Having slipped through the window in the Aurora Borealis, the intrepid Lyra finds herself in a new world where she arrives in Cittagazze, a beautiful yet haunted city inhabited by soul-eating specters and run by children. Here she finds an ally in Will Parry, a 12-year-old boy from our own world who, in search of his missing father, stumbled into the strange world via another window leading from his own Oxford. Together, the pair forge ahead on a perilous journey between worlds teeming with witches, angels, and treachery to uncover a deadly secret: a weapon of extraordinary and devastating power. With each step they cannot overcome the greatest threat of all, and walk towards the shattering truth of their own destinies...
If you've never read the first book of the His Dark Materials trilogy, you're not going to fancy reading The Subtle Knife. Bottom line. They are very intertwined and reading it before its predecessor - Northern Lights (or in the US, The Golden Compass) - will get you nowhere fast.
Quite frankly, I'm not sure how I feel about this book. It was a bit strange, to be frank. None of the alleged Church bashing from the first book bothered me and while it's continued to a degree here, that's really not it. Though I've read both books and will definitely read the third, I wouldn't put it on my top ten list.
His Dark Materials
I bought this quite a while back, and have only just got around to reading it. At the time the book looked really good, but since then I have joined yahoo answers, and there are so many irritating questions on there, I was beginning to be convinced that the books were all hype, and I would be disappointed.
However, I was pleasantly surprised. The plot is very well crafted, development is good, main characters have depth, and Meyer has the ability to surprise her reader.
http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight_reviews.html
If you click home you can find out so much more about Meyer and her books.
Gives a flavour of the book. I like the idea she has developed that vampires are able to walk abroad during daylight hours in more Northern latitudes.
As for the people asking endless questions on Y!A, I just think that perhaps they need to "get a life". Sorry, but asking puerile questions about books does my head in.
Yes, looking at the cover of this book, and the publisher it is classed as a children's book. To be found in the teen section. However I think the book is better classed as a fantasy, as it tells of a quest through umaya, or dream landscape, by three children, the eldest of which is only 14. But to me that is where the "children's" book " element ends. The book is a quest by the three children to find Temberi. They are trapped in the dream landscape with no way of escaping unless they can find the edge of time, where they can get back from the dream landscape into real time. Their quest encounters several "tribe/people", each with their own "eccentricity" As they encounter each "tribe/people", they uncover the next part of the journey they need to make.
The book is not a small one, at 638 pages, it is quite long, and the spine broke when I got near the middle of it. It's not a book for someone who likes a "quick" read.
It is Isabel Hoving's first novel for Walker books, link for further details below.
http://www.walkerbooks.co.uk/Isabel-Hoving
http://www.walkerbooks.co.uk/The-Dream-Merchant-Paperback-1406301825
The book has been translated from Hoving's native Dutch into English, but being honest, it isn't as labourious a read as some translations are.
Meggie's father has a secret talent. One that, I dare say, many readers would like to have. It's an extraordinary ability, but one that comes with a price. You see, when Meggie's father reads aloud, he brings forth characters from the book. Suddenly, they're flesh and blood. The only problem is, he cannot control who is brought from the pages of the story. When Meggie was just a toddler, her father, Mo, read aloud from Inkheart and brought forth the story's villain as well as a few other characters. Years later, he comes face to face with Capricorn, the very villain he read from the book. With the aid of Meggie, the author of the book and a few others, Mo must find a way to get rid of Capricorn before he tries to take over the world.
I picked up this book solely for the purpose of knowing the story before the movie comes out in 2009. I saw a trailer for it and it appealed to me, so I decided to buy the book. It's a fantastic story. I mean who wouldn't love to come face to face with their favourite characters from a book? I love any story where books are treated as friends that is the sort of mind-set conveyed through the book. So now I can look forward to the movie.
For more information about Funke's other books try here: Scholastic
For information about the movie: Inkheart
This was a re-read for me, as I have read it at least twice before.
Saying that, it's a good 3, maybe 4, years since I read it last.
I still enjoyed it. I'd forgotten how difficult it is to put down.
Yes, this is the book that The Golden Compass film is based on. I haven't seen the film, but Blue has and she said that they'd left bits out.
Lyra when we first meet her has very little care in the world, she's a typical tomboy and the leader of her little circle of friends. She overhears something which changes her life, and she exchanges her adventures around Jordan college for much more interesting and dangerous ones. As she sails North to help rescue the children that have been going missing, she also aims to free Lord Asriel, who she thought was her uncle, but now finds is her father.
Lyra's adventures bring her into contact with gyptians, witches, tartars, armoured bears and an aeronaut.
Although published originally for teens, like many of Philip Pullman's books, Northern Lights has appeal for adults as well as teens.
I really fail to see what all the hubub is about, but then again, I'm not an overly religious individual, so all I see is a terrific fantasy. I won't say much more about this book as it's about to be released as a major motion picture.
What I will say, though, is if you're basing your decisions to not read the book or see the film on what others have said, read it yourself. Form your own conclusions.
Thanks to my dear partner in crime here on this blog, I am one of the very few Americans who owns a copy of this book. It's available in the UK and has been republished by the same group who took on the task of publishing JK Rowlings 7-book series. They did so in the hopes of finding another gold mine like the Potter series.
I'm about thirteen chapters in and so far it's an interesting read, though somewhat slow. It's about a 14-year old boy who lives in a suburb of London, England and has a passion for archaeology like his father. According to the blurb on the back of the book, the main character, Will, and his best mate Chester, find a dark and terrifying secret below the streets of London. At 13 chapters into the book, Will's father has only just now disappeared which prompts Will to go in search of him, thereby making the discovery of the aforementioned secret. As I said, it's a slow plot. But I shall prevail. Perhaps something later will make up for this slow pace.
Like millions of readers around the world, I am reading the final book in the saga about a boy wizard growing up and having to fight an enemy whose wanted him dead since birth.
Thus far it's an excellent read. I've already encountered one of the two deaths promised in the story, but I won't divulge the character's identity.
I went Friday night at midnight to pick it up like so many did.