Posts tagged with fantasy
The School of Possibilities, by Seita Parkkola
The School of Possibilities is the English translation of Seita Parkkola's award-winning novel Viima, originally published in Finland in 2006. While the book isn't perfect, it is an unusua...
Lord Sunday, by Garth Nix
Lord Sunday is the final book in Garth Nix's ambitious fantasy/adventure series The Keys to the Kingdom. Over the course of the six previous novels Nix's protagonist—an asthmatic 12-year-old na...
Mister Monday, by Garth Nix
As I went through the Wordcandy mail a few weeks ago, I was pleased to run across a package from Scholastic containing not only the final book in Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series, but also t...
A Brief History of Montmaray, by Michelle Cooper
I have never learned to love Dodie Smith's novel I Capture the Castle. I don't care how classic it is: if I spend 99% of a novel thinking wistfully of giving all of the characters a swift ki...
Rin-ne: Vol. 1, by Rumiko Takahashi
Rin-ne is the fifth major series from manga great Rumiko Takahashi, following InuYasha, Ranma ½, Maison Ikkoku, and Urusei Yatsura. Rin-ne launched in...
Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater
We here at Wordcandy admit it: we judge books by their covers. This doesn't always work for us (note our recent post on Atlas Shrugged), but we still believe that great cover art is an impor...
Moon Called, by Patricia Briggs
If I had to describe Patricia Briggs's novel Moon Called in a single line, I'd probably go for something like: “A lot like Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series—only way less annoying...
Dream Life, by Lauren Mechling
Dream Life is Lauren Mechling's follow-up to 2008's Dream Girl, and it's even more enjoyably far-fetched than its predecessor. Both novels feature improbably-named 10th grader Claire Voyante, whos...
Obernewtyn, by Isobelle Carmody
Isobelle Carmody wrote Obernewtyn, the first novel in her Obernewtyn Chronicles, at the ripe old age of fourteen. Admittedly, the book wasn't actually published until she was thirty, so we'r...
At long last...
Megan Whalen Turner has finally announced another book. It's been three and a half years since the superb The King of Attolia came out (and I thought the series was over, frankly), so this news is...
Rampant, by Diana Peterfreund
The idea of carnivorous unicorns ranks pretty high on both the kitsch-o-meter and parody scale, but Diana Peterfreund's novel Rampant is neither. Instead, this surprising young adult book is...
Killer unicorns
Megan has been nagging me to read Diana Peterfreund's Secret Society Girl books for about a year now, and I keep forgetting 'em when it comes time to read something that's not for the site. But th...
The Splendor Falls, by Rosemary Clement-Moore
One of my least favorite romantic clichés is the Relentlessly Average Heroine. Teen literature is full of these girls: boring, hapless “heroines” whose appeal is limited to some passive attr...
Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, by Amanda Grange
Jane Austen continuations and vampire romances have been two of the great literary success stories of the past five years, so we're actually a little surprised we haven't already seen a combi...
Alyzon Whitestarr, by Isobelle Carmody
The title of Isobelle Carmody's book Alyzon Whitestarr sounds like an eighties hair band, the cover model looks like Gossip Girl's Little J in a bad Goth wig, and the ...
Fate, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
YA author Jennifer Lynn Barnes has quite the talent for creating unlikely heroes. Her The Squad series features cheerleader secret agents, while 2007’s Tattoo and its recently released...
Storm Front and Welcome to the Jungle, by Jim Butcher
When it comes to pulp fiction, I usually think shorter is better. This is why I’ve always liked Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series, but I love his graphic-novel reworkings of the same material. The...
The Awakening, by Kelley Armstrong
Kelley Armstrong’s 2008 novel The Summoning was her first attempt at writing teen fiction, and a rousing success. Set in the same world as her Women of the Underworld series, The Summoning...
The Eternal Hourglass, by Erica Kirov
The Eternal Hourglass, the first book in Erica Kirov’s Magickeepers series, introduces readers to a tantalizing new fantasy world. Kirov’s protagonist is Nick Rostov, the teenage son of the ...