The Rosetta Key
William Dietrich
Release Date: 04/2008

This book came out in April. I’ve had it since April. I’ve been trying to make myself read it since April and I just can not. (This attempt to force myself to read something I was sick of after the first chapter and dreading after the third caused me to be rather late in reviewing a much more interesting novel by David B. Coe.)

The geographical area Rosetta is set in and the type of adventure reminds me of the Mummy movies with Brendan Fraser (Which I loved. It looks like the third one is going to be good as well.) but that’s the only resemblance. The writing is not plodding, exactly, but trying to read it is like repeatedly walking head first into a tree.

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The Sorcerers’ Plague
Book One of Blood of the Southlands
David B. Coe
Release Date: 12/2007

This review has been a long time coming. I started reading it months ago, but put it down in favor of a slightly newer novel in an effort to “keep up with the times” (and as you can see, I regret it greatly). After my prolonged and disappointing break from Plague, I was happy to pick it up once again and settle down for a good story.

The prologue grabbed me, starting with a young girl walking through a thunderstorm, willing herself to live. Curiosity about what horror she was running from – her family and village dead, allegedly her fault – propelled me to the first chapter. This began an introduction to an intriguing fantasy world whose details were continually and skillfully dropped throughout the book.

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Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star
Brandon Mull
Release Date: 5/1/2007

Intended for readers twelve and up, Brandon Mull’s new book is a fairly quick and easy read, with a few laugh-out-loud scenes.

I didn’t read the first one, but the sequel didn’t leave me confused; it stands on its own while picking up the threads of the first book and laying down the tracks for the next book in the series.

There are challenges and life-or-death mythic battles a lá Harry Potter towards the end of the story, but Fablehaven doesn’t feature a “chosen one” – unless you count Kendra, whose “fairystruck” state is more complicated than it seems. Mythical creatures abound in the book since Fablehaven Ranch is one of the last bastions of mythic and magical creatures. The plot revolves around Kendra, her brother Seth, and their grandparents trying to keep Fablehaven’s magical relic out of the hands of the evil Society of the Evening Star while ferreting out a traitor in their midst. As to whether they are wholly successful at either of these tasks, well, you’ll have to read the book to find out.

If you’re looking for some summer candy – an entertaining and light read – then whether you’re twelve or twenty-five, this is a book to pick up.

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Un Lun Dun, released February 13^th of this year, is the newest novel by China Miéville, acclaimed author of King Rat, Perdido Street Station, The Scar, and Iron Council. This novel is his first foray into the young adult book scene, but its YA status doesn’t preclude adults from enjoying it.

The story starts out with two young girls, best friends named Zanna and Deeba, in the city of London. Strange occurrences abound until finally, one night, they accidentally transport themselves to an alternate world filled with puns (though not as prolific, obvious, or painful as those of Pierce Anthony’s “Xanth” series). They discover that a menace looms that must be defeated, and can only be defeated by the Chosen, for whom the weird residents of Un Lun Dun have been waiting all this time.

The tale is beautifully fabulous, with the majority of the action taking place in Un Lun Dun. The strange world abounds with irrational characters and ideas usually not found in adult literature, even in adult fantasy: one has a bottle of ink for a head, in which it dips a pen to write. Another literally speaks words into existence: absurd, beautiful, grotesque, beings crawl from its mouth when it speaks (and even these living words become functional characters in the novel). Trash is capable of sentience, giraffes are dangerous carnivores, and various other normal things from the real world are twisted and reappropriated for weird and different use in this other-world.

A highly entertaining and well-paced adventure, it also contains enough subtext to intrigue any reader who likes delving beyond the surface.

Continue Reading This Review…

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The Dabel Brothers, under the banner of Marvel comics, have come out with several comic titles based on best-selling sci-fi and fantasy authors’ novels. Dabel Brothers Productions has been around since 2002, and their most recent line-up of novel adaptations started in the summer of 2006, but I didn’t discover them until I went to the con this weekend.

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Originally released as a young-adult novel in February 2003, Faerie Wars, by Herbie Brennan, was re-released this month as an adult title.

Then: And now:

Overall, Faerie Wars is easy reading. It’s firmly in the category of pure entertainment: the book has no literary pretensions beyond the fantasy genre. However, Brennan is a talented writer with a pleasing style and certainly understands how to engage his audience, easily convincing the reader from the beginning that this will not be a run-of-the-mill fantasy adventure.

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