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Nation

Terry Pratchett

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 67 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Alone on a desert island — everything and everyone he knows and loves has been washed away in a storm — Mau is the last surviving member of his nation. He’s completely alone — or so he thinks until he finds the ghost girl. She has no toes, wears strange lacy trousers like the grandfather bird, and gives him a stick that can make fire.
Daphne, sole survivor of the wreck of the Sweet Judy, almost immediately regrets trying to shoot the native boy. Thank goodness the powder was wet and the gun only produced a spark. She’s certain her father, distant cousin of the Royal family, will come and rescue her but it seems, for now, that all she has for company is the boy and the foul-mouthed ship’s parrot, until other survivors arrive to take refuge on the island. Together, Mau and Daphne discover some remarkable things (including how to milk a pig, and why spitting in beer is a good thing), and start to forge a new nation.

Encompassing themes of death and nationhood, Terry Pratchett’s new novel is, as can be expected, extremely funny, witty and wise. Mau’s ancestors have something to teach us all. Mau just wishes they would shut up about it and let him get on with saving everyone’s lives!

Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2)

Christopher Paolini

Amazon Price: $14.28 List Price: $21.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Knopf Books for Young Readers Amazon Marketplace: 193 new & used starting at $2.52

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1513 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Darkness falls…despair abounds…evil reigns…

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. Before long, Eragon doesn’t know whom he can trust.

Meanwhile, his cousin Roran must fight a new battle–one that might put Eragon in even graver danger.

Will the king’s dark hand strangle all resistance? Eragon may not escape with even his life. . . .


Praise for Eragon:
“Unusual, powerful . . . fresh and fluid. An impressive start to a writing career that’s sure to flourish.” –Booklist, Starred
“Christopher Paolini make[s] literary magic with his precocious debut.” –People
“The new ‘It’ book of children’s lit.” –U.S. News & World Report
“An auspicious beginning to both career and series.” –Publishers Weekly

A #1 New York Times Bestseller
A #1 Publishers Weekly Bestseller
A USA Today Bestseller
A Wall Street Journal Bestseller
A Book Sense Book of the Year
A #1 Book Sense Selection

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6)

J. K. Rowling

Amazon Price: $23.96 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Thorndike Press Amazon Marketplace: 26 new & used starting at $13.94

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3594 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Book 6 in the Harry Potter series

A New York Times Bestseller

In the fifth and most recent book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the last chapter, titled "The Second War Begins," started:

'In a brief statement Friday night, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge confirmed that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned to this country and is active once more. "It is with great regret that I must confirm that the wizard styling himself Lord -- well, you know who I mean -- is alive among us again," said Fudge.'

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince takes up the story of Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at this point in the midst of the storm of this battle of good and evil.

The author has already said that the Half-Blood Prince is neither Harry nor Voldemort. And most importantly, the opening chapter of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been brewing in J. K. Rowling's mind for 13 years.

No Canadian Rights for the Harry Potter Series

HARRY POTTER and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Harry Potter publishing rights © J. K. Rowling. (s05)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

J. K. Rowling

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5431 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Anniversary Ed 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I am a huge fan of Harry Potter, but I must say I did delay ordering this book. I just didnt think a new cover and a few extras was worth the price. Now, having seen the pictures put up by others, I am so glad I did order it! I think the new cover looks gorgeous and cant wait for Amazon to ship my order! (I am in NZ and so have selected for all my books to arrive in 1 shipment to save on postage. I just have to wait for the release of Beedle the bard and all my HP related books will be on their way to me...yay!)

Editorial Review:

Amazon.com

Here is a very special edition of the book that started it all: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Shortly after publication, J.K. Rowling's debut became a runaway bestselling award winner, and each new title in the sequence has all but created riots in the streets, as delirious fans chomp at the bit for the latest escapades of Harry Potter and his cohorts. For the true devotee of the series, this collector's edition is a must. Gold foil stamping on an embossed leather cover marks the book as a bona fide treasure. Most exciting of all is a previously unpublished sketch of Harry by Rowling herself! Don't miss this opportunity to collect a beautiful version of a modern classic. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter

Inkheart

Cornelia Funke

Amazon Price: $31.16 List Price: $39.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Listening Library (Audio) Amazon Marketplace: 13 new & used starting at $3.50

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 482 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Forgettable 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

As an adult, reviewing a children's book is fraught with danger. It's all too easy to forget you're not the target audience and don't necessarily see things the way the author intended. Having said that, it seems the most successful children's books these days are those that manage to appeal to both old and young alike (Quidditch, anyone?), and so on that basis I feel at least partly qualified to write a review. Any kids reading this who think I've totally missed the point of the book - please forgive me - you too will be old and out of touch one day.

Inkheart is a very long book. At a whopping 500 plus pages it ranks as one of the longer children's books around. Unfortunately a lot of this length is taken up with unnecessary exposition, narration and description, often slowing the action to a crawl or even a total standstill. There really is a lot to be said for crediting your readers with intelligence, but the author too often spoon feeds us exactly what to think, imagine and feel instead of giving us the basics and letting us do the rest. A good editor with a pair of scissors and an evil grin could easily have reduced the page count to 200 or so, creating a much better story in the process.

As for the characters, I found the good guys to be generally likable and to an extent believable. The baddies were a different category altogether. Capricorn and his cronies are straight out of the corny stereotypical villains handbook, complete with black clothing, and as a result they come across as more comical than evil. I kept expecting Mini-Me to leap out of the shadows and make an appearance, particularly when the age old cliché of scheduling your enemies execution at a later date appeared. The author is clearly gifted with a good imagination, I just wish she had used it more when developing the protagonists.

Seeing as I've probably upset enough people already, I may as well press on with a pedantic point. I had a beef with her use of elvish from the Lord of the Rings. At one point the characters apparently write messages to each other in this language, but the reader is never shown the actual words used. In my opinion if a writer is cheeky enough to make use of Tolkien they should take the time to do it properly, otherwise it comes across as lazy appropriation of a great body of work. Surely it wouldn't have been too difficult to employ the services of a translator to actually put the messages in Quenya or Sindarin, it would have gone a long way towards giving the author credibility.

Overall, the premise of this story is exciting and original, but for me the problems mentioned above turned what could have been a gem into an extremely ordinary and forgettable book. I give it one star for the concept, but none for its execution.

Editorial Review:

From the author of the sensational New York Times bestseller The Thief Lord comes a thrilling new adventure about magic and self-discovery.

Meggie lives a quiet life alone with her father, a bookbinder. But her father has a deep secret--he possesses an extraordinary magical power. One day a mysterious stranger arrives who seems linked to her father's past. Who is this sinister character and what does he want? Suddenly Meggie is involved in a breathless game of escape and intrigue as her father's life is put in danger. Will she be able to save him in time?

Includes an excerpt from Inkspell, the sequel to Inkheart, read by Brendan Fraser.

Chosen (House of Night, Book 3)

PC Cast, Kristin Cast

Amazon Price: $8.95 List Price: $8.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: St. Martin's Griffin Amazon Marketplace: 67 new & used starting at $4.70

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 57 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Dark forces are at work at the House of Night and fledgling vampyre Zoey Redbird’s adventures at the school take a mysterious turn.  Those who appear to be friends are turning out to be enemies.  And oddly enough, sworn enemies are also turning into friends.  So begins the gripping third installment of this “highly addictive series” (Romantic Times), in which Zoey’s mettle will be tested like never before.  Her best friend, Stevie Rae, is undead and struggling to maintain a grip on her humanity. Zoey doesn’t have a clue how to help her, but she does know that anything she and Stevie Rae discover must be kept secret from everyone else at the House of Night, where trust has become a rare commodity.  Speaking of rare: Zoey finds herself in the very unexpected and rare position of having three boyfriends. Mix a little bloodlust into the equation and the situation has the potential to spell social disaster.  Just when it seems things couldn’t get any tougher, vampyres start turning up dead. Really dead. It looks like the People of Faith, and Zoey’s horrid step-father in particular, are tired of living side-by-side with vampyres.  But, as Zoey and her friends so often find out, how things appear rarely reflects the truth…

The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle

Jim Butcher, Ardian Syaf

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 38 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

When the supernatural world spins out of control, when the police can’t handle what goes bump in the night, when monsters come screaming out of nightmares and into the mean streets, there’s just one man to call: Harry Dresden, the only professional wizard in the Chicago phone book. A police consultant and private investigator, Dresden has to walk the dangerous line between the world of night and the light of day.

Now Harry Dresden is investigating a brutal mauling at the Lincoln Park Zoo that has left a security guard dead and many questions unanswered. As an investigator of the supernatural, he senses that there’s more to this case than a simple animal attack, and as Dresden searches for clues to figure out who is really behind the crime, he finds himself next on the victim list, and being hunted by creatures that won’t leave much more than a stain if they catch him.

Written exclusively for comics by Jim Butcher, The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle is a brand-new story that’s sure to enchant readers with a blend of gripping mystery and fantastic adventure.

Betrayed (House of Night, Book 2)

PC Cast, Kristin Cast

Amazon Price: $8.95 List Price: $8.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: St. Martin's Griffin Amazon Marketplace: 58 new & used starting at $4.81

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 44 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Great Series for teens and up! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Betrayed is book 2 of the "House of Night" series. It is freshly written about teens that become marked to potentially become vampires. This is not your run of the mill series about vampires. It is more about teens who feel they don't fit in either at school or at home and have not had someone to help them realize their full potential in life. The metaphor of "the change" from human to vampire is subtle but easily grasped by teens that everyone has great potential even if they may not see it at a point in time of their life. The series is full of wonderful characters both good and evil and some who may have lived a life of evil and truly want to change if only someone showed them they could. There is great light comedy throughout and perfectly used when things get too serious. I would highly recommend this book for mothers and daughters to read and talk about. While it is completely entertaining you can't help but see the underlying messages which are all positive!

Editorial Review:

Fledgling vampyre Zoey Redbird has managed to settle in at the House of Night.  She’s come to terms with the vast powers the vampyre goddess, Nyx, has given her, and is getting a handle on being the new Leader of the Dark Daughters. Best of all, Zoey finally feels like she belongs--like she really fits in. She actually has a boyfriend…or two. Then the unthinkable happens: Human teenagers are being killed, and all the evidence points to the House of Night. While danger stalks the humans from Zoey’s old life, she begins to realize that the very powers that make her so unique might also threaten those she loves. Then, when she needs her new friends the most, death strikes the House of Night, and Zoey must find the courage to face a betrayal that could break her heart, her soul, and jeopardize the very fabric of her world.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Boxed Set, The (Percy Jackson & the Olympians)

Rick Riordan

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Humans and half-bloods alike agree--Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a series fit for heroes! Re-live the adventure from the beginning with this boxed set of the first three books.

The Lightning Thief Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. When his mom tells him the truth about where he came from, she takes him to the one place he'll be safe--Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island). There, Percy learns that the father he never knew is actually Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon Percy finds himself caught up in a mystery that could lead to disastrous consequences. Together with his friends--a satyr and other the demigod daughter of Athena--Percy sets out on a quest to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

The Sea of Monsters After a summer spent trying to prevent a catastrophic war among the Greek gods, Percy Jackson finds his seventh-grade school year unnervingly calm. But things don't stay quiet for long. Percy soon discovers there is trouble at Camp Half-Blood: the magical borders which protect Half-Blood Hill have been poisoned by a mysterious enemy, and the only safe haven for demigods is on the verge of being overrun by mythological monsters. To save the camp, Percy needs the help of his best friend, Grover, who has been taken prisoner by the Cyclops Polyphemus on an island somewhere in the Sea of Monsters--the dangerous waters Greek heroes have sailed for millennia--only today, the Sea of Monsters goes by a new nameL: the Bermuda Triangle. Now Percy and his friends must retrieve the Golden Fleece from the Island of the Cyclopes by the end of the summer or Camp Half-Blood will be destroyed. But first, Percy will learn a stunning new secret about his family--one that makes him question whether being claimed as Poseidon's son is an honor or simply a cruel joke...

The Titan's Curse When Percy Jackson receives a distress call from his friend Grover, he immediately prepares for battle. He knows he'll need his powerful demigod allies, Annabeth and Thalia, at his side; his trusty broze sword Riptide; and... a ride from his mom. The demigods race to the rescue, to find that Grover has made an important discovery: two new powerful half-bloods whose parentage is unknown. But that's not all that awaits them. The Titan lord, Kronos, has set up his most devious trap yet, and the young heroes have unwittingly fallen prey. Hilarious and action-packed, this third adventure in the series finds Percy faced with his most dangerous challenge so far: the chilling prophecy of the Titan's curse.

The Magician: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel

Michael Scott

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 44 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Fantastic Sequel 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The Magician does not disappoint as a continuation from the first book, The Alchemyst. Scott really does a remarkable job of blending history and mythology and magic all into one amazing adventure.

In this installment Sophie and Josh run into more trouble and adventure while both of their powers' grow stronger, while Nicolas and Pernelle grow weaker by the hour. I'm so looking foward to the third installment of this series!

Editorial Review:

After fleeing Ojai, Nicholas, Sophie, Josh, and Scatty emerge in Paris, the City of Lights. Home for Nicholas Flamel. Only this homecoming is anything but sweet. Perenell is still locked up back in Alcatraz and Paris is teeming with enemies. Nicollo Machiavelli, immortal author and celebrated art collector, is working for Dee. He’s after them, and time is running out for Nicholas and Perenell. For every day spent without the Book of Abraham the Mage, they age one year—their magic becoming weaker and their bodies more frail. For Flamel, the Prophesy is becoming more and more clear.

It’s time for Sophie to learn the second elemental magic: Fire Magic. And there’s only one man who can teach it to her: Flamel’s old student, the Comte de Saint-Germain—alchemist, magician, and rock star. Josh and Sophie Newman are the world’s only hope—if they don’t turn on each other first.