Epic Fantasy Reviews

Elizabeth Knox | Kenneth Oppel | Philip Reeve |
Jonathan Stroud | Megan Whalen Turner | Elizabeth E. Wein

Elizabeth Knox’s Dreamhunter Duet

Dreamhunter: Book One
   367 pp. Farrar/Foster
   Reviewed 5/06
In this New Zealander fantasy, "dreamhunters" enter the "Place" and bring back dreams to share with the public. When Laura, daughter of the most potent dreamhunter, enters the Place, she begins to untangle a web of exploitation. A highly original exploration of the idea of a collective unconscious, mixed with the brave, dark qualities of the psyche of an adolescent female.

Dreamquake: Book Two
   449 pp. Farrar/Foster
   Reviewed 3/07
Dreamhunter Laura Hame and her family mobilize an inquiry into the use of nightmares in the "education" of convicts. The story is rife with suspense and notable for its vivid mythic imagery, including the motif of Lazarus. An involving — and challenging — read that's outstanding in its ability to make readers think poetically and analytically about human nature.

Kenneth Oppel’s Silverwing Trilogy

Sunwing
   266 pp. Simon
   Reviewed 3/00
In this sequel to Silverwing, Shade, the young bat hero, sets off on a quest to find his missing father. As in Brian Jacques's popular Redwall series, the intertwining story lines, evil villain, and intense action will keep readers enthralled, but Shade is a more complex character than most Redwallian heroes, and his dangerous adventures make a memorable impact.

Silverwing
   217 pp. Simon
   Reviewed 11/97
series. Shade, the runt of his bat colony, gets lost during a storm while migrating. He and another bat undertake a journey and quest and are threatened by an endless series of adversaries: the city pigeons, a kingdom of rats, the onslaught of winter, and two vampire bats. Oppel has combined factual elements of bat behavior with elements of traditional animal fantasy to create a fully imagined nighttime world.

Firewing
   270 pp. Simon
   Reviewed 3/03
As the offspring of the bat heroes of Silverwing and Sunwing, Griffin has a lot to live up to. His first adventure, however, ends disastrously, with his best friend mortally burned. In grief, Griffin flees into a crack in the earth and is sucked into the underworld realm of the bat god of death. Challenges and narrow escapes keep readers turning the pages, as the characters forge bravely forward despite their fears and inadequacies.

Philip Reeve’s Hungry City Chronicles

Mortal Engines
   311 pp. HarperCollins
   Reviewed 11/03
In the distant future, after the Sixty Minute War that destroyed civilization, London has become a wheeled mountain of metal that hunts down and "eats" other cities for raw materials. The tone of adventure and the narrow escapes, deepening loyalties, and not-infrequent bitter losses will all keep readers riveted. The elegiac confrontation at the climax sends several characters to their deaths in a blaze of glory and the survivors to a sobering victory.

Predator's Gold
   327 pp. HarperCollins
   Reviewed 9/04
In Mortal Engines Reeve unveiled a futuristic society of "traction cities" that roam the post-Apocalyptic earth. This sequel follows lovers Tom Natsworthy and Hester Shaw on their airship exploits to the traction city of Anchorage. The technological wizardry will gratify young sci-fi gearheads, while the intense emotions drive the thrilling plot at top speed until the battle-royale finish.

Infernal Devices
   358 pp. HarperCollins
   Reviewed 7/06
Sixteen years have passed since Predator's Gold. This time, the story centers on Tom and Hester's fifteen-year-old daughter and an ancient, sought-after artifact that apparently contains secrets of lost warfare technology. Suffice to say that readers will be taken on a journey that includes kidnapping and enslavement, betrayals, cold-blooded killings, a haunting devotion, a new union, and a shocking departure.

A Darkling Plain
   559 pp. HarperCollins
   Reviewed 9/07
This epic series conclusion, tense and exhilarating, finds the war between the Green Storm and Traction Cities escalating and the resurrected Stalker Fang ready to deploy ODIN, an ancient weapon of global destruction. Again, the post-apocalyptic setting is vivid, the large cast brilliantly controlled, the pace lightning-quick — and the whole is overlaid with an overt and abiding compassion for the human race.

Jonathan Stroud’s Bartimaeus Trilogy

The Amulet of Samarkand
   462 pp. Hyperion
   Reviewed 11/03
Through guile, teamwork, and dumb luck, a magician's apprentice and a "Spenser for Hire"-type djinni uncover and foil a coup attempt masterminded by a ruthless magician. The pace never slows in this wisecracking adventure, and Stroud has created a well-realized fantasy world, but it is the complementary main characters who will keep readers coming back for the rest of the projected trilogy.

The Golem's Eye
   562 pp. Hyperion
   Reviewed 9/04
This second book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy adds a new character to The Amulet of Samarkand's entertaining mix of power-hungry junior magician Nathaniel and supercilious djinni Bartimaeus: Kitty, a commoner and a member of the Resistance opposing the magicians' corrupt rule. The action never flags — with not one but two seemingly unstoppable villains to defeat — and the escalating intrigue among the three main characters bodes well for book three

Ptolemy's Gate
   503 pp. Hyperion
   Reviewed 3/06
This closing installment is the best yet, as the fates of the djinni Bartimaeus, the magician John Mandrake, and the commoner Kitty Jones grow ever more tightly entwined. When powerful demons ravage the city, Nathaniel, Bartimaeus, and Kitty find themselves fighting on the same side. Stroud is a masterful storyteller, balancing touching sentiment with humor, explosive action scenes with philosophical musings on human nature.

Megan Whalen Turner’s Thief Trilogy

The Thief
   220 pp. Greenwillow
   Reviewed 11/96
An exceptionally clever novel features a thief named Gen who accompanies the king's magus on a journey to steal a legendary stone. Turner's characterization of Gen is simply superb — it is Gen who tells the story, and he is clearly not what he seems. Unlike many other novels of suspense, The Thief is even more fun to reread — you can see all the clues to Gen's identity and mission, and delight in the author's ingenuity.

The Queen of Attolia
   280 pp. Greenwillow
   Reviewed 7/00
Those readers already attached to Gen from The Thief may suffer with him through his painful recovery (the ruthless Queen of Attolia has his hand chopped off) but will never doubt it; newcomers will soon be engaged by this complex young man as they follow him through the fictional Mediterranean landscape, stage for a complicated web of political intrigue, military strategy, and star-crossed love.

The King of Attolia
   387 pp. Greenwillow
   Reviewed 3/06
The former Thief of Eddis, now reluctant King of Attolia, is back. This time we see him from young soldier Costis's point of view. Remarkable for its impeccably realized setting in a pseudo-classical world and for the depth and subtlety of its characters and plot, this is one of the most fascinating and original YA fantasies to appear in years.

Elizabeth E. Wein’s Arthurian/sixth-century Ethiopian trilogy

The Winter Prince
   202 pp. Atheneum
   Reviewed 3/94
A story of twisted loyalties pits Medraut, the illegitimate son of King Arthur, against his legitimate half-brother, Lleu, whom he both loves and despises. The subtle relationships between the many fascinating characters give a new context to the familiar Arthurian tale.

A Coalition of Lions
   211 pp. Viking
   Reviewed 3/03
This sequel to The Winter Prince is a gripping tale of danger, nobility, power, and love. The exotic culture and well-developed code of honor of the Aksumite court give this post-Arthurian/ancient-Ethiopian fusion its striking flavor. With her thorough command of historic characters, a grand scope, and a swift-paced, heroic plot, Wein has laid out an appealing and sumptuous literary banquet.

The Sunbird
   189 pp. Viking
   Reviewed 3/04
As in The Sunbird''s predecessors, Wein delights in taking strong characters, giving them solid ideals, setting them in the crucible of a challenging situation, and applying narrative torque until they are transformed into purer metals. Here, the character so transformed is Telemakos, the half-Ethiopian son of anti-hero Medraut. Gripping and hard-hitting, this book has the richness and moral complexity of the first two.

Elizabeth E. Wein’s The Mark of Solomon sequence

The Lion Hunter: The Mark of Solomon, Book One
   227 pp. Viking
   Reviewed 7/07
A lion attack costs Telemakos his arm. During his convalescence, he becomes devoted to his newborn sister Athena. Still haunted by his torture (The Sunbird), Telemakos is placed in mortal jeopardy. The vividly evoked setting provides a lush backdrop. That the book ends with Telemakos at the height of peril will only whet readers' appetites for the story's conclusion.

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