The Enchanted Forest Chronicals by Patricia C. Wrede
The titles are Dealing With Dragons, Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons, and Talking to Dragons. They are haliariously funny, upbeat and lively and are totally opposite of your normal fantasy book. They definatly need to be more known. A princess runs away (not a perfect blonde,either, mind you) from her overly proper kingdom to serve a dragon and even cooks it cherries jubilee. Fire-witches, talking cats, talking frogs who aren't princes, jinns and stone princes and introduced. The bad guys are the wizards, who can be melted temporarily with soapy water mixed with a tad of lemon juice, which is accedently found out. These books are as good as the TP books! I reccomend these books for anyone who loves a good laugh out loud read. ~~Lady Reena
Guenevere: Queen of the Summer Country, Knight of the Sacred Lake, and Child of the Holy Grail
We all know the story of the infamous Camelot. The wizard Merlin, the beautiful Guenevere, the heroic Arthur, the loving Lancelot, the despicable Morgan Le Fay, the bastard Mordred, and of course: The Lady of the Lake. These people and their sagas are stuck in our mind: whether we like it or not. How many books have been made about these people? Such devotion and time has been put into them, yet we do not know if they ever even existed. There are so many storied about Arthur, his boyhood, his wife, his affair with Morgan Le Fay. Yet, how many people know about the woman behind the throne? This woman, who was the owner of the Round Table, the daughter of the pagan Goddess, and sole owner of the Summer Country, where Camelot was located. In the books of Guenevere, Rosalind Miles tells the Queen's story through an almost feminist point of view, with Guenevere as the true mind behind Camelot, the lover and true love of Lancelot, and the keeper of the Old Ways. These Three books give you a ride through old England, magick, and monarchy. They'll have you laughing, crying, and longing to be there, in the moment. A True Beauty. ~~Reviewed by Rachel
The Mists Of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
SUBMITTED BY RACHEL
Sometimes I wonder how many Arturian books I can read. I literally have a whole collection, so when I picked up the Mists of Avalon one day, i was expecting the same ole same ole...boy, was I mistaken...
The book starts out at the very beginning of the Arturian legend (something very rare) introducing us to King Arthur's mother, Igraine. Igraine is sensible, beautiful, a bit ignorant...nothing compared to her powerful and oddly beautiful sister Viviane, who is the Lady of the Lake. Viviane comes into Igraine's life out of the blue one day just to tell her that she will bear the High King of Britain. Wow..this book had me hooked on the second page.
'Mists' is a very feminine portrayal of the Arthurian legend, and Marion Zimmer Bradley did an exquisite job of making all of the 'hocus pocus' in the legend real. For example, Morgan Le Fay (reffered to in the book as Morgaine) is a priestess of the legendary Avalon, not some evil sorceress bent on revenge. Gwenefhyar (A Welsh spelling of Guinevere) is not some 'damsel in distress' but a beautiful, pious, and very annoying woman who's only care is sleeping with Lancelet (who at one point in the book refers to himself as a homosexual) and turning Arthur from the 'evil' Pagan ways. Other charachters in the book such as Viviane (The foster mother of Morgaine and mother of Lancelet and Balin) help shift this tale of love, religious and governmental confusion, hate, murder, lust, love, revenge, and destiny all together in a very intriguing and clever portrayal of a history never known.
Even through all of the feminism, Bradley still makes room for the men: Arthur, a handsome, loyal, sweet man wants to make everyone around him happy, and as Morgaine says once in the book (and I must agreee) "He is not ruthless to be High King."
Lancelet, son of vivaine and cousin of Morgaine wins the heart of Gwenefhyar, and shames her before the entire court..leaving Morgaine (who is in love with him...) only one option (which I will not tell you...you must read!!)
Gwydion, son of Arthur and Morgaine, is handsome, clever, and has a gentle heart...but deep inside him, he is ruthless...one of my least favorite charachter in the book.
Even though the women were not much better, the had reason for what they did. Vivaine sacrifices her sister, foster daughter, and life to Avalon and it's teaching. Morgaine sacrifices Lancelet, her son, Vivaine, Avalon all for her pride. Gwenefhyar sacrifices her own true love, happiness, children, and power all for her piety and the church.
This book (which is a long read..somewhere near 800 pages) almost completed the Arthurian saga for me..even if these people never did exist, I understand what the point of a legend is now: a tale of love, sacrifices, and faith beautifully woven together to guide humans on thier quest for spiritual understanding. I know some of you will understand what I am saying, and I also know some of you will think me crazy...for the ones pointing the finger at me, why don't you try reading the book?
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Reviewed by Kristal
This is a very funny book. Characters include Calcifer the (annyoing) fire demon and Howl. Howl is a wizard. He is dishonest, disgraceful, and lazy. And those are a few of his better qualities. For some warped reason, that's what makes this book good. The main character is Sophie, who gets bewitched so she's really old. She leaves home and finds the Moving Castle. Not only does the castle move, but it has a door which opens into many places, depending which way you turn the handle. This story seems like it happened in the past ... but at one point Howl takes Sophie to his home. I think it's in the present, but it may be the future. I'd advise you to buy this book, not just get it from the librayry, because it gets better the more you read it. It also has a sequel, which isn't quite as good, called Castle in the Air.
the pit dragon trilogy by jane yolen (fantasy/fiction)
1.dragons blood -15 year old jakkin is a servant in master sarkkhan's dragon barns were they raise and breed dragons. he secretly steals a dragon egg and trains the dragon as a fighter so he can earn his freedom.
2.hearts blood -jakkin has finally earns his freedom and is famous at the dragon pits and his dragon is a champion he has everything he wants except for the love of his live akki is vanished a year ago. he receives a desperate letter for her one night asking if he is a man yet and that she needs his help
3.a sending of dragons -akki and jakkin are on the run from government forces.when the stumble on a network of caves they believe they are finally save.what they is more dangerous that what they were running from more dangerous from anything they could have imagined.
the forgotten beasts of eld by patricia a. mckillip (fantasy/fiction)
sybel grew up on eld mountain away from any type of civilization with only the company of the legendary beast called there by her father,grandfather and herself.at age sixteen a baby is brought to her for her to raise awaking emotions previously unknown to her and when coren (The man that brought her the baby) returns her serenity is shatter along with the lonely quiet life she always knew.
old magic by marrianne curley(fantasy/fiction) jarred move to a quiet mountain town.there he meats kate and her grandmother who both practice magic.kate realizes the jarrod has great powers and that if he doesnt start to believe and trained in it he will lose them for ever or worse it could get out of control and hurt someone.when kate notices the bad things keep happening to jarrod she is convinced that he is cursed together they embark on a journey to the past to remove the curse and stop it from happening
the hermit thrush sings by susan butler(fiction) this books takes place several generations after north america is hit by a meteor creating new species and plants.it has changed the lives of the people on earth drastically.the people are lock and confined to there villages and the only people allow out are the guards and crop tenders.the world outsider of the villages is said the be dangerous and undeveloped leora can see things that no one else can however she can only draw whats she sees with her webbed hand.everyday she wonders wat is outside the walls of the village she was told tales of mutants animals that are half bear half gorilla called brimbas. one day her cousin brings home a baby brimba and locks it in the cellar until another of the guards can take to be study and killed.leora sets out to say it embarking on an adventure out into the undeveloped world.there she befriends other brimbas and finds out the truth of wat the world is really like. she learnes that the guards and the head of the villages have been lieing to the people she finds a secret group that is rebellion against the guards lead there she finds the unexpected
the water trilogy by kara dalkey
1.ascension -nia a mermyd of the blue clan had one wish to become an avatar of atlantis.at age 16 she has a chance to make her wish come true atlantis is choosin a new avater.wat she doesnt know is that if she gets her hearts desire atlantis could be lost for ever.this book is filled with challenges and betrayals 2.reunion -16 year old corwin has spent his whole live scavening around for food trying to survive when he stumbles upon a unique and exquisite shell that he believes will bring him riches.the shell is then stolen by the kings men leaving its toll on corwin .his head becomes filled with visions of a beautiful and mysterious girl.when he comes face to face with the girl in his visions(nia)they set out on a search for the shell for it holds the future of altanis and to their survival.
3.transformation - NIA and corwim join together to face the creature who has tryed to kill them and to kill Atlantis.in order to defeat him they must find a magical sword from Atlantis.as they search for the sword the find that the people of Atlantis have been enslaved and that the same thing will happen to corwins native land if they dont do something soon
the dragon chronicles by susan fletch
1.flight of the dragon kyn(its actually the third book however it should be read first)- when kara was 4 she became ill with vermilion fever,thinkin there was no cure her parents left her in a cave to die.she was found by a dragon who lived in the cave.kara was nurtured by the dragon and fed off her milk.a month later kara walked back to her parents as healthy as if she was never sick.the only sign of her sickness was a small scar on her cheek.her eyes which were once blue have now churned green and she can now call birds to her,which many believe to be a sign that she can also call dragons.she is then call up by the king to call him dragons if she does not she will be killed it can also mean the life of her dragon.
2.dragons milk(its actually the first in the series but it comes after kara's time)- kaeldra must set out on a search to find a dragon and steal some of its mlik to save her foster sister, lyf's life.she knows she is the only who can do this for she is the only one who can communicate to dragons.the journey entwines her fate with the fate of 3 little draclings and a would be dragon slayer.her journey quickly become a struggle for her and the draclings lives.
3.sign of the dove- lyf must set out to find the last of the dragons eggs that are hatching before the queen's men find them and kill then for their hearts.she must find safety in people who like herself bear the sign of the dove she will have to leave her pampered life and except her fate and go on the journey that my take her life
submitted by dreamkatcher713
