Tag Archives: Trilogies and Series

The Dragon of Trelian by Michelle Knudsen

American Literature June 1, 2009 Superfast Reader 3 Comments

Synopsis: A mage-in-training and a princess psychically linked to a dragon must work together to save the royal family from an evil sorceress. Review: The Dragon of Trelian has a lot of familiar elements, but fortunately it manages to feel fresh. Princess Meglynne is feisty and hot-tempered and imperial, but she’s not just tempestuous. She’s got a core of true courage that’s really appealing. Apprentice mage Calen struggles with feelings of inadequacy, but he’s also prone to an arrogance that tempers his naivete. The dragon…

Wings of Wrath by CS Friedman (The Magister Trilogy)

American Literature May 22, 2009 Superfast Reader

Synopsis: With the return of the monstrous Souleaters, the inheritors of a lineage of Protectors must go to war. Review: I was only “eh” on Feast of Souls, book 1 in CS Friedman’s Magister Trilogy. Wings of Wrath, book 2, left me kind of cold as well. I really had to motivate to finish it, and I’m not sure if I’ll care to pick up book 3 when it comes out. I just did not connect emotionally with any of these characters. Everyone is so…

The Dark Planet (Atherton, Book 3) by Patrick Carman

American Literature May 21, 2009 Superfast Reader 4 Comments

Synopsis: Edgar must leave Atherton, the only home he’s ever known, to finish his creator Dr. Harding’s work on the poisoned Dark Planet. Review: The Dark Planet, a stirring conclusion to the Atherton trilogy of science fiction adventures for middle grade readers, finds Edgar heading off his home planet towards the Dark Planet, where children like him are worked as slaves tilling a despoiled earth. It’s his own journey into Mordor–except the plot of the Atherton trilogy owes more to “Lost” than Tolkien. The world…

Rivers of Fire (Atherton, Book 2) by Patrick Carman

American Literature May 18, 2009 Superfast Reader 1 Comment

Synopsis: With Atherton inverting, a young boy with a penchant for climbing and his friends go on a journey of a lifetime through the hidden corridors of the only world they’ve ever known. Review: Rivers of Fire, being the middle book in a trilogy, concerns itself with questions of war and evolution. Everything on Atherton is in flux, from society to the ecosystem to geology itself. I don’t want to give too many spoilers for book 1; suffice it to say that our heroes remain…

The House of Power (Atherton, Book 1) by Patrick Carman

American Literature May 15, 2009 Superfast Reader

Synopsis: Atherton is a world with three levels, which have always remained apart; however, when the top level begins to sink the entire society is threatened and a young boy may be the only one with the key to survival. Review: I was glad that I knew very little about The House of Power before reading. The dust jacket is deliberately, thankfully obscure, and the story doesn’t yield its treasures readily. I love the pacing of the exposition, which kept me in suspense but not…

Past Imperative by Dave Duncan (The Great Game)

Canadian Literature May 1, 2009 Superfast Reader 5 Comments

Synopsis: An upper class young man on trial for murder in WWI England finds his destiny entwined with a girl on the road with a traveling troupe of actors in an alternate vaguely medieval world ruled by capricious and contentious gods. Review: I really enjoy Dave Duncan’s writing–he’s imaginative and not afraid of getting a little literary, and always comes up with great characters. Past Imperative (Round One of the Great Game) was a welcome departure from the usual epic fantasy in that half of…

The Magicians and Mrs. Quent by Galen Beckett

On Reading April 27, 2009 Superfast Reader 2 Comments

Synopsis: Jane Austen manners + Bronte sisters gothica + magic = too much pastiche and not enough depth. Review: I loved the concept of The Magicians and Mrs. Quent, but I just could not remain interested in this book. The writing was lazy, oscillating between high-minded prose awkwardly imitating Austen or George Eliot, and sloppy grammar and anachronisms that brought the whole thing crashing down. Story-wise, I couldn’t focus on tracking the development of the mythology and presentation of the core story elements for the…

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt

On Reading April 16, 2009 Superfast Reader 2 Comments

Synopsis: As her father’s wedding approaches, Christine needs help more than ever to process her grief over her mother’s death, but her friends are all fighting with each other. Review: The second book in the Miracle Girls series, Breaking Up Is Hard To Do has a darker tone than Miracle Girls, and as a result goes a lot deeper. Angsty Christine is angrier and sadder than any of Anne & May’s protagonists to date, and in her pain she’s eminently relatable. They also do a…

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake

British Literature April 11, 2009 Superfast Reader 2 Comments

Synopsis: Titus Groan, the 77th Earl of Gormenghast, heir to a decidedly odd fortune, is born amidst violence and intrigue of a most peculiar time. Review: I was captivated by the prose in Titus Groan, the first book in Mervyn Peake’s decidedly unique Gormenghast trilogy. Peake was also an illustrator, and his writing is exceptionally visual in the way that he describes his characters. He comes up with the most idiosyncratic quirks I’ve ever encountered, for characters named things like Prunesquallor and Sourdust and Steerpike.…

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

American Literature March 21, 2009 Superfast Reader 9 Comments

Synopsis: Katniss Everdeen takes her sister’s place in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death between teenagers, televised for the whole world. Review: I asked my YA librarian friend if The Hunger Games was any good, and her report was that it wasn’t the best book she’d ever read but she couldn’t keep it on the shelves and the kids in her school were passing it around like crazy. Being a fan of YA literature and of Rollerball-type stories, I had to check…

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