Battle Magic by Tamora Pierce - OPTIONAL

Pierce, Tamora Battle Magic, 440 p. Scholastic, 2013.  $18.  Content: PG (battle violence, non-detailed deaths).  

Rosethorn, Briar and Evvy are just about to head home after their long journey when they receive an invitation from the Emperor of Yanjing to visit his world renowned gardens.  While the trio are eager to go, they find they are just as eager to leave when the Emperor proves to be greedy, sadistic and capricious.  In fact, they need to quickly escape, find their allies and prepare for the most important war of their lives.  If they lose, the Emperor will be free to conquer their whole world.  All three, but especially Evvy, will hidden depths and creative uses for their magics – uses that they should have never had to discover.  

As much as I love Pierce’s every word, they require enough of a reader that they will never be as popular as Riordan and Mull.  She has also taken many years to create a universe with much depth to it.  Only your absolute best readers who adore non-derivative fantasy will appreciate these.  

MS, HS – OPTIONAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher.

Raven Flight (Shadowfell #2) by Juliet Marillier –OPTIONAL

Marillier, Juliet Raven Flight (Shadowfell #2) 416 pgs. Knopf Books for Young Reader, 2013. $12.97.  Content: Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: G.

Neryn is a caller, a conduit for magic, but doesn't have powers herself. She is the center of a rebel plot to overthrow the bad king Keldec. Neryn is still learning, new to her abilities. She has been living at the heart of the rebellion, but must leave to train with the four guardians who lived in far flung lands. She sets out with the female warrior Tali, who would rather stay with the rebel leader. Neryn is faced with many challenges along the way, including worry for her love Flint, reliving the past (over and over), and stress about the trials before her.

Having missed the groundwork from the first book, this second book is not a read alone. In this book, I feel like I never got to know or bond with the main characters. It was very overarching plot heavy, infact I was flat bored with hearing about it over and over. But much like Mariellier’s other novels this one brings a chilly and legendary magical setting. I loved her other books but not this one. If the first one was popular, add this one to your collection.

HS – OPTIONAL Reviewer: Stephanie Elementary School Librarian & Author.

Riese: Kingdom Falling by Greg Cox - OPTIONAL

Cox, Greg.  Riese: Kingdom Falling, 281 pgs. Simon and Schuster BFYR, 2012.  $16.99.  Sexual Content: PG; Language: G (some made up swearwords); Violence: PG-13.  This book explains Riese’s past and her story continues with online webisodes on Syfy.com.  The story is set in a fictional world and has two time periods, the current time and ten years past.  The narrative bounces back between them, but for the sake of clarity I will summarize them separately.  In the current time, Riese is living off of the land with her wolf.  She sees a group of huntsman trailing a young teen girl.  She rescues Usla.  Usla had been captured by the Sect, a group of cultists that rule the land.  Usla, like many peasant girls, was being used as breeding stock, but she ran away to save the baby growing within her.  Usla wants to return to her family and Riese escorts her across the ruined and nearly toxic countryside only to discover the worst.  Ten-years previous Riese has been a princess who had not liked princess things.  She had preferred to hunt and roam.  She met a young man named Micah who is an apprentice.  She doesn’t tell him who she really is, instead pretends to be a palace servant.  Meanwhile, her mother’s kingdom Eleysia is under attack by the Nixians.  Her mother accepts help from a strange cult and Riese discovers Micah is more than he pretends to be.  The duo-story structure took away from the suspense, because the reader already knows that Riese’s past story ends badly.  The current-time story feels like a television show where a smaller story is semi-resolved while the bigger story is looming.  As a character Riese is powerful, interesting and compelling; however, she is the only developed character.  The dialogue often feels too modern for the rustic setting.  

MS/HS – OPTIONAL.  Samantha Hastings, MA, MLS.

The Shadow Road by K.V. Johansen-ADVISABLE

Johansen, K.V., The Shadow Road. Orca Book Publishing, 2010. Pgs. 216. Language: G, Violence: PG, Sexual Content: G

Nethin is a Nightwalker. Nightwalkers are individuals who have magical powers and can exist between the human world and a shadow world. When Nethin is kidnapped, his kidnappers make him cast a spell to opening up a bridge in that shadow world that will lead to the original place where Nightwalkers are from. If they succeed, they will have a chance of saving Talverdin from being destroyed by an enemy. If not, they will die in the shadow world. Will they succeed? Was the spell the only reason the kidnappers kidnapped him?

The plot is slow at first, but intriguing. The characters are likable and mysterious. Although it is helpful to have read the others in the series, it isn't completely necessary.  Readers who like mysteries, adventure, and magic will enjoy solving the mystery as they read. EL (4-6), MS. ADVISABLE. Reviewer: Kira M, Youth Services Librarian, WHI Public Library.