Elijah David

I often talk about specific books and series that I love, but I've never broken down (for myself or others) just which fantasy series  I love more than all others. So I decided to work out what my top 10 fantasy series of all time are, based on the following criteria: I have to love the themes, the magic, the characters, and so forth (themes of hope, light conquering darkness, etc. being preeminent); how complete is my reading of the series; and how many re-reads have I completed, if any. The Elemental Masters The least completely read series on this list, Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters wins a place by virtue of its unique blend of fairy tales, magic, and historical romance. Every time I read a new book in this series, I remember how much I love the world Lackey has created. The Dresden Files I'm all caught up on this series barring the newest short story collection, Brief Cases  (which is in my ever-growing to-read pile). This series has it all: magic...

I'm picking this tag up from Paper Fury , who picked it up from other blogs. Chocolate Chip: Classic Book That You Love Dracula, Treasure Island, Pride and Prejudice, The Hunchback of Notre Dame Thin Mints: A Hyped-Up Book You Want To Read The Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner, Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak, the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik Shortbread: An Author You Can’t Get Enough Of C. S. Lewis, Jim Butcher, J. R. R. Tolkien, Naomi Novik, Megan Whalen Turner  Samoas: An Emotional Rollercoaster A Monster Calls  by Patrick Ness, Changes by Jim Butcher, I Don't Want to Kill You by Dan Wells Oreos: A Book Whose Cover Was Better Than The Story The Golden Compass  by Phillip Pullman Gingerbread Cookies: Where The Story Was Better Than Its Cover Till We Have Faces  by C. S. Lewis, The Secret of NIMH/Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH  by Robert C. O'Brien (I have the movie tie-in edition and it's not...

Well, it's finally happened, friends. We have reached the (current) end of the Queen's Thief/Attolia series. Now, since Megan Whalen Turner is already working on book six, this isn't the final conclusion, but it's the furthest we can read for now. Thick as Thieves continues Turner's trend of opening up a new perspective on the world of Attolia with each new book. This time, we're treated to a Mede perspective--specifically that of Kamet, slave and secretary to former Mede ambassador Nahuseresh (antagonist of The Queen of Attolia ). Kamet is recovering from his master's response being passed over for a small governance in the country when an Attolian soldier appears offering him an escape from the empire. Kamet, ever the proper slave, laughs in his face and decides the Attolian doesn't know him well at all. Then his master is poisoned; Kamet is the obvious suspect, so he flees, hoping to get out of the city before he's caught. He runs in...

I can remember when A Conspiracy of Kings was gearing up for release. Everyone I knew who'd read the first three Attolia books was on tenterhooks because we were finally getting Sophos back into the story after two books and lots of unhappy hints in The King of Attolia . Sadly, this is the last of these beautiful covers, since Greenwillow changed the styles for Thick as Thieves . Then the book came out, and we all felt a little let down by it. Not that the story wasn't good; it just felt a little flat after the brilliant intrigue novel that was KoA. On this reading, I went in knowing that it was a slower book. A book that wasn't meant to be filled with court politics in the same way as its predecessor. Instead, ACoK is a character novel. Not a character novel in the sense of many "literary" novels that follow a character's "growth" and generally bore the public to tears (something they'd never admit to their book clubs). A character no...

After finishing The Queen of Attolia last week, I picked up its sequel, The King of Attolia almost immediately. The twists and turns of QoA's finale left me craving more, and boy does KoA deliver more. The King of Attolia picks up where its predecessor left off: with the marriage of Irene (Queen of Attolia) and Eugenides (Gen, Thief of Eddis, now King of Attolia or Attolis). After offering glimpses of the wedding night from various parties within and without the Attolian capitol, the story moves to Costis, a young squad leader in the Queen's Guard. He's in trouble, you see. He punched Gen for baiting Teleus, the Captain of the Guard. By rights, Costis should be executed. But Gen has other plans. He makes Costis a lieutenant and assigns him to be Gen's personal guard and sparring partner. It makes Costis' life difficult, but his brothers in arms support him in his trials. No one in Attolia likes Gen, except his wife. Everyone sees him as a buffoon...

And yes, that is a Tow'rs reference. Go listen . I just finished rereading The Queen of Attolia (only a year after I reread The Thief in hopes of reading the whole series again before getting to Thick as Thieves ). As I plotted out how to do this month's ThrowBook Thursday post (delayed from last week due to a sick Samwise, who's now on the mend), I realized that I'd already used QoA for last year's TBT in May . I'm pretty sure I blinked. Then I laughed. Then I said, "What the heck, let's review it again anyway." Everything I said last year remains true (minus me thinking QoA has multiple myths; it just has the one). But I want to add a few things that I appreciated even more on this, my third time through the book: Eugenides and his sass. "I'll stop shouting, but I won't sit down. I might need to throw more ink bottles." Attolia and everything we learn about her history Ruby earrings (if you've read the books,...

It's Memorial Day, so everyone is gearing up for summer. And that means summer reading lists. I didn't really do summer reading lists when I was in school, not do I have a good gauge of what a friend called "summer books" (i.e. books that have a summery tone or setting). To be honest, I was constantly reading whatever I could get my hands on no matter the season. (And when I tried to think of "summer" books, I found I tended to place books in either autumn or fall categories if I could categorize them at all; not surprising, since I am an autumnal soul.) So instead of sharing a suggested reading list for this summer, I thought I'd share what's on my own list for this summer. * means it's a reread. # means I'm already reading it. @ means it's an audio book. Innocents Aboard by Gene Wolfe * # Uprooted by Naomi Novik # The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich # Stone of Farewell by Tad Williams * # To Green Angel To...

Thick as Thieves , the fifth book in Megan Whalen Turner's The Queen's Thief series (sometimes called the Attolia series by fans), came out earlier this week. I haven't plunged into it yet because I promised myself I would finish rereading the series (or at least the first three, which are my favorites) first. But, in the spirit of the series, I thought I'd take a quick look back at the second book, The Queen of Attolia . (I did a mini review of the first book, The Thief , a couple weeks ago .) Spoilers ahead! The Queen of Attolia  is a gripping sequel to The Thief  and it lets you know right away that the stakes are higher than before. The opening sequence reintroduces Gen, his skills as a thief, and the rivalry between him and the titular queen. Their encounter breaks a common trope of fiction that says a main character cannot be killed or seriously injured. My first time reading this book, I remember thinking that Gen was clever and resourceful. He'd man...

I recently re-read two books: one that I love and one I was lukewarm toward the last I read it. Both are first books in their respective series, and both were picked because I want to read the rest of their series soon(ish). Since my experience with them was so dissimilar despite the similar reasons for reading them (again) so close together, I thought I would write up some quick reviews of the two. First off, The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. I've read this book three times now, and it gets better with each reading. Turner's skillful use of an unreliable narrator who never outright lies to the reader, but continually withholds information in such a way as to lead the reader to the wrong conclusions, makes this a landmark in the young adult genre. I picked this one back up to start a reread of the series before the fifth book, Thick as Thieves , releases later this week. (Spoiler alert: I won't be finishing the series before the release, but I will probably read at l...

This was originally going to be a Top 10 Tuesday, and then I realized I didn't quite have 10 books for the list, so it's a special Monday Musings where I anticipate the books I'm most looking forward to being released this year. Beren and Luthien by J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien This one's not new in the sense of being new material so much as it is collecting all the previously published material on this iconic couple into a single volume. This makes me very very happy because The Silmarillion is amazing as a whole, but Beren and Luthien's story is one of a handful to actually get several mentions in The Lord of the Rings . Even Sam knows about Beren taking the Silmaril from Morgoth. Just saying. Releasing May 4 The Heart of What was Lost by Tad Williams This is a bridge novella to set up the trilogy The Last King of Osten Ard and follow-up the original Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn . I loved the original trilogy, and I've been waiti...

Once again, it's time to see what my Top 10 favorites in a category are. This time it's (big surprise) fantasy novels! As usual, these are in no particular order and may be subject to change at any given moment. (Favorites are rarely forever, and change as we do.) The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis I'm going to do my best to limit myself to one book per series.  The Horse and His Boy  has been my favorite book in the Narnia series since I first read them in middle school. For some reason, I have always felt drawn to Shasta's story, his journey and adventures, and especially his encounter with Aslan. I think that Aslan's words in this book, more than any other, have been the ones that resonate with my soul. While my favorite Narnia books may change order from time to time, this one always rises to the top. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien I'd put all of Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium on here, but as I said I'm trying...

Currently Writing:  Merlin Book 2 Currently Reading: Dune by Frank Herbert                                 The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien (reread)                                 The Woodcutter by Kate Danley (Kindle) I've been wanting to do another Top 10 post since the first one. I can't do a Top 10 Books general post because there are just too many I love, so I decided that Top 10 rereads was the best way to go. So here, in no particular order, are my Top 10 Books to Reread: The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis I'm counting this whole series as one book, not only because I have an omnibus edition, but because I love to read all of them again and again. All told, I've probably read the whole series five or six times, and individual books anywhere from that number to ten or so. I never come out of rea...