Science Fiction Fantasy Books

I thought Midnight and Moonrise were much better than Dawn. The whole point of the book was for the clans to leave the forest but for the firt 200+ pages they were just sitting around watching the forest get destroyed.In Midnight the whole book was about traveling, but in Dawn the clans make a longer journey in a smaller amount of pages.Once the clans left the forest the book got better.

All of the Erin Hunter books are great! I just love them and have read them many times over. I am not a reader, I hate to read!!! But give me a Warrior series book and leave me alone for a few days. They are the best. Thanks Erin for opening up a new world for me.

Nice how the Clans could come together, and not rip each others throat out.
My fave bit would have to be when Crowpaw/feather said he wasn't afraid of dying because Feathertail would be waiting for him.
Kind of longish, but still good.

Pre-teen and early teen girls love the series. It has my 10 year olds attention. She is reading like never before.

This is the third installment of the New Prophecy series, the books based on Firestar's ( the hero of our Erin Hunter's first series )and Sandstorm's children, and Tigerclaw's children. ( Tigerclaw was the bloodthirsty villian on the last series ). In this book, our characters Brambleclaw, Squirrelflight, Crowfeather, Stormfur, and Tawnypelt all return from the long, sorrowful, and dangerous journey. They are missing a gentle soul though- Stormfur's sister, Feathertail, died in the second book.
If you haven't read any of these nooks yet, they are superbly written and star cats- my favorite animal! These cats live in four Clans, or tribes. They do not live with humans, but live in the forest.
Life is dangerous in the forest, as not all the Clans are always friendly. Especially now, since the humans are ripping up the Clan's territory and killing and capruring cats. When or heroes return to their home, each must cinvince their Clans to move out of the woods- and into a safe territory.
I suggest that you but every book in the series and devour them within 24 hours.I absoulutely love these books, though they contain heart breaking parts.
This review should have helped you decide to buy this book and every other one is each series. No matter the price, these books are solid gold to me!!!
Just another Amazon reader and reviewer,
Moonwhisker

i absolutely ADORE this book. i fell in love with it for the first time when i was 12. i am 18 now, but the storyline and the characters are endearing to me every time i read it i must have read Ella enchanted about five times. the romance between ella and char is innocent, but it captures my heart every time. I was very disappointed when i saw the movie. I dont think the movie captured the essence of Ella and the magic that Levine bestowed in her book. If I could, I'd create a movie that is true to the book and its characters. Even though it is a children's book, it is still accessible to adults (though i am still kind of a child at heart- i LOVE fantasy stories)

1000000% RECOMMENDED

I actually saw the movie before I read the book and I loved the movie, but it's vastly different from the book. It was interesting to see the differences. I can see why some of the changes were made for the movie, but both are great in their own right.

I liked the treatment of Lucinda in the book better than in the movie. In the movie, Lucinda never learned or understood what she did to people, but in the book she did when Mandy tricked her into experiencing what she put Ella through.

I also liked that Ella had to find the inner-strength to break the curse, opposed to having an easy quick fix of undoing it. To be honest, Ella would have probably in more trouble if Lucinda had reversed the spell, so even if she wanted to obey at times, she would then be under a curse to never obey.

I also like that the prince was treated as a real person and given a real personality. Rewatching Disney's Cinderella as an adult, I was shocked how truly vapid the prince was. He had no personality. He was just a stereotypical pretty boy.

It was also nice reading the progression of Ella and Char's relationship, instead of her going to a ball and just falling in love with him.

This is a great book, which I'll definitely read again.

Romance, although also could be fantasy. Upper elementary to middle school. Reading level is supposed to be grade four, but it seems higher to me. 232 pages.

I read quite a bit of this book before I started to enjoy it, but because the librarian recommended it, I stuck with it. The book is the back story of Cinderella, although the reader doesn't realize it until near the end. Instantly, the story of Cinderella--which I never really liked--has a profound truth I now see: When we walk in another's shoes, our perceptions change. Honor book. No illustrations.

Ella Enchanted
By Gail Carson Levine

Ella only wanted to be a regular girl. But instead the day she was born, a curse was bestowed upon her. The gift of obedience. The fairy Lucinda does not think before she gives these silly curses and so when Ella is told to do something, she has to do it. If someone told Ella to kill herself she would have to obey. When Ella's mother gets very sick and dies, Ella is left with Mandy her cook that is her fairy godmother and her father. Ella's father traveled all the time and he doesn't know about her curse. Just like her mother said "Don't tell anyone about your curse." Ella had to obey.
But when Ella's dad introduces her to Dame Olga and her dreadfully bossy daughters, Ella realizes that the elder one, Hattie knows that Ella will do anything she says. Hattie commands Ella to give her the necklace that Ella's mom gave to her. But there is a silver lining on the story. Ella becomes dear friends with Prince Charmont, or as his friends call him, Char. Just when Ella thinks that Char and her are becoming great friends, Ella's father ships her off to finishing school so she can become a true lady with Hattie and the spoiled Olive (Hattie's sister).
Finishing school is the worst place for Ella. She must obey every command no matter how awful or difficult. When Ella cannot stand it anymore she runs away, and decides to quest for her fairy godmother and reverse the spell. But Hattie had forbidden Ella to see Char. So how will she be able to tell him how she really feels when he thinks she never wants to see him again?

Many young girls dream of having a fairy tale life just like the ones that appear in Disney movies such as Cinderella, but what happens when these girls grow into young ladies and expect a little more than your usual fairy tale? In her novel Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine adds a whole new twist to the familiar story of Cinderella. With the use of point of view, characterizations and themes, she achieves to appeal to a budding, young female audience that already has a love for the classic Disney tale.

Point of View
Carson presents a first person point of view that allows Ella to narrate her own story. Her thoughts, her commentary and each of her actions are plain for the reader to enjoy and experience a first hand look into Ella's world. The reader is allowed to relate her character, as she seems more realistic (as far as a fairy tale goes) than ever before, as she goes through every day teenage trials with boys (a prince, to be exact), friendship, fitting in, envy and such problems that still happen today.

Characterizations
Ella
While Disney's Cinderella is an upbeat, optimistic girl that seems to have the whole world set out for her, Levine's Ella is given a whole new dimension as a character. Ella, as a child, receives the "gift" of obedience by the wayward fairy, Lucinda. Forced to do everything she is told, Ella develops a strong, rebellious character determined to become her own person, despite what others command her to do. She may subdue physically, but mentally and spiritually, she is a character that is intelligent beyond her years that refuses to conformity, aesthetics and propriety for the wrong reasons. Carson develops Ella in such a way that her flaws and struggles with herself and others are present. Ella is not a glorified storybook character that has everything going perfectly for her; she fights for what she believes in, she makes mistakes to learn from them and goes through the motions just like her young female audience.

Prince Charmont
When the thoughts of a charming prince come to mind, what is available is only the idea of a charming prince who is just there to both save the day and marry the girl. While in most fairy tales, the female lead character usually overshadows the male equivalent; Prince Charmont is far from hidden. Carson develops Char (as he is cleverly nicknamed) in such a way that he breaks away from the usual princely stereotypes by adding a little more to his personality but still maintaining the characteristics that would most likely still make any female weak in the knees. When Ella first meets Char, she keeps her distance in a demonstration of respect of his nobility, but he refuses to be regarded of higher ranking and asks to be addressed as any other person. He is kind hearted and humble but still he holds strong and true to the convictions that he is instructed as a young ruler. One example of this is when he pauses the beginning of a military journey to get on his hands and knees to help a merchant whose cart is overturned, instead of leaving off and ignoring the lower class. Another defining characteristic is that he, like Ella, struggles to create his own identity under the overpowering shadow of his future as the ruler of the kingdom of Frell. Char's authentic infatuation for Ella and his deep respect for her are what make the reader believe him as the true charming prince.

The Fairy Godmother
One may expect a flick of the wand and a bibidi boppidi boo to describe a fairy; Carson declines to this generic view. Mandy, Ella's fairy godmother is described as aging, overweight, speckled with freckles and frizzy hair. She hides her true identity from Ella and for the first 16 years of Ella's life, she is known as the kitchen maid and nanny. Her real self is only discovered after Ella's mother died and Ella is left to the care of no one but her father. The way that Carson portrays Mandy is in a stern, parental way so the reader can see her as a mother figure for Ella, more than just a fairy godmother that provides every single wish. Carson makes Mandy out to be a lovable character towards the reader because she nurtures and takes care of Ella while still remaining firm to what she thinks is best for her goddaughter.

Themes
In this novel, Carson explores themes that are of interest to a young female audience. One of these is the search for an identity and a place in the world. Carson develops her main theme as Ella is trying to establish herself as a person with her beliefs and convictions, and not just become a pawn to anybody's game that has knowledge of her curse. She demonstrates to the audience that they do not have to conform to a popular idea and encourages the reader to form opinions by gaining knowledge by Ella's example of maintaining her integrity and refusal to ignorance.

Another theme that goes hand-in-hand with the one mentioned before is integrity, being true to who you are. Carson encourages this by making Ella such a strong character that even though she is forced to be someone else, in her mind, she is determined to be who she truly is. Char is also another example of integrity. He is a prince, a trait that may give way to arrogance and to discrimination by status, but he denies any association of himself as a person to his nobility.

With these different literary aspects, Gail Carson Levine creates a fairy tale all her own that only alludes to the commonly known storyline. She creates a story for young girls to be immersed with such believable characters in a fictional world that teach very valuable lessons while also having those key elements that happen to draw the audience in.

They are good books. They were in good condition when it arrived. They were also a great value.

I'd heard, on and off, good things said about this wonderful series but I was amazed at the historical detail, the air of being 'there' during the Napoleonic Wars and...the dragonic aerial corps used to fight Napoleon's forces. What a fantastic world Miss Novik has created! Temeraire, the dragon, is utterly believable and an admirable character in his own right. I'm eagerly waiting the paperback of book 5. This is one series I will not miss!

This series has gotten better with every book. Temeraire adds a whole new level of complexity to the Dragon vocabulary. By choosing to warp the Napoleonic Wars to include dragons, Naomi Novik has taken a period beloved by Jane Austen fans and made it over completely. By calling the dragon riders Aviators, she has also grafted on the atmosphere of WWII's Battle of Britain as well as the devil-may-care attitude of WWI's Aces.

This is a great series for people who love history as well as for people who love dragons. Jane Austen fans who venture to read here will find her beloved Navy well represented in Naomi's hands. I absolutely recommend all of the now 5 books in this series.

I picked this set up on a whim and expected the usual faire.
To my delight this series set itself well above and beyond my expectations. The characters are wonderfully constructed and the setting during the Napoleonic War is inspired.
The mix of history and fancy is near perfect and one can follow historical touchpoints using standard history sources for the period.
The book touches on socio-political issues without preaching and in the end makes one think how far we have come and how far we need to go.
Bravo!

Excellent books, I would definitely recommend them to friends, family, and strangers alike.

If you enjoy history whatsoever, this book gives a decent overview of the Napoleonic Wars - but with a fantasy twist, of course.

But the book isn't just about history. While it does follow the timeline set by the Wars, the main focus of the book is on the most well-known of fantasy creatures - dragons. Anyone who needs another good book filled these winged beasts should read the Temeraire series.

I'm 16 and am an out teen and I absolutly adore this book and story. I'm currently on my second read and I keep falling in love with the story and characters. I do and have recomended this book to anyone and every-one who has ever felt different for any reason.

One of the things I liked the most about the story is that the characters are real and its almost like you know them peersonaly.

The main character Thom is your average teen-ager who plays basket-ball and volenteres at a comunity center and is strugling with his sexuality and the manifestation of a super power. Now, he isn't your run of the mill villian pounder he is an exceptial chalenge to the rule that heroes need to be able to shoot lasers from there eyes or run at super speed and/or fly. He has the important role of the a healer. I foun this a wnderful mesage to myself and any reader that to heal is always better than to hurt and fight and that there are other ways to be super.


*****

review by Peter Hoban

for who he is, what he is, why he is; and can't understand why he's not getting the support of his family, friends, and coach. This sounds an awful lot like what a lot of guys and gals go through every day as they grow up. Adding to the mix is that the main character is gay and has super powers; and we have one mixed up kid. I'm not going to go into all of the plot twists as they have been thoroughly discussed in prior reviews. I'm going to say that having a character who has all of the angst, stumbling, and confusion of a teenager is good to see. We don't need the perfect heroes of Golden Age Superman, et. al., in this post-modern world; we need the fumbling, trying to grasp the essentials, uncertain teen with whom many of us do relate. It is certainly a story that I can relate to, as a 50 year old man who realized that he was different back in the era just after Stonewall. He can't talk with those around him because he KNOWS that they WON'T understand. How true that was and is. This is a delightful addition to the emerging gay literature market with a plot not dependent on "bodice ripping" scenes to fill out the story line. As I remember my years as a gay, oops, bi, oops situational homosexual activity, teen; the sex was not the issue, rather trying to figure my place in the vast scheme of life was. Despite so much focus on boys and their built-in toys in gay literature; most of my life was focused other things, and I appreciate an author who deals with the teenager the same way. Thank you Perry for a fun story.

I loved this book! It was a wonderful read and such a great story about a teen ager and his dad and their struggle to connect. The action adventure aspect of the super heroes made this one of the fastest reads of the summer. I heard about the book in a magazine and hope and pray that it is the first in a series!

This is a marvelous book. Part Harry Potter, part Incredibles, a touch of Sky High, the novel ultimately stands on its own originality, so much so that it's as if those other titles were merely working towards this one.

The characters are so well drawn that I feel as if I've known them all my life. Each has his or her own dark secrets and this is the universal level upon which Perry's novel speaks to all of us. We have all felt, one way or another, regardless of race or sexual preference, as if we were different from everyone else in the room, and that is in fact true, no two human beings are alike, even twins; and we must each learn to embrace our originality and perhaps turn it to good use. It also addresses honestly, for once, the many-faceted human desire for hero worship.

Not a long diatribe on the sufferings of a misunderstood gay superhero in the making, but instead a surprisingly funny (sometimes downright hysterical) and deeply poignant study of a young boy growing into a good man, HERO is a gift for future generations. It is one many people will find comfort in reading, especially when carrying on their shoulders the heavy burden of who they really are.

It is my firm belief that Perry Moore may have saved lives with this one.

yes there are some parts of the book where you want to just flip past but as a whole, i think this novel was very well constructed and had a very genuine meaning to it. the characters were well developed, it is definitely a different angle on the "heros" type theme, and the ending was extremely well written!

I first had this book read to me when I was in the first grade, now I am 25 and still remember the book! Recently I bought it to give to a friend as a baby gift. I read it again and loved it all over again. Its so creative I love it and would recommend it to everyone! Great for a gift for your own children or others.

I teach preschool and used this book as an introduction for our post office theme. The reading level is a bit high for my age group, but they really enjoy seeing the different types of mail that pull out of the "envelopes" in the book. Very interactive and fun to read.

I bought this for my daughter and later I bought it for friends' children. I'll probably search for it for my grandchildren too. You can probably guess that I like it! Buying for kids is such fun because you get the wow factor, and then you get to see whether they really take to it by reading/playing with it. Kids don't fib about this stuff, do they! I can report 100% success. The enthusiam they have for all the hidden messages, cards, games is so sweet. This truly is a gift that grows and grows on them. See also the Christmas Postman - 5 Stars!

Note - if you have to get a used one, verify all the bits are included. The book wouldn't work without those.

I had this book when I was a little girl and Ive been searching for it for 17 years. Its amazing drawings and creativity in the letters, opens up a little girls imagination so big!!! I absolutely love the story and all the characters. Its a MUST BUY!

The anniversary book is significantly larger than the original and so loses some of the charm. However this shallow dip in nursery fairy tales is fun for both the listener and reader. New shrink wrapped books include stationary and 'postage' to encourage the young to build a habit of writing and mailing notes. The story is from a UK perspective and follows a postman who delivers the mail in a community of fairy tale characters. Some of the humor is dated (good for grandparents). Children will enjoy having the book read to them and opening the many envelopes to extract their contents. This book was a favorite of my children back in the late 1980's.

Very well written and quite enjoyable. The combination of fact and fantasy, science and science fiction, make for a delightful page-turner. I look forward to reading more from Jeremy and am already planning my next purchases!

I actually am willing to let quite a bit by in terms of reality when reading a book. But this was beyond willing suspension of disbelief. First the entire ocean flash freezes while leaving a man in the "protection" of a boat intact? The amount of energy required for that to occur is phenomenal.

Taking some breaths and reading further I was treated to characters so mono-dimensional that they should be able to hide from the rampaging dinosaurs by turning sideways.

The villains at the end have a weak spot that is so ridiculous given the current human level of technology that it made me wonder if the protagonist's were welding potatoes guns.

Jeremy Robinson has done it again with his new, explosive action/adventure novel that will keep you turning pages well into the night. Antarktos Rising plunges the modern world into the savage, ancient earth of eons past. Through a series of cataclysmic events, the continent of Antarctica is transformed into an apparent paradise while most of the inhabited earth is destroyed through a massive freeze. In order to survive, the nations of the earth race to claim the formerly frozen Antarctica as their new home. However, as teams from the various countries race to the center of the now tropical Antarctica, they find that the land is not the only thing thawed from the eons of deep freeze--so were some of the indigenous species that once roamed and ruled the continent. The journey to the center of Antarctica--now known by its ancient name of Antarktos--is the least of mankind's goals. Once they start, they must survive some of the most deadly obstacles ever faced. Jeremy Robinson takes you on their journey step-by-step through the spine tingling adventure with each turn of the page, making you wonder how the team can get out of their current danger. He scarcely gives you time to catch your breath before the team encounters a new, more deadly danger. If you have a list of books to read this summer, put Antarktos Rising at the top today.

This is one book you can not put down. It is fast paced and a great read. I had to order the rest of his books just to see if he will be a great writer as I believe he will be.

I enjoyed reading this book, but found the whole storyline a bit implausible. How can a flood/freeze event kill off half a continent and yet leave one person alive? Having said that, the story is kind of a fun story and contains a lot of "what ifs" which make it an interesting read. The story doesn't dig too deeply and doesn't give a lot of details, which makes for a quick read.

This is the second volume is the Soldier Son trilogy (after Shaman's Crossing and before Renegade's Magic).

Recovering from the plague, many surviving cadets can now only hope for a fragile health. Nevare convalesces remarkably well though, but as time goes by, he realizes the Specks' magic is taking a much crueller toll on his imbued body.

Looking forward to travelling back home to Widevale for his brother's wedding, his joy will be short lived. Nevare is far from welcome. Indeed, his father blames him for his condition, and will do everything to set things as they should be. To no avail. When the plague comes again and decimates the region, Nevare has no choice but to leave.

Cast out, he makes his way eastwards, and spends some time in Dead Town. There he meets Amzil and her children, who'll become as close to friends as he's ever had in the last months. But as he helps her, her neighbours' jealousies start to threaten her life. He'll leave when his duty commands him to take the wounded scout Buel Hitch to Gettys.

Gettys is a fortified town at the base of the Barrier Mountains, the last one on the King's Road which is being built to reach the sea beyond the mountains. But upon arrival, Nevare rapidly notices that the city is a pale shadow of what he expected, that the command is a shambles, and that roadworks has all but stopped at the edge of the forest. Not only are felled giant trees blocking the way, but a strange spell of fear and despair has fallen over the inhabitants, preventing any progression of the construction.

Despite his crippling condition, Nevare manages to gets a post at the graveyard. In the nearby forest, he'll meet a Specks woman named Olikea, and will start to learn about her People.

True to her tradition, Robin Hobb deals her main character unjust fate after unfair hand. And as poor Nevare is really at a lost about what he should do about the Magic, his social situation only gets worse, he becomes the victim of wrongful decisions, biased reactions and finally, false accusations. All this is interwoven with lavish forest scenes betraying the author's love of trees and Nature, and exquisite descriptions of food that you can savour with Nevare. The ending is beautiful and very moving and I'm very impatient to read the third and final book.

This book mostly deals with something Nevare suffers from after getting the plague. As the synopsis on the back of the book states, it has something to do with Speck magic that's possessed him. It's caused his family and friends to shun him. For a large part of the book Nevare is learning to deal with this condition and what to do about it, and how to return to a normal life. But the magic won't let him. It's a constant battle between what he wants and what the magic wants. In the end, he has to choose.

I first impression of this book as I read it was the same that I had of Shaman's Crossing -- it drags major plot points through hundreds of pages, when I thought it could've been tightened up. But that's probably just how Robin Hobb writes. Then I thought that some of what was happening was bizarre. His condition and the description of it (I don't want to give any spoilers) and what happens as a result of it is definitely very bizarre. Then Robin Hobb, as usual, goes through and makes sure she can both physically and mentally torture her protagonists. Again, I'm sure that's just how she writes.

Some of that was a bit annoying, but the story was so compelling that I was always interested in what would happen on the next page. I found myself ocassionally reading ahead just to see what other character Nevare would be talking to on the next page. I always had to know what was going to happen to him. There's also a lot of drama and I can't say that I was disappointed in what happened in the end of the book. Overall it's a great read, and worth every penny. If you want to read more realistic fantasy that is very engaging and can keep you interested, then this book, or any other by Robin Hobb, is a good place to start.

I liked the first book in this series, but this one didn't pull through. It is a very melancholy tale and it was really hard to like the protagonist. I won't purchase the next book in the series.

I wasn't sure what to think at the end of book 1, but I'm hopeful for book 3 now. I've accepted that I don't like these characters or the settings as much as her other trilogies, but I think finally I can get the main character, and finally we get to the meat of the books.

The issues that the main character faced were interesting, but quite frankly I found them uncomfortable. Once I decided that I was really into the book, though, I realized that it gave the novel a pretty unique twist.

I loved the first book in the Soldier Son series an couldn't wait to get this one. I was disappointed. I'd say this book was mostly about setting up the rest of the series, but I found it mostly depressing and slow. Robin Hobb a master of the tragic hero though, so I'm sure he'll bring the series around!

Whoosh! You see a hat pin sail across the room, much like a javelin, and pin onto the lace curtain. Then, a small man no more than six inches tall scurries across the room.

Welcome to the world of the Borrowers; Pod, Homily, and Arrietty Clock. They live under the floorboards and borrow anything from potatoes to blotting paper. The tiny people live in an old country house, inhabited by `human beans'.
All goes well for the small family until Arrietty is `seen' by a boy. The Borrowers think that `human beans' are always vicious and bad, but this boy turns out to be friendly.
The boy befriends the Clocks and even helps them borrow.
Then, Pod makes the mistake of borrowing precious knick-knacks from the mistress.
Mrs. Driver, the housekeeper, is getting suspicious. Who could be stealing these things?
She sprouts a plan to trap the thieves.
Will the Clocks be caught? Will they have to emigrate?

I thought this book was funny. The Borrowers have limited knowledge on the outside world making the way they act and think seem silly. The book is entertaining, and it is not action packed all the way. It gives you time to think about what you just read, and doesn't zoom through everything. This book is good for all ages. Mary Norton did a great job writing this book.

A classic from my childhood, I enjoy giving this to pre-teen girls and all of them have said they enjoy it, too.

I love this book - I got it for my granddaughter, who will love it as well.

Have you ever pondered where your hairclips, bobby pins and thimbles have gotten to? Do you wonder why small quantities of your father's tobacco and Madeira seem to smoke themselves or evaporate? Did your wooden knight ever ride off the chessboard never to be seen again?

You don't even know what I'm talking about, do you? OK, so have you ever lost your iPod Nano? Maybe the Borrowers needed a stereo for their home entertainment system. The same thing happened to your Nintendo Gameboy.

Mary Norton's "The Borrowers" published in 1952 is about a race of little people living beside a rain pipe, over the mantel, behind the harpsichord and in all the nooks and crannies of the house. These little people "borrow" from us, the big people. They use blotting paper for their carpets, a single onion ring for their cooking and postage stamps for wall portraits.

In the book, Pod, Homily and Arriety are the last Borrowers left in Aunt Sophy's house. They lived in the floorboards under the kitchen ad entered and exited their home from a hole behind the grandfather clock. They weren't rich but they had everything they needed - potatoes for their supper, a gas pipe leak for their cooking, a foie gras dish for their bath. Pod, the father, ventures into the house every now and then for supplies.

This is the story of how Arriety, after being allowed to go borrowing with her father, befriended a nine-year old boy who was a visitor in the house. Then their lives change forever: They discover news about their Borrower relatives, gain new riches and then lose everything they own.

This is a good story to read in a big house on a rainy afternoon. Perhaps you can explore the house for little corners where a Borrower may be living. Or you can guess which of the little things lying around the house are useful for them.

Even if you live in an apartment in the big city with the most modern furniture and high tech gadgets, it would still be fun to imagine what a Borrower family would be using these days. What would a Borrower your age be playing with? What would they use for furniture? Where would they be living?

I bought a package of IKEA tealight candles once and some of them have disappeared. Perhaps a family of Borrowers illuminate their cozy little home with them. Well, they can buy their own iPhone if they need to surf the internet; I'm not letting mine out of my sight.

The Borrowers are tiny little guys, but otherwise people. They get along by using junk that is lying around and adapting it for their own use. This book is about what happens when a human boy actually discovers them, after moving into their area.

Not a particularly uncommon theme, and this one is pretty dull.

This book has all the primary Star Wars spacecraft listed in the book. Our grade school child loves reading this book. This book is true to the DK Readers style, with reading level well identified, and full color photos to keep them excited about reading. On more than once have found our son "secretly" reading this book to himself after lights out!! Makes reading fun when they have fun topic to read about.

STAR PILOTS is actually an inaccurate title for this young readers Star Wars book. The book really doesn't have much to say about pilots, but is all about space craft flown in the Star Wars universe. While there are a few non-space vehicles described, e.g. podracers, most of the book is dedicated to famous Star Wars vehicles. X-Wings, TIE Fighters, the Millenium Falcon, the Executor, Slave 1, and the Invisible Hand are all mentioned as well as escape pods and Republican gunships. The book is filled with pictures from the movies, which makes it attractive for young readers. Though this is a level 3 book, many of the words seem more difficult than that too me. However, the books chronological order makes it easier to make sense of it all. Overall, this is a great book for young Star Wars fans.

"Star Pilot" is a tour of Star Wars' great flying vehicles. The title isn't entirely accurate since the focus isn't actually on pilots, but rather the machines. Beyond this, the scope is broader than space ships alone as the book includes pod racers and republic gunships. The scope includes the entire saga, starting with the droid control ship seen in the first minute of the "Phantom Menace" and ending with the Super Star Destroyer, seen in Episode six's final battle. The chronological order makes the book comfortable to follow. While the text is large, the vocabulary is much higher than the self-described level 3. The illustrations are large, high-quality and extracted from the films. While not comprehensive by any means, "Star Pilot" is an enjoyable tour of the most important vehicles of the Star Wars saga.

Illustrations by Portia Rosenberg

This book I found purely at random as I walked through the fiction section at my local public library in search of reading material (one cannot go home empty-handed from a place where books are being given away!), starting at the front of the alphabet, hence the author's name beginning with C. Surprisingly, this book has many similarities to Pynchon's Mason & Dixon: A Novel, which I had just finished, in its massive size (700+ pages, surely a determining factor in discovering Clarke's book in a random shelf scan), its purported historicity, its seamless and matter-of-fact incorporation of fantastic elements in historical settings, its depiction of the relationship of two men who are both friends and co-workers in fast public projects, and in their gentle ironic humor.

Clarke's writing style is not so raucous as Pynchon's, but the fantastical nature perhaps elevated. Mr. Norrell is famed as the only "practical magician" in England, an honor he has diligently sought and brought upon himself by purchasing all the books on practical magic he can find (except one who will make his appearance later!) and by discouraging all others from practicing (sometimes with the help of lawyers). Norrell is a retiring, gloomy, private man, not given to public spectacles of magic, but desiring to use his magic for the national cause. He becomes his own federal bureaucracy as it were, working with the British government to help defeat the French on the continent.

Jonathan Strange is a young, vivacious man (Norrell's polar opposite) in pursuit of a woman he hopes to marry who has no notion of becoming a magician, practical or theoretical, until he meets with the character I introduced above who reads off a philosophy that Jonathan Strange will become the second great magician of the age. Drawn to Norrell in London, the two become master and pupil as Strange learns his craft, and partners in public works as Strange joins the British Army effort against the French.

Unlike Norrell, Strange hopes to spread the reach of British magic, and to learn more about its ancient past rooted in fairies and the "slave king" John Uskglass. In pursuit of this goal, Strange loses his wife, his sanity, his friendship with Norrell, and unlocks a chain of events that he can't control that ultimately ends up almost all for the good, and therein is the source of a 782-page novel.

Much like Pynchon, I find it hard to rate such a tree-killing effort as a classic, despite the quality and enjoyability of the results. Well worth reading as a potential classic, but that rating weighed against the commitment of time it requires drops it to the second level.

I can understand why many people didn't enjoy the book; it is long and wordy in the British sense. Personally, I enjoy this, however, I concede that there are those who do not. The novel is witty and understated in its grandeur, but it is grand, nonetheless. Also, if you do not have at least a passing grasp of British history, the novel will lose some of its efficacy. I definitely recommend the book, just know your personal tastes before you commit to reading it.

Picture an England during the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, very much like the historical England, recognizable in many ways to readers familiar with the period, except that this England has a magical past, a distant connection to medieval English magic which has dissipated and diminished for hundreds of years but is now starting to come alive again. This is the setting of Susanna Clarke's wonderful book, which conjures up a familiar alternate England which becomes progressively more strange and fascinating as the story unfolds.

The seminal figure of English magic was The Raven King, a mysterious figure who emerged fully formed in the 12th century, a human child raised in Faerie, to become the ruler of the entire north of England for the next three centuries with his capital in Newcastle, and additional demesnes in Faerie and on the far side of Hell. The last of the golden age magicians, Dr. Martin Pale, was nearly contemporaneous, and upon his death the decline of English magic became manifest until our story opens in the early 1800s, when the self-taught bookworm Gilbert Norrell emerges in Yorkshire as England's first practical magician in nearly 300 years.

Like J.K. Rowling, to whom her work has been compared, Clarke is adept at plotting and characterization. Clarke has said that her favorite character is Childermass, Norrell's loyal and highly competent servant; my favorite characters are the Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair (a powerful, volatile and amoral Otherlander) and Stephen Black, an admirable person who reminds me of a personal friend with a similar name. My favorite plot device is the hidden and indescribable double life of Lady Pole, which is as frightening as anything in Robert W. Chambers. Please believe that I have said nothing that will ruin the experience: you will enjoy this book. ***

This would be a very enjoyable book for a very sheltered kid who isn't afraid of a big book. Maybe this is who gave 5 stars.

Everything other reviewers have said is true. Boring expressionless characters. Painfully simple plot that never builds up to any climax.
This is like the scenes in Harry Potter when they go to the the strange train station and then see the school with its oddities for the first time It is wonderous for the first 100 pages but instead of the story continuing this scene just keeps looping endlessly with different descriptions and dialouge for 900 more pages.
Mabye this is enough for some people.
If I had spent the countless hours watching clouds pass, it would have been more exciting.

Only the most acute and active animals are capable of boredom.-Nietzsche

Here is my 5 theses regarding this horrid novel
First, Clarke uses the plot mainly as a giant anticliche against all other fantasy books
Second, She elaborates more on insignificant people by writing long footnotes that only stress your eyes with the sall print
Third, She lacks good variety in character, and her style practicaly causes characters to contradict themselves
Fourth, the story is MASSIVELY discursive
Fifth, you say the writing is beautiful? Her style is very modern and, once again, discursive. She directly refers to and converses directly with the reader too infrequently, as well as writing rhetorical questions, prose of her own. Her style is a sad attempt to bring the book an antique feel to it, but I myself write like that, and I'm twelve...HER WRITING IS CHILDISH!
Any good quality there may be is definitely overshadowed by the above.