From: Beth Wright <bethlibrarian>
Date: Tue, 9 May 2006 13:24:20 -0700 (PDT)

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned Garth Nix's outstanding Abhorsen trilogy: Sabriel (1996), Lirael
(2001), and Abhorsen (2003). They have strong female characters, extremely inventive world-building, and lots of fascinating dark magic and visits to the realm of death. At my library the books have been popular with young teen girls and boys alike.

I also don't recall if anyone has mentioned Diana Wynne Jones. I find Jones' books hard to describe, but here's my best attempt: as a rule they are very, very smart fantasies. Some are humorous in a playing-with-the-conventions-of-fantasy kind of way, some are more straightforward. Often a character learns toward the end of the book that he or she has unrealized magical powers and has been doing magic all along, usually by accident. Of Jones' recent books, my favorites are Dark Lord of Derkholm (1998) and its sequel Year of the Griffin
(2001). I have been hoping for the past five years for another book about Wizard Derk's world.

To the person who asked for fantasy suggestions for younger readers, especially boys: I've had good luck with Emily Rodda's Rowan of Rin (2001). Rowan is a quiet boy who gets forced into helping a group of adults find and defeat a dragon. I'm guessing it's about 4th grade reading level and makes a good read aloud as well. It has several sequels for readers who enjoy the first one.

Last, I'd like to mention the Bartimeus books even though others have brought them up as well. I find the premise of this trilogy irresistible. Given what we've seen about human nature over recorded history, what really would happen if some people got magical powers? My guess is they wouldn't have the largely benign, "don't disturb the Muggles" philosophy of the wizards in the Harry Potter books. I think it's more likely they would set about oppressing the people without the powers until the powerless ones rebelled, maybe with the help of a few principled magicians, which is exactly what happens in the Bartimeus trilogy. As funny as they are in places, these books are about social class and oppression and revolution, and I appreciated the author's approach to these serious topics.

And that's enough out of me, for now anyway.

Beth Wright












Beth Wright Youth Services Librarian Fletcher Free Library Burlington, Vermont
(802) 865-7216 bethlibrarian at yahoo.com

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Received on Tue 09 May 2006 03:24:20 PM CDT