The Amber Spyglass, the third book in the His Dark Materials Trilogy, the story continues on from the last book (which ended rather abruptly).

In The Amber Spyglass, Lyra and Will continue on their quest, taking a side trip to the Underworld. After leaving the Underworld mostly unscathed, they go to Lord Asriel.

The whole Underworld thing is a bit overused, though a few new ideas were added. Regarding the Dæmons and the Underworld, I was able to predict what would happen later in the book (with the help of a small clue). There was, obviously, a precedent happening.

With several plot-twists, and unexpected happenings, the trilogy draws to a close. Darker than the first book, the book is nonetheless enjoyable. I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending, which seemed a bit…odd, but whatever. The book was good anyway.

I strongly recommend that you read The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife before reading this book.

Have you read The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman? If so, there’s no doubt that you’ll like The Subtle Knife, part two of the series.

In The Subtle Knife, Lyra leaves her world…and ends up in ours. She soon meets Will, the bearer of the Subtle Knife, a knife with two extraordinary edges. One edge can cut through any material, while the other can cut doors to other worlds into the air.

Armed with the Knife an the Alethiometer, Lyra and Will set out on an unclear mission.

This book is a great sequel to it’s predecessor; unfortunately it ends rather abruptly. There are cool tie-ins with the previous book.

I highly recommend the His Dark Materials series, though you should definitely start with the first book (The Golden Compass).

“It tells the truth. As for how to read it, you’ll have to learn by yourself.” With these words, Lyra is given an Alethiometer. Armed with this mysterious tool, which will answer any question truthfully, she sets out on what will become an adventure, determined by an ancient prophecy.

The story takes place in another world, similar to ours. Geographic locations, like Oxford and London, exist…though they are different. Packed with action and mystery, the story flows well. Once you get into the book, you’ll have trouble stopping.

I really enjoyed the book, reading it in a couple days despite my busy schedule, and I’m presently waiting for the movie, which will be released in December.
If you want a believable fantasy book, try The Golden Compass. If you like it, there are a couple sequels.

I finished my second reading of The Dark Is Rising series. The first was 4 to 5 years ago, and I remember being excited and enthralled by it. This time, looking at it more objectively, I noticed that there is an excitement building within the books similar to an orchestra rising to a crescendo. This is an impressive achievement for the author. The series is a masterful work of storytelling. It has the complexity of Tolkien without the heaviness. The language is filled with the High Magic making the reading an awesome poetical experience.

The story just touches on Arthurian legend, and yet it still has a strong Arthurian feel. The books are heavily laced with a mystical and magical sense of purpose and of destiny, though a wrong turning at one point or another could change the whole outcome. Read the rest at BookAdvice.net.

Trickster’s Choice and Trickster’s Queen are more fantasy books by Tamora Pierce. They are…different from the rest of her books, though.

In a typical book by Tamora Pierce, the main character is focused on attaining some goal, relentlessly plowing through the plotline. In these two books, however, the heroine is more easygoing…and funnier. The storyline is no less serious than any of Pierce’s other books. It’s more serious if anything. Seeing as the character, Aly of Pirate’s Swoop, is a Spy rather than an aspiring knight/mage/whatever, it makes more sense.

The two books detail the rebellion of the native people of the Copper Isles (Aly is actually from the nearby country of Tortall, though she ends up in the Copper Isles). Three hundred years previously, the patron god of the Isles was ousted, and simultaneously the Isles’ rulers were overthrown. In the present day Copper Isles, a rebellion has started…the head spy for the operation being Aly of Pirate’s Swoop.

The books are well written and interesting, though they do take longer to read than the rest of the author’s books. Tamora Pierce has improved remarkably as an author, going from the somewhat childish Song of the Lioness series to current works like Trickster and Terrier.

In 1968, a book by Anne McCaffrey known as Dragonflight was published. It was derived from s short story she published earlier on called “Weyr Search”. Dragonflight was followed by two more called Dragonquest and The White Dragon. Today there are over 20 books in the Dragonrider’s of Pern series, the latest two being co-written by her son Todd McCaffrey.

A brief history of Pern:

A few decades ahead of today (I want to say in the 2040s, but I don’t remember), a group of people are sent to colonize a planet known as P.E.R.N. They come in three spacecraft and settle there, with no way to return due to the fuel capacity of the ships.

Eventually trouble begins. Thread, an omnivorous fungus-type thing, starts to fall from the sky. It came from a cloud trailing an erratically orbiting planet (dubbed “The Red Star” by Pern’s inhabitants). Thread dissolves/eats pretty much anything carbon based, so the only safe places from it are caves, buildings made from non-carbon plastics, and underwater (not a good option). Fire burns the Thread, killing it. Unfortunately, Thread can’t be allowed to touch the ground. It starts eating the plant matter and animals, multiplying and burrowing into the ground as it does so.

To combat the Thread, the colonists (a large group of farmers, scientists, builders, geneticists, etc) at first use HNO3 devices in combination with “hoversleds” to char the Thread before it hit the ground. They continued to do this while their geneticists looked to a better solution.

Based off a native species known as a “Fire Lizard”, the Pernese created dragons. They were telepathic and could breathe fire after eating phosphine-bearing rocks. This proved to be the solution they needed until the Thread stopped.

The Thread did stop after a few decades, but it started again after. It turned out that the Red Star reliably passed by Pern on a regular basis.

Dragonriders of Pern is almost certainly my favorite Sci-Fi series. I haven’t yet found a Sci-Fi book, other than Dragonriders, that was this good. Dragonriders is very realistic as you read it (very believable), and unlike other Sci-Fi books it isn’t bleh. The complex storyline unfolds over the large number of books, ending in…well I won’t spoil it. Give it a try.

Tamora Pierce is an author who has written tons of books set in a fantasy realm known as Tortall. Terrier is the latest of them, featuring a better character and more interesting storyline. The setting is a few hundred years previous to any of the other books, tying in with the history of a character mentioned in an earlier book unrelated to Terrier. In Terrier, Beka Cooper is a trainee for the Provost’s Guard, the law enforcement organization in Tortall. The book deals with the finding of a mass murderer who strikes several times during the book…and is hiding in plain site. It takes awhile to figure out who the “Shadow Snake” is, but you can figure it out if you think right.

Terrier is one of Tamora Pierce’s best books (not to mention one of the longest). Some of her earlier ones were kind of…bleh. One thing I don’t like about Terrier is it’s lack of magic. What’s a fantasy book without tons of magic? Some of Pierce’s books are loaded with magic, though personally I still think Terrier is better (it still can’t compete with Harry Potter though ).

Read Minerva66 of BookAdvice.net’s take.