Entries Categorized as 'Advanced Readers'
Posted by Jordan
Categories: Advanced Readers, Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Bears, Binding of the Blade, Dragons, L. B. Graham, Long Read, Scary
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Whoa! Hold it! I have to warn you, before you read this review, that I have to give away the ending of the previous book, Bringer of Storms. If you haven’t read it yet, you probably want to go on to the next review.
With Valzaan gone, Benjiah must fulfill his role as Allfather’s prophet. But he’s uncertain and everybody seems to be dependent upon him. Meanwhile, Aljeron is in the northern reaches of Kirthanin on a hunch, trying to find Sulmindar, the missing father of dragons. In his place as commander, Caan takes over military movements as the army flees before Malek and his hoard. And with the Bringer of Storms still producing rain, flooding is setting in quickly, leaving them less and less place to run.
Excitement, adventure, and, uh, abrupt ending. Worth reading, but you might want to skip it until the series ends. Much too abrupt of an ending, though. Finally, we get to meet dragons for a lengthy amount of time. Wonderful!
Posted by Jordan
Categories: Advanced Readers, Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction, Review, Science Fiction
Tags:Long Read, Song of Albion, Stephen R. Lawhead
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The champion Llew has returned to Albion, and Tegid the bard has made him king. However, spurred on by the evil Siawn Hy, Prince Meldron plans to usurp the throne. Going by bardic law (no maimed man can be king), he separates Llew from his sword hand, and Tegid from his sight. Undaunted, Tegid and Llew begin building a new city, where refugees from Meldron’s destruction arrive every day. Someday, Tegid and Llew hope to engage Meldron in combat, but Llew is from another world, as is Siawn Hy, and the only true way to save Albion is for them to return to their own world.
The Song of Albion trilogy takes a dark turn and leaves you guessing. Lawhead’s knowledge of Celtic myths, rituals, and customs serves him well. The result is a page-turner, if only to see how Llew can be king without his hand. I have a feeling that this one was more of a transition to the last book, so there might be a bit of filler. Overall, not a bad story, though I wish Lawhead would be a bit less gory.
Posted by Jordan
Categories: Advanced Readers, Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction, Mysteries, Review, Science Fiction
Tags:Long Read, Song of Albion, Stephen R. Lawhead
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Lewis and his roommate Simon live at Oxford. One day, Simon sees an article in the newspaper about a spotting of an extinct type of ox. He and Lewis go to check it out and find that it was killed with an ancient Celtic spear. On further investigation, they find a cairn (a Celtic monument type thing). Simon goes in, and though Lewis waits for him, he never comes back out. Lewis returns to Oxford and tries to live his normal life, but strange animals start roaming the streets, and then he meets a professor who claims that the Celtic Otherworld is real – and dangerous. Professor Nettles is sure Simon somehow got into the Otherworld, and he and Lewis go back to the cairn to find him. Lewis goes in, and now he’s in a strange world, surrounded by warriors about to begin a battle…
Whew! That’s just enough to get you going. There’s about two thirds of the book left that I didn’t even mention! The Paradise War is one of the better Lawhead books I’ve read. If you like Celtic myths, this one’s for you. Some of the ancient customs are really weird.
Posted by Rebekah
Categories: Advanced Readers, Incredibook!, Non Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Birds, Brian Jackman, Dogs, Elephants, Jonathan Scott, Lions, Out of Print
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A story of the Maasai Mara Reserve in Africa. The death of the pride’s biggest male sets in motion a long series of events that effect every part of the Reserve. Pride hierarchy changes, new males chase off the old, lionesses die, and cubs are born. Prides split or grow. The amount of available prey fluxuates. Everything from the hyenas and wild dogs, to the leopards and lions, live their lives in this world of change. Nefertari, the cheetah’s struggle to successfully raise a litter of cubs, the wild dogs of Aitong’s desperate fight against extinction, and the wildebeast migrations all play a part.
I feel that this book is a great example of how God made all nature to work together. It is out of print, unfortunately. It does not humanize the animals (thankfully) and when the writers don’t know a detail for sure, they tell you. It is a very true-to-life account, down to every detail, and you can learn a lot about African wildlife from it. I really enjoyed The Marsh Lions.
Posted by Rebekah
Categories: Advanced Readers, Fiction, Incredibook!, Review
Tags:Funny, Jan Karon, Long Read, The Mitford Years
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Christmas is coming, and Father Tim is hard at work. Percy and Velma, owners of The Grill, have decided to permanently close on Christmas Eve, Mitford’s suffering from a flu bug, and Father Tim has found a new project. He discovered an old, dilapidated nativity set and decided to re-plaster and paint it for Cynthia’s Christmas present. Meanwhile, Hope is debating whether or not to keep the Happy Endings book store open, or move to Florida, Lew Boyd is missing his wife, and Uncle Billy is trying to figure out what to give Rose for Christmas. Things are wrapping up nicely, but when Father Tim accidentally drops one of the angels, shattering it, he feels that he has let everyone down. Little does he know how God will turn the situation into a blessing.
As always, the Mitford books are hard to write reviews for. You just can’t describe them without using up pages of paper! I enjoyed this one a lot. Uncle Billy is so funny and sweet!
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