Entries Categorized as 'Adventure'
Posted by Jordan
Categories: Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction, Incredibook!, Older Readers, Review, Science Fiction
Tags:Animals, Bryan Davis, Dragons, Long Read, Oracles of Fire, Sad, Scary
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In the days just before Noah’s Flood, Lilith and Naamah plot to join fallen angels in order to rule the world. But first they must get rid of the dragons, who are able to easily destroy the demons and their offspring, the Nephilim.
After the Flood, Morgan (Lilith) and Elaine (Naamah) are banished to the Circles of Seven (readers of Circles of Seven will recognize places), although they can come to the human dimension for short periods of time. Mara, one of Morgan’s slaves working to build an army of giants, is chosen by Elohim to become Sapphira Adi, an oracle of fire. For the next 400+ pages of Eye of the Oracle Sapphira performs mighty deeds with the help of many other people and dragons she meets along the way.
Alright, that was barely any of the story. In other words, this book is deep. Really deep, like a dizzying number of subplots and main plots all going on at once and culminating in an ending that leads very well into the next book, Enoch’s Ghost. And yet Bryan Davis manages to keep everything clear enough for you to understand everything. You should read Dragons in Our Midst before Eye of the Oracle, because the final chapter summarizes all of the events in Dragons in Our Midst, and the entire book gives backstory on many of the main characters from Dragons in Our Midst. I only had one small problem with the book. A few chapters at the end of the second part are repeats of the “history” bits of Dragons in Our Midst. Other than that, though, this one’s definitely a must read for any dragon lover, or anybody who likes a good action-packed story.
Posted by Ruth
Categories: Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction, Incredibook!, Older Readers, Review
Tags:Animals, Bryan Davis, Dragons, Dragons in Our Midst, Funny, Long Read, Sad, Scary
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Our rating:
Our small group of heroes, recovering from the events of Circles of Seven, are about to be swept up in another whirlwind of adventures. The Watchers have gathered together, and the evil Morgan Le Faye is putting into action her plan for world domination. Guided by a prophecy of Merlin, Billy and Bonnie plunge into the realm of Dragon’s Rest, intent on finding and rescuing Billy’s father—along with many others. But Billy knows that the success of his crucial mission may come at great cost. And the friends they’ve left behind encounter increasing troubles of their own.
A truly amazing conclusion for the Dragons in our Midst series. I found very little fault with it the first time I read it, and some of the scenes are so beautifully done I was moved to near-tears. What with the complexity of the series, there were a lot of loose ends in the plot to be wrapped up, but Bryan Davis handled it very well indeed. The Dragons in our Midst books have both encouraged and challenged me, and I count them among my new-found favorites.
Posted by Jordan
Categories: Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction, Incredibook!, Older Readers, Review
Tags:Animals, Donita K. Paul, DragonKeeper, Dragons, Long Read
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Our rating:
Now that the dragon population is on the rise, Kale has a myriad of dragon-keeping duties that consume her time. Bardon whisks her away on a quest with meech dragons Regidor and Gilda, who are searching for a lost meech colony. However, there is a subtle evil infiltrating Amara. A group calling themselves Followers claims that to truly follow Wulder, one must follow a strict set of rules. Kale, Bardon, and their friends must discern the truth, find the lost meech colony, and battle an ancient evil.
Folks, this book is deep! I don’t think I even scratched the surface with my summary. Donita K. Paul wraps up her amazing DragonKeeper Chronicles with a satisfying and delightful finale, answering many questions raised in the first four books, and opening the way for a few more. Of course, wonderful truths run through the entire book, making it more than just a story. I was so happy to find that characters absent from DragonFire reappeared here. The only problem I have is that this is the end of one of my favorite series. That aside (and it’s not much of a complaint!), DragonLight is certainly not to be missed.
Posted by Jordan
Categories: Adventure, All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Book of Ember, Funny, Good Read Aloud, Jeanne DuPrau, light
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Ember stands as the only light in a literally dark world. The city is lighted by lamps, the sky is black, and nobody ever leaves. When Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow are assigned their jobs as citizens of Ember, they are excited at first, but soon become frightened as they discover that the city is running down, which is the worst possible thing that could ever happen. Then Lina’s granny remembers that something important was lost, which Lina finds, but not before her baby sister chews up the important piece of paper, leaving the writing on the paper in tatters. It’s labelled “Instructions for” something, so Lina and Doon try to figure out what it says before the city’s lights flicker out for the last time.
Here’s a delightful story that is both fun and deep at the same time. I’m still thinking about some of the implications of elements of the story, and still chuckling over others. The citizens of Ember have no concept of so many of the things that we take for granted, which is demonstrated time after time as they wonder about what words like “hogwash” and “treetop” mean. On the deep side of things, The City of Ember speaks profoundly about pride, greed, and the consequences of wrong choices. The only thing I really didn’t like was the slow beginning, but once that’s over, you have a book that deserves to be recognized as an excellent story for pretty much everybody. There’s a movie coming out on October 10th, which looks pretty good to me.
Posted by Ruth
Categories: Adventure, Fiction, Older Readers, Review
Tags:Award Winner, Lloyd Alexander, Westmark trilogy
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Being a printer’s apprentice could hardly be called dangerous work, but with the Chief Minister Cabbarus laying down laws left and right, Theo soon finds himself running for his life. For the sake of concealment, he falls in with the fraudulent Count Las Bombas, and through twists and turns, they are joined by Mickle, an orphan girl with a talented voice. Their journeys sweep them all over Westmark, involving a group of revolutionaries, a daring rescue mission, and an uncovered plot of the evil Cabbarus aspiring to take over the throne.
Overall, I don’t know that I can recommend this one as much as Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles. This is supposed to be a book for children, but there were a couple of things that bothered me—moral issues of what is right and what is wrong often set Theo to wondering, but the other characters seem to shrug off his concerns. Also, there was a very small amount of swearing, which was completely unnecessary. Aside from these things, I was able to enjoy the story, and I may look into reading the second and third of the trilogy, but I can’t rank Westmark as one of Lloyd Alexander’s bests.
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