals his sad past trying to get back to his fiancee Gwen and her not remembering him.

The government has been able to infiltrate the resistance and capture some of their agents more frequently than before and they can't figure out why. The government destroys Googol's safe house and they all have to flee. Eventually they end up with Nova, the leader of the Unseen. She has the power to supercharge things.

Cole also finds Blake in Zeropolis. He's from back home but wasn't well liked. He has a very unique power. He can sense the harmonic crystals and basically rewire them or copy them just by being near them. That is how the government has been able to find the resistance so easily. He's been a slave to Datapoint, a woman who serves her own interests and has no allegiance but who won't work for the government. She offers Cole and Sidekick refuge. Blake helps them get into her Situation Room where they learn that Datapoint has been in contact with Aero. They destroy their connection and escape. Blake reluctantly goes with them. He knows Datapoint will punish him for helping them get in the room but he doesn't relish the idea of constantly being in danger. He'd gotten used to the perks of slavery.

Nova gives Cole a secret mission to make contact with Queen Harmony to see if she can put a star in the sky over where Constance is so they can find her. He enters the castle as a messenger boy to help him blend in. He takes Nova's message to Harmony and Harmony tells him that she knows where Constance has been all this time. She then asks Cole to go to a secret meeting of the Overseer that she's seen in a vision. The Overseer is trying to usurp the High King's power. Cole agrees to go but before he makes it there the High King requests to see him since he's new to the castle and has had important messages to deliver. The High King is sickly but asks Cole to report everything back to him. Cole attends the meeting and learns that Owandell (the Overseer) reports to Nazeem, a shape crafter who plans on taking over all the kingdoms once he's free. He speaks to them through the Founding Stone. He senses that there's a spy among them and Cole grabs the Founding Stone which allows him to talk to Nazeem and also access some of his powers that are still blocked. One of the Founding Stone's creators helps him transport himself back to the Queen and he escapes capture. The Queen is worried because she senses that something is wrong with her other two daughters who are together in Necronum. She tells Cole that Jenna Hunt is in a temple in Necronum, implying that only people with special abilities go there. She helps him escape the castle and he doesn't see the King again.

Cole is pursued in this book by The Hunter who works for the High King and, who it turns out, is actually his brother, Hunter Randolph, who was pulled into this other world a few years back. Cole has no memory of him because once you cross over anyone who knew you back on Earth forgets you ever existed. Cole convinces Hunter to switch sides and help the resistance by letting him investigate the truth of what Cole's told him. Hunter has mastered the shaping abilities of all five kingdoms and is a valuable asset to the High King. I'm still not sure whether or not his new loyalties to the resistance can be trusted or not.

Constance has been kept prisoner/safe in Abram Trench's secret hideout where she's created a computer named Roxie to keep her company. Roxie has other plans however. It's built itself a dragon body and tries to take over the city. Cole, Hunter and Blake go to Abram's penthouse where Roxie has locked him and Constance up to break Constance out. Blake is supposed to rewire her crystals and hopefully slow her down. He's unable to do it fast enough and so Cole has the idea to use a crystal to allow Aero to try to take over Roxie. Roxie goes off to fight Aero. Sidekick has been designed by Googol and Nova to be a big bomb and he valiantly drops himself on Roxie and Aero saving the city. Blake stays in Zeropolis to help Googol and the others try to rebuild the city. Mira invites Hunter to join them on their journey to Necronum.

Brotherband Chronicles: Scorpion Mountain by John Flanagan

451 pages

"Hal, his Brotherband crew, and the Ranger Gilan have freed the twelve Araluens sold into slavery. Returning to Araluen, Gilan is given a new mission by King Duncan: protect his daughter's life. Princess Cassandra has survived one attempt on her life already, and now whispers of a second attempt have reached the kingdom. A deadly sect known as the Scorpion Cult is thought to be behind the assassination threat.

Not waiting to see if the knife will strike true, the Brotherband again teams up with Gilan to track down the would-be killers." -Dust Jacket

This is the 5th book in the Brotherband Chronicles series, a spinoff series of Ranger's Apprentice. I was talking to my 15-year-old daughter about these books yesterday. She read through book 7 of RA and stopped because she felt like it was the same story over and over. I think these series do become a bit repetitive story-wise but I still love them because I don't read them for the stories necessarily, I read them for the relationships. Thorn & Hal are basically Halt & Will and their relationship has evolved over the last five books with mutual respect and admiration growing between them. Same thing with the relationship between Thorn & Lydia. They are constantly ribbing each other but more and more Thorn compliments Lydia on her abilities and he genuinely cares about her.

The crossover between the two series and the addition of Gilan has been fun. I was grateful that John Flanagan mentioned in this book that Cassandra and Horace are married because that was really the only way to form a timeline for this story. Halt, Will & Horace are all off taking care of other matters for the King. I'm still waiting for the book that brings them all together. I think a conversation between Halt and Thorn would be awesome. A little friendly hand-to-one-hand would be even better.

In Scorpion Mountain, Hal's position as the skirl of the Heron is firmly established. His Brotherband runs like a well-oiled machine and Kloof is now an official member. The dog proves to be the difference between life and death several times. Ingvar is dealing with feelings of wanting to return to Skandia because his vision is so poor that he feels like he's not growing and developing new skills like the rest of the group. Hal, being the inventive guy he is, solves that problem for Ingvar in a way that adds some comedy and a new sense of purpose for Ingvar.

I thought the confrontation part of this story was a little lacking. There's this build-up that the Scorpion Cult is dangerous and deadly and then it's over and done in a short amount of time. Still, it's great to be able to read a clean, fun adventure every six months from John Flanagan.

{SPOILER ALERT}
In one of the RA books (the one where they go to the desert to rescue Erak), Evanlyn/Cassandra hits one of the Arridians in the face with her slingshot, and it's the brother of that man that takes out the hit (tolfah) on Cassandra with the Scorpion Cult in this book. The Shurmel is the leader of the Scorpion Cult and when someone hires them to kill someone it's an irrevocable contract. This information is learned when Cassandra takes Hal and his group on a hunt and a would-be assassin is captured. Thorn saves Cassandra's life by catching a poisoned arrow with his club hand. The assassin is taken back to the castle and questioned. He won't give any answers until they bring in Kloof. The assassin is deadly afraid of the dog and gives up information until he realizes that the King won't let the dog hurt him.

King Duncan sends Gilan and the Brotherband to Scorpion Mountain to try to reverse the contract but not before Hal invents a pair of glasses to help Ingvar see so that he won't want to return to Skandia. The glasses give Ingvar the appearance of skeleton eyes which paints a fun picture of him in battle. Ingvar's enthusiasm over being able to see is a fun part of the story and he's a force to be reckoned with after Thorn gives him a battle axe. There's one part where he steals Thorn's line of "Let's get 'em!" and Thorn's reaction is awesome. It's those parts of the books that I love. Selethen is back in this book and Hal helps him rid a city of the people who have captured it. During that battle, Ulf is stabbed and has to be left behind with Selethen's healers to recover. That creates an interesting new dynamic on the ship since Ulf and Wulf's constant bickering breaks the monotony of long days on the water.

Once they reach the deserted town near Scorpion Mountain, Hal invents a land sailer so they can travel faster over the desert to the mountain. Hal, Stig and Gilan leave the others behind to confront the cult. They realize that the only way to end the tolfah is to kill the Shurmel. He's a big man but still no match for Gilan, who quickly kills him. Another man asserts his right to be the new Shurmel and amidst that takeover, Gilan, Hal and Stig leave. They head back on the land sailer but Hal is so tired that he almost wrecks them. They stop for the night and Hal falls asleep during his watch, allowing a group to sneak up on them. Fortunately, it's a group of Bedullins Gilan knows and who helped them rescue Erak. That comes in handy because Thorn and the others are under attack from members of the cult who have been sent to kill them all. Thorn's defenses prove to be too much for them at first and even after they build rafts to try to breach the Heron after the Brotherband retreats to the ship, they are still defeated thanks to Stefan's impeccable impression of their leader who tells them to retreat. Gilan and the Bedullins show up and take them prisoner. Gilan suggests that they take the prisoners' clothes and disguise themselves so that the Bedullins can get into Scorpion Mountain and try to rid the land of the cult.

Gilan and the Brotherband go back to Araluen and the Brotherband are relieved of their duties to Araluen and sent back home. They're greeted by Erak and the Skandians. Erak's still a little bitter that Kloof chewed up his staff and axe but fortunately Hal has brought back the Shurmel's scorpion staff and he presents it to Erak. There's a big celebration where Jesper & Stefan recount their adventures through song. Hal heads home to get some sleep but instead ends up working all night trying to repair Erak's axe that Aloof was caught chewing on again.

Five Kingdoms: Rogue Knight by Brandon Mull

466 pages

"Cole Randolph never meant to come to the Outskirts, but when his friends were kidnapped on Halloween he had to try to save them. Now he's trapped in a world that lies between wakefulness and dreaming, reality and imagination, life and death.

Cole's hunt for his lost friends has led him to the kingdom of Elloweer. Accompanied by new friends Mira, Twitch, and Jace, Cole teams up with the resistance movement and joins the search for Mira's sister Honor.

But Elloweer has grown unstable. A mysterious enemy is wiping out towns, leaving no witnesses or survivors. And an infamous rebel known throughout the kingdom as the Rogue Knight is upsetting the balance of power.

With enemies in pursuit, Cole and Mira must resort to a fascinating new kind of magic to protect themselves. Every move is filled with danger as Cole and his friends try to outwit the High King, who will stop at nothing to regain what he has lost." -Dust Jacket

This is book 2 in Brandon Mull's Five Kingdom series. I liked the first book well enough, but didn't love it, mostly because Brady's character sort of bugged me. I still wish that Cole was older, maybe 15 or so. It's just hard to imagine a 12-year-old 6th grader being brave enough to do some of the things Cole does. But Brandon Mull likes to write his characters young, I'm sure to appeal to the age of his readers. (What does that say about this almost-40-year-old reader?) I'm just a fan of good, clean stories and those are mostly found in books for the younger age set. This was a good second book. It's setting up some interesting things for the next 3 books so I think they'll be even better.

{Spoiler Alert}
Cole, Mira, Jace and Twitch are together for most of this story which I like. They're joined by Joe who's a member of the Unseen resistance and who has sworn to protect Mira. They travel to Elloweer, a neighboring kingdom to Sambria to look for Honor. Their magical items (gold rope and jumping sword) won't work in Elloweer so they're on their own at first. In the city of Carthage, Cole runs into the slave trader that captured him in the first book and has to outrun him before eventually being captured and then rescued by his friends.

Joe knows the slave trader and realizes that they're going to need some powerful disguises for Cole and Mira if they're going to be able to leave the city. They go to find an illusionist who is sympathetic to the resistance and might help them. It's sort of like a magic show and the real magician turns out to be the assistant. Her real name is Skye although she has a lot of aliases. She joins Cole & Mira. Along the road, they are stopped by the Rogue Knight and Mira is taken captive. The Rogue Knight has unusual strength and power, which as it turns out, was given to him after it was stolen from Honor. Cole tries to go after her and lights up his Jumping Sword with flames, which isn't supposed to work in Elloweer, but he can only do it once and he can't rescue Mira. The group decides to split up. Cole & Jace go with Skye to her hometown of Merriston where she asks her mom to help them get a job at the Silver Lining confidence lounge which is where they think Dalton is.

Cole finds his friend Dalton at the Silver Lining (a place where people in disguise trade secrets) and convinces him to escape with them to search for their other friends and help Mira. Dalton has some shaping abilities and helps Skye create disguises ("seemings") for the group. They learn that the Rogue Knight has challenged the champion of Merriston to a duel and they decide to go because they think Mira will be there and because they think Honor is the secret prisoner of Blackmont Castle. The Rogue Knight wins and agrees to let them into the castle to see if Honor is there, but pretty soon the castle is under attack and they have to search quickly and leave. Turns out the secret prisoner is Brady, who has willingly given his power to the shape crafters to make Morgassa (who looks like a teacher he feared). Morgassa is an evil power shaped much like Carnag (or so they think) and she's overpowering villages with her figments and turning the people into walking zombies.

The Rogue Knight tells them that Trillian, a powerful, but imprisoned torivor, might be able to help them figure out how to defeat Morgassa. Trillian has Honor. They have to win a contest against Trillian for Honor's freedom and in the process Cole learns that he has some great, untapped power. They rescue Honor and Trillian tells them to ask Callista for help against Morgassa.  Callista is a Grand Shaper who's been on the run from the High King and has taken refuge in Fog Lake. She teaches Cole even more about his powers and encourages him to develop them. She lets the group each pick an animal mask which will turn them into that animal for their fight against Morgassa. She warns them not to keep the mask on too long because the desire to stay that animal is strong. Cole picks a mountain lion. The Rogue Knight and his men go with them and they fight Morgassa. Callista is killed in the battle and tells Skye that she wants her to become the Grand Shaper of Elloweer and to go back to Trillian to be taught by him. Cole starts to be aware of the power surges during the battle and harnesses his power with the Jumping Sword again, also giving Jace power with the gold rope again. Ultimately that's what defeats Morgassa, but as she's dying Morgassa grabs Cole and separates him from his power somehow. She does the same thing to Callista, which is why Callista can't heal herself. The Rogue Knight returns Honor's power to her and the group splits up again to look for the remaining sisters. Joe tells Cole that he's actually from California and once tried to get home but was drawn back to Zeropolis, his home away from home and where Cole, Mira, Jace & Dalton are headed next. Minimum (the Rogue Knight's half knight--he's a dwarf but has been permanently changed by Callista) agrees to be Twitch's champion and help his village defeat the overbearing aldermen who are ruling, so they go their separate way.

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley

272 pages

"When Harry Crewe's father dies, she leaves her Homeland to travel east, to Istan, the last outpost of the Homelander empire, where her elder brother is stationed.

Harry is drawn to the bleak landscape of the northeast frontier, so unlike the green hills of her Homeland. The desert she stares across was once a part of the great kingdom of Damar, before the Homelanders came from over the seas. Harry wishes she might cross the sands and climb the dark mountains where no Homelander has ever set foot, where the last of the old Damarians, the Free Hillfolk, still live. She hears stories that the Free Hillfolk possess strange powers--that they work magic--that it is because of this that they remain free of the Homelander sway.

When the king of the Free Hillfolk comes to Istan to ask that the Homelanders and the Hillfolk set their enmity aside to fight a common foe, the Homelanders are reluctant to trust his word, and even more reluctant to believe his tales of the Northerners: that they are demonkind, not human.

Harry's destiny lies in the far mountains that she once wished to climb, and she will ride to the battle with the North in the Hill-king's army, bearing the Blue Sword, Gonturan, the chiefest treasure of the Hill-king's house and the subject of many legends of magic and mystery." -Dust Jacket

My friend and neighbor works at our city library and now that we're visiting the other side of the library more where she works, (teen/young adult/adult section) we can ask her for book suggestions. This was one that she recommended and it was great. Harry is an awesome female character--strong, independent and more than a bit feisty/stubborn/headstrong. It's unclear throughout the entire book just how old she is. I thought she was younger in the beginning than she really was--she's probably in her late teens, early 20's. After she's kidnapped by Corlath, the king of the Hillfolk, she's trained as a warrior, because Corlath recognizes the kelar, the power that he himself possesses, is strong with her and the kelar has shown him that Harry is important to his people somehow. He and his people treat her with great respect but are also wary of her, which makes her feel lonely. Corlath gives her one of their renowned horses which becomes her friend. She also has a big hunting cat named Narknon that takes a liking to her and follows her everywhere. She is sent to train with Mathin, one of the King's Riders, in preparation for the laprun trials, a series of events where young, untested warriors go to prove themselves. During her training, the kelar begins to take over her at times, giving her extraordinary power. She's also given Lady Aerin's blue sword which has not been used in battle since the time of Lady Aerin and which gives the Hillfolk people hope. The ending was great. There's a nice little bit of romance and ends are tied up nicely. I read the book Graceling a few years ago and really liked that the female character was strong and independent, but I hated how she treated men at the end, so much so that it ruined the book for me and I didn't read any of the others in the that series. I'm glad that didn't happen in this book. Strong women can need men without sacrificing what makes them strong. I'm excited to read the prequel and plan on adding this one to my library.

Brotherband Chronicles: Slaves of Socorro by John Flanagan

462 pages

"Hal and his fellow Herons have returned home to Skandia after defeating the pirate Zavac and reclaiming Skandia's most prized artifact, the Andomal. With their honor restored, the Herons turn to a new mission: tracking down an old rival turned bitter enemy. Tursgud--leader of the Shark Brotherband and Hal's constant opponent--has turned from a bullying youth into a pirate and slave trader. After Tursgud captures twelve Araluen villagers to sell as slaves, the Heron crew sails into action...with the help of one of Araluen's finest rangers." -Dust Jacket

This is another solid installment in John Flanagan's Brotherband Chronicles. The Skandians no longer raid coastal villagers but instead hire out their skills to different countries to protect their coasts and shipping vessels. Hal and his crew are sent by Erak to Araluen. Hal adopts a large dog that does something that forces Hal and the Herons to make another hasty departure from Skandia.

{Some spoilers}
After being in Araluen for just a couple of days, and being summoned to see the king by Gilan, a Ranger, they hear that Tursgud has captured twelve Araluens and is taking them to Socorro to sell them as slaves. Hoping the king will understand, Hal, the Herons, and Gilan take off after him. Hal has come into his own and really asserted his authority as captain. Gilan learns to respect Hal and the Herons even though they are young. They disguise their ship after landing in Socorro so that Tursgud won't recognize it and sabotage his ship in a way that has unexpected consequences. Gilan and Lydia run reconnaissance in the gold market to see what kind of diversion they can create and make for a good team while Hal, Thorn, Stig and Jesper pretend to want to sell Ingvar to check out the slave pens and security. Jesper is an expert lock pick and thief. They meet an overbearing slave trader named Mahmel who tells them that once a slave is brought to sell he must be left there. They can't change their minds. So, they have to leave Ingvar with the other slaves. That makes the success of their mission even more important. Of course, like every other Flanagan book, they meet with obstacles yet prevail.

I like that the Ranger's Apprentice and Brotherband books are starting to overlap. I'm hoping that Will and Halt might make an appearance sometime. There is a lot of similarities between the two series--Hal's a lot like Will and Thorn's a lot like Halt, but it's still a fun series that stands alone. I love books for kids that are clean and have characters that are admirable and courageous. I'm looking forward to the next one!

Five Kingdoms: Sky Raiders by Brandon Mull

421 pages

"Cole Randolph is just trying to have fun with his friends on Halloween. But their trip to a neighborhood haunted house turns out to be the start of a wild adventure when Cole watches his friends being whisked away through a mysterious passage.

Cole dives in after them, only to emerge somewhere that's very clearly no longer Mesa, Arizona. He soon learns he's come to a place called the Outskirts.

Made up of five kingdoms, the Outskirts lies between wakefulness and dreaming, reality and imagination, life and death. It's an in-between place. Some people are born there. Some find their way there from our world, or other worlds. The balance of power in the five kingdoms has been upset, and the magic there is becoming unstable. It's up to Cole and an unusual girl he meets there named Mira to set things right, rescue his friends, and hopefully survive long enough to find his way back home..." -Dust Jacket

I love Brandon Mull. He's a great person and a great author and we have every book he's written and have read all but the sequel to The Candy Shop War. I love that you know that a Brandon Mull book is a safe read for kids--there won't be anything objectionable. His Beyonders series is probably my favorite of his books. He creates fun worlds for the reader to live in. Having said all of that, the beginning of this book started out really iffy for me. Sometimes I wish his characters were older. It's hard to imagine a 6th grade boy, who's 11 or 12, doing everything that Cole ends up doing. I'd find it a little more believable if he was 15 or 16. But, Percy Jackson and Harry Potter were both that young when they started their adventures so I can cut him some slack for that. I thought the dialogue was pretty corny at the beginning with talk of Cole's crush on Jenna. There again, 6th grade crushes are corny. It was at that age where my friends and I were passing notes back and forth with guys asking them to rank our friends on a scale of 1-10.

Cole enters the Outskirts voluntarily after hiding from the people who take his friends and following them, but then he's quickly caught and marked as a slave. He's then sold to the Sky Raiders who are basically treasure hunters in the sky. They use flying ships to scout out and raid floating castles. Cole becomes a scout, promised his freedom after completing 50 dangerous missions. He meets Twitch and Jace who are also scouts. Jace is arrogant and Twitch is quiet and keeps to himself. Twitch thinks he'll die before completing his missions because most scouts do. The castles in the sky come from one Cloudwall and float towards another where they disappear. They are inhabited by semblances, who can be dangerous and unpredictable. Once a castle is picked, Cole scouts for treasure and runs from danger. His first mission has him encountering a huge scorpipede. He's chosen a Jumping Sword as his one magical item that can help him. He also gains a magical shawl. At Skyport, he meets Mira who has a secret, which is pretty easy to figure out.

Cole's friends from earth, Jenna and Dalton, have been taken to the High King and once Cole goes to Skyport that's the last you hear of them. Cole constantly worries about what's happening to them and continually tries to figure out how to find and rescue them. He helps Mira and Mira promises to help him. Eventually Cole, Jace, Twitch and Mira have to leave Skyport. Up to that point and minus the first chapter, the book and the world Mull created was really entertaining. Where I had a problem was chapter 26 "Brady's Wilderness." I thought the wilderness full of milk lakes with floating chocolate chip cookie islands, life-size plastic dinosaurs, and murderous skeletons felt out of place. Brady was a 6-year-old boy from earth who discovered he had shaping powers and created everything there. He made a semblance of his babysitter to help him. There's a battle on a 3-story piece of cheesecake that I'm sure kids would probably love, but I just felt like after the images of the cloud castles and floating ships, it was pretty cheesy, pun intended.

The other problem I had with this book is the complicated ending. There's the bad guy (the High King) and then there's a group of other bad guys (a mysterious order) who have powers that have not been heard of before. They use shapecraft instead of shaping powers. We have yet to learn what that means. As Mira gets her power back, there's a complicated explanation of how that's done and who's behind the separation in the first place. I think for kids reading this it would be hard for them to follow and understand. I'm sure more will be explained in later books as this is a planned series of five books, one for each kingdom. This book takes place in the kingdom of Sambria.

Brandon Mull writes likable characters. Cole is a pretty typical kid but he's brave and not whiney. There's only one other literary Jace I know and he's the most arrogant, sarcastic guy around and this Jace is reminiscent of him in a very small way. I'm excited to see where he goes from the end of this book. He's fiercely loyal to Mira. Twitch has a secret that's exposed in the middle of the book that makes him different from everyone else. He's from Elloweer where shaping powers, like in all five of the kingdoms, are different. Mira is an 11-year-old who's been 11 for decades. Liam is a guy they meet after leaving Skyport. On the surface he seems self-serving and uninterested but he's got serious shaping powers. There are some other characters that will probably play a bigger role in the next books. Overall, I liked this book and definitely liked it enough to finish the series. In the back of this book, Brandon Mull hints that he'll be revisiting the Fablehaven world in 2016 which is exciting.

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

225 pages

"When the Darling children are visited by Peter Pan and Tinker Bell, he convinces them to fly away to the island of Neverland, where children never grow up! There they meet the Lost Boys, a giant crocodile, and the evil Captain Hook." -Back Cover

For years we've had an "8 O'Clock Club" at our house. My mom started it with my siblings when they were young and we adopted the tradition when my kids were young. Its name came from reading at 8:00, right before kids went to bed. When my kids were younger that's what I would do, but as they've grown up we've changed the times but it's always been called the 8 O'Clock Club. The last few summers we've read in the afternoon and I've read out loud to the girls while they eat treats. I was planning on doing that again this year but my almost-15-year-old daughter told me that it's hard for her to concentrate when someone else is reading. I figured they'd be getting too old for me to read to them eventually. I still want us to experience the joy of reading something together so this summer I decided to try something different.

We've seen every Peter Pan movie but we've never read the book so I thought we should. I went on Amazon and bought cheap copies, enough for each member of our family to have one, even my husband who doesn't really have time to read. Then I gave us all a deadline for finishing. Those who finish get to participate in an activity of some sort related to the book. We all finished (even my husband who read it while he was at scout camp) and then we had a treasure hunt.

As far as the book goes, Tinkerbell swears, which bothered my kids because they don't. My youngest crossed out the word Tinkerbell uses (a##) in her copy. The book is more violent than the movie and because it was written so long ago had some references that we didn't quite understand. Knowing the story definitely helped and it was fun to see the differences, to see how some movies quote the book line for line and some change parts. It was written in a very whimsical way and had some tongue-in-cheek humor that I found pretty funny. I had to read most of it out loud to my 10-year-old because she really struggled with it. The vocabulary is probably more high-school level and I had to explain a lot of things, but we finished two hours before the activity after reading 35 pages out loud! I was proud of her for sticking with it. This month's book will be easier.

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

725 pages

"In this dazzling and long-awaited conclusion to the acclaimed Mortal Instruments series, Clary and her friends fight the greatest evil they have ever faced: Clary's own brother.

Sebastian Morgenstern is on the move systematically turning Shadowhunter against Shadowhunter. Bearing the Infernal Cup, he transforms Shadowhunters into creatures out of nightmare, tearing apart families and lovers as the ranks of his Endarkened army swell.

The embattled Shadowhunters withdraw to Idris--but not even the famed demon towers of Alicante can keep Sebastian at bay. And with the Nephilim trapped in Idris, who will guard the world against demons?

When one of the greatest betrays the Nephilim have ever known is revealed, Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Simon, and Alec must flee--even if their journey takes them deep into the demon realms, where no Shadowhunter has set foot before, and from which no human being has ever returned...

Love will be sacrificed and lives lost in the terrible battle for the fate of the world in the thrilling final installment of the classic urban fantasy series The Mortal Instruments!" -Dust Jacket

Okay, so it's been more than a year's wait for this "conclusion" to the Mortal Instruments. I was a big fan of the first three books, although the whole Clary & Jace are brother and sister bit was so disturbing that you knew it couldn't be true. I'd have to say that this series has gone about three books too long. After City of Glass, I thought that the author was continuing on so that Jace could finally get over his self-doubt but he continues to struggle with it. So you had a crappy, evil father--be better than he was and get over it. He's still probably my favorite character just because of his snarkiness, but seriously, the whole idea of characters being together and then something keeping them apart, then being together, and back and forth, was very overused in this series. They can't be together because they think they're brother and sister, then they find out they're not and are back together, then Jace is possessed and goes off with Sebastian, then they get him back, then they can't be together because Jace is full of heavenly fire, then he's not.

This is not a series I would necessarily recommend. Insert rationalization: These books are long and I've been invested for a few years, but there really are some objectionable elements to this story. As much as I love Alec and Magnus individually, I don't like their relationship. I also thought it was lame {spoiler alert} that when Jace & Clary finally get together in that way, it's in a demon realm and he's just happened to bring protection along. Seriously? I like that they stay true to each other throughout the series and are always fighting for the other person, but that whole thing could have been much more romantic--say maybe preceded by a Shadowhunter wedding?

Now, to the part that bugged me the very most. Sometimes series need to continue for the sake of the story, and sometimes an author just publishes more books to make money. I feel like the latter is true in this case. I read the first book in The Infernal Devices series and felt like it was regurgitation of The Mortal Instruments--different characters, same storyline--so I didn't read the others, although I hear it's better than The Mortal Instruments. Then some of those characters show up in City of Heavenly Fire and some new characters are introduced for the author's new series The Dark Artifices. I'm okay with even all of that, but she should have let Jace & Clary's story end instead of inserting some cliffhangers about them right at the very end of this book. I really don't want to have to start the next series to see Jace & Clary have their happily ever after...or not. She's always messing with Jace. Hasn't he been through enough in over 2,000 pages?

{Spoiler alert} I get attached to characters easily. I don't like to see the main characters die (Tris in Divergent for example) but if you're going to have an epic battle against "the greatest evil they have ever faced" you'd think there'd be some fallout and sacrifice from it besides just Simon having to trade his immortality and memories so they could all get out of the demon realm. Had Simon's memory not been partially restored by Magnus at the very end I would have felt like there was a great enough sacrifice for victory but everything's so neat and tidy at the end. It sort of leaves you feeling a little shorted. I thought about the Beyonders series. Really great characters died in their fight against evil and it made it seem worth it. This victory was just sort of hollow. Their fight with Valentine was more exciting. So, I'm still a fan but a mediocre one who'd love for these characters' stories to finally come to an end.

Cragbridge Hall: The Inventor's Secret by Chad Morris

336 pages

"Imagine a school in the year 2074 where students don't read history, but watch it happen around them; where running in gym class isn't around a track, but up a virtual mountain; and where learning about animals means becoming one through an avatar. Welcome to Cragbridge Hall, the most advanced and prestigious school in the world.

Twins Abby and Derick Cragbridge are excited as new students to use their famed grandfather's inventions that make Cragbridge Hall so incredible. But when their grandfather and parents go missing, the twins must follow a mysterious trail of clues left by their grandfather. They must find out where their family is, learn who they can trust, and discover what secrets are hidden within Cragbridge Hall.

Abby and Derick soon realize they are caught in a race with a fierce adversary to discover their grandfather's greatest secret--a dangerous discovery that could alter both history and reality." -Dust Jacket

This was a pretty good book, although the "greatest secret" was pretty obvious. The thing I liked most about this book was the way it reminds the reader or introduces the reader to some historical events, in particular Blackbeard's demise, Frederick Douglass learning to read, and the story of the Endurance in a way that's interesting to the reader. I found myself wanting to learn more about these events after reading this book. I also liked what Oscar Cragbridge said about tragedy and why one shouldn't want to or try to alter history.

Abby & Derick were likable enough. Abby was rejected by Cragbridge Hall but her grandfather got her in. She's accused of not being good enough to be there and ostracized by everyone but Carol, who eventually becomes her roommate. The fact that Abby has failed at things in her life proves to be a big asset at one point of the book because it's taught her to persevere. Rafa is a TA who is skilled with avatars and he plays a crucial role in this book as well.

I think my kids would like this book, especially my youngest two. There's a sequel coming out soon so we'll see if that one's even better.




{SPOILER ALERT}
List of characters (so I can remember when the sequel comes out!):
Derick & Abby Cragbridge - Twins, given lockets by their grandfather which help them know something's happened to him. Abby gives hers to who she thinks is a police officer early on but who really works for Muns.
Jefferson & Hailey Cragbridge - Abby & Derick's parents
Oscar Cragbridge - Grandfather, Inventor, Founder of Cragbridge Hall
Carol Reese - Abby's roommate and friend, sometimes annoyingly talkative
Rafa - Older student who helps Derick save his grandpa using a gorilla & rhino avatar
Charles Muns - Businessman who hires scientists to try to figure out time travel, arch rival of Oscar Cragbridge who kidnaps him and puts Jefferson & Hailey on the Titanic to try to get Oscar to reveal his secrets
Mr. Hendricks - Teacher at Cragbridge Hall who's kind to Abby & Derick but who works for Muns. Had a locket stolen from Coach
Minerva Entrese - English teacher at Cragbridge Hall who is cold at first but it's only because she used to work for Muns and she knows she's being watched. She's trying to appear to not be sympathetic to Oscar. She stopped working for him and helps Abby & Derick rescue their grandfather.
Coach Horne - Basketball coach, trusted by Oscar Cragbridge. Had his locket stolen and it winds up being the one Mr. Hendricks had. Tries to stop Hendricks after Abby goes through the Bridge to rescue her parents.
Coach Adonavich - Also trusted by Oscar Cragbridge and has a locket. Helped stop Hendricks as well.

The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer

438 pages

"Alex and Conner Bailey's world is about to change.

When the twins' grandmother gives them a treasured fairy-tale book, they have no idea they're about to enter a land beyond all imagining: the Land of Stories, where fairy tales are real.

But as Alex and Conner soon discover, the stories they know so well haven't ended in this magical land--Goldilocks is now a wanted fugitive, Red Riding Hood has her own kingdom, and Queen Cinderella is about to become a mother!

The twins know they must get back home somehow. But with the legendary Evil Queen hot on their trail, will they ever find the way?" -Dust Jacket

The author's name sounded familiar when I bought this, but I didn't realize just who he was until my daughter looked at the dust jacket. Chris Colfer plays Kurt Hummel on Glee. I watched Glee for the first two seasons until it took a decidedly homosexual direction and tried to take on too many social issues instead of just being a funny show with cool music. I thought this book was pretty good but once I realized it was written by a young adult I cut it more slack than I might have otherwise.

Alex and Conner fall through their grandmother's book into the Land of Stories. They meet a frog man who gives them a journal. The journal reveals that there is a Wishing Spell that could help them get back home but there are several items they need to collect for the spell. Each item comes from a different kingdom and fairy tale character--Cinderella's slipper, a piece of Red Riding Hood's basket, the spindle of Sleeping Beauty's spinning wheel, and some others they don't quite understand. Along the way, they encounter danger from the Evil Queen and the Big Bad Wolf Pack. They're also kidnapped by trolls and goblins. Goldilocks helps them out of a couple of rough spots and is romantically involved with Jack, of Jack and the Beanstalk fame. There were some fun twists on classic fairy tales. I liked that the Evil Queen had a reason for being evil and was actually a victim herself. It wasn't the best book of this genre that I've read but it was good. I'll definitely get the sequel. The ending, when the Fairy Godmother tells Alex and Conner why they traveled to our world and told their stories, was particularly touching. I also love that Alex thanks the people/characters for being some of her best friends. That's why I love to read. Characters in books become your friends and can help you through difficult times sometimes.

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy

436 pages

"Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You've never heard of them, have you? These are the princes who saved Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, respectively, and yet, thanks to those lousy bards who wrote the tales, you likely know them only as Prince Charming. But all of this is about to change. Rejected by their princesses and cast out of their castles, Liam, Frederic, Duncan, and Gustav stumble upon an evil plot that could endanger each of their kingdoms. Now it's up to them to triumph over their various shortcomings, take on trolls, bandits, dragons, witches, and other assorted terrors, and become the heroes no one ever thought they could be." -Dust Jacket

My daughters and I loved this book. It is laugh-out-loud funny and has great illustrations for almost every chapter. It's cleverly written and I loved the spin on the classic fairy tales. Frederic has a father who was scarred by chicken pox and doesn't want his son to be physically marred in any way so he requires him to get his beauty sleep and not do anything adventurous. For Ella (Cinderella) that's a problem because he's boring and she loves adventure. Sleeping Beauty is a total brat and Liam refuses to marry her. This damages his reputation as a hero as the people of his kingdom turn on him. Gustav has 16 brothers who get all the fame and glory. Rapunzel, after all, actually saved herself. Duncan and Snow are married, living in the forest, but in a bit of a rut. The princes stumble upon each other at the Stumpy Boarhound, a questionable bar and inn. There they form the League of Princes and set off on an adventure to save the bards from the witch Zaubera and become heroes.

This book took us all summer to read but my girls begged to read every night and could remember details about the story that I couldn't--like the fact that Rapunzel has magical tears which proves vital at one point of the story. Fortunately, there's another book by this author called The Hero's Guide to Storming Your Castle. We can't wait to read it because this one was definitely a favorite.

The Unwanteds: Island of Silence by Lisa McMann

406 pages

"The battle is over. The magical barrier between the dreary land of Quill and the fantastical world of Artime is gone. Now residents of both places are free to mingle, but tensions are high. The artistic warriors of Artime struggle to forgive those in Quill who condemned them to death, while the Quillens attempt to recover from the shock of Artime's existence, the loss of their leader, and the total collapse of their safe, orderly world.

Alex Stowe has recovered from his physical wounds since his death-defying role in Artime's victory, but his confidence is shattered. He battles self-doubt after Artime's beloved mage, Mr. Today, makes a stunning request, which is further complicated by the mysterious arrival of two silent orange-eyed teenagers. Meanwhile in Quill, Aaron is devastated by his fall from grace. Spurred by rage, Aaron devises a masterful plan of revenge that will return him to power...if no one gets in his way." -Back Cover

The first half of this book was just so-so for me. One of the things that I don't think is explained very well is why Aaron hates Alex so much. His vengeful attitude just doesn't seem grounded in anything significant before the battle at the end of book one. I think Aaron is the weakest character which is kind of a shame since he's the villain. The fact that this book is told almost totally from Alex's point of view doesn't help that. Aaron falls from grace and then in a matter of weeks, thanks in part to handing out stolen food to hungry Wanteds and Necessaries, begins his rise to power once again. Why adults would fear and trust a teenage boy who has no magical power is a bit strange. The adults seem to think he's the only one who can restore Quill...or maybe they're just biding their time. One thing I did like about Aaron's story is that he (and you) don't quite know who's on his side and who's playing him.

I did enjoy more of Mr. Today's back story. He restores the memories of the original founders of Quill and that creates an interesting dynamic. He sees a lot of potential in Alex and wants him to take over in part because of the twin connection that he and Aaron share, like Mr. Today and Justine did. But of course things happen before Alex fully commits and Mr. Today is able to share all of his knowledge because about midway through this book really picks up in intensity. Finally there was something to justify the "The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter" tagline. Meghan, Samheed, and Lani go off on an adventure that puts them in a lot of danger and leaves their future a bit uncertain. This is the typical middle series book in that it acts like a filler between the first and third. It of course leaves you with a bunch of loose ends which hopefully the third book will tie up in a satisfying way. It was hard to put down once things started to get exciting and thank goodness the third book comes on in September. My teenage daughter picked it up as soon as I was finished and she's loving it.

The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann

390 pages

"QUILL PREVAILS WHEN THE STRONG SURVIVE

Every year in Quill, thirteen-year-olds are sorted into categories: the strong, intelligent Wanteds go to university, and the artistic Unwanteds are sent to their graves.

On the day of the Purge, identical twins Alex and Aaron Stowe await their fate. While Aaron is hopeful of becoming a Wanted, Alex knows his chances are slim. He's been caught drawing with a stick in the dirt--and in the stark gray land of Quill, being creative is a death sentence.

But when Alex and the other Unwanteds face the Eliminators, they discover an eccentric magician named Mr. Today and his hidden world that exists to save the condemned children. Artime is a colorful place of talking statues, uncommon creatures, and artistic magic, where creativity is considered a gift...and a weapon." -Back Cover

So, on the front cover of this book there's this statement by Kirkus Reviews: "The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter." Having finished this book, I feel like that review set up some unfair expectations for this book from the very beginning, because when you compare a new series to two of the greatest series of all time, you give that new book some huge, nearly impossible shoes to fill. About halfway through this book I felt like this one wasn't living up to that at all. Artime is the main land in this book as Alex goes there early on. It is an interesting place. Mr. Today is not Dumbledore by any stretch of the imagination, but he has created a unique land, with a mansion that can grow to accommodate the numbers living there, tubes that can take you anywhere within that mansion, magical creatures that guard its gates and its forests, and professors who teach various magical arts classes. Some of those teachers are magical creations of Mr. Today's, like Ms. Octavia who has the mouth of an alligator and the body of an octopus. Simber is a stone cheetah with wings. Most animals in Artime are a combination of two or more animals.

The children arrive there thinking they're going to be killed. To the outsider, all they see is a large iron gate, a small, dark building, and a bubbling lake of oil. Then they walk through a mirage of sorts to see what Artime really is--a safe haven for them where they can develop their creativity and also learn to use it as a weapon. There's a beautiful mansion, lake and forest. Alex's new and old friends quickly graduate to their Magical Warrior Training while Alex continues to be held back and work on art. That delay causes Alex to withdraw from his friends and spend as much time alone as possible working on his pictures, trying to impress Ms. Octavia enough to let him start his training. Alex's magical training is delayed due to concerns over his connection with his twin Aaron and the fact that he sneaks into Mr. Today's office to watch Aaron on the blackboards that show the viewer live feeds of Quill.

I liked that magical weapons are developed according to creative ability. Those with theater strengths learn soliloquies and poems that can freeze or otherwise harm their enemies. Those with art skills make stuff like paper dragons that can attack an enemy and use paint brushes for blinding and invisibility spells. Eventually after Alex starts his training he learns to create 3-dimensional doors that take him to other places and he visits his brother. Mr. Today watches Alex as he works to visit and warn his brother but despite the advice of the teachers refuses to intervene because he doesn't want to take away free will. He refuses to punish someone for something he thinks they will do but hasn't actually done yet. The residents of Artime know that eventually their secret will be discovered and they will be forced to fight Quill, but Mr. Today refuses to make the first move. Instead, he has the residents of Artime train and prepare themselves for war.

What I didn't like is that Quill is supposed to be the Hunger Games part of the story. Justine is evil but you don't really get to see what makes her that way or what she does to maintain her power. The reader doesn't get to spend enough time in Quill or with the characters there to really abhor it. The Unwanteds families immediately forget them and life goes on as normal. I would have liked to have had more time in the beginning of the story where Alex helps the reader know just how bad things are there especially considering this is a series.

This is a good middle grade book. Once the battle started there were some interesting plot points revealed that helped the story pick up a little more suspense and interest for me as an adult. I'll read the next book. The third doesn't come out until this fall. I really think I would have liked it more, however, if it hadn't had that pressure put on it of living up to the other two series. On the other hand, it's also sort of what made me want to read it in the first place.





{SPOILER ALERT}
Just so I remember for the next book...
Mr. Today and Justine are twins. Mr. Today supported Justine's plan in the beginning until he realized what was really happening and then he spent the next 30 years secretly working against her. Justine knew magic which she kept secret. It was Lani's spell that killed her but only she and maybe her father know that it was her because she was invisible when she cast it. Lani's dad, General Haluki, second in command to Justine, was actually working with Mr. Today for all those years because they were friends. He let Mr. Today cast a wolf spell on him so he's the huge wolf that Alex sees in the forest. He traveled back and forth between Quill and Artime.

Samheed and Will Blair are bitter about being Unwanteds in the beginning. Will knows that it was Aaron that reported him and got him sent to Artime. He spends the whole book plotting revenge against Aaron and he and Samheed study Alex to learn everything they can about him. Towards the end of the book Will, an acting talent, transforms himself into Alex and sneaks into Quill. The Quillitary bring his body back at the start of the war. He has obviously failed in his attempt to kill Aaron. Samheed was also reported by Aaron but he realizes he's made a mistake consorting with Will and helps Artime win the war. His father is also a general and they have a confrontation on the battlefield where Samheed realizes that his father is willing to kill him and almost does until a teacher throws an enchanted spear from a tree.

After Alex visits Aaron in his dormitory room, Alex realizes just how committed Aaron is to Justine and to Quill. Alex can't convince him to come to Artime where he'll be safe from Will's attempt to kill him. Aaron follows Alex back through the 3-D door and he, Alex and Mr. Today have a conversation in Mr. Today's office. Mr. Today and Alex fear that he will expose them. Aaron has had a few brilliant ideas that have promoted him to Justine's Assistant Secretary. While trying to solve the problem of Quill's rundown vehicles, he thinks about the lake of bubbling oil and suggests its use to Justine but wants to visit it first so he, Justine, and a few generals head out. Because Justine has always given 6-month's notice before making a visit, Mr. Today is unaware of her arrival and is talking to all of Artime out on the lawn when they open the gate. He doesn't have time to hide Artime with magic so their secret is revealed but it makes Aaron look complicit because Mr. Today acknowledges him by name. That ruins his position with Justine and makes Aaron willing to do anything to get back in her good graces.

Mr. Today, Alex and Simber leave the battle to use the secret passage to Justine's palace and seal it off so she has nowhere to escape to. Aaron is there and throws a killing spell at Alex that would have killed him if not for his enchanted vest that all of Artime's residents are wearing. Simber takes both of them back to Artime but drops Aaron in the ocean. It's revealed about halfway through that Quill is actually an island, surrounded by other islands inhabited by good people. Quill has walled itself off from all outsiders. Aaron makes it back to short and then puts on a vest and pretends to be Alex since they are identical twins. He's determined to kill Mr. Today. Ms. Octavia senses something is off as she talks to him as Alex but it's not until Samheed realizes that he's holding his throwing star in the wrong hand that they figure out he's Aaron instead of Alex. They stop him in time.

The book ends with the wall being torn down between Quill and Artime with people free to come and go but knowing that most won't. General Haluki is now in charge of Quill but Alex doubts that will last after Aaron is freed and returns to Quill, bitter and angry. The Purge still continues because that's what the people want (?)  but Artime always has room for every Unwanted. You know that there will be other showdowns between Alex and Aaron in the future.

Beyonders: Chasing the Prophecy by Brandon Mull

504 pages

"When Jason and Rachel first arrived in Lyrian, all they wanted was to find their way home. Now they know that the roles they must play are essential to the final effort in the crusade against the evil emperor, Maldor--though the cost could be their lives.

In her final prophecy the Oracle of Mianamon saw many possible futures for the people of Lyrian. But among all of those futures, she glimpsed only one unlikely course that might allow Jason, Rachel, and the heroes at their sides to defeat Maldor and restore peace to Lyrian. Her vision calls for Jason's and Rachel's paths to diverge as they embark on their most perilous adventures yet. Will their journeys lead them home at last, or somewhere neither could have ever imagined?" -Dust Jacket

This is among the best books of good versus evil in my opinion. I'm so glad that I re-read the first two books right before reading this one. It would not have been the same otherwise. There are so many characters that I would have forgotten the little details about each one and spent a portion of the book trying to remember them instead of enjoying them.

I love that Brandon Mull wasn't afraid to sacrifice characters that you really love and care about. This book left me emotionally exhausted but totally satisfied. It's gut wrenching but realistic of an epic battle. The Oracle warned that victory would require great sacrifice. I was sobbing at the end and parts along the way. I love when a story does that to me. These are characters that you've loved for over 1,500 pages plus a few years as I've waited for the sequels. These are characters who are forced to make difficult decisions and who do so selflessly for the greater good and for their friends. Overall this is a story of friendship. I love that the Oracle's prophecy is just specific enough to give them an idea as to what they need to do, but vague enough that it requires faith to act. Galloran and Ferrin both have wonderful conversations with Rachel when she doubts the authenticity of the prophecy. Jason and Rachel are teenagers from another world, yet their courage and commitment inspire other heroes and together they accomplish the nearly impossible. Everyone has a part to play and I loved how everything came together.

{MILD SPOILERS}
Rachel winds up being a gifted Edomic, possibly the best in years, and she experiences the lure and exhilaration of her power. That gift makes the end of the story bitter sweet yet also leaves you feeling like it really couldn't have been any other way. That kind of power can often corrupt the wielder.  

I love that Galloran is the type of man that good men and women love and are loyal to. I have so many favorite characters in this book. Ferrin is right up near the top. He is torn throughout the whole series between who he was created to be--a servant/spy of Maldor--and who he wants to be--a true friend. I love his development throughout the story and his ultimate decision even though those close to him still doubt his intentions. When he's arrested after all he's done you want to shout at the Amar Kabal but you also understand exactly why they're doing what they do. I think his decisions more than any others held the most power to forever change the course of events. Drake, Jasher, Tark and Nedwin are also amazing. They are reminiscent of great literary characters like Aragorn and Faramir of Lord of the Rings, good men who do brave and valiant things for those they love. This book is full of non-stop action. Brandon Mull has done a great job visually creating the world of Lyrian and its beauty and dangers. The Maumet and Groddic chapters were awesome battles as were the duels with the torivors. Mull does a great job tying everything together. There are a few unexpected twists in this book which are like icing on an already delicious cake. Just don't forget your box of tissues.