Missing Percy Jackson? Try these books!

I'm afraid I had a migraine yesterday which is why I posted a little later than usual.  One of the consequences is an inability to concentrate and another is screens make it worse.  So, let's discuss Percy Jackson.


Percy Jackson is a really great series that takes place in contemporary times and all the characters are offspring of Greek gods and mortals.  There is the original series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the sequel series, Heroes of Olympus.  What do you read now that the series is finished and Rick Riordan's next series isn't coming out until October?  This is a situation those of us who work with children are answering and some people have less experience with fantasy than others.  I received a system-wide e-mail looking for suggestions for an 8 -10 year lad who had read Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Narnia, Tolkien, Farley Mowat, Ascendance Trilogy and Trouble Twisters.  Apparently the dad who was looking for suggestions did not like Trouble Twisters.  Here is what myself and my colleagues suggested for the bewildered dad.

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

 

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

Charlie Bone (The Children of the Red King) by Jenny Nimmo

The Snow Spider by Jenny Nimmo

Children of the Lamp by Philip Kerr

The Blackwell Pages by K. L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr

 Redwall by Brian Jacques (original trilogy is featured below)

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer 

Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell 

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull 

Inkspell Trilogy (Inkworld) by Cornelia Funke 

Sea of Trolls Trilogy by Nancy Farmer 

Monster's Ring (Magic Shop) by Bruce Coville 

Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan 

Septimus Heap by Angie Sage 

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy 

Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins 

Young Heroes by Jane Yolen

Chrestomanci by Dianne Wynne Jones (author's suggested reading order)

Tiffany Aching, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett

 

Bartimaeus Sequence by Jonathan Stroud

The King in the Window by Adam Gopnik

The Sword in the Stone by T. H. White

Skellig by David Almond

New Policeman by Kate Thompson

We have many more to go, but that will have to wait until next week!  Hopefully you have found something new to read, whether for yourself or someone else.

How I Discovered: Terry Brooks

I discovered Terry Brooks when I was in high school.  Basically, I found Terry Brooks because he was really close to Piers Anthony.  I did not start off with his more popular Shannara series.  The first series I ever read and loved by Terry Brooks all started when I read Magic Kingdom for Sale -- Sold!.  This is the Magic Kingdom of Landover series, which I loved because it all seemed a little ridiculous to me.  The reason that I really enjoyed this story was because it started in the real world and then transitioned into the kingdom of Landover, is traditional fantasy and is ever so slightly ridiculous.  Although there is a whole series, I really do prefer to read the first book by itself.  Also, I just looked at goodreads.com and there is a sixth edition to the series.  However, it was published 14 years after the fifth book and I don't think that I'll be re-reading the whole series just to read the sixth book.

The basic plot is that the main character, Ben Holiday, no longer wishes to live in the real world.  Although he is a successful lawyer with a lot of money, life has nothing to offer him anymore.  However, he sees an ad and believes it is an elaborate hoax that someone is playing on him.  Being a lawyer and also filled with curiosity, Ben Holiday decides to respond to the ad.  He ends up purchasing the Kingdom, only to find that it was not quite as advertised.  Sterling Castle isn't quite as sterling, there are all kinds of monsters and the taxes haven't been collected in quite a long time.  In addition, there is a mysterious knight who keeps popping up every time that Ben is in danger.  Who is the knight and what does he have to do with Ben?  You'll have to read it to find out!

Once I finished this series, I started in the Shannara series.  I just gave up after a while.  It seemed like there was no end to the series and sub-series.  It is a traditional fantasy series, but unlike Landover, doesn't really seem to poke as much fun at itself.  Combine those two facts and I just got bored with the series.  If  you like fantasy, I would suggest the original Shannara Trilogy.  If you like those, you'll like the others in the sequel series as well.

      

How I Discovered – Lisa Shearin

I’ve decided to start a new series titled “How I Discovered”.  This will discuss how I found out about new books, whether it is an interesting story or not.  This is the first installment of my series.

I watched The Guild’s Game On music video (it’s a Bollywood music video about geekdom, you need to watch it if you haven’t already) and I noticed Felicia Day’s character reading a book that looked really interesting. I paused, zoomed and then looked the title up on Goodreads and found out it was the 4^th book in the Raine Benares series.

Of course, I started at the beginning of the series.  The first book is called Magic Lost, Trouble Found and is a great read.  In this book, a good deed goes bad when Raine Benares, trying to assist an old friend (who is a thief) finds herself attached to the amulet that he is stealing.  She finds herself defending herself and her family from several factions who also want the amulet.  Not only that, but her magical powers are amplifying as well.  How will she deal with all these changes?  You’ll have to read the entire series to find out.  I finished the fourth book Bewitched and Betrayed (which is the book that Felicia Day was reading) and can’t wait to get the fifth.  If you like fantasy novels with snarky, sassy and strong female leads, this is definitely the series for you!

      

Why Steampunk Is So Much Fun

This weekend is Comiccon.  I went yesterday on Saturday, and now I think it is time to discuss one of my favorite topics, Steampunk.  I’ve only recently gotten into this aspect of science fiction.  Some of you might already be familiar with Steampunk.  One of the reasons steampunk is so great is that it allows for all kinds of creativity and there are all kinds of sub-genres.  Some of you might be familiar with Western Steampunk, Firefly & Wild, Wild, West are examples of that.  I went to the steampunk cosplay session and one of the tips they gave was that it is all about expressing yourself, so be creative and have fun.

One of my favorite quotes is actually from a Castle episode called “Punked” which is all about a murder that takes place in the steampunk community in New York City.  This is one of the best definitions I’ve ever heard:  “It's a subculture that embraces the simplicity and romance of the past at the same time, couples it with the hope and promise and sheer super-coolness of futuristic design”.

When it comes to Steampunk, there are so many books, so I’m going to discuss a couple of my favorite non-fiction books and steampunk author.  Also, I borrowed all of the below books from my local library, so if you are interested, be sure to check them out.

One of my favorite steampunk non-fiction books is Steampunk Your Wardrobe by Calista Taylor.  This is one of the best books to look at if you are looking to modify clothing so it is more steampunk.  I am really looking forward to trying a number of crafts from this book.  Basically, find what you want to do, go to the thrift store and adapt.

The other non-fiction book I really like is titled Steampunk Emporium by Jema Hewitt.  In fact, I made a choker based on one from this book.  That is the great thing about steampunk.  I didn’t like the choker in the book, it just wasn’t me, so I made my choker more to my taste.

As for fiction, there is one name that stands out in my mind as a steampunk author, Gail Carriger.  I absolutely love her books!  She has a wonderful sense of humor and the characters in her book are wonderfully written.  She also writes strong female leads.  It is a perfect blend of science fiction (steampunk) and fantasy (vampires/werewolves) elements.  In chronological order, you should read the Finishing School series, the Soulless series and the Custard Protocol (her newest) series.  In publication order for the series, it is Soulless, Finishing School and then Custard Protocol.  I suggest reading it in chronological order as I read it in publication order and now find myself somewhat confused by the Custard Protocol because it is recalling events that occurred at the end of the Soulless series.

Finishing School

          

Soulless

          

The Custard Protocol

Why Terry Pratchett Is One Of The Best Fantasy Authors

So I want to tell you all about one of my favorite authors.  As mentioned in my previous post, it was my cousin who introduced me to Terry Pratchett.  I read that first book (Guards!  Guards!) and absolutely fell in love with Terry Pratchett’s writing style.  It made fun of so many of the fantasy conventions that I loved.  When I was trying to describe him to my family, I said that he was like the Douglas Adams of fantasy.  Sadly, he passed away recently and fans reacted at once on social media, even to the extent of creating code so that he could live forever in the Internet!  In addition, The Economist wrote a wonderfully hilarious obituary for him.

Now, as mentioned, the first book I ever read by Terry Pratchett was Guards! Guards!  After that, I started reading as many of his books that I could get my hands on!  My other favorite series are Going Postal and the Tiffany Aching series, starting with Wee Free Men.

The original City Watch or Guards series is a trilogy.  The first book is Guards!  Guards!, the second book in the series is Men at Arms and the third book is Feet of Clay.  I highly suggest starting off with this series as events that happen in Feet of Clay are reflected in the Going Postal series.  The reason that I mention the original is that Terry Pratchett took one of the main characters from the books, Sam Vimes and gave him his own series which is centered on him rather than the City Watch. 

          

Going Postal is a hilarious book about Moist Von Lipwig, a con man who is "hired" by the government to run the Post Office on pain of death (again).  This seems fine until he finds out what happened to the previous Post Masters AND also has to contend with the Clacks company’s CEO.  This is the first book in what has been termed as the "Moist Von Lipwig" series or Moist for short.

          

The Tiffany Aching series is actually a teen series.  To get a good idea of what Wee Free Men is about, please check out this book trailer that I created.  It is a wonderful series based on Celt traditions.

   

   

As for standalone books (Discworld, but not a smaller series), Hogfather is one of the best!  It is hilarious and incorporates the origins of our Christmas.  I highly suggest making time around Christmas to watch the the mini-series.

And my husband highly suggests Good Omens so long as you can handle people making fun of the book of Revelations.  Also, this book is co-written with Neil Gaiman, who is also a great author.

If you have very young readers, I highly suggest The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents.  This is a Carnegie award-winning book based on the story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin, but with Terry Pratchett's usual twist.  He also wrote a number of short stories, then hid them in his closet.  These stories were collected into Dragons at Crumbling Castle and includes two stories about The Carpet People, the title of the first book he ever wrote, which was meant for children.

       

How Fantasy Turned Me Into A Book Junkie

Then, one summer, I’m visiting my family in Victoria and my cousin says, “Have you ever read this book?  It is so great!”  The book was Guards!  Guards! By Terry Pratchett.  This introduced me to Discworld.  I then introduced my husband’s (then boyfriend’s) family to Terry Pratchett after I saw their taste in comedy was incredibly similar to my own.  They loved Douglas Adams, but also Flying Circus & something I had never heard of, Goon Show.  I gave my father-in-law my rather tatty copy of Guards!  Guards! and he was hooked.  I think we now have nearly all of the Discworld series scattered throughout the house although we are trying to gather them in one spot.

My introduction to Harlequins came via my family in Kitchener.  When we went on vacation, we would all bring Harlequins to read and then swap.  This had become a tradition somewhat earlier in our lives with Archie comic books, but then we changed our reading habits once we got older.  Whenever I read Harlequins, I found that I preferred the historical romance novels rather than contemporary.  One of my favorite novels is Hidden Fires by Sandra Brown.  Since I moved to my current town, I started reading more & more historical romances, especially Regency.  I’ll be doing separate posts on some of my favorite authors later.

I also started to get really into Teen & Children's books.  Although I didn't realize it at the time, what my high school library had was a highly curated collection of books chosen to appeal to teens.  While working at the library, I often saw my favorite books from high school placed in the adult Science Fiction & fantasy section.  So I dove right into the teen section which composes of books written specifically for teens.  As for children’s, well, there’s a ton of fantasy there that I love,  Again, separate posts will be forthcoming for some of my favorite series.

How I Became A Book Junkie

I’ve always loved libraries!  When I was a kid & growing up in a small southern Ontario town, there wasn’t a lot to do.  On the weekends, we'd all troop down to our local library (it was a Carnegie) and choose movies and books to read.  We had the traditional scary children’s librarian.  When I got older and was in grade 7, I was ready to read more adult books.  My piano teacher suggested that I read Jeanette Oke, which served as my introduction to the romance genre in general and the Christian romance genre in particular.  However, there was no YA or Teen section, so imagine my surprise when I got to the high school library.  All these books, meant for my age group?!  It was a huge revelation, especially when my Grade 9 teacher made us read a Fantasy book.  It was like a whole new world had opened up for me.  I started off with David Eddings and when I finished those two series, I moved onto authors Piers Anthony, then Terry Brooks.  I then burned my way through the first 5 or 6 books from the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.  One of my cousins loaned me a book called Brightly Burning by Mercedes Lackey, but I really didn’t like the ending, so this turned me off her for what I thought would be forever.  During this time, I was still taking items out from the public library.  I started branching off into more contemporary romances written by Barbara Delinsky & Sandra Brown.

My grandmother also heavily influenced my reading as a child that would continue as an adult.  She gave me one of my first fantasy books, Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper.  It was such a delight.  I had to get the rest of the series from the library since I couldn’t wait to read the rest. 

My father read to us every night.  Obviously the books changed over the years as we became older the books changed to something that would take months or even years to finish reading.  We started off with picture books of course, but then as we got older my father read us books by Gerald Durell & James Herriot.  Eventually, he read us The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings.  This continued all the way to end of high school.