“Land of Hidden Fires” by Kirk Kjeldsen

Kari’s just your typical teenage girl, dreaming of boys and being like Rita Hayworth…except that her country is currently occupied by Nazi Germany. When an American pilot crash-lands near her father’s farm, she sets off on a desperate adventure to smuggle him to Sweden. I always have my eye open for some good Nordic reading, […]

“A Winter’s Love” by Madeleine L’Engle

I read this book with conflicted feelings: on the one hand, I was impressed by what a talented and insightful writer L’Engle was even so early in her career, and on the other, compared with her later works, it’s clear here that L’Engle hadn’t quite hit her stride. What for another writer would be a […]

“The Swordswoman” by Malcolm Archibald

The Swordswoman Melcorka thinks she is just a simple island girl with no father. Then the Norse invade Alba, and Melcorka loses everything she thought she had–and gains much more. “The Swordswoman” takes part in the popular genre of semi-historical fantasy novels. Melcorka lives in what is recognizably medieval Scotland, but magic swords exist (Melcorka […]

“The Bone Witch” by Rin Chupeco

The Bone Witch “The Bone Witch” manages to be both standard YA fare and gorgeously different. Tea lives in a world where everyone has a magical heartsglass that expresses their abilities and their mood. The younger sister of two low-level witches, Tea expects to become one herself. But everything changes when her heartsglass turns silver […]

“Lilyth–Book 2” by Tiyana Angel

Lilyth – Book 2 (The Shadow Spirits Paradox) In “Lilyth–Book 2” the story begun in Book 1 is continued. Lilyth has realized that she loves Tristan and has set off to save him, even though that would mean endangering herself, something that others want to prevent, since she seems to be the child of prophecy who […]

“Lilyth” by Tiyana Angel

Lilyth – Book 1 (The Shadow Spirits Paradox) Lilyth has lost her mother and is being raised by her grandparents, but she is haunted by dreams of the flood that took her mother away. Her village is now dwindling, and the men that are left are being drafted to fight a shadow that is menacing […]