Please enable JavaScript
All Books | Page 65 | LitPick Book Reviews
All Books
Conspirator
C. J. Cherryh
Synopsis: First in a brand-new Foreigner trilogy from Hugo Award winning author C. J. Cherryh.

Cajeiri is the young son of the powerful leader of the Western Association-and he has become a target for forces bent on destroying his father's rule. For Cajeiri is the first ateva youth to have lived in a human environment. And after hundreds of years of fragile atevi-human coexistence, he may very well be the first of his people to ever truly understand the so similar-yet so dangerously different-aliens who share his home planet and threaten the hidebound customs of his race.
Publication Date: 04/28/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
Rise of the Heroes
Andy Briggs
Synopsis:

Toby, Pete, Lorna, and Emily are just average kids―until they stumble upon a Web site called Hero.com and download powers that turn them into superheroes. At first, flying, teleporting, and shooting lasers from their eyes seems like nothing but fun. But when the supervillain Doc Tempest kidnaps Toby and Lorna's mom, things take a darker turn.

Now the heroes must band together and use their new skills―from super-strength to invisibility―to rescue their mom, fight evil, and try to save the world from destruction.

Of course, little do they know that Villain.net is out there too, recruiting teens for the other side. . . .

Publication Date: 04/28/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
Radiant Darkness
Emily Whitman
Synopsis:

He smiles. "Hello."

It's a deep voice. I can feel it reverberate in my chest and echo all the way down to my toes.

I know I should leave, but I don't want to. I want to keep my senses like this forever. I'm all eye, all ear, all skin.

Persephone lives in the most gorgeous place in the world. But her mother's a goddess, as overprotective as she is powerful. Paradise has become a trap. Just when Persephone feels there's no chance of escaping the life that's been planned for her, a mysterious stranger arrives. A stranger who promises something more—something dangerous and exciting—something that spurs Persephone to make a daring choice. A choice that could destroy all she's come to love, even the earth itself.

In a land where a singing river can make you forget your very name, Persephone is forced to discover who—and what—she really is.

Publication Date: 04/28/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
The Other Side of Magic
Marcia Thornton Jones, Debbie Dadey
Synopsis:

This Other Side of Magic is the second in a series of light fantasy chapter books set in Morgantown, a town on the border between the real world and the magical world, by the authors of the Publishers Weekly best selling BAILEY SCHOOL KIDS―a series of 50 books with more than 30 million copies sold!

"I need your help, Natalie," Mr. Leery said. "Yours and Penny's and Luke's."

Natalie is surprised to learn from her neighbor, Mr. Leery, that her classmates Penny and Luke are apprentice Keyholders. A Keyholder's job is to guard the border between the real world and the magical world. Natalie is even more surprised when she finds out that she could be a Keyholder too―if she forms a "link" with a rat named Buttercup.

Will Natalie choose to join the Keyholders? Can she, Penny, and Luke learn how to work together with their links and protect the border from the goblins sent by the evil Queen of the Boggarts?

Publication Date: 04/28/09
Age Level: 5 - 8
Genre: Fantasy
The Magicians' Daughter
Synopsis:

In Reiffen’s Choice we learned how Reiffen chose magic.

In Queen Ferris, we learned what he did with his magic.

In The Magicians’ Daughter, we learn what his magic does to him.

Ten years have passed since Ferris, Reiffen, and Avender raised the siege of Rimwich and killed two of the three Wizards.  Ferris and Reiffen have married, and their daughter Hubley is approaching her tenth birthday.  Despite the years of peace, Reiffen believes the last of the Wizards, his old teacher and enemy Fornoch, wants to kidnap Hubley the same way he once kidnapped Reiffen.  As Reiffen’s fear grows increasingly irrational, Avender attempts to intervene.  But Avender's help simply drives Reiffen further into madness.  And what happens to Avender is almost worse.

Now, with the help of her mother and all her old friends, including Redburr the Shapeshifting Bear, Nolo the Dwarf, and the mysterious magician Mims, Hubley must do what she can to rescue her father from the consequences of his own madness.

And all the while the manderstone is growing in Issinlough . . . and no one knows what’s inside.

Publication Date: 04/27/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
The Eternal Smile
Derek Kirk Kim, Gene Luen Yang
Synopsis:

Gene Luen Yang is the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and is a MacArthur Fellow, a recipient of what's popularly known as the MacArthur "Genius" Grant.

A fantastical adventure through the worlds we live in and the worlds we create.

From two masters of the graphic novel--Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese) and Derek Kirk Kim (Same Difference and Other Stories)--come three magical tales.

The story of a prince who defeats his greatest enemy only to discover that maybe his world is not what it had seemed.

The story of a frog who finds that just being a frog might be the way to go.

The story of a women who receives an e-mail from Prince Henry of Nigeria asking for a loan to help save his family – and gives it to him.

With vivid artwork and moving writing, Derek Kirk Kim and Gene Luen Yang test the boundaries between fantasy and reality, exploring the ways that the world of the imagination can affect real life.
The Eternal Smile is the winner of the 2010 Eisner Award for Best Short Story.

Publication Date: 04/27/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
World of Warcraft
Christie Golden
Synopsis: Frostmourne.

It was caught in a hovering, jagged chunk of ice, the runes that ran the length of its blade glowing a cool blue. Below it was a dais of some sort, standing on a large gently raised mound that was covered in a dusting of snow. A soft light, coming from somewhere high above where the cavern was open to daylight, shone down on the runeblade. The icy prison hid some details of the sword's shape and form, exaggerated others. It was revealed and concealed at the same time, and all the more tempting, like a new lover imperfectly glimpsed through a gauzy curtain. Arthas knew the blade -- it was the selfsame sword he had seen in his dream when he first arrived. The sword that had not killed Invincible, but that had brought him back healed and healthy. He'd thought it a good omen then, but now he knew it was a true sign. This was what he had come to find. This sword would change everything. Arthas stared raptly at it, his hands almost physically aching to grasp it, his fingers to wrap themselves around the hilt, his arms to feel the weapon swinging smoothly in the blow that would end Mal'Ganis, end the torment he had visited upon the people of Lordaeron, end this lust for revenge. Drawn, he stepped forward.

The uncanny elemental spirit drew its icy sword. "Turn away, before it is too late," it intoned.

* * *

His evil is legend. Lord of the undead Scourge, wielder of the runeblade Frostmourne, and enemy of the free peoples of Azeroth. The Lich King is an entity of incalculable power and unparalleled malice -- his icy soul utterly consumed by his plans to destroy all life on the World of Warcraft.

But it was not always so. Long before his soul was fused with that of the orc shaman Ner'zhul, the Lich King was Arthas Menethil, crown prince of Lordaeron and faithful paladin of the Silver Hand.

When a plague of undeath threatened all that he loved, Arthas was driven to pursue an ill-fated quest for a runeblade powerful enough to save his homeland. Yet the object of his search would exact a heavy price from its new master, beginning a horrifying descent into damnation. Arthas's path would lead him through the arctic northern wastes toward the Frozen Throne, where he would face, at long last, the darkest of destinies.

Publication Date: 04/21/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
Fragile Eternity
Melissa Marr
Synopsis:

In the third mesmerizing tale in Melissa Marr’s #1 New York Times bestselling Wicked Lovely series, old friends become new enemies—and one wrong move could plunge the Earth into chaos.

Seth never expected he would want to settle down with anyone, but that was before Aislinn. She is everything he'd ever dreamed of, and he wants to be with her forever. Forever takes on new meaning, though, when your girlfriend is an immortal faery queen.

Aislinn never expected to rule the very creatures who'd always terrified her, but that was before Keenan. He stole her mortality to make her a monarch, and now she faces challenges and enticements beyond any she'd ever imagined.

Seth and Aislinn struggle to stay true to themselves and each other—all while navigating the shadowy rules and shifting allegiances of the Faery Courts.

Publication Date: 04/21/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
The Second Gateway
Sam Wilding
Synopsis: This, book two in the Denthan series, tests family-ties and friendships to the limit in a new and epic setting where the odds are stacked heavily against James and his wizard-goldfish, Mendel. One year on from their extraordinary adventure in Denthan, the zany villagers of Drumfintley are, yet again, all that stand between a peaceful world and certain disaster. When a whole new array of monsters and dark magic begins to emerge from the murky waters of Loch Echty all hell breaks loose. Beneath the Scottish loch, Mendel and James discover the submerged village of Fintley, a huge obelisk and a new crystal key. It is soon clear that they face a greater threat than ever before. In this, the second epic struggle to keep the Peck family together, some souls may be lost for good... Will James, Craig and Bero still be able to save us all? Will Mendel, the wizard-goldfish, continue to outwit his oldest and greatest adversary? Will the second gateway take the villagers of Drumfintley on a one-way trip to catastrophe?
Publication Date: 04/17/09
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Fantasy
A Forthcoming Wizard
Jody Lynn Nye
Synopsis: Halfling Tildi Summerbee led a typical, unexciting life, tending the house for her brothers while they managed the family farm...until she was forced to assume the identity of her recently deceased brother and accept his position as apprentice to a great wizard. Now she is on an important quest where the lessons of her apprenticeship pale in comparison to those learned in life-or-death situations. She has become the guardian of a very special book that can alter everything in existence… a race of centaurs gone with an editor’s pen, a mountain range flattened with a revised rune, and life as Tildi has known it changed in the blink of an eye. Gone are her preconceptions of society and order. Gone are her trusting ways and belief in her superiors’ honesty. But also gone is the shrinking violet smallfolk who masqueraded as a boy to secure an apprenticeship. Tildi has changed too, and she realizes that the fate of the world rests in her hands.
Publication Date: 04/14/09
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Wormhole Pirates On Orbis 3
Synopsis: Hang on to your transport! Wormhole pirates close in on JT and his friends in part three of the cyber-fueled sci-fi adventure.

It’s not a good sign: before Johnny Turnbull and his fellow knudniks even land on Orbis 3, a band of wormhole pirates invades their shuttle and deliver a cryptic threat to JT. And even though JT and his friends are thrilled to find out that they’ll get a reprieve from work this rotation (except for going to school with a bunch of bullying Citizens), JT senses something sinister in the air. Could that be a wormhole pirate he keeps spotting, with an alien skull and crossbones on his arm? Why is Max acting strangely whenever she’s around JT? Who is luring JT into a deadly competitive game? And why is his telepathic sister, Ketheria, suddenly getting sick? Prime your neural implant for some nonstop action and intrigue in a new episode starring the fi rst human softwire.
Publication Date: 04/14/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
Jackson and Jenks: Master Magicians
Synopsis: Best friends Darren Jackson and Jamie Jenks are struggling to become a professional teen magic duo. The only problem: their tricks always fail, and they sadly lay claim to being the worst magicians ever. But that s about to change. A trip to a thrift shop leads them to a mysterious force which turns Jamie into a real magician. Now able to do anything at all, world fame and fortune quickly follow as well as a world of trouble when they turn the President of the United States into a four-pound rodent. On the run, the boys must evade the police and the FBI, not to mention a tyrannical fellow magician, before their luck runs out forever.
Publication Date: 04/07/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
Curse the Dawn
Karen Chance
Synopsis: “Karen Chance takes her place along with Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, MaryJanice Davidson, and J.D. Robb.”—SF Revu

View our feature on Karen Chance’s Curse the Dawn.

Cassandra Palmer may be the all-powerful Pythia now, but that doesn’t mean people have stopped trying to kill her. Most of the supernatural power players don’t want the independent minded Cassie as chief clairvoyant—and they’ll stop at nothing to see her six feet under.

The Vampire Senate does support Cassie in her position, but their protection comes with a price: an alliance with the sexy master vampire Mircea, who has claimed Cassie as his own.

But even the vampires will have trouble keeping Cassie alive now that the self-styled god Apollo, the source of the Pythia’s power, has it in for her in a big way. To save her life—and the world—Cassie’s going to have to face down her creator…

Publication Date: 04/07/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
Dragons Luck
Robert Asprin
Synopsis: The New York Times bestselling author scales new heights in his series of Big Easy-dwelling dragons...

Griffen McCandles is adjusting well to running his gambling operation in the French Quarter of New Orleans and to his newfound status as head dragon. Other dragons are getting a whiff of his reputation, though, and they're not happy about it. Which is why there's suddenly a hit out on him.

And, just in time for Halloween, the ghost of a voodoo queen wants Griffen to moderate a supernatural conclave. And though the strange goings-on will barely be noticed in a city used to drunken conventioneers and wild revelers, it's Griffen's chance to spread his wings-or crash and burn.
Publication Date: 04/07/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
Dancing on the Head of a Pin
Thomas E. Sniegoski
Synopsis: Remy Chandler ?is a character I can?t wait to see again.?( Christopher Golden, bestselling author of The Lost Ones)

Still mourning the loss of his wife, fallen angel Remy Chandler has immersed himself in investigating dangerous supernatural cases. His latest: the theft of a cache of ancient weaponry stolen from a collector who deals in antiquities of a dark and dubious nature. The weapons, Remy knows, were forged eons ago and imbued with unimaginable power. And if they fall into the wrong hands, they could be used to destroy not only Heaven but also Earth.
Publication Date: 04/07/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
Corambis
Sarah Monette
Synopsis: The spellbinding conclusion to the brilliant fantasy series by the author of The Mirador and Mélusine.

Exiled from Mélusine for the crime of heresy, the once powerful Cabaline wizard Felix Harrowgate and his half-brother Mildmay, former cat-burglar and assassin, journey to Corambis to face judgment from a ruling body of wizards. Corambis, however, is a land plagued by civil strife. Kay Brightmore, the Margrave of Rothmarlin, is part of an insurrection to restore the monarchy in the southern half of the country. In desperation, Kay and his rebels seek out the engine of Summerdown, an ancient magical device rumored to have terrible powers. Once the engine is awakened, only a powerful wizard can stop its awesome potential for destruction. Felix and Mildmay arrive just in time for their greatest challenge-and ultimate destiny...
Publication Date: 04/07/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy

Pages



RECENT BOOK REVIEWS