fantasy

Book Review: Castle in the Air

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Castle in the Air
Howl’s Moving Castle #2
by Diana Wynne Jones
read by Jenny Sterlin

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: Middle grade fantasy

When Abdullah purchases a magical flying carpet, he quickly meets and falls in love with a sheltered princess who is then snatched away by a very powerful creature. In his attempt to rescue her, Abdullah ends up traveling with a band of magical and non-magical creatures alike.

I’m really sad about this follow-up to Howl’s Moving Castle, which overall was an enjoyable, whimsical book with characters that I fell in love with. Though Abdullah grew on me throughout this story, most of the rest of the characters were kind of flat or ended up being…something unexpected. The story is at least as meandering and difficult to follow as its predecessor, but without as much of the charm I enjoyed in the previous book. On top of all of that, I was really surprised by some of the choices Diana Wynne Jones made with this book. Two overweight women are used as compensation and grateful that at least they’re able to get married. In fact, there was so much degradation of women in this book that I kept forgetting that it was published in 1990 and not decades before AND written by a woman. I’m not normally one to point out this kind of thing, but it really threw me off. Plus, I’m not a fan of insta-love, which is a major point in this book.

Because of the connections to the previous book, there was a point nearish the end that I began to speculate about how Howl, Sophie, or even Calcifer might be included in this story, and that probably ended up being my favorite thing about the book. Of course, being near the end of the story, it just wasn’t enough to redeem the rest of the book. And to explain any further would involve spoilers, but I will at least say that I have read many reviews that lamented how little characters from the previous book were involved here, whereas I was pretty satisfied with it overall (after all, this isn’t a continuation of their story, but a separate story that they are involved in, and I think that’s pretty clear from the synopsis). If you read the previous and loved the characters enough to want to see anything else involving them, you might give this book a try. Otherwise, I don’t think there’s much to recommend about this book. There is one more book left in the series, and since it’s also narrated by Jenny Sterlin (who does a spectacular job), I’m looking forward to seeing if the last book brings back the charm of the first.

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Book Review: How to Be a Pirate

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How to Be a Pirate
How to Train Your Dragon #2
by Cressida Cowell
read by David Tennant

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Middle grade fantasy

Hiccup trains to swordfight and Toothless tries to care about more than fish.

It was easier to evaluate the book for itself this time, since we’re much more removed from the world of the movie (not that the first book was all that similar, but it was enough to make it difficult). The book is overall pretty fun, though I spent a lot of the book wondering why we want a hero who is so incredibly bad at everything he’s expected to be good at. I’m not saying he should be immediately good at everything, but I guess I would just like him to have a win now and then, at least more often than he does and earlier in the book than he does. So far, these books entail Hiccup being bad, defeated, mocked, etc. until the climax, when the situation requires something that he does better than anyone else in the tribe (usually related to brains over brawn). But I just wish there could be a little more to encourage him/us before the end. However, I have to admit that the win he does get made me happy.

David Tennant again does a brilliant job narrating, though his voice for one particular character (while great) may have given me reason to mistrust him more than we might have been meant to. I’ll say it again—if you love the movies and are looking for books like that, I don’t necessarily recommend you read these books. But it’s overall a fun, short read, though I’m hoping to see a change in the formula in future books.

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Book Review: Edgeland

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Edgeland
by Jake Halpern & Peter Kujawinski

My rating: 2.5 / 5
Genre: YA fantasy

Friends Wren and Alec live on Edgeland, the nearest island to the Drain. People from all over bring their dead to Edgeland to be prepped for the afterlife, before sending them into the Drain, a gigantic hole in the middle of the ocean from which nothing ever returns. Alec works for one of the houses that preps the dead, while Wren is an orphan who has to survive by her wits and is trying to save enough to leave Edgeland. But when she is accused of killing a prominent man, she has to escalate her plans, which leads her and Alec to take a huge risk…one that leads them right into the Drain.

This book is not a sequel Nightfall, the other book by these authors that I read, but I was still excited to learn that there was a book set in the same world. These authors are really good at coming up with intriguing geological and environmental world features and creating a sense of urgency in the plot. Though it takes a little while for the main action given in the synopsis (Wren and Alec falling into the drain) to happen, the build-up isn’t boring. Then when our two main characters go down the Drain, I was really interested to see what kind of strange, new world the authors came up with. And it was, like this book’s predecessor, fairly atmospheric and creepy for a while. But then, also like the predecessor, it hit a point where nothing new enough or surprising enough came about, and I started to not really care much about what happened to any of these characters.

I also have to say that I didn’t really feel like the afterlife/religion side of things was the best way to go. And that’s not even because I’m a Christian, since the fictional religions here didn’t hit close enough to home to even remotely make me feel like the authors were poking fun at Christianity (I can’t speak to their intention, just to how I viewed it). However, it just never really made a whole lot of sense to me.

The two religions stem from the day/night cycle in this part of the world—day lasts for 72 hours and night for 72 hours. The Suns come out in the day and the Shadows come out at night, and they only mingle (with sometimes violent results) during dusk and twilight. But though both sides have different origins for their beliefs, they don’t seem to believe anything different enough for it to make sense that they’re so opposed to each other. They just hate each other because they’re taught to hate each other, which I guess is kind of a commentary on real life, but not really. In real life, the religions that are most opposed to each other generally have quite different beliefs and definitely do not believe in the same afterlife, whereas the Suns and Shadows all believe that when they die, their bodies will be sent down the Drain to purgatory, where they will live in the same place as the other faction, just on different islands.  So they can keep hating each other without being near each other…sounds like a fun afterlife. Of course, the intention is to eventually move on to “heaven,” of which the religions don’t seem to have much knowledge, but I’ll bet they’re still hoping to be kept separate. Then, without going into spoilers, what actually awaits down the drain isn’t quite what they’re expecting, yet in some ways, isn’t that far off. In the end, I was left with too many questions about who on earth and why on earth (well, not earth, but…you know what I mean) to feel that I really enjoyed the book that much. It wasn’t bad overall, and I think that some people who like darkish fantasy in the teenage age range would enjoy it. Though I’d recommend Nightfall (same authors, same world) over this one.

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Book Review: Beyond the Far Horizon

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Beyond the Far Horizon
The Restorationists #3
by Carolyn Leiloglou

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Christian middle grade fantasy

Spoiler notice: The following review may contain some spoilers for the previous books in the series, starting with Beneath the Swirling Sky.

Ravi may have chosen to side with the Restorationists, but that doesn’t mean he trusts them. All his life, he’s been used and had to look out for himself. So though he’s agreed to help Vincent, Georgia, and Ms. Arte take down the Distortionists, he has a secret escape plan in case things go bad. But the longer he works with them, the more he realizes that he might not want to be on his own anymore.

I am so sad to think about this being the last book in this wonderful, inventive world in which people can enter paintings and travel between them, interacting with the painted people, creatures, and other aspects within, and making changes that aren’t visible but affect the painting’s viewer, for good or for ill. Though I’m not much of an art lover, the author is clearly passionate about paintings, and I really enjoy the inclusion of different paintings and especially the various components within the paintings.

Each of these books spotlights a different teenager with the ability to Travel through paintings, and each one deals with some sort of baggage throughout the story. Vincent’s resulted in a moment that I will never forget. Georgia’s kind of paled in comparison. I felt this book brought back a lot of the sympathy and enjoyment I felt in the first book. I felt for Ravi so much, I just wanted to hug him through most of the story. 

The plot is exciting, and the ending is a satisfying conclusion to the 3-book arc. I didn’t like this book quite as much as the first, but it was still a 5-star read. I recommend this book (and series—and really, you should start at the beginning if you’re interested) to anyone, young or old, interested in fantasy fiction with a Christian worldview.

Thank you to Netgalley and WaterBrook & Multnomah for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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Book Review: Howl’s Moving Castle

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Howl’s Moving Castle
Book #1
by Diana Wynne Jones
read by Jenny Sterlin

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Middle grade fantasy

When Sophie attracts the unwanted attention of a powerful witch and is turned into an old woman, she seeks refuge in the moving castle out in the hills, said to belong to the wizard Howl who eats young women’s souls. Sophie’s not afraid of Howl anymore, because she’s not a young woman anymore. There, she meets an odd cast of characters, including one that claims it can return her to her rightful age.

I did not really know what to expect with this book. I can’t even remember for sure why I decided to read it (I have not seen the movie). I think I saw someone mention that the audiobook is really well done, and I’ve at least heard of the movie, so maybe that’s what did it. Whatever the reason, I found the story whimsical and charming, if a bit meandering and odd. I struggled to follow some of it, especially early on, and especially as it related to Sophie’s sisters and the various peripheral characters that had disappeared for one reason or another. That aspect might have been better if I had been reading, rather than listening. And the derogatory way some people would speak to or about Sophie, just because she’s an old woman (so they think) bothered me, especially when some reveals were made later. I also found myself expecting more of an explanation for a particular portal-fantasy-type aspect that comes up later in the book, but none was given. In fact, I wanted more explanations about multiple plot points than I got.

But even though the previous paragraph might make it seem like I didn’t enjoy the book, I really did. For the sheer pleasure I had while listening, I would have liked to give the book 5 stars, but the above paragraph does compel me to lower it to 4. The characters have depth, and I found myself rooting for all of them, even those that aren’t the most heroic (though certainly not the antagonists). And I think therein lies the major draw for me—I’m a character reader, and I loved these characters, so much so that I was really sad to leave this world when the book ended. Jenny Sterlin, the narrator, also had a lot to do with me becoming completely immersed in the world of this story. She makes the different major characters sound just different enough to help their different personalities come through. She’s the kind of narrator that makes me want to go and find other books she’s narrated, even if they’re books I’d never planned to read or even heard of before.

I can’t tell you whether or not you’d like this book if you’ve seen and liked the movie, but for someone who hasn’t seen the movie, if you’re interested in fantasy in a old-England-type setting, I would recommend this book, whether you’re in the age range it’s meant for (young teen and up, maybe?) or not.

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Book Review: How to Train Your Dragon

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How to Train Your Dragon
Book #1
by Cressida Cowell
read by David Tennant

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Middle grade fantasy

Though he’s the son of the clan’s chief, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III leaves a lot to be desired as a Viking. When he and the other boys his age are tasked with capturing a young dragon to raise and train, he’s just hoping he doesn’t screw up by not getting any dragon at all.

I’ve actually struggled a lot as I’ve tried to write this review. It’s often difficult to base a book on its own merits if I read a book after watching and enjoying the movie (and in this case, I didn’t even know the book existed when the movie came out), but that has never been more difficult than in this case. The movie is so good and the book is so different, I’ve struggled so much to not compare them and let the book stand on its own. Really, the only similarities are the names of people and places, the inclusion of both Vikings and dragons, Hiccup’s overall character, and the main “antagonist.”

Comparisons aside, I did enjoy the book. I was surprised that dragons in the book are thinking, reasoning creatures, with a language of their own, yet the Vikings capture and tame them like beasts, not bothering to pay any attention to their speech. It’s not something you’d probably want to think too hard about, though I did like the way it plays out in the book. I kept expecting the story to go different ways than it did (which could have been because of the movie, but I also think it’s because I’m used to how books, especially for this age group, tend to go), but it’s a charming story in the end, and Toothless grew on me too.

If you love the movie and are looking for a book like that, I don’t recommend you read this book. If you love David Tennant (or even if you don’t) and want to hear him do a brilliant job narrating a fun kids’ book, definitely consider listening to the audiobook. Overall, I’d say don’t let hearing that it’s not like the movie keep you from reading it, if you’re interested.

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Book Review: A Spell to Wake the Dead

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A Spell to Wake the Dead
by Nicole Lesperance

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: YA fantasy horror

When Mazzy and her best friend Nora perform what is supposed to be a simple finding spell, they don’t expect to find a dead body. And they especially don’t expect the dead woman to be missing her hands and teeth. Nora seems to gain a supernatural connection to the dead woman, and the two friends have to decide how far they’re willing to go to put her to rest.

Up front, I’ll say that this is not a genre I normally read. Something about the synopsis intrigued me, but I think I was expecting more of a world where magic is known to exist, even if only accessible by a select few. This is really more of a real-world type setting, where occult-type practices that people in real life might try actually have varying degrees of success. It took me a little bit to get past this, and I feel that there are probably others like me who might appreciate knowing about this distinction in advance (if others even understand what I mean by this distinction).

With all of that said, the above did contribute to an atmosphere that made this book dark and creepy, along with the setting on the peninsula of Cape Code and involving various bodies of water. Mazzy is a fairly sympathetic character, both wary of and jealous of her friend’s seemingly better, or at least bolder, magical intuitions. Nora seems like a bit of a wild card to me, though whether that is on purpose or not, I couldn’t say. The story is engaging early on, but for me, it hit a point partway through where it seemed to become a little too straight-forward. Yes, there are some theories posited by Mazzy and Nora that don’t pan out, but not really in a way that surprised me or made me super curious to find out what is going on. And when one plot element that had added to the creepiness earlier in the book is explained…it just felt super weak to me. I kept waiting for a further revelation that the original explanation was a lie, but that never came. (Plus, we never really get an explanation for the missing teeth, at least not to my recollection.)

So despite the fact that this isn’t my typical genre of book and that I probably only kept going because I’d gotten an ARC and wanted to see it through, I did get into the story and was then a little disappointed by how it all played out. Not super disappointed, though, and I could see this being a book that is enjoyed by people who like this type of supernatural genre and atmospheric story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: August 26, 2025

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Book Review: Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians

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Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians
Book #1
by Brandon Sanderson
read by Ramón de Ocampo


My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Middle grade fantasy

When Alcatraz Smedry turns 13, he receives an inheritance in the mail—a bag of sand. Then he sets fire to his current foster parents’ kitchen and is about to be removed from the home when an old man claiming to be his grandfather shows up and whisks him off to help fight the evil librarians. Somehow that bag of sand, which was stolen soon after Alcatraz received it, is related to an entire world that Alcatraz doesn’t know he’s a part of.

I listened to this book on a whim while waiting for other audiobooks I had on hold to be ready for me. I’ve never read any Brandon Sanderson and always found the idea of it a bit daunting, but I thought a middle grade book could be a good place to start. And it is a simple enough story for being fantasy. The world building is inventive and a bit complex, while the plot is tropey and not hard to follow. Alcatraz narrates the story and often interrupts it to talk about the art of storytelling or to remind the reader that he’s actually a terrible person, no matter how brave and selfless he might seem. Sometimes these interruptions were interesting or amusing, other times they were obnoxious and felt a little overdone.

There are some elements in the story that I particularly enjoyed, like when we begin to understand just how useful Grandpa Smedry’s talent actually is. And another character’s talent having its moment to shine. At least a little of the world building left me scratching my head—I didn’t fully understand or believe how some of the evil librarians’ tactics worked, and if I had a difficult time with it, I’m sure younger readers would as well. Overall, I mostly enjoyed the book, but it’s kind of weird—when I was around 1/3 to 1/2 of the way through, I told my husband that it was kind of boring, or at least not particularly engaging so far. Yet I remember also feeling happy to be able to get back into listening when I had the chance. So I guess part of me was more engaged than I realized? I don’t know if I’ll continue the series. Probably not right away, which means that if I decide to come back to it again someday, I’ll probably need to re-read this one to remember it well enough to continue. Maybe having a better understanding of what I’m getting into from the beginning will  help me like it more. In the meantime, I do think that kids around 12-14 who like fantasy worlds, antiheros, and polite dinosaurs could enjoy this book.

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Book Review: Night Swimming

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Night Swimming
by Aaron Starmer

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: YA fantasy romance

After graduating high school in 1994, Sarah and Trevor decide to swim every pool in their small town, without permission, in an effort to make the last summer before they move on with their lives last as long as they can. Then they hear about a natural pool in the woods that they know they need to check out. And what they discover there might just turn their dream of making the summer last into a reality.

The premise of this book was fairly vague but intriguing, so at only around 240 pages, I decided to give it a try. The book is fairly straight-forward for a while—Trevor likes Sarah, but she has an on-again-off-again boyfriend and keeps him at arm’s length. He goes along with her plan to swim all of the pools as a way of spending time with her, though he understandably begins to get annoyed with her flirtation, since she’s not ready to let go of her boyfriend yet. Then when they get to the mysterious pool in the woods, the story takes a turn. It becomes more of an introspection on life, romance, youth, and moving on. It’s a little slow overall, a little bizarre, and has an odd, yet not unsatisfying, ending. It’s interesting, but I don’t really feel like it added a lot of value to my life, especially since there’s a fair amount of emphasis on alcohol, drugs, and sex as normal parts of life for teenagers (even in the 90s). I am not sure what kind of reader to recommend this to, so I’d just say that if the premise sounds interesting to you, by all means check it out.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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Book Review: World of Warcraft, Vol. 4

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World of Warcraft, Vol. 4
written by Walter & Louise Simonson

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Fantasy graphic novel

I cared about this 4th and final graphic novel in the series less than the rest. Since nostalgia of my time playing World of Warcraft has had a lot to do with my enjoyment of the previous books, it makes sense that this would be of less interest to me. I don’t believe Med’an, the powerful young magic-user that is the focus of this last book, ever made an appearance in the game. The main setting in this book, outside of Theramore, is Ahn’Qiraj, and though I did raid AQ plenty, I was never very attached to it. Karazhan was briefly visited here, and I was excited about that, but it ended up being barely anything. The story in this book seemed light overall, and I was never very invested in it. Then after the main story wrapped up, there were a few pages at the end that confused me. Since this was the end of the series, I didn’t know what was going on or how to ever find out.

I will again say that those who do or have played the game, especially back in vanilla days, this might be worth checking out, but I really couldn’t say whether anyone who hasn’t played WoW as much as me would appreciate this graphic novel series at all.

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