NovelCritic

Resources and Advice for Aspiring Authors

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Published and Self-Published Novels Reviewed

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the fifth book in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.

In this book, Voldemort has returned to the world in full power (he did that at the end of the fourth book, so I hope I didn’t spoil it for you). Harry Potter has a godfather now who he can hang around with (Sirius Black went into hiding at the end of the third book, so he couldn’t be around for much of the fourth book).

Now, you’re probably thinking, “How can J.K. Rowling possibly write three more books in the series (since there are supposed to be 7 years of schooling at Hogwarts) with Voldemort back?”

Here is how she did it.

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The Merchant of Death, Book 1 of the Pendragon Series

I admit that I didn’t know anything about this book or this author before I started reading it. I was given it in the hopes that it might be something that one of my children would enjoy.

The Merchant of Death begins in New York City with the young Bobby Pendragon, star for his school basketball team and all around good guy, receiving a visit from his uncle. In short order, Bobby is wisked away by his uncle through an inter-dimensional portal to another world where he is the only hope for a civilization on the brink of crumbling into civil war and chaos.

The premise of the story is not necessarily new. Continue reading

Mary Miur: Forever Ten

When this self-published book gets a little well-deserved publicity, it is sure to be a hit in the Fantasy book community.

Mary Miur: Forever Ten begins with a 10-year old girl named Mary Miur with exceptional visual powers and a knack for stealth and thievery trying to get into a walled city surrounded by thousands of zombies. Her mission, we learn, is to try to reverse the spell of a wizard, who has cursed her to stay ten years old forever.

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Eragon

With the movie coming out in a few weeks, I feel it is a good time to review the book Eragon, which was written by Christopher Paolini.

Without giving too much away for those of you haven’t read it, the title character Eragon is a young boy growing up in a small village near a range of mountains with treacherous passes. On one of his adventures in these mountain passes, Eragon recovers a dragon egg which was left behind under mysterious circumstances.

The Dragon hatches, and Eragon begins to care for it in secret.

Powerful forces, both good and evil, learn of the secret soon enough, and thus begin the adventures of Eragon and his dragon.

I only really have two problems with Eragon.

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