Posted by Ruth
Categories: Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction, Older Readers, Review, Science Fiction
Tags:Animals, Bryan Davis, Dragons, Long Read, Oracles of Fire, Scary
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Our rating: 
Back in present day, Enoch’s Ghost continues from where the Dragons in Our Midst series left off. Ashley, Walter, Karen, and Thigocia are beginning their search for Gabriel and Makaidos. But it’s not long before a sinister plot is uncovered—Mardon is taking steps to merge Hades, Earth, and Heaven. Even with help from Sapphira Adi, Walter, Ashley, and the others are up against great odds. Multiple storylines grow and build, leading to a powerful climax across three dimensions.
I did enjoy this book, but I must admit that it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. Having persevered through the enormous Eye of the Oracle (and consequently feeling like I’d run my brain through a fruit pulper!) I was ready to get back to a present-day setting, with maybe a simpler plot and something I could actually wrap my mind around without strain. “A search for missing family members, with adventures along the way,” I told myself, settling in to read. Well, not quite. A lot of the history and technology from Eye of the Oracle ties into Enoch’s Ghost, and the results are far from simple. All told, it’s masterfully put together, and I’ll certainly be reading the final two books. I’m just finding the Oracles of Fire series to be a little too over the top for me to really enjoy as much.
Posted by Becca
Categories: Fiction, Picture Books, Review, Younger Readers
Tags:Animals, Easy Read, Good Read Aloud, Mice, owls, Quick Read, Russell E. Erickson, Toads, Warton and Morton
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Warton and Morton are two toads that live underground together. One day in the middle of winter, Warton decides to take Morton’s wonderful beetle brittle to their Aunt Toolia. Morton tries to talk his brother out of the idea. Warton insists, saying that he’ll wear several sweaters and will travel with skis. Finally, Warton sets out. Later that day, he meets a field mouse who says that an owl lives in the woods where Warton will be traveling. This owl hunts by day instead of by night. Since Warton still wants to deliver his beetle brittle, the mouse gives him a scarf and offers the help of several friends if Warton gets in trouble. Once in the woods, Warton is captured by the owl to be eaten on the owl’s birthday. Warton has only five days to plan an escape.
A Toad for Tuesday is the first book in a series about Warton and Morton. Part of the ending is hinted at during the story so it isn’t a complete surprise, but it still makes a good end to an imaginative story. The horde of skiing mice may generate a few chuckles. This book is longer and a bit more complicated than the traditional picture book, making it an enjoyable choice for younger readers in general or for older readers who want a good quick read.
Posted by Ruth
Categories: Advanced Readers, Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Binding of the Blade, Dragons, L. B. Graham, Long Read, Scary
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Please note: I’ve tried to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, but if you haven’t yet read the series up through Father of Dragons, I’d advise you to skip this review.
The time has come for all of Kirthanin to take their final stand against Malek. With the added forces of the dragons and the Kalin Seir, things begin to look up for Aljeron and the army, but the losses of war are still great, and Malek is getting desperate. Encouraged by Valzaan, the people fight for the hope of Allfather’s restoration. Benjiah knows, however, that before the binding of the blade can be broken, a sacrifice must be made.
Because this picks up right where Father of Dragons left off—a suspenseful cliffhanger—you are almost immediately plunged into a climactic battle that lasts for nearly a hundred pages. At first I found the prospect dismaying, as I enjoy well-turned dialogue or scenes that deal with individuals more than enormous conflicts of good and evil. However, I was pleasantly surprised, and my attention didn’t waver much at all throughout, despite my initial pessimism. And then, of course, there’s the rest of book! Captivating. Everything that has been building from the four previous books is masterfully dealt with, and the story’s climax to top all its former climaxes does not disappoint. Sure, there are some flaws. But it’s not every book I read that can stir me around inside and then leave me with an overwhelming sense of satisfaction, and that’s what All My Holy Mountain did. Do not miss this conclusion to the Binding of the Blade series.
Posted by Rebekah
Categories: Advanced Readers, Fantasy, Fiction, Incredibook!, Review
Tags:Animals, George Macdonald, Horses, Long Read, Poetry
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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.
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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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.
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