18 April 2010 by Bonnie.

Mercedes Lackey is one of my favorite authors, and I discovered a trilogy written by her along with James Mallory.
The Obsidian Trilogy, Book 1 “The Outstretched Shadow”\

Forbidden Magic!

There were three of them, very slender volumes bound in some fine-grained dark leather, with just a touch of gilt on the spine. Kellen found himself turning them over in his hands with some puzzlement. There was nothing on the spine of each but a single image - a sun, a crescent moon, and a star. Nothing on the cover, not even a bit of tooling -
Odd. Definitely out of keeping with the rest of the used bookseller’s wares.
The title pages were handwritten, not printed. The Book of Sun. The Book of Moon. The Book of Stars. He leafed through the pages, trying to puzzle out the tiny writing. The contents were handwritten as well . . . and seemingly dealt with magic.
They shouldn’t be here at all! Kellen through with a sudden surge of glee. Books written on magic were very closely kept. Without bothering to look through them further, he put them on the top of his pile and caught the stallholder’s eye.
“Got younger sibs at home, do you?” the man asked as he wrote up a bill of sale with the merest stub of a graphite rod.
“No,” said Kellen, startled. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, children’s stories-” the man gestured at the three books. He handed Kellen his receipt.
Kellen studied it in confusion. What was this? Tales of the Weald, Fables of Farm and Field, and Hearth-side Stories?
There was something very odd about those books.

This story follows Kellen, a young man not content living in the “Golden City” of the High Magick. And suddenly these strange books come to him…where will they lead him? This tale catches you from the very beginning, bringing you into Kellen’s life and his character. All the characters are intriguing, no matter if they are for the light or the dark…Only reading it will reveal the astonishing powers that influence his world!

I’ve read the first two of the trilogy so far (I plowed through the 856 page sequel in a matter of days) and I’m heading towards the third! These are so fantastic in the plot as well as every unexpected person you could experience!

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20 March 2009 by Bonnie.

The Godwars, Book 1

Forbidden Magic, by Angus Wells

In the time of the beginning, when the First Gods created all things, they brough forth two children, Tharn and Balatur, lesser gods, to walk upon the new world. But Balatur was arrogant, Tharn was comsumed with madness,  and the First Gods were forced to condemn them both to an eternal, deathlike sleep, lest they destroy creation.

Now a mysterious wizard seeks to awaken the mad Tharn and unleash his terrifying power into the world. If he succeeds, the god’s insane fury could rip apart the fabric of existence and give the diabolical magician what he seeks most of all: the scepter of domination over the forces of chaos.

Only the young scholar Calandryll has the knowledge and skill to stop the evil wizard’s plan. Accompanied by a cynical mercenary, protected by an enigmatic magic, he must journey across a war-torn countryside, facing terror and treachery both real and magical, to find the ancient book whose incantations can bring the evil god back to life- and destroy it forever.

I couldn’t put this book down! In the beginning it may seem a bit cliche, but don’t worry about that part. Soon you get sucked up into the exciting journey of Calandryll & Co. and nothing is what you expect.  One thing I especially liked is that you really get to know the characters throughout the book(s), and feel connected with them. And either the author has a super good vocabulary, or he went through with a thesaurus

P.S. If you read to the end, it would be a good idea to have the second book handy. Enjoy!

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19 February 2009 by Bonnie.

Far North

by Will Hobbs

From the window of the small floatplane, fiteen-year-old Gabe Rogers is getting his first look at Canada’s magnificent Northwest Territory with Raymond Providence, his roommate from boarding school. Below is the spectacular Nahanni River– wall-to-wall whitewater racing between sheer cliffs and plunging over Virginia Falls. The pilot sets the plane down on the lake-like surface of the upper river for a closer look at the thundering falls. Suddenly the engine quits. The only sound is a dull roar downstream, as the Cessna drifts helplessly toward the falls…

With the brutal subarctic winter fast approaching, Gabe and Raymond soon find themselves stranded in Deadmen Valley. Trapped in a frozen world of moose, wolves, and bears, two boys from vastly different cultured come to depends on each other for their very survival.

This was a great survival book, a big adventure. It really keeps you flipping the pages!!

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19 February 2009 by Bonnie.

Sorcery & Cecelia -or- The Enchanted Chocolate Pot

by Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer

Dear Reader,

A great deal is happening in London this Season.

For starters, there’s the witch who tried to poison Kate at the Royal Collge of Wizards. She must have mistaken Kate for the Mysterious Marquis (which is curious, since they look nothing alike). And a handsome man seems to be spying on Cecelia, though he’s not doing a very good job of it– so just what are his intentions?

Then there’s the strange spell that has made our friend Dorothea the toast of the town. Could it possibly have something to do with the charm-bag under Oliver’s bed? (speaking of Oliver, how long can we make excuses for him? Ever since he was turned into a tree, he hasn’t bothered to tell anyone where he is)

Clearly, magic is a deadly and dangerous business. And we might be in fear for our lives. . . if only we weren’t having so much fun!
Love,

Cecy and Kate

This book was a lot of fun, and very intriguing! It was written by two women who were first just writing the letters back and forth for fun (roleplay), but decided to turn it into a book.

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7 January 2009 by Bonnie.

I love the author Mercedes Lackey. I picked this book up off the shelf and immediately had to get it. And I wasn’t disappointed!

Take a Thief, by Mercedes Lackey

To Catch a Thief

Skif was an orphan. For as long as he could remember he had worked as a drudge in his Uncle Londer’s dreary inn in the slums of Haven. Sleeping on a pile of rags under the stairs, wakened before dawn to do the lowliest and filthiest of tasks, Skif would have died from malnutrition and exposure if he had never met Deke.

Deke was a pickpocket. The oldest member of a group of young boys who, with the guidance of their teacher and leader, a crippled man naed Bazie, survived by their wits and their nimble fingers. But Bazie was more than just the head of a band of young thieves-Bazie cared about the boys. Uncle Londer barely cared whether Skif was alive or dead. It was an easy decision for Skif to abandon his former life and throw in his lot with Bazie’s crew.

By the time Skif was twelve, he was an accomplished cat burglar and one of the leaders of Bazie’s gang. LIght on his feet, silent as a ghost, small enough to slide between portective window bars, his “take” had evolved from silk hankies slipped from laundries and pockets to gold and silver jewelery stolen from “hidden” cupboards in affluent houses.

But it wasn’t until Skif decided to steal a finely tacked-out white horse, which was, oddly enough, standing unattended in the street, that this young thief discovered that the tables could be turned on him….

This book was great! I couldn’t put it down. I’ve read a trilogy by Lackey as well, the Last Herald-Mage trilogy, which was fantastic. It also helps you understand Heralds much better, which this book doesn’t do as well because they aren’t the biggest part of the story.

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7 January 2009 by Bonnie.

Well, I’m back, after a little bloggie crisis. Somehow my old blog was deleted! So here I am, starting anew, and still determined to give you good advice for books to read! As well as the cutest corgi pictures ever, of course!! The crazy book-reader-corgi-lover is back!

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