library piles

Oh dear, I haven't posted in here for a longsy time...
A little while ago, I was talking to a friend about what was in our library piles. (meaning, what we had out from the library. You wouldn't believe the amount of books she has in hers). anyway, here's whats in mine:

The Dragon Reborn
The Life History of a Star
The Year of our War
The White Horse Talisman
Forging the Sword.

And the books aren't in my library pile (but I'm still planning on reading) are:
Soul Music
A Short History of Nearly Everything
The Alchemist.

There. Yes, I know, I'm crazy. (in a good way :D)

ta-ta!

Terrier

Ok, well, I finished The Children of Hurin, which I LOVED. It was a beautiful, sad story. The main character had such bad luck that he seemed cursed. Ok never mind, he was cursed. Poor man.

Now I'm reading Terrier, by Tamora Pierce. What an interesting book. It's a fantasy book (of course) about a young police-in-training (they're called the "Provost's Guard"). The main character is Beka Cooper, who has strange magic: a magic that allows her to her the whispers of the dead. Through this, Beka learns that someone is seriously shaking up the the slums of her city. People of all ages are disappearing from the streets, often never seen again. With her fellow Guards, her close friends, and her strange, talking purple-eyed talking cat (readers of Tamora Pierce will recognise Faithful), she searches for the up-starts, determined to bring them to justice.

The Children of Hurin

Well, I finished The Other Wind. Awesome beautiful amazing book. It made me cry. I would recommend that you read it, but read the Earthsea quartet first, (A Wizard of Earthsea being the first one) because it'll make more sense if you do. But oh, I love her books!

Now I'm reading The Children of Hurin, which is technically by J.R.R. Tolkien, but was edited by his son. It's set WAY before The Lord of the Rings, in the First Age of Middle Earth. (The Lord of the Rings was set at the end of the Third Age). I already know the story: it's a very sad story, but beautiful as well. I'm really excited about reading it!

Finally!

All right! I've FINALLY finished The Great Hunt! It was awesome. It had such an interesting, complex plot line, and I think that it will get even more interesting the following books. I love the characters. I don't think that I really hate any of the characters, (like I do in other books) because they are all so intriguing.

I have now started reading The Other Wind, by Ursula K. LeGuin. She is a wonderful writer. I highly recommend her books!

AAAA!!!

Haven't posted on here for a while! Just popping in to say that I'm still plowing through The Great Hunt. It's been taking me so long! But it's so good! I'm really pushing to finish it, because there are other books that I want to read: The Other Wind, The Children of Hurin, and Terrier, mainly. So many books, so little time! :)

Happy reading. :)
Peace favour you.

Shiva's Fire

This is a book review I wrote a few years ago... just thought that I'd post it anyways.

Shiva’s Fire was written by Suzanne Fisher Staples. The main character is a girl named Parvati, who lived in India. This book is about her childhood and adolescence.

Parvati was no ordinary child. When she was born, she seemed to have a strange gift, the gift of dance. The other people in Parvati’s village thought that she was strange, so they didn’t associate with her.

When she was twelve, the Guru Pazhayanur Muthu Kumara Pillai, a well-known Indian classical dance instructor, recognized that Parvati had a rare talent. He invited Parvati to study with him at his gurukulam. She would study dance, music and other things. Then she meets a boy with his own strange gifts, who turns her life upside down.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give this book ten, because of how well it explained the joys and challenges of Parvati’s life.

books.....

I have a lot to catch up on. A little while ago, I read The Light-bearer's Daughter, (which is the sequel to The Summer King). I think it was the best it the series. There's one more, called The Book of Dreams.

Still plodding through The Great Hunt. It's going very slowly, but I'm sticking with it, because--if the first book was any gauge-- it will have an awesome ending. The books are very well written, though, and the story is very intricate, like a delicate web: a complicated pattern. Characters you meet in passing in the first book will suddenly pop up in the second book, and have a roll of their own, instead of a roll supporting the main characters.

I could write a lot more, but I need to go to bed.
Peace favour you.

The Eye of the World

Yay! I finished the first book in The Wheel of Time series. I LOVED it. The writing is amazing. You know how some authors are so good they make the slow parts good? Well, Robert Jordan is one of those. I'm hooked. I started the second one, called The Great Hunt. Yippee!

The Wheel of Time series

I am reading the first one in this series-- called The Eye of the World-- and just loving it. The plot is kind of hard to explain: it's basically just one big, prolonged chase. (actually, I haven't figured out what the plot is yet). It has the typical fantasy good against evil, dark against light thing going on. But that's fantasy for you. IT IS SO GOOD! Oh yeah, and the author is Robert Jordan.
Two more things: there's twelve book in the series!!! Woot! And if you are going to look for the books in the library, look in the adult section. (and did I mention that it was good?)

Over and out.

The Summer King

Well, I finished the sequel to The Hunters Moon. (the sequel is The Summer King... well, duh). It was very good. I was kind of disappointed that it didn't follow Gwen's story: No, we had an entirely different character: Laurel. But it followed the same story line... sort of. And Laurel was a cool character, so it was all right. And it was a good book!

Over and out.
Holly.

The Hunters Moon, by O.R. Melling

Gwen and her cousin, Findabhair, have always longed to find a way into the otherworld-- a way into Fairyland. Determined to do so, they decided to challenge the ancient fairy laws and sleep in a Sidhe-mound-- a fairy-mound. When the morning comes, Gwen finds Findabhair has disappeared: taken by the King of Faerie. Angry and worried for her cousin, Gwen sets out to get her back. But by doing this, Gwen finds herself being drawn into the mystical world of Faerie. And she also finds danger: more then just the usual tricks of the Faeries. The Hunter is stirring, and he demands a sacrifice.

This book is set in present day Ireland. It is rich with Irish lore, faeries, magic, and adventure. Gwen is a fantastic character: she is brave and kind and never gives up. You also run into a ton of other amazing characters: Mattie, a business-man who, against all odds, still believes in fairies: Dara, a young teen-aged boy who is actually the king of a small Island: (only the faeries recognise his kingship) and Finvarra, the dark, mysterious King of the Faeries.
If you love Irish lore, faeries, adventure, or just a good read, this books for you!

Riddles

I've been reading The Riddle by Alison Croggon, second in the Pellinor series. (the first one is called The Naming). It's good! It's about a 16 year old girl called Mearad. (pronounced MY-rad).

When the first book starts, Mearad is a slave for a "petty tyrant". (I think that's what they called him, anyway). Then she meets a man called Cadvan who helps her escape and shows her a world that she hasn't really seen before: a world where people help one-another and where things are fair and beautiful. He also reviles a to her that she's a Bard: a mage who wields the power of the Light. The Bards have acted as leaders and guiders for the people for centuries. But the Dark is rising again, and this rising will be the most terrible yet. It will boil down to a few mumbled pieces of lore, some randoms guesses and a few very odd and confusing riddles to help defeat the Dark once and for all.

That's basically what the books are about. Mearad is amazingly real and complex: I think she is the most believable character I have ever "met" in a book. There will be four books in all.

~Holly.

Pendragon

I have gotten hooked onto a new series: Pendragon, by D. J. MacHale. The first one is "The Merchant of Death". I finished reading it a little while ago. It's about a 14 year old boy named Bobby Pendragon. When it starts, he's just a normal boy: goes to a public school, he's good at basket-ball, he's cool, bla bla bla, you get the point. But the thing is, he isn't at all normal: he is, and his Uncle Press tells him, a Traveler: someone who travels between the universes and helps the people of different worlds through difficult times.

When it starts, Uncle Press comes to him and tells him that there is a group of people that need his help. They are teetering on the brink of a deadly civil war, one that will destroy their world if it happens. What Uncle Press fails to tell Bobby is that these people are in an entirely different universe! Before Bobby knows what's happening, he's drawn into the center of it all. It's up to him, Uncle Press, and a few other people to stop the civil war before it destroys that universe.

This book was quite funny at times. Bobby has rather pessimistic view of things, and will often pick out the worst thing is a situation, or imagine the worst thing that could happen. Although this doesn't sound very funny, it is. It was a good story: well written with some awesome characters. It would probably fall into the "fantasy" category, but it does have some Si-Fi thrown in to. I would definitely recommend this book!

:D :)

Happy New Year to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!