Being an avid young adult fantasy reader, when I stumble across a true “find,” I feel compelled to relate it to others!  So, here is an overview of a series I have absolutely fallen in love with.

The Naming, Book One of Pellinor in Alison Croggon’s fantasy quartet, sheds light on the epic story of Maerad, a young woman born into a desperate time of war and treachery in the complex and vast world of Edil-Amarandh.  Now sixteen, she lives as a slave to spiteful masters, destined for a life of demeaning servitude.  But, alas, one extraordinary day, the Bard of Lirigon, Cadvan, mysteriously appears in the settlement.  He, as Bard, can see the awesome gifts lying dormant within Maerad.  For, in Edil-Amarandh, Bards are humans with special gifts and Maerad is discovered to unknowingly possess gifts so powerful that she may be the One to save Edil-Amarandh from its present and terrifying evil darkness.  Together, they flee the cruel world of Maerad’s childhood, only to embark on a more dangerous quest than either has ever known, coming face to face with otherworldly hatred, evil, and malice.

Told as the translation of a newly retrieved text, The Naming epitomizes the fantasy genre characteristics.  Croggon lays a rich and evocative foundation of quest-making; intensely mesmerizing otherworldly characters; and the warmth of human relationships that redeems dark times even as the night blots out the day.  Suspense, action, deception, uncertainty, and beauty fill the pages of this debut fantasy novel.

The Riddle, Book Two of Pellinor in Alison Croggon’s fantasy quartet, immediately begins where The Naming ended.  Cadvan and Maerad escape with their lives from the treacherous city of Norloch to flee over sea to the island of Thorold.  There, they launch a search for the meaning to The Riddle of the Treesong, a cryptic text which potentially has the clues to defeating their enemy, The Nameless One.  The quest for answers takes Cadvan and Maerad back into the mainland area of the Kingdom of Annar, rife with seething enemies and tumultuous chaos.  Journeying north into the icy realms of the Winterking, an otherworldy being, known as an Elidhu, who aided the Nameless One in his last victory over Edil-Amarandh, Cadvan and Maerad are separated.  Maerad must then tread alone upon her quest to unlock The Riddle of the Treesong.  But she herself becomes prisoner to the Winterking himself, trapped in his glacial palace.  Yet surprises await, not the least of which is Maerad’s fascination with her captor.  Torn between desire to stay with the Winterking and her duty to Edil-Amarandh, Maerad must make a desperate and agonizing choice, as she did before, between continuied captivity and the beauty of freedom.

In her sequel to The Naming, Alison Croggon has again produced another triumph of fantasy literature.  This time, readers get swept away into the heat and noise of Busk, the Bardic city of Thorold, all the way into the white silence of Arkan-da, the Winterking’s stronghold in the far, cold north.  The geography of the story plays a salient role, another striking characteristic of the fantasy genre, one which Croggon successfully wields.

The Crow, Book Three of Pellinor in Alison Croggon’s epic fantasy quartet, tells the tale of Hem, Maerad’s long-lost younger brother.  Separated in childhood, Cai (Hem’s birth name) also possesses Bardic capabilities, ones that are masterfully explored in Croggon’s third book.  At the end of The Naming, Book One of Pellinor, having been unexpectedly reunited with his older sister Maerad, Hem travels off with his new-found tutor Saliman to the southern city of Turbansk.  There, the people must keep at bay the forces of the Nameless One, battles in which the Bard Saliman does his part.  Fianlly, when the vibrant city cannot hold out any longer against the black tide bearing down on it, Saliman, Hem, and others escape into an underground city.  It is here that Hem’s uniqueness as a Bard and as Maerad’s brother come into the forefront, as an Elidhu speaks with Hem.  Elidhus are as beautiful as they are otherworldly, strange, and more powerful even than the Nameless One.  Along the way, Hem’s ability to speak with birds enables him to befriend a white crow.  The one lonely crow has its part to play , a part that unknowingly unlocks The Riddle of the Treesong, the cryptic text Maerad seeks to unravel in The Riddle, Book Two of Pellinor.

Now, all that remains is for sister and brother to meet and join forces in The Singing.  It’s out and Lemuria has it.  Read this fourth and final installment of such praiseworthy fantasy literature today!

Ok, it’s Emily again with some more GREAT Young Adult picks.

If I Stay is not just one of best YA novels, but one of the best novels PERIOD that I have read in a long while.  This is Gayle Foreman’s first YA novel and it just blew me away with its creative style and sophisticated simplicity. Told in increments marked only by specific moments in time, the main character must decide if staying alive, fighting to survive massive damage from a car wreck, is the right thing to do or if she should let her body die.  Flashbacks give the reader insight into this gifted girl’s past.  If you buy one YA book this spring, this should be it. I can’t do it justice. AMAZING!

If you need more than one book a season, as I so often do, then the Evernight series would be a good one to begin. Evernight is another vampire book, so all you Twilight fans pay attention!!:) Evernight by Claudia Gray is the story of a human whose parents have recently taken teaching jobs at a remote private academy.  However, it becomes apparent that most of the students are vampires, the teachers are vampires, and the reader soon finds out that the main character’s parents are vampires! So how does a human, a living and breathing human, end up with hundred year old vampires as parents? Evernight will leave you craving the next book in the series, Stargazer, soon to be released this spring.

And last but certainly not least is Wings by Aprilynne Pike.  Laurel was adopted when she was three and always knew she was different.  She could only eat fruits and veggies, shampoos only made her hair dirty, and she felt claustrophobic if she wore close fitting clothes.  Nothing, however, could prepare her for the flower bloom that appeared on her back or for the knowledge that she is a fairy.  Hopefully, the beginning of a marvelous series, Wings is an inventive YA novel.  It is so unassuming that you forget such things don’t exist…or do they?

Well, there you have it.  Great novels=great fun. Nothing on TV is this good so come to Lemuria TODAY and check out what we have!

Your friendly neighborhood Lemurian,  Emily