Category: Readings and Recommendations

Don’t Expect Magic

Don’t Expect Magic

I picked up Don’t Expect Magic by Kathy McCullough in the Teen Read section. The book practically grabbed me which I always consider to be auspicious. The premise sold me – what if your father was a fairy godfather and the gene might have been passed on to you?

I read it all in one go and hope the author can figure out a way to get to a sequel. It was a nice tale.

The Mark of the Golden Dragon: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Jewel of the East, Vexation of the West, and Pearl of the South China Sea (Bloody Jack Adventures)

The Mark of the Golden Dragon: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Jewel of the East, Vexation of the West, and Pearl of the South China Sea (Bloody Jack Adventures)

I have to admit, I was worried about this book. The Bloody Jack series is pretty big now and I was afraid it was getting a bit long in the tooth as it were.

I was wrong. This new Bloody Jack adventure was a lot of fun to read. L.A. Meyer takes a great deal of joy in weaving old tales into the weft of his stories and doesn’t fail in this book.

I read it in one night.

Diane Duane – Deep Wizardry

Diane Duane – Deep Wizardry

Inspired by our talk of The Chronicles of Prydain, I want to remind those of you who haven’t yet had the pleasure, that if you’ve not read Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series (starting with So You Want to Be a Wizard) or stopped before you got to the second book — Deep Wizardry &mdashp; you’re missing some of the best YA fantasy around (at least as good as Harry Potter).

The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander

The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander

When I was at Mysterious Galaxy (December 4, 2011), I mentioned how much I’d liked this YA (really, middle grade) series:

  • The Book of Three
  • The Black Cauldron
  • The Castle of Llyr
  • Taran Wanderer
  • The High King

Amber Benson who was with me and the others in the audience all recalled the movie, The Black Cauldron, but hadn’t known about the other books.

(For the record, if I ever get to be a gazillionaire, I’d buy back the film rights and make the books into a proper set of movies — and then I’d become a multi-gazillionaire.)