Perseus “Percy” Jackson has always known that he was different from other kids. Struggling through another school, he suddenly becomes aware of cosmic forces that are taking sides to help or to harm him. Percy learns not only that the Greek gods and their creations are real, but also that he is actually the son of one of the Gods — Poseidon. As a demigod, Percy is forced into a life of mystical powers and dangerous quests, and his first quest is nothing more than saving the world from the destruction of feuding gods. The good forces manage to get him to the only safe place on Earth, a summer camp named Camp Half-blood. There he meets other children of Greek gods — those that haven’t already been killed by the evil forces at play in the world. After a brief time, however, he discovers that he is the only one capable of accomplishing a very dangerous quest to save the Earth.

The book itself started off very well. It sucked me into the story, and I thought I was well on my way to a great Fantasy novel. Unfortunately, things started to take a turn from what I was expecting and hoping.

From the previews of the movie, I had to admit that I was expecting something a little more thrilling and serious than the novel I ended up reading. Many of the gods could only be described as silly. The quest itself and they ways that Percy and his friends managed to overcome obstacles were equally childish. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with the book, especially considering the fact that the premise of the book and its exciting beginning seemed so promising.

I can’t really say that I’d recommend this book for anyone other than its target demographic — young teenagers and pre-teens. Whereas some novels written for young adults are equally good for adults and teenagers, this one is really only a worthwhile read for youth between the ages of ten and fifteen.

It does make me curious about the movie. Did they take some liberties with the movie to make it more serious and exciting, or did they stay true to the book and make it into a movie that will cause parents to quickly lose interest?

A Princess of Landover, the sixth book in the Magic Kingdom of Landover series, follows the story of Mistaya Holiday, daughter of Ben Holiday, King of Landover. She has essentially been kicked out of a private school back on Earth and has no real interest to try and make amends and return to finish her education outside of Landover. When she returns to Landover, her father and mother are disappointed and look to find something in Landover that she might accomplish to prepare her for life and her future responsibilities as a ruler of Landover.

I have to say that I had really enjoyed the Magic Kingdom of Landover series up until this book. In case you haven’t read the previous novels, Ben Holiday was able to purchase his Kingship back on Earth for One Million Dollars cash. Unfortunately previous purchasers of the throne had left Landover and its throne in terrible shape. Ben was forced to truly earn his kingship physically as well as politically and psychologically.

I can’t say that I really disliked this book in any way. Mistaya Holiday was an interesting and likable character, and Terry Brooks is normally a very good and engaging writer. Unfortunately for readers of this book, it is painfully obvious that Terry Brooks is very out of practice in writing for this series. (I think it had been fourteen years since his last Magic Kingdom of Landover novel.) Indeed, I’m not exactly sure that he really thought this book out well enough to come up with an intriguing plot line and an exciting conflict. Perhaps he was rushed — he is trying to put out a new book every summer. Perhaps he had to come up with a plot that was small enough that there was a good reason not to have the King of Landover becoming personally involved, but large enough that it actually was worth telling.

Whatever the excuse, this book is really just a bunch of fluff. It really isn’t worth your time, even if you are a fan of the other books in the Magic Kingdom of Landover series or a fan of other Terry Brooks’ works.

This novel was fantastic, especially considering the fact that this was the first book published by Brandon Mull. The storyline was interesting and unique, the characters were well-developed, and the plot was complex and difficult to guess. Far from being some formulaic fantasy novel with all of the same twists and turns as every other cookie-cutter fantasy novel, Brandon Mull’s storyline was fresh and exciting.

To tell you the truth, some of the plot twists and turns made me wonder what weird ideas are currently percolating around in the author’s mind. At certain points in the story, I had to wonder what kind of strange childhood he must have had.

I highly recommend this book for any age of reader, especially those with an interest in fantasy. It’s wonderful.

She asked me to read them, and I agreed.

I enjoyed the first book, the Dark Hills Divide, more than the next two books. The Dark Hills Divide stars a girl who lives in a group of three cities. The three cities have been completely surrounded by a large wall through the efforts of one of the founders of the cities. This wall is meant to protect the cities from the outside and does so rather well, limiting trade with the outside to that which can be tightly managed and keeping the villagers safe. The girl, Alexa Daley, however is a wanderer and does not enjoy being kept within the walls. When she manages to escape, she finds that she is missing out on a magical but dangerous world.

This book is excellent. Patrick Carman keeps the story to a manageable level, not “biting off more than he can chew” so to speak. The characters and the plot are very enjoyable. What is most impressive about the book, however, is the fact that the story is very original. If I had to compare it to a similar book or books in the fantasy genre (or in any genre for that matter), I don’t know if I could.

The Dark Hills Divide stands well on its own. You don’t need to read the next two books in the trilogy to get a complete story. The ending of the first book is satisfying enough on its own.

On the other hand, the second book, Beyond the Valley of Thorns, and the third book, the Tenth City must be read together to get a complete story.

Beyond the Valley of Thorns takes place immediately following the Dark Hills Divide. Without giving away anything that happens in the first book, the second and third books take up with Alexa again. This time her quest takes her far from home, away from the relative safety of the three cities and out into the wondrous and dangerous Land of Elyon with some old friends and some new ones.

Beyond the Valley of Thorns and the Tenth City are much darker than the Dark Hills Divide. The Dark Hills Divide might be slightly scary for young children, but the evil in the next two books are much darker and more gruesome. Be advised of this before allowing your children to read them. If I were to compare it to well-read books, your children should be prepared for situations like those of the Harry Potter books.

That’s not to say that the books are not worth reading. I had a hard time putting them down. With them being books written for younger readers, I was able to finish the second two in a matter of a couple of days.

All in all, the trilogy was very original, very well-written, and in all ways a great series of books to read, for adults and for young adults.

The 13 novels are written from the perspective of Lemony Snicket, who is a writer and an investigator who seems to be researching and writing a biography on three orphaned children: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire. The orphans are placed into a series of “homes” and find themselves in more and more trouble (usually at the hands of the evil Count Olaf). While they find ways of extricating themselves from a series of unfortunate events, they also discover more and more information about their parents who were not at all who they thought they were.

The best part about A Series of Unfortunate Events is the writing style. My favorite part is when he defines words for his young audience, though it seems like these definitions become increasingly less like real definitions, much to my enjoyment. I also thoroughly enjoy the ways that he tries to persuade you to stop reading these books.

The first several books are more about the several sets of relatives (or non-relatives) with whom the orphans are placed: The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, The Wide Window, The Miserable Mill, The Austere Academy, The Ersatz Elevator, The Vile Village. They seem to stand fairly well on their own, although there are allusions within them to some of the previous circumstances in which they had found themselves. The Vile Village seems to be kind of the turning point, probably because it is the seventh book in a 13 book series. It is certainly the last one that really seems like it has some sort of closure (until you reach the last book in the series).

If you are going to continue past those seven books to the Hostile Hospital, you better be prepared to read all of the rest of the series because, although they are broken up into separate books, they are all one big story. From that point on, Lemony Snicket’s series changes from a bunch of little, seemingly unrelated events to a big story where you find that the little Baudelaire’s are actually part of something huge.

Some of these later stories tend to get a little tedious and you may find yourself wondering if you really should have simply stopped with the Vile Village. Well, it’s too late now. I warned you beforehand. You’re going to want to know how it all ends. Luckily for us, we know that Lemony Snicket has limited himself to 170 chapters (13 books of 13 chapters each, and the Fourteenth Chapter). If he was going to go on indefinitely (as some authors choose to do)… Well, let me just say, I’m glad he didn’t.

It helped for me to take a little bit of time away from the series and then start where I left off a few months later. I read the last two books in the series after several months break and enjoyed them immensely. After that, I kind of wondered if maybe I should have taken some other breaks as well.

I do have to say that I found the conclusion immensely satisfying. I didn’t want to read any more books in the series. There weren’t really any loose ends that you wished he had tied up. It ended well. In fact, I’m not sure why he wrote the Fourteenth Chapter, because I was very satisfied with the ending of The End.

I would definitely recommend the books to any readers who are old enough for the content of these books. The series, as a whole, is excellent, and Lemony Snicket’s writing style is one of the most enjoyable styles that I have ever read.