Book Review

Book Review: 4 Books I Wish I’d Written

September 18, 2016 By Rachel Stedman

Anyone who’s read A Necklace of Souls will know I love writing (and reading) about Girls With Swords.

I have NO idea where this came from. As a child, no-one put a blade in my hand and whispered: “Go! Fight!” But somehow, I love stories about women who fight.

When I was growing up, back in the dark ages of black and white television and dinosaurs, it was hard to find stories about fighting females. They were a rarity, a throwback to B-grade sixties movies.

But recently there’s been a plethora of stories of girls who not only fight, but who win.

I’ve put a short review of my top four of these books in this post, in ascending order.

Each of these books are really well written, fast-paced, with great characters. Each one leaves me desperately envious. Why? Because I wish I’d written them.

Ah well, never mind. I have my own tales to tell.

Book Review

4. Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

Throne of Glass starts with a bang. Celaena Sardothien, erstwhile Royal Assassin, is serving a sentence in the salt mines, when she’s offered a choice. Fight as champion for the Crown Prince, or return to prison. The reader plunges straight into the story, and there’s no going back. Throne of Glass is the first in a series, and while its sequels, Crown of Midnight and Heir of Fire (and more recently, Empire of Storms), are exciting and fun and keep you up at night, Throne of Glass is my favourite.

Just a warning: if you like strong male leads as well as female, and you’re not keen on instalove or love triangles, you may not like Throne of Glass. But what the hey, the fight scenes are excellent!

Maas has written another series, Court of Throne and Roses, a Beauty and the Beast retelling . I’ve not read this yet, but its definitely on the TBR list!

3. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stievfater

The Raven Boys, first in the four-part series of The Raven Cycle, is a fabulous read. Although it isn’t really a Girls-with-Sword adventure, I’ve included it here because a) I love the characters and b) I wish I’d written it.

The Raven Cycle tells the story of three boys and their friend, Blue, daughter of a clairvoyant. The boys are on a quest for a dead Welsh king and Blue is on a quest to stop one of them becoming dead. The problem is, she knows she’s going to fail.

The characters in this story simply leap from the pages, especially Blue’s mad clairvoyant family, and there’s a healthy mix of mysticism, magic and street racing. There’s a bit of romance, too, but it’s not overwhelming and never gets in the way of the story. This is a story that boys will enjoy just as much as girls.

2. A Gathering of Shadows by VE Schwab

I’ve just finished this book, and I’m still reeling. First, because I read the series in the wrong frigging order. If you’re going to read this series, people, and I highly, highly recommend it, START AT THE BEGINNING.

The first in this series is called A Darker Shade of Magic. I can’t talk about it, because I haven’t read it yet, but I can talk about its sequel, A Gathering of Shadows.

A Gathering of Shadows is about a thief named Delilah Bard, a wizard named Kell and three different Londons: Red, Grey and White. And a contest. It’s a fun, fun read, contains fantastic world-building, and deals with difficult concepts, including home, and freedom and how do we know we’re alive. This book (this series) will be loved by both males and females, which I think makes it quite unique in these days of very polarising YA reads. And, as an extra bonus, there is NO love triangle. Amazing!

1. Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Published in 2009, Graceling quickly became a sensation. I can see why; the story is about Katsa, a girl Graced in fighting. She’s smart but forever separate, not only because she’s use by the king as his private army, but because she has a deformity: her eyes are different colour.

All Graced have different coloured eyes, and they’re all feared because of it. Katsa, though, is feared more than most, until one day she meets a young man with different coloured eyes. Graceling is about survival and self-knowledge and courage. It’s won multiple awards and is one of my favourite books. One of its strengths is that it’s a stand-alone story. There are others in the same world (Fire and Bitterblue) but to my mind they lack the strength and the lyricism of Graceling.

Finally, as a small digression: Kell, in A Gathering of Shadows, has eyes of two colours. That’s how you know he’s Antari, a magician. Katsa, being Graced, has different coloured eyes. Clearly, there is something to be said for having eyes of different colours.

A strange, and probably unrelated fact: My eyes are different colours. One is blue, and one is grey. I am not, as yet, a magician. Still, I live in hope.

Book Review(s): 4 Unusually Good Fairytale Retellings

August 22, 2016 By Rachel Stedman

4 Unusual (and Exciting) Fairytale Retellings —

I’ve been reading a lot of fairytales.

This is partly because I’m writing my own collection, and it’s always helpful to see another author’s work.

But mostly I read fairytales because they’re just darned fun! Even though the ending is never in doubt, still, its great to anticipate the twists. And think, wow, how did they come up with that?

There are a host of fairytale retellings to choose from, from Marissa Meyer’s science-fiction cyberpunk Cress to Gena Showalter’s White Rabbit in Zombieland series.

The four books here are some of the best of the genre that I’ve read in the last two years.

One you’ve probably heard of, but two were totally random finds on the library bookshelves, and one was such an unexpected treat that I wanted to share it here.

Book Reviews (In No Particular Order)

1. Nameless: A Tale of Beauty and Madness by Lili St Crow

This little gem is a Snow White retelling. A battered child is found alone in the snow by the godfather of the Seven — one of the powerful, mafia-like families, that rule the magic-ridden city of New Haven. The child, Camille, does not remember her real name, nor why she has such terrible nightmares. And always there’s the smell of apples, oh and yes she has to be careful of mirrors… Nameless is a grim-dark kind of story, set in an alternative reality, and the world-building is truly fantastic. If anything, I’d love more information about the Seven and all the other characters that dance in and out of the story with no explanation, but have strange, mysterious pasts. Like Marya, the fey croissant-making housekeeper and the Potential, that turns adolescents into magic workers, sometimes with unexpected results.

2. The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman

This beautiful book has stunning illustrations by Chris Riddell. Although the story begins as a Sleeping Beauty retelling, it quickly morphs into something much more interesting. It’s a very short read, but its the sort of story you can turn to again and again. And like most of Gaiman’s works, The Sleeper and the Spindle is pure, beautiful, quirky escapism.

3. Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

Enchanted suffers from an unremarkable title, but don’t let that put you off. The story is about Sunday, the seventh-born daughter of a woodcutter and a very strict Mama. Kontis skilfully weaves Jack the Beanstalk, the Princess and the Frog, Little Red-Riding Hood and a host of other fairytales; there’s even a nod to the original Grimm Brothers versions. This is a funny, quirky and exciting story and its well worth reading.

4. The Snow Queen: Heart of Ice by KM Shae

KM Shae specialises in fairytale retellings, and they’re all great reads. Heart of Ice is my favourite — even though it’s not a strict retelling — but I totally recommend Rumpelstiltskin too. Heart of Ice tells the story of Princess Rakel, exiled from the palace because of her magical control over snow and ice, and how she overcomes the distrust of her captors to save them from an invading army. The story is really about learning to accept who you are, and its both entertaining and fun. It’s a clean read, but not a dumb read, and its the sort of book that mothers and daughters can both enjoy. Plus, its cheap (!) and there’s more in the series to try!

3 Intriguing Books That Made Great Holiday Reading

July 24, 2016 By Rachel Stedman

What to Read on Holiday?

The big problem with holidays is: what to read? You need something chunky enough to occupy the airport layover but with sufficient pacing to hold keep your attention at a thousand feet. I got lucky on a recent trip and found three great books that did both.

Here they are, in order of reading (I’ve included links to the Amazon pages of these books, in case you want to try an extract for yourself).

A City of Mirrors
The Sudden Appearance of Hope
The Bridge to Lucy Dunn

About My Holiday:

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you’ll see I’ve just been to Australia. The trip was a fascinating mix of bizarre and sublime – from an Elvis competition to humpback whales! (I’ll probably blog later on this unlikely combination.)

Each of these books definitely added to my holiday experience, partly because of the themes they tackled, but also because when you have a good book, how can you be bored?

A City of Mirrors

A City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin

This is the third and final novel in The Passage Series (The Passage, The Twelve ).

The Passage Series is set in a dystopian future, where a people have been transformed into bat-like vampires; only a few true humans remain.

So far so tropish.

But what sets The Passage apart from others in the genre is the sheer quality of Cronin’s writing, his fascinating characters and the underlying tone of the desparation. The books are long, but they’re very digestable.

A City of Mirrors is, I think, the best in the trilogy. Mirrors follows Amy, the girl from nowhere and we learn about her ability to move through time. There’s more of Alicia too, which I always like (being partial to sword-carrying red-haired heroines!) but mostly the story follows Peter Jaxom and Sara Mitchell.

Peter and Sara believe that the virals have been vanquished. But they forgot about Zero, the oldest and the worst of the Twelve, and Zero never went away – he’s just been waiting.

What’s to like: as with the other books in the series, the writing is very good; at times, it’s brilliant. The story is compelling, the characters interesting and there’s enough tension to keep you reading.

What’s annoying: There’s the largest info-dump in the world, where Zero reveals his life history in one enormously long sequence. Goes on for aaages, and most of it you can pretty much skim. Some characters could be interesting but we never really know them (like Pim, who’s deaf and dumb). Also, the print version is enormous – just on 600 pages. Stupidly, I brought the print version and ended up carrying a brick around in my suitcase. If you’re getting it for a holiday read, definitely get the e-version!

Best quote:
‘The world was real and you were in it, a brief part but still a part, and if you were lucky, and maybe even if you weren’t, the things you’d done for love would be remembered.’

The Sudden Appearance of Hope

The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North

I love Claire North’s writing – her other books Touch and The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August were enthralling, intriguing sci-fi/fantasy mixed with thriller action. Technically (speaking as a writer here) this is hard to achieve – when writing sci-fi you need to explain the world, but a thriller has to be fast-paced to be, well, thrilling. North manages this difficult challenge brilliantly.

You can read more about Touch and Harry August in an earlier blog post here.

Like Touch and Harry August, The Sudden Appearance of Hope features a protagonist with an unusual ability: Hope Arden is totally forgettable. No one remembers her, not her parents, her friends, or her lovers. She’s therefore an extremely successful thief. And borderline suicidal. Enter Perfection, an app promising users a perfect life, a terrorist named Byron and suddenly Hope becomes the key to a new, extremely valuable technology.

Like Mirrors, Hope is a long book, so if you’re reading it on holiday, definitely get the e-version.

What’s to like: Like North’s other works, the pacing is superb. All three of us – husband and teenage son – raced through this book! The ideas unpacked by the story are truly compelling: What is perfection? How much does software understand? What are we, if no-one remembers us? What is memory?

What’s annoying: There are a lot of bullet points and lists. Sometimes this is interesting, sometimes not so much. Hope describes the technology developed by Perfection as a threat to the species – but I never understood how. And finally, the way Hope jets around the world merrily on stolen passports really annoyed me.

It’s not the passports that strain belief (although I don’t think they’re quite as easy to steal as North makes out, but hey, it’s fiction) but the absence of jet lag. I’ve done enough long haul flights to know how crippled you feel on arrival.

Oh yes, and the part where Hope does her own physiotherapy. That whole chapter (I’m a physiotherapist by training) was really a WTF read. Totally unbelievable. My son goes ‘oh mum, it was fine’! So if you’re a physio, just skip that chapter.

Best quote:

“Truth: sometimes a murderer cannot be found. Truth: sometimes your children are taken and you are left behind. Truth: poverty is a prison. Truth: disease and age come to us all.”

The Bridge to Lucy Dunne

The Bridge to Lucy Dunne by Exurb1a

My son introduced me to this work. Exurb1a is a youtuber (I’ve not watched his videos but I sure want to now).

The Bridge to Lucy Dunne is a short-story collection of fantasy and speculative sci-fi. They’re easy to read and very well-written. Some are very short, others are in multiparts. Some are written like an interview transcript, others as diaries, others as a fable.

Like The Sudden Disappearance of Hope, the stories in Lucy Dunne discuss deep issues: who are we, why are we here, what is God, what is time? But also they’re entertaining and because they’re all so different you can’t really predict what’s coming next.

I think books like The Bridge to Lucy Dunne represent an exciting new wave of platform agnostic narratives: youtube, book, gaming.

What’s to like: The shortness of the stories! Seriously, after reading two massive books it was a relief to dive into a quick read. I enjoyed the diversity of the story structures. But mostly, I enjoyed the ideas behind the stories. My favourite was VASE, about a device that removes your awareness of thought. Without conscious thought, what are we? No depression, but no rapture. And yet, does this make us more or less human?

(A digression: I was listening to this really surreal interview with Thomas Thwaites (GoatMan: How I took a Holiday from Being Human) – some concepts in VASE are real.

Listen to the interview here: Acting the Goat )

What’s annoying: Some of the stories (The Rite, The Flowers) were a little predictable. And some of the more complex issues, like VASE, might be more suited to a deeper structure, like a novella.

Best Quote:
“When cameras were invented plenty of people thought they stole the soul of anyone they took a picture of. There’s always a brief period of hysteria when a new technology comes around.”

Over to you.

Feel free to share. Any book discoveries you’d recommend? What holiday reads have you found?

5 Books That Were Better as the Movie

June 20, 2016 By Rachel Stedman

Can a Movie be Better Than the Book?

Usually there’s no contest between the book and the movie, but this list suggests that sometimes, just sometimes, the movie might actually be better…

In order of Movie Greatness, here’s my list of 5 movies that were better than the book. Yes, really. Some are new, some are classics and some may surprise you.

Sit back, grab some popcorn and enjoy!

5 Books and 5 Great Movies

5. The Birds

While the basis of this short story by du Maurier was similar to the book – birds start attacking humans – unlike the movie, the book is set in the UK and (spoiler alert!) does not end happily. It’s a long short story and not particularly scary, or (I think) that riveting, unlike some of her other works, which really are page-turners.

The movie is way better – even today, when it seems pretty dated, especially this obvious green screen – because Hitchcock develops the tension amazingly effectively, much more so than du Maurier. After reading The Birds, I wondered why he decided to even use it for the movie, although I’m glad he did.

4. Howard’s End

The movie was an Academy Award-winning Merchant Ivory production, starring Emma Thompson, Anthony Hopkins and Helena Bonham-Carter. Like its more famous cousin, A Room with A View, Howard’s End is an adaptation of an EM Forster novel, and deals with class and relationships in Edwardian England. Personally, I find this production not as amazing as Room (it doesn’t have the incredible music score) but the great actors alone make it worth watching.

Unfortunately, the book is not as entertaining as the movie. It grinds on and on and is, frankly, dull. (Unlike A Room With a View, which is just as much fun as the movie). And when reading the book you can’t even become distracted by the gorgeous costumes.

3. The Hunger Games

I loved the book; really fast-paced, page-turning with epic battle scenes. However…I liked the movie more. Why? Because of the styling. The gorgeous sets of the Capitol, the Louis XIV vibe to the costumes, the colours – so cool. Plus, the movie has Jennifer Lawrence!

2. A Scanner Darkly

A Scanner Darkly, like Minority Report and Blade Runner, is based on stories by Philip K Dick. Unlike the other movies, Scanner sticks fairly closely to the book’s narrative about a totalitarian police state and an undercover cop. Scanner is a grim read, full psychosis, drug dealing and a bleak future-view. The book is slow going in places and, although it’s got some interesting elements – like the main character’s coat, made up of images of people – I didn’t find it the easiest read.

The movie isn’t the easiest to watch, either, and it does help if you’ve read the book. But there are three things the movie has that the book doesn’t. These are: Keanu Reeves; a tighter script; and AMAZING rendering. If you’re into weird-but-interesting movie productions, A Scanner Darkly is a must-watch.

1. Howl’s Moving Castle

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is a great read; the story of Sophie Hatter and Howl, the wizard without a heart. BUT, although the book is good, the movie by Hayao Miyasaki is gorgeous! The beautiful anime alone makes it worth watching, but Billy Crystal as Calcifer the Fire Demon is fantastic. (Apparently Diana Wynne Jones wasn’t overly impressed by the movie, but I think she was way too picky. If someone wanted to set one of my books into a landscape as wonderful as this film, I’d be delighted!)

Bonus Runner-Up:

Death on the Nile

If you like period dramas and murder mysteries, this is definitely a must-see. The book, by Agatha Christie, is a good read. Christie’s husband was an Egyptologist, and she spent a great deal of time on and about the Nile, so who better to write about a group of affluent tourists on a Nile river boat? Confusion abounds when one is murdered. Fortunately, the world-famous detective, Hercule Poirot is among the guests.

I’m not entirely sure this movie is better than the book (which is why it’s a runner-up). But it has four things that just might make it superior:

The sets – the movie was shot on location in Egyptian, so the scenes in the ancient temples feels just wonderful.
The cast is an all-star roundup of the seventies movie industry: Peter Ustinov as Poirot, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, David Niven, Maggie Smith.
The costumes – they won an Oscar.
The movie is way less racist than the book.

This trailer is so dated its retro! Don’t you just love the music…

Note: if you enjoyed A Death on the Nile, try Murder on the Orient Express.

Conclusion

Usually there’s no contest between the book and the movie, but this list suggests that sometimes it’s possible to expand on a good story, and make it even better.

5 Books to love forever

June 8, 2016 By Rachel Stedman

5 Books I’ve Loved —

Falling in love with a book feels both wonderful and awful. Wonderful, because for a moment you’ve totally forgotten everything else. You’re lost in an imaginary world, where only the characters and their struggles exist. But it’s awful too, because a book always ends. At some point, you’ll have to close the pages and step away.

Sometimes it feels as though a book has ripped your heart out – which is totally crazy, because it’s only words on a page, right?

Here’s my top 5 books of the last 12 months.

I fell deeply in love with each of these books. Each felt different to anything else I’d read before; each was fast-paced and exciting, and dragged me into a different world. Some are part of a series and some are standalone. If you do read any of these I can promise: you will not be bored.

Why I Fell in Love: Book Reviews

Touch

Everyone raves about Gone Girl, and it’s a wonderful book; exciting and suspenseful (plus, it made a great movie). But if you like suspense and seat-of-your pants reading, you must read Claire North.

Claire North is a pseudonym of Catherine Webb, a British writer who wrote her first book at the age of just fourteen. Yes, you read that correctly.

Touch is about Kepler, a being who can slide inside other people’s bodies, just by touching them. Kepler has no sex; he/she is the person he inhabits. He’s also a broker, finding bodies for other beings like him. But someone, or something, is after him, and now he’s on the run. In Touch, Kepler moves from body to body, on a quest to find a nightmare. Do you suddenly wake up, with no recollection of where you’ve been, or how you’ve got there? Have you been losing time? Perhaps Kepler’s been using you.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

Harry August lives his life over and over again. Each time he dies he finds himself reborn in a restroom in 1919. He is an Ouroboran, destined to repeat his life. He is not alone; there’s a club of members who pass messages throughout time, from one Ouroboran to another. Don’t let the sci-fi premise put you off, because at its heart, Harry August is both a thriller and an intriguing tale about one man’s struggle with loneliness.

Station Eleven

Hilary St John Mandel is a Canadian writer; this is her fourth novel. It’s a powerhouse of a story, and has one of the most complex narratives I’ve read. The story weaves back in forward through time, beginning with the death of Arthur Leander in London. Leander, playing the role of Lear, collapses on stage of a heart attack, just before the beginning of a pandemic that spreads rapidly through the world, annihilating civilisation and grounding planes. Station Eleven moves through multiple points of view: Arthur, his ex-wife, a child actor, an audience paramedic. Each character has their own story to tell. The pace is extraordinary; for such a complex novel, it’s never boring, and at sometimes so mind-blowing I couldn’t bear to put it down. This was my must-read novel of 2015, and I’ve already read it again since.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Jacob always thought his grandfather couldn’t distinguish truth from fiction; his tales of growing up in an orphanage filled with children of peculiar gifts seemed a fantasy to obscure the truth – that his family was murdered by the Nazis in WW2. But when his grandfather is murdered, Jacob realizes that perhaps the truth is stranger than he’d thought. I’m in awe of this book. Not only because of its wonderful story, but because of the craft behind it. Riggs does a wonderful job of scenes with multiple characters (it’s really hard to do this and not get the reader confused) and his prose is both economical and powerful, a trait only the best writers display. Miss Peregrine is illustrated by the most awesomely bizarre photos. It was these photos that were the genesis of the story, and its worth getting the hard copy of the book rather than a download, simply because of these images.

Miss Peregrine’s being made into a movie, due for release shortly, and since I read this book there have been two more books in the series published. Miss Peregrine’s is one of those stories that’s so perfect in itself that it makes me reluctant to read the rest of the series, in case it can’t live up to the promise of the first!

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stievfater (The Raven Cycle)

Oh my god, this series is fantastic! (see my earlier blog post on this book). The Dream Thieves is Book #2 in the Raven Cycle and I’ve listed The Dream Thieves here – rather than the other books in the Cycle – because The Dream Thieves a) was the first book I read in the Cycle and b) it totally blew me away.

Compared to the other 4 books listed in this post, The Dream Thieves isn’t that complex. Set in Aglionby Academy, it tells the story of the extraordinary Ronan, a psychic called Blue and their mad friends. The Dream Thieves contains a sometimes bizarre, always exciting mix of drag racing, ghosts and dead Welsh kings. If you enjoy fantasy, adventure and historical references this is a must-read.

Confession time: I haven’t read the last book in The Raven Cycle yet! Like Miss Peregrine I’m almost scared to, because the rest of the series was just so great that I don’t want to be disappointed at the end.

In Conclusion

I read a lot of books. Some of them I put on my shelf at Goodreads.com , although recently I’ve been slack and haven’t been as religious at filing them as I should. (I might update it shortly, so keep an eye out). But even though I read a LOT, I rarely fall in love.

6 Old-But-Awesome Fantasy Series for Teen Readers

May 24, 2016 By Rachel Stedman

Awesome Fantasy Series —

Know that awful feeling when you reach the end of a great series? Well, don’t panic, here’s a whole heap of old-but-awesome fantasy series to discover!

What Should I Read Next?

Because I’ve been reading fantasy for, oh, well, way too long to count, I thought it would be fun to set out some options based on some old and new series.

Warning:

This is a long blog post! Here you can download to read as a pdf

PS: You’re welcome to copy and share this pdf.

1. Epic Adventure

If you like:

The Shattered Sea Series by Joe Abercrombie

Try:

The Belgariad by David Eddings

What’s it About?
The Belgariad is a five-volume fantasy series, featuring good versus evil, wicked gods and powerful magicians. The series follows Garion, a scullery-lad from the country and his mysterious Aunt Polgara in their search for the missing Orb of Aldur.

At the beginning of the stories Garion is a young unknown, but as the reader continues through the books his exciting backstory is gradually revealed. When The Belgariad first came out, I haunted the library for weeks, just desperate for the next in the series, and had my name on all the pre-order lists.

The Belgariad feels like real seat of the pants adventure – Garion didn’t really understand what was happening to him, so neither did I, as the reader. I still remember the amazement, the OMG moment when finally I realised what was actually happening. (I don’t want to give too much away here, so apologies if this sounds ambiguous)!

Why Is it So Amazing?

The action in The Belgariad is great – it’s a fantasy, so there are heroes and battles and sword fighting and all that good stuff – but really it’s the characters that set The Belgariad apart. Eddings developed an enormous cast of characters, and each person is so believable that you really feel you know them; they each have their own foibles and way of speaking. I still think, even now, that The Belgariad has one of the best cast of characters in any series. Sorry, JRR, I think Eddings out-did you there.

Any Other Info?

David Eddings and his wife, Leigh Eddings, went on to write a number of other series, including The Mallorean, the sequel to The Belgariad, so if you do get hooked on this series there are plenty of other books to go on to.

Interested? Want to find out more?

Check out this review from Will Read for Feels.

2. Magic and Legends

Enjoy

The Raven Cycle By Maggie Stiefvater?

Try:

The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper.

When I read that Maggie Stiefvater listed Cooper as among her favourite authors, I wasn’t surprised; if you’ve read The Dark is Rising you can certainly see the similarities. Although The Dark is Rising is slower-paced than Stiefvater’s work and doesn’t have any cars (plus its first book, Over Sea and Under Stone, is written for a younger audience), the settings feel way more evocative.

What’s it About?

The Dark is Rising is a good versus evil story, set in Cornwall and Wales, and tells the story of Will, the last of the Old Ones, born into a mysterious order. On his eleventh birthday, Midwinter Day, Will learns why a strange man is following him, and why he has to keep his family safe. Throughout the sequence Will is aided by Merlion (Merlin) and three children: Barney, Simon and Jane. The stories are all set in Britain, moving from Cornwall to Buckinghamshire to Wales.

Why Is It So Great?

The whole sequence is creepy and exciting and full of references to King Arthur and the Grail. It has a strong emphasis on music. It’s rare to find books that celebrate musicality in children – I still remember the excitement when I realised I wasn’t the only musical weirdo in the world!

The Grey King, the third of the Rising sequence, is set in Wales. This book has always been my favourite of the series, so much so that I worked in Wales primarily so I could see the area she describes in her books! I ended up setting my first book, A Necklace of Souls, in Angelsea partly because of Cooper’s The Grey King.

If you’re into Celtic mythology and adventure, The Dark is Rising is an absolute must-read. It’s really aimed at children around ten to say fourteen, but older kids will still enjoy it.

3. World-Building

If you enjoy Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn Series, try:

The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula Le Guin.

What’s it About?

First written as a trilogy, The Earthsea Cycle is a classic fantasy series. Set in Earthsea, a world made of sea and archipelagos, the stories follow the adventures of Ged, a wizard of Earthsea, and Tenar, a priestess. In 1990 Le Guin released Tehanu, the fourth in the cycle, and more recently, a number of short stories.

Why Is It So Great?

The Earthsea Cycle is world-building at its best; the detailed world of Ged and Tenar is immersive and exciting. Just a short warning: The Earthsea novels are slower than Sanderson’s Mistborn series – the action takes time to build – but what makes Le Guin’s novels amazing is the sheer believability of the world. When reading Earthsea, you really feel as though you’re walking through a market or sailing across the sea. If you enjoy travelling but haven’t the budget, The Earthsea Cycle is a must-read!

Any Other Info?

The Earthsea works were adapted into an Anime movie by Disney and Studio Ghibli. The movie is interesting, although don’t expect it to resemble the book!

4. Schools of Wizardry

If you liked The Adventures of Harry Potter by JK Rowling try:

Witch Week by Diana Wynne Jones

What’s It About?

Witch Week takes place over Halloween week at Larwood House, a horrible boarding school that’s home to many witch-orphans (children whose parents were burnt for witchcraft). Most of the class of 2Y are terrified that they will become witches – but some welcome the idea of magic. And others believe they are far too good to ever become a witch.

Witch Week is one of my favourite Wynne Jones novels, mostly because it’s just so funny.

“You girls,” said Simon, “all stink.”
The result was almost overpowering. So was the noise the girls made.

Why Is It So Great?

I first read Diana Wynne Jones’ Charmed Life when I was nine. I still have a copy, and it remains one of my favourite stories ever. Wynne Jones had the most amazing storytelling gift; she told stories of magic and multiple worlds and her extraordinary characters simply bounced from the pages.

I thought you were talking about a SERIES?

Yep. I am – Witch Week is one of the Chrestomanci novels. The Chrestomanci stories are all stand-alone novels. They’re set in many different worlds but they all feature Chrestomanci, a powerful enchanter with an allergy to silver and a highly developed dress sense. So if you enjoy Witch Week then good news! There’s heaps of other stories to try.

5. Adventure and Romance

If you like Kristin Cashore’s Graceling Realm, try:

The Riddle-Master Trilogy by Patricia McKillip

What’s it About?

The Riddle-Master stories tell the adventures of Morgon, the Prince of Hed. Born with three stars on his forehead and the ability to solve riddles, Morgon doesn’t care about destiny or matters of state; all he wants to do is study riddle-mastery. Unfortunately for Morgon, the biggest riddle he must solve is himself. The characters, Morgon and his fiancee, Raederle of An, develop in unexpected ways through the series. There’s action and backstory and plenty of magic. The story is never boring.

Why is it so great?

The Riddle-Master series is notable not only for its world-building and strong female protagonists but for the beauty of its writing. McKillip’s writing is always lyrical, more like poetry than prose. The Riddle-Master series has the best concluding paragraph ever:

‘Raederle, her voice tranquil, began telling him about pearls and luminous fish and the singing of water deep in the sea…Peace, tremulous, unexpected, sent a taproot out of nowhere into Morgan’s heart.’

6. History and Myth

Love Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Series? Try:

The Merlin Trilogy by Mary Stewart

What’s it about?

The Merlin Trilogy follows Merlin, the bastard grandson of a minor Welsh King, who has a gift for seeing things that others cannot. Set in Britain of the fifth century, the story takes place against the ruins of the Roman empire, where the crumbling remains of towers battle with memories of the old gods and their druid priests. There’s an ever-present threat of danger running through the novels; the Norse invaders, the new Christian religion and the death of a once-great civilization. Merlin knows the darkness is coming.

‘What was there to see? A young man with an injured hand, a King with his lust satisfied, a woman with her penance beginning. And for all of us, time to remember the dead.’

Why is it so great?

Who doesn’t like the idea of King Arthur and the Grail? In The Merlin Trilogy, the settings interweave myth with magic, but they’re underpinned by historical fact. Stewart must have gone to great lengths to ensure the stories are accurate – even small details like the hypocaust systems of roman villas are so well described that the reader could almost be there. This trilogy was the other reason I lived in Wales!

I don’t get how it’s like The Grisha Series? Isn’t that based on Russian History?

Check out Leigh Bardugo’s amazing website. You can see here how she used historical reality to shape her Grisha world. Stewart did something similar in The Merlin Trilogy; a great deal of the work is based on the History of the Kings of Britain, a medieval work by Geoffrey of Monmouth.

Other info?

The Merlin Series was made into a TV series by the BBC (entitled Merlin of the Crystal Cave). Stewart was also a prolific writer of romantic suspense, so if you enjoy a range of genres, check out her other titles.

Conclusion

This is an epically long blog-post! Congratulations on reaching the end and thanks for your patience.

If you would like to print this out for reference, here’s the download link again.

And if you’re STILL short of reading material, here are four lists on Goodreads that might be of interest:

(All the cover art here is from Amazon, and I’ve added links to all the Amazon entries for these books too, in case you’re wanting to read more.)

Happy Reading!

Book Review

Book Review

4. Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

3. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stievfater

2. A Gathering of Shadows by VE Schwab

1. Graceling by Kristin Cashore

4 Unusual (and Exciting) Fairytale Retellings —

Book Reviews (In No Particular Order)

What to Read on Holiday?

About My Holiday:

A City of Mirrors

The Sudden Appearance of Hope

The Bridge to Lucy Dunne

Can a Movie be Better Than the Book?

5 Books and 5 Great Movies

Bonus Runner-Up:

Conclusion

5 Books I’ve Loved —

Here’s my top 5 books of the last 12 months.

Why I Fell in Love: Book Reviews

In Conclusion

Awesome Fantasy Series —

What Should I Read Next?

1. Epic Adventure

2. Magic and Legends

3. World-Building

4. Schools of Wizardry

5. Adventure and Romance

6. History and Myth

Conclusion

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