Mattimeo

Title: Mattimeo
Author: Brian Jacques
Genre: Fantasy
Reviewer: Dan

Slagar the Fox sat pondering the very best way to exact revenge on an old enemy. The sinister fox held Matthias of Redwall accountable for several injuries the fox received when he was younger. With a band of evil stoats, weasels, and worst of all, rats, Slagar was ready for his time of vengeance. His action would take Redwall by the heart. Redwallers would be robbed of what they held most dear. Slagar knew that the Sword of Matthias of Redwall had destroyed greater foes than the fox before, so there would be no epic battle to cause Redwall overwhelming pain, just a clever scheme. Would Redwall be able to defend itself against the challenges brought upon it by the sly fox? Or would the fox succeed in bringing Redwall to its final ruin?

I would recommend this book to others because it is an interesting and fun book that will keep you reading. New twists happen in every chapter. I especially enjoy the personification of the animals. The author is expert at bringing out the character we would apply to the different animals. If you do read this book, I suggest that you first read the book, Redwall.

The Legend of Luke

Title: The Legend of Luke
Author: Brian Jacques
Genre: Fantasy
Reviewer: Kyle

Though this book it titled The Legend of Luke, the main characters at the beginning are Gonff the Mousethief (a mouse), Martin the Warrior (a mouse), Trimp the Rover (a hedgehog), and Dinny Foremole (obviously, a mole). The book starts with Trimp wandering and finding a partly built Redwall Abbey. There, she is welcomed in. She tells everyone that she is from the northlands. Martin then remembers that he was raised on the northland shores. He asks about it, and soon he is always in thought for days. Eventually, the rest of the creatures get worried, and allow him a journey to his homeland. Gonff and Dinny go with him on his quest. On his way there, he meets Log-a-Log Furmo, a shrew, and Krar the Woodwatcher, a goshawk. They travel to the northland shores, where Vurg, a mouse, and Beau, a hare, tell Martin the story of Luke, Martin’s father.

The second part was about Luke trying to get revenge on a stoat named Vilu Daskar, because his horde killed most of Luke’s tribe. Most of the story is about Luke riding a ship called the Sayna, named after his wife, to find Vilu.

I enjoyed reading this book because I just like to read stories that use swords, shields, bows and arrows, spears, and javelins for wars and fights.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Author: J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy
Reviewer: Kimberly

Harry is running out of time. Lord Voldemort, the most powerful dark wizard the world has ever known, has infiltrated The Ministry of Magic, the wizarding world’s government. People are dying. Nobody can be trusted. Everyone is terrified, people are forced into hiding, and the truth is kept well hidden. Harry, Hermione, and Ron are the only ones who can stop Lord Voldemort, known to his loyal followers, the Death Eaters, as the Dark Lord. They’re running out of clues, of hints to follow, and tensions run high between them. Ron has left his family, expecting Harry to have a plan, and Hermione has bewitched her non-magical parents into believing that they are completely different people who don’t have a daughter in order to keep them safe from the Death Eaters and in order to join Harry on his quest. To win the war, they must find Voldemort’s seven Horcruxes, parts of his soul, ripped from his body through his terrible evil, that are sheltered within valuable objects and carefully guarded. There were originally seven; luckily, two have been destroyed, the diary and the ring, and they’ve found the locket, however, they still have to locate and destroy five more. However, the trail runs cold, they’ve no means of destroying the Horcrux they already have, and Harry begins to seethe with anger at Dumbledore, who died and sent them on the seemingly hopeless task. He wants to find the truth that Dumbledore seemed so keen on keeping from him. However, their efforts go unrewarded as their only clue is that the sword of Godric Gryffindor. Finally, Ron walks out of them, on a night when tempers run high, out of pure frustration.

However, their luck is about to turn. One night, Harry is led away by a mysterious silver doe to a frozen pool. To retrieve the sword, Harry must prove he has the qualities of a true Gryffindor, which includes bravery and chivalry. When Harry uses magic to crack the ice and dive into the pool, he almost drowns and Ron rescues him and grabs the sword. He then proceeds to stab the Horcrux, and with it, another bit of Voldemort’s soul. Ron has returned through use of the Deluminator, an invention Dumbledore had left him in his will. Perhaps this proves that Dumbledore had a plan after all, though Harry still nurtures doubts. Their quest continues, as Ron’s arrival seems to coincide with, or perhaps trigger, a sufficient amount of information and hope. Their adventure is filled with far more peril and danger, but progress is far better than before. Along the way, Harry, Hermione, and Ron suffer tragedies, and occasionally, hear amazing tidings and stumble upon unlikely encouragement. Will they be able to defeat Voldemort? The fate of the entire world will depend on the answer.

I would recommend this book to others because it balances the amazing and impossible feats with crushing reality and conflict between friends. However, comprehension of the book’s theme and plot is easier if you have read the first six books. It isn’t completely necessary, as the book explains things along the way, but it allows the reader to better understand the bonds between characters and their feelings of attachment and fondness or hurt and betrayal. The book was very emotional and sometimes became depressing, but it was also extremely witty with excellent word choice and unexpected twists, which is why I personally enjoyed it and think others will too.

The Long Patrol

Title: The Long Patrol
Author: Brian Jacques
Genre: Fantasy
Reviewer: Kyle

The book’s main character is Tamello De Fformelo Tussock (Also called Tammo), a young hare who dreams of being on the Long Patrol. The Long Patrol is an army of hares from Salamandastron, a gargantuan mountain where badgers rule, and hares live. As the name suggests, the Long Patrol Patrols the area of Mossflower, a large forest where the woodlanders are free and live together. Tammo travels away from his home, Camp tussock, with his mother’s friend Russa Nodrey, a squirrel. Tammo joins the Long Patrol, and they head off to defeat the Rapscallion army, a horde of rats, weasels, stoats, ferrets, and foxes.

This is a great book because you really never expect some of the things, while you can also guess the answers to some of the riddles. It’s easier to understand the book if you read Mossflower, also by Brian Jacques, first.

The Voyage of the Dawntreader

Title: The Voyage of the Dawntreader
Author: C. S. Lewis
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction
Reviwere: Kimberly

This book began with Edmund and Lucy visiting their awful, disagreeable cousin Eustace. Eustace is selfish and is teasing the two about Narnia, the land that they have visited but Eustace doesn’t believe in. Suddenly, a picture on the wall of a magnificent ship begins moving and rocking, growing larger and larger; the three begin feeling the ocean spray and light gusts of wind. They land in the ocean and are hoisted onboard by the crew of the ship. There, Lucy and Edmund recognize their friends, Prince Caspian, whom they rescued the previous time they were in Narnia, and Reepicheep, the valiant Talking Mouse, who comes up to about the height of an adult’s knees. Caspian, Reepicheep, and the crew are on a quest to reach the end of the world and find the Seven Lords, who were tricked into sailing away and never returned, or avenge them if they had died. They sail across uncharted lands, settle on several strange islands, meet the inhabitants and have amazing adventures.

This book was excellent and I could hardly prevent myself from continuing reading it to the exclusion of all else. The plot was thrilling and unexpected. My favorite island was the island where dreams come true. It wasn’t what I expected and was the most terrifying of all. The adventures on the islands were extremely creative and I would never have been able to imagine them. I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone who can read. Enjoy!

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

Title: The Tales of Beedle the Bard
Author: J.K. Rowling
Genre: Fiction, fantasy
Reviewer: Jimmy

J.K. Rowling writes this book which includes five wizard fairy tales. They are somewhat like are own fairytales, but each has a wizard or warlock as the main character. The wizard and the Hopping Pot tell the tale of a young wizard and the very unusual Hopping Pot. It tells about brotherly love. The fountain of Fair Fortune tells about Asha, Althedia, and Amala, three young witches. They travel with Sir Luckless to receive help with their problems. The Warlocks Hairy Heart is about a young warlock who did not want to act like others in love. This is a surprising tale. Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump are about a foolish king who wanted magical powers. A charlatan has him believing he has powers. The witch Babbity comes into the story and things happen. The Tale of the Three Brothers is about how they meet Death and fight him off. I recommend reading this book because each tale has its own moral. Some of the tales are humorous while others are a little gross. I enjoyed the way J.K. Rowling wrote a little about each tale in the old wizard version. Also, I am happy to understand all royalties for the book goes to Children’s High Level Group.

Inkdeath

Title: Inkdeath
Author: Cornelia Funke
Genre: Fantasy, Imaginative Fiction
Reviewer:

Inkdeath is the last book in the Inkheart trilogy, the sequel to Inkspell. In the beginning, Elinor, Meggie’s great-aunt, is longing to see her family again after they were sucked into the pages of the book, Inkheart a couple months ago. Meanwhile, in the pages of the book Mo, Meggie’s father, is playing the part of a robber known as the Bluejay and trying to protect the poor people of the Inkworld; they are vulnerable to the cruelty of the Adderhead, who is immortal but experiencing a life worse than death. Meggie and her mother, Resa, are worried for the safety of her father, and Meggie misses the company of Farid, an Arab boy read out of his own story by Meggie’s father, who once earned the nickname Silvertongue for his ability to pull characters out of their stories. Farid works for Orpheus, a master of Silvertongue’s art, who twists the story maliciously to his own liking. Somehow the story must come together, Mo must defeat the Adderhead and Orpheus and help the story to its happy ending.

I enjoyed this book because of how unpredictable it was and the impossible events that happened, like some of the characters being able to shift shapes with special seeds, and Mo’s meeting with death. I would recommend it to anyone who has read the preceding novels of the trilogy. Inkdeath ties together the loose ends of the story and answers all the questions the reader is left with. The series was just wonderful to read.

The Lightning Thief

Title: The Lightning Thief
Author: Rick Riordan
Genre: fantasy
Reviewer: Kyle

This is the first book out of four in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. The story takes place in modern times at the beginning, and then goes to Camp Half-Blood, then on a quest to save the gods from a war. As he leaves for home for the summer, his mom tells him that they are going to the beach. There, danger comes as they sleep in the cabin. In rushes Grover, who is not wearing his fake feet to hide his hooves. Percy’s mom takes him to a “summer camp” called Camp Half-Blood. It was very rainy. On the way, they face the Minotaur. It “kills” Percy’s mom, and Percy kills it using its own horn. He makes it to camp, and he is welcomed in the Hermes cabin because he is a newcomer (Hermes is the god of travelers and thieves, and it is undecided who’s son he is). He likes camp and gets to know everyone until they play capture the flag. And this isn’t your typical capture the flag game, unless you normally use magic items and real swords and spears in it. There, he protects the border, and is hit with an electric spear, and is sent into a creek. In the water, he fights remarkably and fends off the other team. He is cut, but somehow the water heals him. It is decided: Percy Jackson is the son of Poseidon. After that is decided, he is offered a quest to find Zeus’s master bolt, the main power source for Zeus and to retrieve Hades’ helm of darkness, the item that allows him to blend with shadows. Both items are stolen, and Poseidon is blamed for it. If Percy doesn’t find it by June 21, there will be an all out war among the gods. A war so deadly, it could make the Trojan War seem like a balloon fight! He has 10 days to find both items and get them back to Olympus. They make a deadly journey into the Underworld.

I read this book because it was recommended by Mrs. Milanowski. I loved it. It is a very exciting story. Right when I thought I knew where everything was, it was a trick! This book also taught me about Greek Mythology. It is the best book I ever read! Read it! It won’t let you stop reading until you finish it!

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

The Lion,the Witch,and the Wardrobe
C.S Lewis
Genere:Imagitive Fiction
Reviewer: Katie

Would you like to open a door and enter a new world? Narnia, the land beyond the wardrobe, is a secret country known only to Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. This story takes place during World War II in London. The children are evacuated from London due to German bombing and staying with an elderly professor in his home. In their new home, the children began to explore.

Lucy, who was the youngest child, climbed into the wardrobe closet and found that it led to a snow-covered land called Narnia. In Narnia, she meets a fuan by the name of Mr. Tumnus. He tells her that Narnia is ruled by a wicked White Witch who has doomed it to always be winter, but never Christmas. Mr. Tumnus is to turn any human he finds to the White Witch, but he tells Lucy that he likes her and wants to help her return back to her world.

When Lucy returns back, no one believes her about her adventure. To prove that Narnia exists, she takes her brother Edmund with her into the wardrobe. He tries to follow her, but gets lost and caught by the White Witch. The witch gives him some Turkish Delight to eat and promises him power to become King of Narnia if he brings the other children to her castle.

Lucy and Edmund return home and convince the other children to come back to Narnia with them. There they find out that Tumnus has been captured for helping Lucy return home. The children then seek to help him. They come across two beavers who inform them that there is a myth. It states that the poor children of Adam and Eve must be placed in the throne of Cair Paravel, and if that were to happen, the evil time would be over and done with. This is something that the White Witch wanted to prevent.

Edmund decides to leave the group of children and meet the White Witch in order to obtain power from her. Once he gets there, he realizes that he was betrayed and the witch had no intention of giving him any power or more Turkish Delight! She then uses him to try and capture the other children. With the help of a great lion, Asian, the children confront the witch. However, in order to save the children, Asian gives himself up and is killed by the witch. In the end, Asian comes back to life, there is a battle, and asain finally kills the White witch. The children become kings and queens, spending many years in Narnia until they grew up. One day, they returned back to their world and found themselves as children again.

There are several main characters in the book. The four children are brothers and sisters. The eldest is Peter, who is the hero of the book by helping overthrow the White witch. Susan is the second oldest child. She did not believe in Narnia at first. After the victory, she is crowned Queen Susan. Edmund is the third child. He also did not believe Lucy, but when he did get to Narnia, he was enchanted and went over to the dark side for Turkish Delight and power. Eventually, he regretted this and helped save Narnia. Lucy is the youngest child. She is the one who discovered the land of Narnai. The White Witch is the queen of Narnia. It was her fear of prophecy that told that if two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve were ever to come to Narnia, the winter would end and her overthrow would be at hand. Aslan is the lion who sacrifices himself to spare the life of Edmund. He becomes reincarnated and eventually kills the White Witch. The professor is who cared for the children after their evacuation from London. Mr. Tumnus is a faun who helped Lucy return home when she stumbled onto Narnia.

My favorite character in the book was Edmund. Even though he was considered the villain of the book, I felt that he was the most interesting because he changed the most during the book. In the beginning, he did not believe Lucy’s stories of Narnia. Once in Narnia, he became tempted by the power that he could obtain and the endless supply of Turkish Delight he could have! Eventually, he realized that betraying his family was not right and then helped to overthrow the White Witch. I felt it was very interesting to watch how he was at first tempted by power but then realized how his actions might affect not himself, but his own family and the rest of the citizens of Narnia.

Inkspell

Book: Inkspell
Author: Cornelia Funke
Genre: Fiction, fantasy
Reviewer: Carl

This book is the second of a trilogy. The first book is Inkheart. The story continues with a girl named Meggie and her father who was known as Silver Tongue. He and his daughter both have a special talent that can be dangerous. They can read a book or story and make characters from the book come to life in their world or accidentally transfer someone from their world into the book. The “writer” of the books, Fenoglio, lives in one of the books … he got read into the book. Something tragic happened to Meggie’s mom in Inkheart … Silver Tongue had read her into “Inkheart”. On her journey to the “Inkworld” she lost her voice. In Inkspell she gets read out of the book.

Since Fenoglio has not written another sequel yet, the world is going into chaos. Things that should not happen are happening. More and more people are getting hurt. There is another man, Orpheus, has the same talent at Meggie and her dad. Only he uses his “gift” for evil and trying to gain money and power.

I would recommend this book because the author made up a whole new world. You can feel the characters’ emotions in the book. It is a great fantasy to think of being able to read people in and out of books. You don’t realize how that will change your world or the world that a person gets sent to. The last of the trilogy, Inkdeath, was just released and I can’t wait to read it.

The Silver Chair

Title: The Chronicles of Narnia/The Silver Chair
Author: C.S. Lewis
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction
Reviewer: Dan

This story takes place in Narnia…where animals can talk, where some giants like to snack on humans, where a prince is put under an evil spell…and where the adventure begins.

Eustace and Jill escape from the bullies at their boarding school through a strange door that happens to be open for the first time. It leads to the open moor…or does it? Eustace has entered Narnia before in The Voyage of the Dawntreader. Once again Aslan has a task for the children, and Narnia needs their help. Through dangers and caverns deep and dark, they pursue the quest that leads them to face to evil Witch. She must be defeated if Prince Rilian is to be rescued.

I would recommend this book because it was an interesting book to read for several reasons. One reason is it was an adventurous , nonstop book that I kept reading and reading. Another reason is I thought this book was great because of the author. The author has written many other extraordinary books. He used vivid, detailed words in his writing. Also, the author was British so the book is written with British words. My favorite character was Puddleglum, the Marshwiggle. He was funny, but negative. I really enjoyed this book.

The Golden Compass

Title: The Golden Compass
Author: Phillip Pullman
Genre: fantasy, fiction
Reviewer: Kimberly

The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman takes place in a universe similar to the one we live in, except that everyone in that universe has a daemon, an animal that shows his or her personality. When people are young, their daemons can change into different animals; however, as they grow older their daemon settles as one animal. Peoples’ daemons are typically of the opposite gender. The story begins when Lyra Belacqua, the main character, and her unsettled daemon, Pantalaimon, go into a forbidden room in Oxford and sees someone slip poison into her Uncle Asriel’s drink. This is the start of an adventure that includes friendship, death, betrayal, a quest, stolen children, witches, and panserbjorne, armored bears. This stunning struggle continues in the two next volumes, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

I enjoyed The Golden Compass and the other books in the trilogy because of the suspense and shocking plot twists. It was a truly unique tale that I just had to keep reading and was easy to visualize. The story was amazingly written and wonderfully descriptive and I felt like I was in the story with the characters. Even though it was obviously fantasy it seemed so real. I would definitely recommend this book to others. Anyone who loves to read, or reads at all, will enjoy this book, unless they have no imagination or despise books.

The Lost Colony

Title: The Lost Colony
Author: Eoin Colfer
Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction
Reviewer: George

This book is part of the Artemis Fowl series. Artemis is an Irish child, a genius, and a criminal mastermind. He is in the unique position of being a human who knows about secret fairies who live underground and about demons who live on the island of Limbo which does exist within time. Young Artemis travels out of time to the island of Limbo to help the fairies diffuse a bomb. Most of the story deals with what happens before he gets to Limbo. After Artemis has diffused the bomb, he has to travel back to Earth. When he gets back to Earth, time is three years later but Artemis hasn’t aged at all.

I would recommend this book to anybody who likes science fiction or fantasy novels. I would also recommend this to anyone who likes to solve codes because on the bottom of every page there are “Gnomish symbols” that can be decoded. This is a very exciting, puzzling story. I suggest you start with the first book in the series Artemis Fowl because it is hard to follow the plot of each book unless you read them in order.

Twilight

Title: Twilight
Author: Stephanie Meyer
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy
Reviewer: Prabhneet

Seventeen year old Bella Swan leaves Arizona to go live with her father in a small town in the gloomy and constantly raining town of Forks. She had to make new friends and go to a new school. Bella makes some new friends and soon discovers a stunningly attractive boy named Edward Cullen.

At first Edward acts like he can’t stand Bella but then they start up a conversation. She can’t seem to figure out what he is though, she knew for sure that he wasn’t human. On a trip to the beach a local legend is told to her about the “cold ones”, a group of blood drinkers. Bella discovers that Edward is not human, but vampire. Bella and Edward’s relationship go through many obstacles and Bella is always in danger. In the end, they are happily ever after but more is to come.

I would recommend this book because it is a very good romance and it is like no other story I have heard. It is a five star book and a movie is also coming out in December.

Eragon

Title: Eragon
Author: Christopher Paolini
Genre: fiction, fantasy
Reviewer: Carl

The story is about a boy named Eragon who lives on a farm with his uncle and cousin. One day he was walking through the woods and found what he thought was a beautiful stone. After a period of time he found out it was an egg … not just an ordinary egg … a dragon egg. When the egg hatches he names the dragon Saphira because of her blue color. Eragon finds out he is destined to become a Dragon Rider and the adventure begins. This is the first book in a trilogy which means there are three books: Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr.


I like this book because the author uses great descriptive words and has a vivid imagination. You can’t wait to keep reading to find out what happens to all of the characters. You can see the events happening in your mind. He created a whole other world and types of people. The people had different languages (he made them up.) He was only 19 when he wrote Eragon and I think he inspires young people to write.