Elder Race

Lynesse Fourth Daughter is brave and true, or as her mother would put it, stupid and gullible. She is the fourth princess in line for the throne, and everyone says as the least likely to make something of herself. But now, finally, she's been given the chance to prove them all wrong. See, there's a demon about, the kind of devastating, potentially world-ending threat that only appears in age-old stories. Lynesse, however, has a plan: if she recruits the famed sorcerer Nyrgoth Elder, he will surely be able to solve the problem.

Nyr Illim Tevitch is tired. Very, very tired. Tired of waiting for contact from Earth, which stopped transmitting signals centuries ago. Tired of shirking and sometimes outright betraying his anthropological duties to survey the planet without interfering with its savage inhabitants. Tired of living with the knowledge that he is quite possibly the last member of his civilization. Mostly, just, tired. But hey, here's a flimsy excuse to wake up from indefinite cryosleep and go for an outing. He's got nothing better to do.

Elder Race tells the tale of these two idiots, together with Lynesse's good friend Esha Free Mark, setting out to find and defeat the demon. Half the chapters are from Lynesse's perspective, and make up a fantasy story; the other half are from Nyr's perspective, and make up a science fiction story. It's an interesting concept, but does it hold up?

Well, it kinda depends on your priorities. If all you want is to see the juxtaposition of two perspectives which view events as science or as magic, then Elder Race absolutely delivers (especially compared to certain other science vs magic books). The technology that Nyr uses is believable as an extension of technology that we have today, and Lynesse's interpretations of these technological marvels makes sense given what she and her culture know of the world. As an exercise in seeing the same thing from two very different pairs of eyes, it succeeds.

My main complaint is with the characters. To be frank, I never really cared about any of them. I couldn't get invested in Lyn's struggle to prove herself as a princess, nor in Nyr's search for meaning in a world that has no place for him in a galaxy that has forgotten him. It's like... have you ever watched a movie and thought, "this would be really great if only it was instead a TV show"? That's the feeling I got reading Elder Race. If only the book was, like, three times its current length, maybe it could have gotten me invested in the characters and story instead of relying entirely on its (admittedly rather clever) worldbuilding.

Also, I could have done with a bit less Anthropology Is Dumb in the book? See, a big part of Nyr's situation is that, as an anthropologist, he's not allowed to speak to the people he studies, nor indeed involve them at all. He's also apparently been taught to be uncomfortably racist against the people he studies. For the first half of the book, I was worried that the author shared his mindset (oh these savages without logic or reason, the only way to be human is to have a telephone, et cetera et cetera), but fortunately toward the end it was made clear that this is a bad thing.

Again I find myself wishing that the book had just a little more time to say its piece. Just another few pages of Nyr discovering that he's a racist little prick. Just another few pages of the characters interacting with each other, making us see them as people worth worrying about. Just another few pages of chatting with people outside our band of heroes, to give the world a real sense of being lived in.

Elder Race does not have the time to do those things, and it doesn't do them. But I mean, the flip side of that is that you can get through the whole book in just one long plane ride, so it's not exactly the biggest waste of time. All things considered, Elder Race had a clever, well-executed concept and nothing more. If that's enough to make you want to read it, then you'll have a good time.

(P.S. For some reason my brain decided that the correct way to pronounce this book's title was El Derrace, as if it were a noun from a romance language. This is irrelevant to the quality of the book, but I thought it was important to note.)

All the Birds in the Sky

Patricia Delfine is an ordinary girl living an ordinary childhood in her ordinary home. That is until one day when she decides to help a bird with a broken wing, who tells Patricia she's a witch and leads her to the Parliament of Birds, who give her an Endless Question to prove that she's really a witch. Will she be able to solve the riddle? Will she find a way to deal with her slightly sadistic sister? Will she unlock her true powers and become a protector of nature?

Laurence (with a U, not a W) is a shy kid who spends most of his time at home building things like an almost-functioning supercomputer and a watch that takes him two seconds into the future.  One day, he decides to sneak out of school to see a rocket launch at MIT. Will he use this time-skipping watch to expand on science's understanding of time? Will he succeed in creating a supercomputer? Will anyone ever stop calling him Larry?

The answers to these questions are all "maybe," because all of that happens in the first two chapters and then we immediately skip forwards by several years. Now, Patricia and Laurence both attend Canterbury Academy, a high school in which neither of them quite fit. Fortunately, they find each other, and tentatively start forming a friendship. Before long, the two become fast friends, and have all the sorts of misadventures that you would expect from a feel-good novel about high-school aged kids.

PSYCHE! They're soon separated and don't see each other for ten years, during which they split into their respective separate and irreconcilable worlds! Charlie Jane Anders has fooled you again! So yeah, Laurence is now a fancy science man who does fancy science, and Patricia is now a witch who does witchy things. Like for example assassination? I'm pretty sure Patricia is an assassin now? It's unclear. The point is, fancy science and witchy things can never ever go together, so Patricia and Laurence have an uncrossable rift between them, which they must somehow bridge if they are to ever be friends again.

Fortunately, our two protagonists have all the time they need to get to know each other, because the world is ending. Oh wait no that's bad. Don't worry, there are plans in the works to fix the oncoming apocalypse, which has to do with the climate changing by the way. Patricia's witch squad has proposed the worst plan in the universe, so that's maybe a bad idea. Fortunately, Laurence's science squad has proposed an alternative, which is also a bad plan but is preferable in that it is not the worst plan in the universe. The actual contents of both plans are kinda spoilers so I won't go into them here, but I mean really could they not like try any non-last-resort ideas given that they are not yet at a last-resort stage of the apocalypse?

Okay, I'm being a bit mean here. All the Birds in the Sky is a fun book, even if it does get somewhat pushed around by fridge logic. Laurence's science inventions are all pretty cool, even though they never get to a super useful practical level, much less an Iron Man level (with one spoilerish exception). Patricia's magic spells are rich and varied, and the associated costs keep them from feeling too overpowered. All in all, it's a pretty well-done balance of tech and magic.

If I do have any complaints, and I do, they're mostly about elements of the world, and in particular its portrayal of "the science side." First off, the idea of an uncrossable rift between magic and science bothers me. This is probably because of my obsession familiarity with science. See, science is a process and a lens through which you can see the world, and even if it doesn't entirely work you can at least try to apply science to magic. I guess I've been spoiled by things like Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, Artemis Fowl, Girl Genius, Atomic Robo, (but I'm going to invisible this text so that no one knows that I consider these magic-and-science, the first being science at heart and the last two being magic at heart) and The Entire SCP Wiki. In short, the problem I have is that the driving force of conflict (science vs magic) is something that I think is stupid.

Then, there's the trouble of how the science side in itself is portrayed. It's more of an "I have invented this cool thing now" than an "I am curious about how the universe works and how I can make it work for me." To see what I mean, let's take another look at that time-machine watch. First of all, and I admit this is nit-picky, the book acts as if two seconds is a really short amount of time. Like, Laurence skips forward two seconds and nobody notices because it just looks like he's flickering. This is two seconds: . That doesn't look like flickering to me.

But, more than that, there's the whole concept of the watch itself. Why two seconds? Why can't you jump more or less time? How does the watch know what to move forward and what to not affect? How would it affect a liquid? What reference frame is it using for the output point in space? How much mass can it affect? What happens to the space you used to take up in the two seconds are gone? None of these questions are asked by any of the characters, not even the ones that are meant to be "science people". My point is that an actual scientist would do so much with this, but in All the Birds in the Sky it's dismissed as just another "science thing."

It is, however, pretty clear why these avenues are not explored. All the Birds in the Sky isn't a book about the difficulties of reconciling science and magic. It's a book about Patricia Delfine and Laurence WaitDidHeHaveALastName, and their relationship with each other. The science fiction is of the pulpy magic-but-with-"quantum"-on-it variety. Essentially, in All the Birds in the Sky, "science" is a less effective and less reliable form of magic, with the bonus of not having any apparent costs. The split between the two sides is there only to drive the conflict of the book, and it works.

In conclusion, let this be a lesson to you all that thinking too hard about books can be bad for you. After a thousand words of text, my actual position towards All the Birds in the Sky seems murky. To be clear: I did like the book, although many of its elements ticked me off in just the wrong ways. If you want a deep exploration into whether or not science can be reconciled with magic, then this is probably not the book for you (and, honestly, I can't think of a single book which focuses on that question). If, however, you want to read a relationship drama between two awkward misfits, with the added spice of them being from different worlds and at the start of an apocalypse, then All the Birds in the Sky might be the book for you.

Math for Mystics

Math for Mystics is not really a book about math. It's written by Renna Shesso, a shamanic practitioner and priestess of wicca. It's about how to use vaguely mathy things when performing magical rituals and such.

As I have literally no experience in such things, I'm not sure how "good" the book is at what it does. The chapter on individual numbers was pretty cool, as was the chapter on magic squares and the one on days of the week. Unfortunately, I am almost certain to never use any of this in real life, so... I don't know what else to say.

If you're a wiccan or a druid and you want some... tips? I guess? Then buy Math for Mystics. You have my solemn word that it involves no serious mathematics. Otherwise, you can read, like, anything else.

The Rest Of Us Just Live Here

The Rest Of Us Just Live Here is about the life of a boy named Mikey during his last few weeks of high school. He hangs out with his sister Mel, his best friend Jared, and his not-girlfriend Henna. He's just trying to live his normal life and come to terms with leaving his friends and family to go to college. And, hopefully, finally ask Henna out on a date.

Then, there's also that whole teen adventure thing going on. Something to do with blue light and immortals and whatnot. But, that's not Mikey's problem. The indie kids can deal with that, like they always have, and eventually one of them will become the chosen one or whatever and save the world. Mikey and his friends? Background characters. Nothing they can do. As long as the indie kids can keep their problems to themselves, Mikey's got bigger things to worry about (like that new kid Nathan? What's his deal??).

I love everything about this book. First of all, I love the premise of it being a story about the background characters in a teen adventure novel. It's amazing how well Patrick Ness gets that theme across without making it seem like a gimmick. Somehow, he makes the presence of the "indie kids" (protagonists) seem like "a fact of life" but not "'just a fact of life." I also love all of the characters, and how relatable they are, and just how alive they feel. Every single one of them. Well, except the immortals, but they don't entirely count. I love the ending so much that I won't say anything more about it. It's just so great.

If you like good books which might make you cry, then read this book. I really can't recommend it enough. This is my new favorite book, and I love it so much that I can't really explain why I love it this much. I have so much to say that I don't want to say anything. Please read it, as a favor to me.

The Hike

The Hike, by Drew Magary, is about a man who gets well and truly lost. The man in question is Ben, a thirty-eight year old with a wife and three kids and a house and an important business meeting to get to. Before he goes to the meeting, he decides to take a walk. The walk turn into a hike. The hike turns into a mad sprint for his life. Then he gets lost.

The hotel is gone, as is the road, and all traces of human civilization. The only thing left is a path, and, seeing no other options, Ben follows this path, in the hopes that it will take him somewhere eventually. Then, strange things start to happen, and they keep getting stranger. Only one thing is clear: If Ben goes off the path, then he will die. As long as he stays on the path, he - well, the point is he should stay on the path.

The Hike is a beautifully written page-turner with memorable characters and one of the best endings I've ever seen. Honestly, I think The Hike is my favorite book now. It's hard to find words to express this fully. There's just nothing about it that I don't like. It has a great little mystery and a few twists which not only genuinely caught me by surprise but also made me completely change the way I framed the whole thing. I love it so much.

If you like good books, then you should read this book.

Beware The Wild

Natalie C. Parker's Beware the Wild is about a girl named Sterling, who lives in the small town of Sticks, Louisiana. Everything is pretty great in Sticks, so long as you never, under any circumstances, cross the fence and go into the swamp. When the book opens, Sterling is steadily watching the fence for any signs of her only sibling, Phin, who has of course run into the swamp.

Fortunately, her sister, Lenora May, reemerges from the swamp, just in time for her mother to call them in to dinner. There is no problem with this situation and everything is fine. Except for the small detail that Sterling doesn't have a sister. Or, well, she didn't. Everyone in town has excepted Lenora May as if she was always there, and nobody can remember Phin. In fact, Sterling herself distinctly remembers having Lenora May as a sister throughout her whole life.

Now, Sterling has to figure out what's happening, get her brother back, and send Lenora May back where she belongs. Or does she? First, she must play the age-old game of figure-out-who-you-can-trust-or-die. Saying any more about the plot would kinda spoil the fun of the game, so let's just leave it at that.

Beware the Wild is apparently Natalie's first book, and I have to say she's off to a really good start. The way she portrays the insidious replacement of memories is better than any other I've ever seen. I do think that the first half of the book, the aforementioned game of figuring things out, is better than the second half, or the game of ACTION. That's not to say that Beware the Wild ends badly, far from it, it's just that the first parts were so strong that the exciting, high-stakes climax seems just mediocre in comparison.

In conclusion, Beware the Wild is fun and exciting and a good way to spend a weekend. When you pick it up, you will find it difficult to put down. If you like fantasy in a modern setting with a pinch of the surreal, Beware the Wild is the book for you. Well, it's a book for you. You can also read other books. What I'm saying is you'll like it and you should read it.

Witch & Wizard

Witch and Wizard, by James Patterson and a second author in smaller print, is about a witch and a wizard. Their names are Wisteria and Whitford Allgood, but they usually go by Wisty and Whit. Yes, they are really the All-good family.

Unfortunately for them, "the country" has elected some fellows called the New Order into power, and in "a few months" the New Order has completely destroyed "the old government" and instituted a council to rule over the new authoritarian state and also they've convinced everyone that not only does magic exist but also that it's evil and that it's okay to do terrible things to children and also the Allgoods are the last nice parents on Earth and everyone else is just sorta fine with it except for kids so the New Order just kills children by the hundreds and did I mention EVERYONE IS FINE WITH IT and also there are apparently no countries other than "the country" because everyone is either in the New Order or in the resistance as clearly marked in the map and also the world is flat I guess and there are no oceans but there's also four other levels of reality because why not?

So, yeah, it's set in an alternate reality where that somehow makes sense.

Anyways, Wisty and Whit have somehow missed the fact that the GOVERNMENT IS GONE AND EVERYONE IS EVIL sorry I need a little time to adjust to this premise.

[time passes]

So, Wisty and Whit were not informed about the new government, nor about the existence of magic, nor about the fact that magic is illegal and morally reprehensible. They are then completely surprised when they are arrested by the New Order for the charge of being a witch and a wizard, respectively. They are even more surprised when they start developing magical powers, such as seeing ghosts and being on fire. Slightly less surprising is that they are sentenced to death. Now, Wisty and Whit have to use their magic to escape the torture-prison and find their parents.

The review so far has been a bit ranty, so I feel like I should clarify: I really liked Witch & Wizard. It is fun, and easy to read, and it moves at an incredibly fast pace. The good characters are all likable, and the evil characters are all cartoonishly evil. I'm also okay with the ridiculous setting, because it just emphasizes the whole silly good-vs-bad fun of the story.

So, read this book if you like fast-paced action and fun. Try to ignore my little rant. Honestly, I just made it for fun.

The Magic of Math

The Magic of Math, by Arthur Benjamin, has so many puns. I feel like I should start with that. Some puns, are bad, and some are worse, but they all are puns. Also it's about, like, math, I guess.

This book, I think, is definitely aimed at more of an everyday audience than other math books I've covered (except, of course, for this one, which you should all read). I think that, as long as you have a decent grasp on basic algebra, you will breeze through the book, especially if you skip the asides which are scattered throughout.

The Magic of Math spends a lot more time on proofs than all the other math books I've read, and I think that works to its benefit. Sometimes the other books state things and expect you to just take them as facts, which works for them, because they are just kinda taking you on a sightseeing tour of different areas of mathematics. However, I like the way Arthur Benjamin proves everything in the book (sometimes in asides), because it means you can take the time to understand what he is saying. This is especially effective because The Magic of Math is a book (how insightful of me!), so you can take your time re-reading things and it won't go anywhere.

In conclusion, if you are slightly interested in reading a book about math, read either The Magic of Math or Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension. The first one is more focused and requires more work on the reader's part (at least if you want to understand everything), while the second is a fun tour on mathematical discoveries and concepts. Choose wisely. Or, you know, just read both.

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June

I liked The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June, and my friends make fun of me for it. Yes, it is about girls, and yes, it has elements of romance, and yes, it is very cheesy, but it was fun to read and had an interesting story.

April, May, and June are three sisters, named in chronological order (April is the oldest and June is the youngest). They have just moved to the town of Somewhere Probably because their parents got divorced. Now, they are living with their mom, and about to start school. Already, this has a lot of stuff going for it, but it gets better: on the first day of school, the three sisters get superpowers.

I know, right? So, April gets the power to catch glimpses of the future, May gets the power to turn invisible, and June gets the power to read minds. Now, in a new town, at a new school, and with crazy secret powers, the three girls have to learn to live with their new lives.

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June was a fun book to read. I was on board with the characters the whole time, and I wanted to see them triumph, and it feels good to share their struggles. If you like fun, cheesy books which are full of heart, then read this book. No matter what your friends say.

Killer of Enemies

Killer of Enemies is kind of a terrible book and it's great. I initially started reading it because of its ridiculous title, and it lived up to its cover. This is not to say that is was a bad book; I had fun reading it and the world of the story is pretty cool, so I don't feel like I wasted my time or anything. So, what is it about?

Have you ever thought to yourself, "I wonder what it would be like to read about someone playing Monster Hunter or Shadow of the Colossus or a similar game with giant monsters"? Have you ever then immediately thought, "no, wait, that wouldn't be nearly as interesting, I'll just play them myself and that will be more fun"? Well, Joseph Bruchac did not have the second thought, and so Killer of Enemies was born.

The book involves our protagonist, Lozen, who is the best at everything, killing huge genetically modified monsters. This is a post-apocalyptic future, set after the rigidly-divided classist technofuture from so many books. An entity known only as the Cloud has come and turned off all of the electronic devices and engines, but not gunpowder, and also rocket launchers and automatic weapons still work. The rules seem to be kinda fuzzy.

Anyways, all the super rich leaders had electronic implants or nanobots and so they died when the Cloud came. Some survivors who didn't have many implants formed a rigid society with aristocrats as evil dictators. One such society is holding Lozen's parents hostage to make her kill things. She then kills things. Usually huge things. There's more story, but not much.

Killer of Enemies is not high-brow hmmyes fiction, and it doesn't try to be. It really reads like a fanfiction of Shadow of the Colossus, because it mostly involves Lozen outsmarting and then wrecking giants. There is a simple story, which is nice, but it's not the focus. If you like big dumb action, and I certainly do, then you should read Killer of Enemies.

Oh and also there's magic. And zombies. Just thought you should know.

Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

I ragged on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality (sometimes awkwardly abbreviated to HPMOR) quite a bit on my other blog. A lot of my points still stand. The characters start out unlikable, at least to me, to the point where I actually quit reading. Eventually, though... well, here I am, done with the book.

So, what is HPMOR? It is a fan-fiction of Harry Potter composed by Eliezer Yudkowski, He Who Is Not Recognized By Spell-Check. It takes place in an alternate-universe type deal in which Harry was raised by scientists and is a boy genius armed with the powers of Rationality. If that makes you really want to read it, then I doubt I could stop you even if I tried. If not, then... eh. It's cool.

That's it. This post is essentially just to say that I've read HPMOR. To reiterate: your first impression is probably indicative of how much you will like this book. I wouldn't recommend it if you don't buy into the premise. Laters!

Soon I Will Be Invincible

While reading Soon I Will Be Invincible, by Austin Grossman, I get the feeling that I would enjoy it more if I was into that whole comic book superhero type culture. It feels like the book may be full of tropey-type jokes that I just don't get. This means I don't entirely trust my own opinion, here.

Of course, that's not about to stop me. Soon I Will Be Invincible has a great title and two protagonists. Well, two main characters. The first is Doctor Impossible, the Smartest Man Alive, who aims to bust out of prison and take over the world. The second is Fatale (pronounced fuh-toll) the cyborg with a dark past that isn't really there.

Fatale has just been admitted into the Champions, a league of superheroes investigating the disappearance of Superman Legacy The Tick Core-Fire, a charismatic invulnerable flying tank with more abilities than anyone could ever need. Meanwhile, Doctor Impossible has escaped, and is already scheming to take over the world.

I don't really have much to say about this. It has almost nothing in the way of character growth, for anyone other than Fatale. It is riddled with either poorly-executed foreshadowing or terribly-executed exposition. Honestly, those are the only two problems for me, but they seem like big ones. I really think it might just be because I'm not used to books like this.

Blugh. I don't like writing reviews that aren't positive (I've only got one truly negative review). It leaves a bad taste in my mouth. You know what? Don't listen to me. Give Soon I Will Be Invincible a try. It was fun. I read it in a few days, so that's good for something (like, it grabbed my attention or whatever). And, in the end, it does have a pretty sweet title.

Good Omens

Good Omens, written by both Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, has like a million covers. It has way too many covers. I couldn't find a good photo of the one I read it inside (mostly white with a demon on the front), so I just picked the coolest-looking fan cover. Can't be bothered to sort through all those canonical covers. Just google it.

Anyways, Good Omens is supposed to have the subtitle: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. That is the title of a book of prophecies, all of which have come true so far. It also Prophecies the end of the world. Next Saturday.*

Generally, people think this is just hunky-dory. Does anyone say that anymore? Whatever. Two celestial individuals, Crowley the demon and Aziraphale the angel, have taken a liking to the world, and decide that they will try their best to stop it. To do this, they agree to both tutor the Antichrist equally, so that he cannot take a side and the world does not end. This works perfectly, and disaster is averted.

Not really. Things don't exactly go as planned, and now the duo has to find the Antichrist, who has grown up to be Adam, a simple boy from a small town. In that town there lives Anathema Device, a descendant of Agnes Nutter. She is being tracked down by Newton Pulsifer, who works under... you know, there's quite a few characters, actually. The four horsemen show up, too. It's great fun. In fact, I think my only complaint is that Pratchett and Gaiman didn't do more with the characters, towards the end. Then again, that's just about the best complaint to have about a book. I'd give it a read if I were you.

*Off the record, I wouldn't worry too much, because it's implied to have happened in 2004.

Malice

Life is going kinda meh for Seth Somethingorother right now. Nothing ever seems to happen in the town of Loughborough (which has far too many "ugh"s in it, in Seth's opinion). That is, until is best friend, Luke, disappears.

All of the adults think that Luke has run away. Spoilers: he most definitely has not. Tall Jake has taken him to the world of Malice, where kids and teenagers struggle to escape, most things are deadly, and everything is serialized in comics that are given to the outside world. Naturally, Seth and his friend Kady have to figure everything out.

As for the book Malice, the story is told in a mixture of text, comic panels, and Chris Wooding trying to simulate teenagers Instant Messaging. Don't expect too much comic, though; almost all of the book is just text.

The parts of the book that are comic, however, are really well done (not that the rest of it is bad). I like the art style, and I like how the comic actually fits in with the narrative. This is a nice adventure story in which more questions are raised than answered. Some might be answered in book two, Havoc, which I haven't read yet.

I don't think I'm gonna be able to say anything smart right now, so: if you like monsters, alternate worlds, and vague questions about human nature, read this book.

The Secret Series (The Name of This Book is Secret)

Here's a quick one. The Secret Series is one of my favorite book series. Probably in the top five. It's funny, smart(ish), charming, and chocolatey. The books come in five delicious flavors: The Name of This Book is Secret; If You're Reading This, It's Too Late; This Book is not Good for You; This Isn't What It Looks Like; and You Have to Stop This.

That's a quite of books (sorry for my grammar, I'm tired and sick). All in all, it's a whole quintilogy. Or a pentology? Whatever. I just finished rereading the series, and I loved it again. It stars Cass and Max-Ernest, two students who attend The School In Which Things Happen. There are also a whole host of cool, quirky side characters, none of which I will write about because I'm sick and tired.

I realise I'm not doing a great job of selling this, but trust me. The Secret Series is a few million times better than what I make it seem like it is. Wow, my sentences aren't even entirely coherent anymore. Look, I love these books. They were probably my favorite series for a while. If you like humor, magic and... the other stuff under "labels," give this series a try.

In conclusion. These books are real good. Read 'em. That's all I have the brain for today.

Magyk

Magyk (pronounced muh-JIKE [to rhyme with bike] or muh-GERK [to rhyme with work, as the Y makes an "ER" sound]) is a fantasy book about a long-lost princess, her long-lost brother, and some long-lost magic (sorry, magyk).
One day, on his way home, Silas Heap finds a little baby girl in the snow. Silas takes the girl home to his wife, Sarah only to find that his seventh son, Septimus, has died in a poison drinking accident for mysterious reasons. Silas and Sarah take in the baby, who(m?) they name Jenna. A few years later it turns out that Jenna is a princess, she is being hunted, an ancient evil has been set free, and all that good stuff. Jenna, Silas, the ExtraOrdinary wizard, and a handful of Jenna's brothers are forced out of their home and now have to save the world.
So, basically your average fantasy adventure story.
Seriously, though, Magyk is a great book. It's well-written, and has a really nice story. The best part of the book, however, is its predictability.
I know what you're thinking: "Hold on there a moment, dashing and attractive book-reader whose blog I will now follow, predictable books are boring. Books have to have at least some mystery and plot-twistedness, or else there would be no point in reading them."
To this I say that Magyk is different. It's subtle. and you never know exactly what's going to happen, but the clues are all there. I'd give examples, but those would be spoilers, and we don't like those here. Read the book, and you'll understand. The story is basically a love letter to Chekhov's gun; everything that happens could conceivably be predicted (and none of that "Dumbledore said something meaningless and it turned out to be actual information" stuff. While Dumbledore's ramblings can only be understood in retrospect, all of this can be predicted before it happens.) It's like foreshadowing for ninjas.
All in all, Magyk is a clever book, with memorable characters and a nice ending. Definitely a book you should read.

P.S. Usually I end with "If you like X, Y, and Z, then you should read this book." While that is an easy way to end things, now that I'm in high school what I want to do something different. From now on, I'll end with a simple recommendation. This doesn't mean I won't use the XYZ format anymore, but I'll only use it if I think it's a good ending. Otherwise, I'll mix it up a bit.

P.P.S. Given the similarly-designed covers to the right of this book in library shelves, and the fact that the cover says "Book One," I have determined that Magyk has a number of sequels. I have not read any of them, and I don't really plan on it, unless someone tells me to in the comments. Magyk had an incredibly satisfying ending: the loose ends were tied up, the villain did not run off shaking his fist at the heroes, and there was even a section at the end detailing what happened to the minor characters after they left the main story. If that isn't closure, then I don't know what is.

The Secrets of Droon, by Tony Abbott

This volume has the first four books of the series. It's about when Eric and his friends discover a world under Eric's basement. The world is called Droon and it is a magical place with monsters like groggles and nins. In the first book, Eric finds the world under his basement and rescues a little princess named Kia. In the second, Eric and his friends go to Droon to find a palace inside a volcano! In the third, they go to save a mysterious island, and Neal, one of Eric's friends, gets licked by a bug and turns into one! In book four Neal turns back into a bug and they rescue a floating city. Read this book if you like mystery, magic, monsters, and more. I am reading more Secrets of Droon. So far, Eric can send messages from his mind and shoot sparks out of his fingers and July can fly and change shape. I will keep updating as I keep reading this series.

Magic Tree House: Carnival at Candlelight by Mary Pope Osborne

This is a book of when Jack and Annie go on a mission to save Venice from a flood and the only person who can help them is Neptune, the God of the Seas. At first, they don't understand how, and they end up skipping every single thing in the list of things they have to do because they are stomped on all of them! Then they understand and take a trip on a flying lion to the middle of the sea where Neptune lives.

I liked all of the book and I didn't like none of the book. If you like surprises, magic and learning, read this book.