TEMPEST by Troy Denning

"Do I know you?"

"Not yet. But we hope you will let us serve you. What you are doing with Jacen is so delicious - and so right for the Balance...."

~ Lumiya and Alema Rar

Jacen Solo continues his descent into the dark side, prodded by his master, Lumiya. Han and Leia Solo have joined Corellia's side in the planet's fight for independence, angering the jedi and the Galactic Alliance. But when they are caught up in a plan to assassinate the Queen Mother of Hapes, Tenel Ka and her daughter, all evidence points to the fact that they are terrorists. Jacen puts a capture and detain warrant on them, and they are set on the run. Is Ben following Jacen on his path to the dark side? Can Luke Skywalker maintain order?

Oh, wow! This is a great continuity of the LEGACY OF THE FORCE series! We are introduced to a bloodthirsty character from previous books called Alema Rar, who has a bone to pick with Leia, and hopes to "maintain Balance" (get her revenge) by helping Lumiya turn him to the dark side. An ancient jedi bane named Aurra Sing seen in THE PHANTOM MENACE is also brought in. The writing is skillful, not like some of the others I have seen, and ever Troy Denning book I have ever read omits unnecessary cussing, which I very much respect.

On the bad side, there is the usual Star Wars violence with all the fire-fights and lightsaber duels. It is dark, as Jacen is thinking about his ultimate sacrifice in order to become a sith and becoming stronger, but not harmfully dark... yet. I also wouldn't recommend this book for first time Star Wars reader, but for those who thrilled in the prequels, this book is no exception!!!

THE LAST SIN EATER by Francine Rivers

"The what?" you say. It's what I said when a dear friend recommended this book to me. "Never heard of it. Sounds like a Ted Dekker suspense novel or something."

"Oh it's NOT!" she says. And though we hardly EVER agree on what is a good book, I was in the agonizing state of out-of-books. So I checked it out at my wonderful library - and got completely blown away.

When Granny Forbes passes away, her granddaughter, Cadi, is devastated. But she goes to the funeral with the healer's words ringing in her ears, "Cadi, you must listen. Do not look at the sin eater. He has taken all manner of terrible things unto himself. If you look at him, he'll give you the evil eye, and some of the sin he carries might spill over onto you." The sin eater? She finds that, in order to have your sins taken away, the sin eater must come and perform the ritual to take your sins upon himself. But as Cadi keeps her eyes shut tight, his voice startles her into looking right at his eyes - and so begins her curiosity to know who he is. With the shame of a terrible sin that has stolen her mother's love away from her, she wants to find the sin eater and have her sins taken away. Maybe her mother will forgive her then. With the help of her friends Fagan Kai, Miz Elda, a strange man by the river, and an even more mysterious girl named Lilybet, she sets out to find out the truth - maybe she can be set free.

This book has a VERY strong Christian message! I was very happy to give over my utter despair of contemporary Christian novels. This book is filled with mild (but not unhealthy) suspense and Christ's teachings. There is violence from the fiery leader of the town who is completely run by his temper, who beats two people up and even kills a man. The writer did an excellent job depicting the Sin Eater: a shady, mysterious character that keeps you wondering and shivering. There are always those characters that seem as if they are behind a black sheet - you hear their voice and see their outline, but not their features; and no matter how hard you look, you can't see anymore until the end and the sheet falls. Rivers does a wonderful job with many characters such as this. The language is clean, but a woman in the story says that her drunk father, "took it in his head that it was his right to use me like a man used a woman" and her lover quickly dispatched the man in anger. But Cadi does not understand, and since we hear the story through her eyes, nothing is taken further. Cadi's brother, Iwan and a girl were described as "tangled up together in the woods". The girl's father calls her a harlot and it is implied he turns her from the house, but they are not central characters and it is not further spoken of, nor is anything described in any detail. I would recommend this book to anyone old enough to understand the consequences of sin and death, probably about ten years and up. But if you think your little ten-year-old would be afraid, maybe you should read it out loud and make explain some things, but there's no reason they should miss out. YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK!!!!!

ELLA ENCHANTED by Gail Carson Levine

"If someone told me to hop on one foot for a day and a half, I'd have to do it... If you commanded me to cut off my own head, I'd have to do it. I was in danger every moment." ~ Ella from Ella Enchanted

Ella of Frell was given the gift of obedience at birth from a foolish fairy. But the gift is closer to a curse! Whatever anyone commands she must obey, whether it be cooking herself for hungry trolls or putting on a black dress. When her mother dies, Ella's life seems to go topsy-turvy. She is left under the guidance of her merchant father, who doesn't seem to care anything about her. But in Prince Char and the cook, Mandy she still has friends. Her father presently announces she must go to finishing school, and in doing she becomes acquainted with the worst company imaginable: two nasty girls named Hattie and Olive. There she stays for a time, obeying every order from the school mistresses and Hattie, until she runs away to try to break the obedience spell.

In the proceedings of this NEWBERY HONOR award winner, Hattie and Olive become Ella's stepsisters, and in obeying their every wish she becomes a maid. But she secretly keeps a correspondence with Prince Char, and the two gain more and more affection for each other. But will the curse keep Ella from marrying? Can she break the spell?

I read this book aloud to my two sisters and we all had a great time laughing and sighing over it! Sometimes my brother even stopped by to hear a sentence or two and got a giggle. Surprisingly, Louie (10) loved it much more than us older ones! It's a fun and well-written read that's interesting enough for teens; yet still short, easy, and funny enough for younger kids. The author is very talented, and the girls liked the humorous writing strain of the book that could still retain some seriousness. I picked up another book of Levine's that is in the same setting as ELLA ENCHANTED, and got universal groans when I told Lane and Louie that Lucinda is up to her old tricks again! Don't know anything about the movie, but you can count on the book being a healthy read for any age!

Author
Gail Carson Levine
Country
United States
Language
English
Genre
Fantasy
Publisher
Harper Trophy
Publication date
1997
Media type
Hardcover, Paperback & Audiobook
Pages
240 pp
ISBN
ISBN 0-06-440705-5

THE CHILDREN OF HURIN by J.R.R. Tolkien

"What? Can it be? A Tolkien book I've never heard of?" Such were my thoughts as I looked up at a gray book with gold letters in the "T" section of my library. I stood on tiptoes and checked it out. Neat cover! I like neat covers and I like Tolkien! I took it home and read it through.

This book takes place in the First Age of Middle Earth. As the name implies, the story centers around Túrin son of Húrin and his kin. Húrin, the mortal man who dared defy Morgoth the Evil One. Morgoth cast a spell upon him that bound him to a chair to watch the fate of his two cursed children, and he could neither move, nor die until the Evil One so wished. And so the story tells what is seen by Húrin.

His wife, Morwen, seeing that her husband did not come, sent her son Túrin over the mountains to become a man, and not a thrall. King Thingol of Doriath received him and treated him as a son. There he was well-treated by all, except for one of the king's lieges, who taunted him and scorned his family. Outside the castle Túrin finds him and pays him for his mockery by chasing him through the forest naked. When the frantic pursued one comes to a rocky stream, he tries to jump across it, but falls to his death. "Unhappy fool! From here I would have let him walk back to Menegroth. Now he has laid a guilt upon me undeserved". The king's nobles catch up to them there, and guess that Túrin has slain the man in his anger. So Túrin leaves Doriath to live as an outlaw, accidently kills his best friend, and runs into other misfortunes.

Meanwhile, his mother has given birth to his sister, Nienor. The two set out to find Túrin and meet the Dragon Glaurung. His words put Nienor into a craze when she awakes, she remembers nothing of her past. Túrin finds her, and, not knowing she is his sister, names her Niniel and eventually marries her. But he still has Glaurung the Dragon to deal with.

I enjoyed this book very much! It is typical Tolkien - what higher praise is there than that? The violence is as usual with his work, not described. It is a hard read, and probably only engaging for teens. If you are teen or adult, check out this book at your library!



Author
J. R. R. Tolkien;
Christopher Tolkien (ed.)

Cover artist
Alan Lee

Country
England

Genre
Fantasy novel

Publisher
HarperCollins in UK,
Houghton Mifflin in USA

BLOODLINES by Karen Traviss

"To see a Jedi take up his lightsaber against civilians is shocking. But to see the son and nephew of the leader of the jedi council doing it is heartbreaking." ~ Master Cilghal, Jedi high council

Sounds horrifying indeed. But such are the acts of Jacen Solo in the next book of The Legacy of the Force series, BLOODLINES. What is even worse, his apprentice, Ben Skywalker does not know any better than to follow in his master's footsteps. Lumiya, the dark sith continues to subtly train Jacen in the ways of the sith, and by now he knows that the dark side is his destiny. The war in all but name continues between Corellia and the Galactic Alliance, but Han and Leia Solo have new things to worry about. They hear the of the assured return of the most sinister bounty hunter in the galaxy, and the only man ever to get away from the sarlaac's stomach - Boba Fett. But he is afflicted with a terminal illness that gives only a year or two to live. But does Fett sit back and relax? No. He is trying to find and mend a rift with the daughter he never met. Fett gets a little help from a girl by the name of Mirta Gev and begins the search. Meanwhile, the Solos receive the news that Han's cousin, Thracken Sal-Solo, has put a contract on him. The bounty attracts Fett's daughter, and Jacen Solo killed her by interrogation without revealing it to his parents. Boba Fett finds Han and they work out a deal. Fett can use Han as bait for his daughter as long as Han gets some assistance from Fett in the removing of his evil cousin. Can they all work together? Is Jacen now a full-fledged sith?

BLOODLINES is a great continuation of the Legacy of the Force series! The storyline is well thought-out and this book is cleaner than it's prequel, BETRAYAL. There is, of course, the usual violence of bombing, shooting, and lightsaber fights as is the norm with Star Wars, but if you are allowed to watch the Star Wars movies, you would be allowed to read this book! I rate it a G for older kids and adults, but a parent should read this first if you are an eight-year-old wanting to read this book.

Author
Karen Traviss
Language
English
Series
Legacy of the Force
Galactic Year
40 ABY
Subject
Star Wars
Genre
Science Fiction
Publisher
Del Rey
Released
29 August 2006
Pages
416
ISBN
ISBN 0-345-47751-0
Preceded by
Betrayal
Followed by
Tempest

THE GOLDEN GOBLET- By Eloise Mcgraw

The Golden Goblet is a good fictional story of Ancient Egypt.
It gives you a good idea how Ancient Egypt was like. The story centers around a boy named Ranofer who was treated like a slave by his evil half brother Gebu. One night when his half brother was out Ranofer climbed up the stairs of Gebus forbidden room to try to find out all Gebu's secrets. He opened a box and found something very valuable. Later that valuable piece brought him freedom and everything he could ask for.
The story is filled with secrets and adventure in Ancient Egypt.
They believe in many gods and all of them are not real. There is only one God who made the heavens and the earth and the Bible speaks clearly against that :Exodus 20:1
"You shall have no other God
before me."

Author: Eloise McGraw

Rated: G

ELDEST - by Christopher Paolini

Say hello to a book whose contents I have thought long, hard, and painfully about. It exceeds the expectations set by fans from it's prequel, ERAGON, with a thought-out plot, well-written words, and the classic "Whoa! Didn't see that coming!" The boy Eragon, now a great hero of the Varden travels to Ellesmera, the land of the elves to complete the training begun by Brom. Still scarred by his experience with the shade, Durza, he has a hard time of it, yet still is encouraged by his master. Saphira too, learns much from her dragon master, Gladyr, yet one of the "iffy" things comes in when Saphira realizes that she is not the last dragon as she supposed, and attempts to convince Gladyr (rather violently) to elope with her. It doesn't go into details and she is sorrowfull about her actions later, but it still gave me some grief, as I was reading the book partly to see if my younger siblings could read it too.

Remember Eragon's cousin, Roran? In the first book it seemed that adding Roran in was a little pointless, but in this book he defends his town from the Ra'zac and leads his people to safety. But... as you probably guessed, more sorry lovelornity. Roran ends up proposing to Katrina not only without her father's consent, but knowing her father would put his foot down and run him out of town with an axe! The father is the mean traitor though, but it wouldn't leave me reconciled to my actions if I were Roran.

Eragon and Saphira return later to the Varden to assist in battle against Galbatorix. There, in the last part of the book, the plot just comes together and jumps out at you in a stunning revelation.

There's a little more on the down side of the story here. A romance between Eragon and Arya was hinted at in the first book as you probably noticed. It is continued here by Eragon, but discouraged by Arya and everybody else. Basically if you don't think well of this kind of romance, this book is not for you. If I remember correctly there was also a word of mild language by Orik the Dwarf in a drunken stupor. Master Oromis teaches Eragon a theory that there is no god and nothing to worship in the world. I was disappointed that this book didn't quite hit my "great book" note, but I rate it PG. I wish my mom had read it first, because I am still iffy about this story.

Author:
Christopher Paolini
Illustrator:
John Jude Palencar
Country:
United States
Series:
Inheritance Trilogy
Genre(s):

fantasy fiction
Publisher:
Alfred A. Knopf