Entries Categorized as 'Fantasy'

Phantastes

Our rating: *****

On his 21st birthday, Andos, our hero, received, along with certain legal rights, the keys to an old desk of his father’s, which he has longed to examine for quite some time. Upon opening the desk he meets a fairy lady who tells him that he will find his way into fairy land on the following morning. Her prediction proves correct, and Andos finds himself in the world of fairies, where he meets living trees, queer people, dangerous beings, and all sorts of adventures—at times beautiful, at times horrible—and learns not to get so caught up in pursuing the ideal that he forgets the good.

This book is a dream, in more ways than one. It is one of my favorites. A classic fairytale, but full of beautiful word pictures and great thoughts. And some nice poetry, too. It is very like a dream because it flows from one encounter to another, sometimes with reason, other times with seeming randomness, but always as a coherent whole. The only two drawbacks with the book are, first: there is quite a bit of romance. Andos seems to have trouble with controlling his eyes, and falls in “love” with several fay, and this “love” is presented as a high idea. Second: the after-life is presented as a happy, loving, “one-with-the-world-around-you” existence. Read this with discernment, separating the pretty from the true or false.

Eye of the Oracle

Our rating: *****

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.

Tears of a Dragon

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.

DragonLight

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.

The Final Storm

Our rating: ****

 The Realm is in grave danger as Paragor marches ever nearer with an immense army. Only the legendary three witnesses can save our friends from the previous books. Meanwhile, Aidan is still trying to get through to his friend Robby about the Realm and King Eliam. And Antoinette is still in the Realm, captured by Robby’s evil Glimpse. As Paragor’s army reaches Alleble, the three witnesses must be discovered, and everybody must choose whose side they are on.

This is an epic fantasy tale that moves quickly from page one all the way to the end. So quickly, in fact, that I almost feel like Wayne Thomas Batson could have split The Final Storm into two books and slowed down a little bit. However, that is my only major complaint with this one. The characters really come to life, there’s great humor, excitement, and a very satisfying ending.