FullReviews Index
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter 6)
The war against Voldemort is not going well. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses. And yet... As in all wars, life goes on. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate -- and lose a few eyebrows in the process. The Weasley twins expand their business. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Classes are never straightforward, though Harry receives some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter 4)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the pivotal fourth novel in the tale of Harry Potter's training as a wizard. Harry wants to get away from the Dursleys and go to the International Quidditch Cup with Hermione, Ron, and the Weasleys. He wants to dream about Cho Chang, his crush. He wants to find out about the mysterious event that's to take place at the Hogwarts. He wants to be a normal, fourteen year old wizard. Unfortunately for Harry Potter, he's not normal - even by wizarding standards.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter 3)
For Twelve long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black. Convicted of killing thirteen people with a single curse, he was said to be the heir apparent to the Dark Lord, Voldemort. Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter's defeat of You-Know-Who was Black's downfall as well. Harry Potter isn't safe, not even within the walls of his magical school.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter 1)
In "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," the first of J.K. Rowling's seven volume epic, Harry, a very likable child, has had to suffer living in a spider-infested room beneeth a staircase in the house of his odious aunt and uncle. When a letter arrives, indicating that he's been accepted to Hogwarts school for wizards and witches, his internment in the muggle (non-magical) world ends and his adventures in wizardry begins.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter 2)
J.K. Rowling's second novel in a series of seven, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" continues a coming of age epic that will enchant readers with its honest portrayal of humanity. Harry returns to Hogwarts only to discover a new machination in the making. Someone has opened the legendary Chamber of Secrets and let loose a monster. This creature literally petrifies anyone that comes into contact with it and Harry has reason to believe that the monster is capable of murder.
Wintersmith
British comic fantasy writer, Terry Pratchett is known for his humor and his prolificness (he produces one to two novels each year). Wintersmith, the third book in a Discworld series for young adults, continues the story of Tiffany Aching, a 13-year old witch, and th Mac Nac Feegles, those fiesty wee blue men who have sworn to protect her.
Wayfarer's Dawn
A crown prince awakens one fateful day alone in a desolate field. A second, enigmatic man narrowly survives the fallout from a blazing comet's collision with the earth. These two men exist in a world fraught with upheaval, where the forces of evil are mounting and the gods are becoming less and less responsive to the prayers of their followers. Unknowingly, they hold the key to saving their world and, quite possibly, the entire Ultraverse.
Son of a Witch
When a Witch dies-not as a crone, withered and incapable, but as a woman in her prime, at the height of her passion and prowess-too much is left unsaid. If every death is a tragedy, the death of a woman in her prime keenly bereaves the whole world. Ten years after the publication of Wicked, bestselling novelist Gregory Maguire returns to the land of Oz to follow the story of Liir, the adolescent boy left hiding in the shadows of the castle when Dorothy did in the Witch.
Eldest
Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have just saved the rebel state from destruction by the mighty forces of King Galbatorix, cruel ruler of the Empire. Now Eragon must travel to Ellesmera, land of the elves, for further training in the skills of the Dragon Rider: magic and swordsmanship. Soon he is on the journey of a lifetime, his eyes open to awe-inspring new places and people, his days filled with fresh adventure. But chaos and betrayal plague him at every turn, and nothing is what it seems.
Gifts
At 74, Ursula K. Le Guin is the author of more than sixty books and is most famous for the books in her Earthsea Cycle (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore), which have sold millions of copies and have been translated into sixteen languages. Gifts is her first YA novel in fourteen years and a rich and compelling novel not just for young adult readers, but for readers of all ages.
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
Susanna Clarke's breakthrough novel, "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell," weaves magic into a flawlessly detailed vision of historical England. English magicians were once the wonder of the known world, with fairy servants at their beck and call; they could command winds, mountains, and woods. But by the early 1800s they have long since lost the ability to perform magic. They can only write long, dull papers about it, while fairy servants are nothing but a fading memory.