From: Steven Engelfried <sengelfried>
Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2001 11:26:31 -0800

I'd like to second Rukhsana's endorsement of "The Riddle Master of Hed" series by Patricia McKillip. Not an easy book for kids to read, but excellent for those special readers or young adults who like fantasy. I'm currently reading it aloud to my kids (11 & 13) and we're totally engrossed
(and also sometimes confused, because she reveals mysteries and plot twists in such delightfully subtle ways). The originality of the world and characters she creates stand out, and that's not always true in fantasy. That's why books like "Sabriel" and "The Golden Compass" are so exciting when they come out...they fit the fantasy genre and have some familiar elements, but there are new concepts and characters we haven't met before.
"Firebringer" by Clement?vies was an involving and well written story, but if you've read "Watership Down" you pretty much know what the general structure and pattern will be like, and some elements (like the well?d deer with a dark secret) are directly copied from the Adams book (Cowslip's warren). I'll read fantasies like that, and enjoy and even recommend them, but the ones I love are the ones that really create something new. McKinley's Damar books, Prydain, "The Folk Keeper" and "Well Wished" by Billingsley, and just about every thing by Diana Wynne Jones also make my list...

Steven Engelfried, Children's Division Librarian Beaverton City Library 12375 SW 5th Street Beaverton, OR 97005 503R6%99 sengelfried at ci.beaverton.or.us
Received on Sun 25 Nov 2001 01:26:31 PM CST