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THE SORCERER KING

BOOK THREE OF THE FAERIE PATH

In this third installment of The Faerie Path series, modern London teen Anita has come to terms with the fact that she is really Tania, seventh daughter of King Oberon and Queen Titania, able to bridge the mortal world and that of the magical Faerie. In earlier installments, she barely escaped a fatal marriage to the evil Lord Drake and found her true mother, lost in the mortal realm for 500 years. Returning to Faerie with her mother and sisters, she learns that the evil Sorcerer King and his dread Grey Knights have imprisoned her father Oberon. In a headlong rush across this mystical world, pursued by her old enemy Drake, finding both friend and foe in Faerie’s many inhabitants, Tania, her sisters and her true love Edric search for Oberon’s prison. The race is on to find the means to release him in time to save them all from the destruction the Sorcerer King is so keen to inflict. This final installment in the trilogy continues to take our heroine from one unlikely set of circumstances to another, combining contemporary viewpoints with the more magical world of another time and sphere. Those who liked the first two books will find the conclusion satisfying; those who haven’t read the previous books will miss the foundation, despite the prologue. (Fantasy. 12+)

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008

ISBN: 978-0-06-087108-6

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Eos/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2008

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ANYA'S GHOST

In addition to the supernatural elements, Brosgol interweaves some savvy insights about the illusion of perfection and...

A deliciously creepy page-turning gem from first-time writer and illustrator Brosgol finds brooding teenager Anya trying to escape the past—both her own and the ghost haunting her.

Anya feels out of place at her preppy private school; embarrassed by her Russian heritage, she has worked hard to lose her accent and to look more like everyone else. After a particularly frustrating morning at the bus stop, Anya storms off, only to accidentally fall down a well. Down in the dark hole, she meets Emily, a ghost who claims to be a murder victim trapped down in the dank abyss for 90 years. With Emily’s help, Anya manages to escape, though once free, she learns that Emily has traveled out with her. At first, Emily seems like the perfect friend; however, once her motives become clear, Anya learns that “perfect” may only be an illusion. A moodily atmospheric spectrum of grays washes over the clean, tidy panels, setting a distinct stage before the first words appear. Brosgol’s tight storytelling invokes the chilling feeling of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline (2002), though for a decidedly older set. 

In addition to the supernatural elements, Brosgol interweaves some savvy insights about the illusion of perfection and outward appearance. (Graphic supernatural fiction. 12 & up)

Pub Date: June 7, 2011

ISBN: 978-1-59643-552-0

Page Count: 224

Publisher: First Second

Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011

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THE GIVER

From the Giver Quartet series , Vol. 1

Wrought with admirable skill—the emptiness and menace underlying this Utopia emerge step by inexorable step: a richly...

In a radical departure from her realistic fiction and comic chronicles of Anastasia, Lowry creates a chilling, tightly controlled future society where all controversy, pain, and choice have been expunged, each childhood year has its privileges and responsibilities, and family members are selected for compatibility.

As Jonas approaches the "Ceremony of Twelve," he wonders what his adult "Assignment" will be. Father, a "Nurturer," cares for "newchildren"; Mother works in the "Department of Justice"; but Jonas's admitted talents suggest no particular calling. In the event, he is named "Receiver," to replace an Elder with a unique function: holding the community's memories—painful, troubling, or prone to lead (like love) to disorder; the Elder ("The Giver") now begins to transfer these memories to Jonas. The process is deeply disturbing; for the first time, Jonas learns about ordinary things like color, the sun, snow, and mountains, as well as love, war, and death: the ceremony known as "release" is revealed to be murder. Horrified, Jonas plots escape to "Elsewhere," a step he believes will return the memories to all the people, but his timing is upset by a decision to release a newchild he has come to love. Ill-equipped, Jonas sets out with the baby on a desperate journey whose enigmatic conclusion resonates with allegory: Jonas may be a Christ figure, but the contrasts here with Christian symbols are also intriguing.

Wrought with admirable skill—the emptiness and menace underlying this Utopia emerge step by inexorable step: a richly provocative novel. (Fiction. 12-16)

Pub Date: April 1, 1993

ISBN: 978-0-395-64566-6

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1993

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