Book of the Week

[Melantha007]

I'd like to submit a few of my favorites, if I may:

The Lord of the Rings: Anyone who does not know the storyline of this set of books (and I include The Hobbit and The Silmarillion in the series) by J.R.R. Tolkien should be strangled with their own intestines. (I'm exaggerating, but this story has been around for over sixty years, so anyone who does not know it is either a complete idiot or has been living in a bomb shelter)

The Changeover: Can't remember the name of the author, but it is a story of a girl in Australia who discovers that the prefect at her school is actually a witch. His family has been all female for generations, so his mother was disappointed and gave him up at birth. He developed the family heritage anyway and his mother took him back. Good read for supernatural fans, plus a bit of kissing. wink

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles: Patricia C. Wrede pens a compelling fantasy of the princess who didn't want to be. She runs away from home to avoid being married (after bullying the Fencing Master, the Head Chef, the Etiquette Master and a host of others into teaching her some of their trade) and gets swept up in the intrigues of the Dragon Court instead. Princess Cimorene is the classic adventurer-princess, WANTING to wield a sword or even a scrub brush instead of mincing around in ballgowns or sitting quietly doing needlepoint. By my count, there are five books in the series, and I include the anthology as part of that count (most people don't think it's part of the main series, I don't know why).

Mists of Avalon: Yes, I know the first book by Marion Zimmer Bradley has already been introduced here, but I would like to touch on the prequels, which are mostly collaborative efforts with awesome writers. Each one published goes backward in chronological order from the previous book, exploring the current lifetimes of these very old souls. Every time they are reincarnated, something goes astray and they cannot be with their soulmates. The last (first? biggrin ) book of the series, The Fall of Atlantis, explains why two sisters and their husbands must go through generations of sorrow and misery.

The Girl who Owned a City: O.T. Nelson authors a gripping post-apocalyptic event. I'll type in the summary from the back of the book... A killing virus has swept the earth, sparing only children through the age of twelve. There is chaos everywhere, even in formerly prosperous mid-America. Gangs and fierce armies of children begin to form almost immediately. It would be the same for the children on Grand Avenue but for Lisa, an ten-year-old girl who becomes their leader. Because of Lisa, they have food, even toys, in abundance. And now they can protect themselves from the fierce gangs that roam the neighborhoods. But for how long? Then Lisa conceives the idea of a fortress, a city in which the children could live safely and happily always, and she intends to lead them there. Published in 1978, the author's mini-biography promises sequels, but I haven't been able to find them in the ten years I've had this book.

The Last of Danu's Children: This novel by Alison Rush explores the rich Celtic mythos set in the modern world. Matt Cooper and his friends Kate and Anna are visiting his aunt in the English countryside during summer holidays. Strange things begin to happen at the little stone house in the forest, things which can only be explained by Doctor John Dee, an alchemist from Queen Elizabeth I's court. Small time travel thread, most of the story focuses on Dee's pact with Cernunnos and Dee's attempt to give him Anna instead of Dee's own soul. Matt and Kate's journey into the Fomor Mound in Otherworld is beautifully written, as are the descriptions of Danu's Children (beings of light) themselves.