Psychotic_Carp wrote:How did they break the curse..... or did they?
spoilers, not that anyone else is likely to read the book wrote:Rufus had sent a number of items to Archie for his birthdays over the years. Each item had belonged to one of his ancestors and helped him in his fight against the tornado. Archie also had the help of mythical birds called icegulls. In the end, he finds himself on the top of a statue on a hill crying his defiance to the tornado and defeats it, breaking the curse and restoring the stolen courage to his father and grandfather. Archie's parents put obstacles in his way, especially the mother who was way overprotective, but he overcame them with his uncle's help and his parents came around in the end.
I read The Palace of Laughter by Jon Berkeley. It is the story of an orphan boy named Miles Wednesday who lives in a barrel in a park. His curiosity is aroused when a circus suddenly appears and sets up camp in the park one night. He ends up rescuing a small girl with wings named Little, who was being held captive by the villainous ringmaster. They then set off to find the Palace of Laughter where the girl's friend is being held. This is the first book by Berkeley and was a pretty fast and entertaining read. It seems to take place in a 1930s-40s type world. I thought the various gangs they find when they get to the big city were interesting as well as Pigball, a game that they play.
Larklight by Philip Reeve. This book takes place in 1851 in a world where the British discovered space travel around the year 1700 and have set up colonies throughout the solar system. Space is a bit different here since the moon and each of the planets has an atmosphere and life abounds. Larklight is a house set in orbit around the moon and is the home of Art and Myrtle Mumby, who set forth on an adventure when their home is attacked by a race of spiders. I liked the book with the mix of Victorian England and space adventure. They travel to the moon, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter and each place is completely different and interesting. There are pirates and villainous spiders and friendly alien allies and lots of other fun stuff.
The Dragon's Eye by Dugald Steer. Beatrice and Daniel are supposed to be spending the summer with their parents in London in 1882. Instead, they are shuffled off to stay with Dr, Ernest Drake, who happens to be a dragonologist and a member of the Secreat and Ancient Society of Dragons. The book is a mix of fantasy, adventure and natural history. I enjoyed the portrayal of studying dragons as a science, including keeping a record book of observations, like seeing other animals in the wild.
Dirty Magic - Joe gets mad at his younger sister for destroying one of his magazines and tells her he wishes she were dead. When she gets sick that night and is whisked off to the hospital, Joe gets drawn into a world between life and death as he searches for her in order to bring her back. Unfortunately, this world is caught in the midst of a brutal war and Joe's guides are a blind man and a girl not much older than himself. It took me a little while to get hooked on this book, but once it gets rolling, I liked it quite a bit. Getting caught in the middle of a war with secret police and deadly machines is tough, but brings out the best in the main character.
The Chestnut Soldier by Jenny Nimmo. This is the third book in her Snow Spider trilogy which connects welsh legends with a young boy and his family in Wales. In this book, Evan Llyr comes to stay with his relatives in Pendewi. He is a young soldier, haunted by the deaths of his comrades in Belfast and by his brother's death many years earlier. His nature becomes more troubled and violent as time passes, infecting those around him. Gwyn, a 13 year old magician, has to find a way to free Evan from his troubled past. This book definitely builds on the first two books, though is enjoyable by itself. It has a fairly relaxed pace and makes you feel like you are there in Wales with them. This was a nice series by the author of the popular Charlie Bone books.
I just started American Psycho, and it's a little slow, which upsets me. I've read all of Elli's books except for American Psycho and Glitterati, and I've loved all the others from the get go.
Johnny and the Bomb by Terry Pratchett. This is the third and last book in the Johnny Maxwell series. Johnny and his friends try to help Mrs. Tachyon, the local bag lady. It turns out that she holds the key to time travel in her shopping cart. The group ends up traveling back in time to 1941, just before the Germans end up dropping bombs on the town. I liked the book, though not quite as much as the first two. I have yet to find a Terry Pratchett book I haven't liked, though.
Starship: Pirate by Mike Resnick. This is the second book in the Starship series and has Wilson Cole and the crew of the Republic Starship Teddy Roosevelt leaving Republic space after the events in the first book. They decide to turn pirate, but they don't want to hurt innocents so they plan to be ethical pirates. This book was a fun read and delves a bit into the logistics of piracy and fencing. It isn't as in depth as your typical David Weber novel, but it's enjoyable.
The Navigator by Eoin McNamee. Owen's father dies when he was a baby. Some say it was an accident and others suicide. Time starts flowing backward one day and all the people he knows disappear. In their place are the Resisters who are fighting the Harsh, cold beings trying to set time back to a time before humans. Owen may be the key to stopping them. This book was filled with lots of interesting creations along with air and sea battles. Very entertaining.
The Cobra King of Kathmandu by PB Kerr. This is the fourth book in the series about twin djinn John and Philippa Gaunt. They travel to London, Nepal and India in order to help their friend and fellow djinn Dybbuk who is the target of the Cult of Nine Cobras. The book is a nice mix of adventure and fantasy. I think the series is getting better as it goes along and I look forward to the next book.
