*Carmilla (*Carmilla)

Series: Earthsea

A Wizard of Earthsea
Not convinced yet. (written on 24th May 2001)
This is the first volume in the Earthsea quartet (followed by The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore and Tehanu).

After his mother's death, young Ged gets to live with his father, a smith, and his aunt the village witch, who teaches him some minor spells, such as commanding to animals, until one day he uses this magic to save the village from barbaric invaders.

Impressed by the boy's potential powers, the mage Ogion takes him as apprentice. But as the days go by, Ged becomes bored and when the choice is offered him, he decides to go to the wizards school of Roke. There he meets with two other scholars: Vetch who'll soon become his friend, and the arrogant Jasper who always looks down on him, and who'll become his rival.

And after several months spent in the school, with hatred steadily growing between them, Ged one day challenges Jasper in a magic duel. And as Ged, in a surge of immoderate pride, is trying to wake the dead, he accidentally unleashes an evil shadow, also almost managing to get himself killed in the process. The story goes on to describe Ged perpetual flight from his shadow.

Ursula LeGuin's style is elaborate and poetic, but maybe a little bit too much, too old-fashioned, for my liking. As a result, the novel somehow failed to fascinate me, and in the end I realized I didn't care much about what happened to the characters. I'll read the rest of the quartet anyway, in hope it gets more gripping.

The Tombs of Atuan
Unexpectedly gripping. (written on 1st June 2001)
This is the second volume in the Earthsea quartet (following A Wizard of Earthsea and followed by The Farthest Shore and Tehanu).

The story takes place on the desert island of Atuan. There, in a terrifying ritual, a five-year-old little girl becomes Arha, the Eaten One. As the years go by in the Place of the Tombs, among an odd community of young scholar girls, old women and eunuchs, she learns the sacred dances and songs devoted to the Nameless Ones.

At the age of fourteen, she finally becomes the One Priestess, the guardian of the Great Treasure, and the only one to know the ways of the Labyrinth, a place of utter darkness where men are not allowed and cruelly put to death if found there.

The story was beginning to bore me, I was watching Arha becoming more arrogant, and old Kossil meaner, by the day and I was reluctantly facing the fact that I didn't care much for her... until the middle of the book, until Arha one day comes across a dim light in the pitch black of the Labyrinth. And as it brings a complete upheaval in Arha's well-ordered and dull life, with it the story also becomes enthralling and finally I almost couldn't put the book down. I hope The Farthest Shore won't disappoint me...

The Farthest Shore
A nice story, but not very enthralling. (written on 19th June 2001)
This is the third volume in the Earthsea quartet (following A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan, and followed by Tehanu).

The Farthest Shore, set some fifteen or twenty years after the events of The Tombs of Atuan, tells the story of Ged, now an Archmage, and Arren, a young prince, and their voyage around the world of Earthsea in search of the Unmaker, who is responsible for the disappearence of magic and of the balance of the world.

Compared to The Tombs of Atuan, I found this third part rather disapointing and lacking in action. Ged and Arren are just travelling from one island to the next, and nothing really happens. The evolution of their friendship is interesting, though, and that's what kept me reading. But as a whole, I found the series rather boring, although well written if you like old-fashioned style, and will only read Tehanu for the sake of it.

Tehanu
The best book in the series. (written on 28th June 2001)
This is the fourth and final volume in the Earthsea quartet (following A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan and The Farthest Shore).

In this book, Ursula K. LeGuin goes back to Tenar, now a middle-aged farm woman, to tell us the story of her life after the events of The Tombs of Atuan. Only recently a widow, she decides to take the child Therru under her wing, a little girl who has been cruelly raped and terrifyingly burnt and maimed by her parents who, fearing her, wanted to get rid of her.

The story goes on to describe their life on the farm on the island of Gont, Therru growing up, and their perpetual flight from the child's family who want to "finish the job".

Tehanu was written some fifteen years after the original Earthsea trilogy, and the evolution in Ursula K. LeGuin's style, as well as the maturation of the whole Earthsea world are quite noticeable.

This is a stunning conclusion to the series, that got me hooked right from the beginning. And what a pleasure to meet again with all the main characters of Earthsea!

Dragonfly short story
Earthsea from a feminist point of view. (written on 3rd July 2001)
Dragonfly tells the story of a young woman, brought up in the countryside, who one day meets with a wizard from Roke. Following his advice, she goes to the mage city disguised as a man and tries to enter the famous school of wizards.

Written some eight years after the last book of Earthsea, Tehanu, this is a highly enjoyable short story about the place of women in a world ruled my men.

Series: The Chronicles of Narnia

The Magician's Nephew
Enjoyed it with ups and downs. (written on 24th May 2005)
This is the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia heptalogy (before The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; The Horse and His Boy; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; The Last Battle).

This volume tells a story which takes place in London in the second half of the nineteenth century. It starts with a boy and a girl, Digory and Polly, who stumble into Digory's Uncle Andrew's attic while they were exploring the "secret passage" in the space between the walls and the roofs, in their row of houses.

Uncle Andrew is a magician of sorts, and when he tells Polly to touch one of the yellow rings he made, she suddenly vanishes. In his turn, but taking care to put two pairs of both yellow and green rings into his jacket's pockets, Digory touches the yellow ring and follows Polly. They both emerge in a mysteriously quiet forest, scattered with little ponds inamongst the trees. It won't take them long to understand the mechanism of this Wood Between the Worlds.

Indeed, using the correct ring and jumping into one of the ponds, they are transported to Charn, where Digory incidentally awakes the stunningly beautiful witch Jadis, a 7-foot-tall queen whose unquenchable thirst for power made her murder her own people. Now, like a cat who, having toyed too long with the mouse it caught, has finally killed it and discards it, she hankers for new worlds to conquer. She forces Digory and Polly to take her to London to meet Uncle Andrew, who she believes is a powerful magician who will help her in her conquest.

Of course when she realizes he's not, she wreaks havoc in the city, and finally has an accident when the hansom she's riding hits a lamppost. In the confusion of the ensuing fight, and before she unleashes her terrible wrath, Digory manages to snatch her heel. With Polly holding on to him, he puts the yellow ring on to bring Jadis back to Charn. But as it turns out, several others were connected, including a cabby and his horse and Uncle Andrew, and they all end up in the Wood Between the Worlds. Jumping into another pond, which turns out to be the wrong one, everyone is transported to an utterly dark place instead, where they soon hear the first notes of a beautiful song and watch the sky become lighter little by little.

This enchanting voice belongs in fact to the lion Aslan, and what our heroes are witnessing is the creation of the world of Narnia from the lion's song, the birth of the animals and the growing of the plants.

I enjoyed this books with ups and downs. Whereas I really loved the atmosphere of the Wood Between the Worlds and the dazzling chapter of the creation of Narnia, I wasn't much captivated by the events around the evil queen Jadis or Uncle Andrew. I think we can conclude with certainty, but this was to be expected, that I prefer the fantasy or fairy-tale parts to those that connect to the real world. I'm trying very hard to avoid spotting anything allegorical, which tends to break the charm for me. I'm also usually rather annoyed when the author addresses the reader, but it only happened from time to time, so that didn't bother me too much. But I must say was surprised to discover that even though the story continues in the following books, that of Digory and Polly was over in this one. I wonder what lies in store...

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Duller than expected... unless you start with this tome? (written on 27th May 2005)
This is the second volume (chronologically) in The Chronicles of Narnia (after The Magician's Nephew, before The Horse and His Boy; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; The Last Battle).

This book takes place during World War II, many years after the events of The Magician's Nephew, and tells the story of four young siblings, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. They are exploring the big house of an old Professor (which I'm guessig is Digory from the first book) where they've been sent during the air-raids, when Lucy enters the old wardrobe in en empty room upstairs to hide in it.

Only this wardrobe is actually a direct passage to the world of Narnia, and Lucy finds herself in a forest on a snowy night, the only light that of a lamppost. There she meets a Faun named Tumnus, who is indeed very amazed to meet a legendary Human, an invites her to tea. In the cozy warmth of his home, he tells her of the evil White Witch, who is turning everyone who opposes her to stone, and whose spell on Narnia makes it always winter and never Christmas.

When Lucy finally gets out of the wood and then out of the wardrobe again, no time has actually passed, and of course, when she tells her story to her brothers and sister, none of them believes her. Edmund in particular likes to make fun of her.

On another, rainy day, when they're all playing hide-and-seek in the huge mansion, Edmund decides to hide in the wardrobe and he too finds himself in Narnia. But instead of the Faun, he meets the White Witch, who lures him with Turkish Delight (his favourite sweets) and by making him believe that he can become King if he brings her his brother and sisters.

The book then tells the adventures of the four kids in Narnia, meeting a friendly couple of talking badgers and all kinds of other fantastic animals and creatures, among then the powerful Lion King Aslan, and helping them save the world from the evil usurper Queen.

Reading the series in the chronological order rather than in the publication order, I found that The Magician's Nephew was actually a kind of spoiler for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I think that I would have been more enchanted, amazed and curious about the world of Narnia if I hadn't read all about its creation in the first book. I would have wondered about the lamppost, for example (and it would have been nice to read about the Lion's song later). Knowing about it in advance, I'm sure I found it a tad duller, because I wasn't discovering it at the same time as the kids. This is a nice story, and I know it's a Classic, but I must say it's not as captivating as I thought it would be.

I advise you read it in the publication order: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; The Horse and His Boy; The Magicians Nephew; The Last Battle.

The Horse and His Boy
So-so... (written on 9th June 2005)
This is the third volume (chronologically) in The Chronicles of Narnia (after The Magician's Nephew; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and before Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; The Last Battle).

In this book we meet Shasta, a young boy who's been raised by Arsheesh, a poor fisherman far south in Calormen. One day comes a stranger on a strong warhorse, although it soon appears that this is a tyrannic Tarkaan who wants to buy Shasta and make him a slave. But his horse is actually Bree (does that name ring a bell?), a talking horse from Narnia, who come night, decides to gallop home to freedom, taking Shasta along.

While on the run across the desert, they meet a girl named Aravis and her talking mare Hwin, who's also fleeing, but from her future marriage with Ahoshta Tarkaan the vizier.

Their first stop will be the city of Tashbaan, where Shasta is mistaken for Corin, King Lune of Archenand's son. There he'll also make the acquaintance, among others, of Queen Susan, whom we met in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and learn that she's also about to marry Rabadash, the mighty Tisroc of Calormen's son, but doesn't want to.

Later, Shasta will become a hero by warning King Lune of an imminent attack by both disappointed bridegrooms.

My opinion on this book is so-so. Again, I think Avaris and Shasta's tumultuous adventure is something that can really appeal to a younger audience but, this makes me feel sorry, I personally just failed to get into it. Mark you, I still think I'm going to read the Chronicles of Narnia to my kids when I have some... I'm sure they'll enjoy them.

Prince Caspian
Frustrated. (written on 22nd June 2005)
This is the fourth (chronologically) Chronicle of Narnia (after The Magician's Nephew; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; The Horse and His Boy, and before The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; The Last Battle).

In this volume we meet again with the four heroes from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. A year after coming back to England, they're waiting on the station platform for the trains that will take them back to boarding school after the summer holidays, when suddenly, they're transported into another world.

It is soon apparent that they've landed on an island. Driven by hunger, and not knowing when they might go back to their world, they start exploring the place. All they can find is apples from trees that have overgrown an ancient castle ruin. But as they explore these old stones, they realize they're none other than those of Cair Paravel, the palace where they used to dwell when they were Kings and Queens of Narnia. Why is it in such a poorly state?

Later, they will save a Dwarf who will tell them how and why they were summoned back to Narnia, and help the young prince Caspian escape from his tyrannic uncle Miraz, the usurper of the throne.

This booked started out well. I was excited at the prospect of exploring the old ruins of Cair Paravel, looking for treasures hidden under centuries of vines and ivy. But then the story's tone changed, and it became very similar to the previous volumes. I'm not against consistency, but I was beginning to build magical images of haunted castles and suddenly they all collapsed and faded, and I felt a little frustrated.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Not much more to add. (written on 5th July 2005)
This is the fifth (chronologically) Chronicle of Narnia (after The Magician's Nephew; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; The Horse and His Boy; Prince Caspian, and before The Silver Chair; The Last Battle).

This book takes Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, along with their annoying bully of a cousin Eustace, once again to the land of Narnia, more precisely on the Great Eastern Ocean, on Prince Caspian's ship, the Dawn Treader.

Caspian and Reepicheep the valiant talking mouse, are indeed on a quest to the Lone Islands, where they hope to find the seven lords Caspian's tyrannic uncle Miraz sent into exile.

On this trip, the children will meet dragons and merpeople, as well as strange one-legged creatures called the Dufflepuds. Lucy will again be very brave, and Eustace will learn to become a better person. Together they wil travel to the End of the World, in search of Aslan's country.

I'm sorry I don't have many more comments to add since the previous volumes. I liked this book, but I can't say whether it's better than the others or not. I just wasn't captivated by the story, except maybe in a chapter or two. The overly talkative Reepicheep tended to get on my nerves, and although the passage with the boat treading the sea of lilies was quite enchanting, the ending was too allegorical for me. Gosh am I getting too old?

The Silver Chair
Rather predictable. (written on 11th August 2005)
This is the sixth (chronologically) Chronicle of Narnia (after The Magician's Nephew; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; The Horse and His Boy; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and before The Last Battle).

In this volume, Eustace Scrubb and his schoolmate Jill Pole are called to Narnia by the great lion. Aslan gives them a mission, and four signs to go by, to find King Caspian's lost son Prince Rilian, who's been missing for ten years.

With the help of a parliament of owls, and of Puddleglum the friendly but pessimistic Marsh-wiggle, they'll travel through Ettinsmoor to Harfang, the horrible city of Giants, and then to the Underland to confront the evil Witch-Queen.

The second half of the book was more entertaining than the beginning, which I found a tad slow until the children are on the way. Still, after six books the story becomes rather predictable, and not very passionating, although I enjoyed the passage with the Silver Chair. But I'm sure children would be enthralled by the hero's adventures.

The Last Battle
A rather exciting beginning for a syrupy ending. (written on 17th August 2005)
This is the seventh and last (chronologically) Chronicle of Narnia (after The Magician's Nephew; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; The Horse and His Boy; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair).

This final volume is more or less cut in two parts. In the first one, an Ape called Shift bullies and forces his companion Puzzle the donkey to wear an old lion skin on his back and to pretend he's Aslan the great Lion. Allied with Calormenes, they start slaughtering Talking Beasts and doing other evil deeds.

To Tirian, the current King of Narnia, and to his dear friend Jewel the noble Unicorn, this seems like a most unusual behaviour for Aslan, so they set out in search of the truth. They'll call children from our world to their aid: Eustace and Jill.

Ensues a battle opposing the King's small party to the Calormenes and the Men and Beasts they've managed to cheat.

In the second half of the book, like a mirror of the adventures of Digory and Polly in The Magician's Nephew, we witness the unmaking of the World by Aslan (the real one this time). Like in a curtain call, all the characters (but one) from the previous volumes return for the final journey to the forever kingdom of Aslan.

Whereas the beginning was rather exciting, I found the ending really too syrupy and allegorical. It was also very shocking to see the absence of Susan explained by "she's interested in nothing nowadays except nylons and lipstick and invitations." With its oldish style, and the fact that the baddies, the Calormenes, have a definite Middle-Eastern profile, I felt that the book was really anchored in the 1950's. I must admit I'm glad to have finally finished the series.

Series: Fighting Fantasy

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (Le Sorcier de la Montagne de Feu) with Steve Jackson
The Forest of Doom (La Forêt de la Malédiction)
City of Thieves (La Cité des Voleurs)
Deathtrap Dungeon (Le Labyrinthe de la Mort)
Scorpion Swamp (Le Marais aux Scorpions) with Steve Jackson
Talisman of Death (Le Sorcier de la Montagne de Feu) with Steve Jackson
Island of the Lizard King (L'Ile du Roi Lézard)
Caverns of the Snow Witch (La Sorcière des Neiges)
Temple of Terror (Le Temple de la Terreur)

*I Am Legend (*Je Suis Une Légende)

The Nibelungenlied
Good for culture, but not very exciting. (written on 19th October 2005)
The Nibelungenlied is an old Germanic poem composed of two parts.

In the first half we learn about the warrior hero Sifrid, the extremely rich and magically strong Netherlandic prince of the Nibelung and of his quest to win the heart of fair Kriemhilde, princess of Burgundy, King Gunther's sister.

Later, there's a rumour that Brünnhilde of Iceland has set up an impossible challenge where the prize is no less than her hand.

King Gunther travels to Iceland to take up this competition With the help of his friend Hagen of Tronege, among others, and that of Sifrid's special powers. But for this he has to pretend that Sifrid is only his vassal. This will lead to a terrible quiproquo between both brides, many hurt prides, secret plottings, and finally to the death of Sifrid by Hagen of Tronege's hand.

The second half tells us of Kriemhilde's incosolable grief, which will turn into an insatiable hunger for revenge against her brother and Hagen, resulting in total carnage.

Probably misinformed, or also mislead by childhood memories of Saint Seiya (where I first heard of the Ring of the Nibelungen), I was expecting tales of Odin and Ragnarok. The fantasy part is actually rather small, as it only consists of the special powers Sifrid gets from the cloak of invisibility he won from a dwarf called Alberich. The story is a bit repetitive, perhaps because of the stances structure (even though this is the prose translation), and I didn't really care for any of the characters. In the beginning, I was on Kriemhilde's side, but in the end she caused too much death and destruction. As a whole, I will say that this was good for my general literary culture, but not a very exciting read.

Series: Gormenghast

Titus Groan
An enormous pleasure to read. (written on 26th April 2004)
This is the first book of the Gormenghast trilogy (before Gormenghast and Titus Alone).

The castle of Gormenghast is a huge, maze-like fortress built on the side of a mountain. It's surrounded by a tall wall, that helps keep the noble "Castle" people and their menials inside, and the "Bright Carvers", a tribal people who live in mud dwellings, outside on the arid plain.

In this first volume, we're introduced to the castle's inhabitants, amidst the bustle of Titus the seventy-seventh Earl's birth, and a few days later, of his christening. There's the melancholic Lord Sepulchrave, the seventy-sixth and current Earl of Groan, his enormous wife Gertrude and her white cats, and their teenage daughter Fuchsia. And there is Mrs. Slagg, the frail old Nanny who's always complaning about her poor heart, and Mr. Flay, the Earl's tall first servant with the clicking knees. And also Mr. Rottcodd, curator of the Hall of Bright Carvings, and Sourdust the Librarian, guardian of the Protocol. Doctor Prunesquallor with his nervous laughter, and his spinsterly sister Irma, as well as Swelter the tyrannic cook and his kitchen boys, among which the young Steerpike. Then come Cora and Clarice, the Earl's asinine twin sisters, envious of his and Gertrude's power... and a few others.

As the story flows, we watch these numerous protagonists interact, as Steerpike slowly works his way up the ranks of the castle. Charming high-born ladies, plotting arson, nothing daunts him. And what was a so well-greased, fine-tuned machine of minutiae and protocol, the very essence of Gormenghast, is starting to crumble slowly and inexorably.

It's very hard to summarize Titus Groan in a couple of paragraphs. It's so brimming with court intrigue and mischief, interspaced with lush descriptions of this amazingly intricate fortress where I wanted to escape to, or play hide and seek in. As a whole, all I can say it that it was an enormous pleasure to read and that I can't wait to read the next book.

Gormenghast
Intoxicating. (written on 26th May 2004)
This is the second part of the Gormenghast trilogy (after Titus Groan, and before Titus Alone).

After a somewhat slow beginning, in which Mervyn Peake first briefly summarizes Titus Grown by drawing up a list of which characters have died or gone missing, then introduces the reader with the plethora of new characters that are the teachers of Titus, the now seven-year-old seventy-seventh Earl of Gormenghast, the pace hopefully picks up again. And as the pages turn, the story becomes more and more exciting.

Irma Prunesquallor's party, and then her romance and the way the whole affair eventually backfires on Wellgrove, although it does not push the plot further, were fun to read. Titus's growing love for his sister Fuchsia, and at the same time his attempts at shunning both the physical prison that is Gormenghast castle and the mental cage that is its sacrosanct ritual, attempts that lead him into the mysterious forest where lurks the Thing, and to the grotto where Flay has taken shelter, were passionating. Finally, Steerpike's mischievious, murderous ambition, and the others' suspicions that gradually turn into evidences, and the memorable chases in the shadowy maze of the fortress that ensue, were purely mind-boggling.

Mervyn Peake's characters are so complex that in the end you like the ones you despised and hate the ones you loved in the first book. His words give life to such an amazing imagery, it vibrates and dazzles, it's intoxicating. This is magic.

Titus Alone
Frustrating. (written on 7th June 2004)
This is the third and last volume of the Gormenghast trilogy (after Titus Groan, and Gormenghast).

In this book, we follow Titus, now almost twenty, as he escapes from the Castle, flees its oppressive Ritual, and becomes lost in a sandstorm. Helped by the owner of a travelling zoo, Muzzlehatch, and his ex-lover Juno, he ends up in a big city. Of course, no one there has ever heard of Gormenghast, and the general opinion is that the boy is deranged, and with no paper, he's soon arrested for vagrancy.

Hopefully, there are a few people who believe in his story, or at least who are intrigued by it, and they try to help him. And now Titus, the deserter, the traitor, longs for his home, and looks for it all the time to prove, if only to himself, that Gormenghast is truly real.

I don't know how closely Titus Alone actually follows Mervyn Peake's intentions before mental illness struck him, but this final volume is indeed chaotic. Its characters and style, its setting and atmosphere have little to do with both previous books. Or maybe it's just me who didn't understand anything, but nevertheless, all I felt was bitter frustration.

Boy in Darkness short story
Disappointing. (written on 8th June 2004)
This is the story of a Boy on the run from his home, the Castle, on the night of his fourteenth birthday. He soon becomes tired and hungry, and led across a lake by a pack of hounds, he meets a couple of anthropomorphic beasts, a Goat and a Hyena, who take him to their Underground Kingdom to their ghastly sovereign, the Blind Lamb.

Although no names are ever mentioned, for those familiar with Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy, it is quite clear right from the start that the Boy is in fact none other than Titus, the seventy-seventh Earl of Groan, shunning the immemorial, oppressive Ritual. And indeed (and from the book cover too) I was expecting, and looking forward to, more exploration of the labyrinthine fortress. I was disappointed though, as Boy in Darkness is just a dream-like, surrealist fable with little in common with the trilogy. It is short, and can be read as a stand-alone, but I strongly recommend reading the Gormenghast trilogy too (or instead).

*The Vampyre (*Le Vampire)

Series: Discworld

The Colour of Magic (US: The Color of Magic)
The Light Fantastic
Equal Rites
Mort
Sourcery
Wyrd Sisters
Pyramids
Guards! Guards!
Eric
Moving Pictures
Reaper Man
Witches Abroad
Small Gods
Lords and Ladies
Men at Arms
Soul Music
Interesting Times
Maskerade
Feet of Clay
Hogfather
Jingo
The Last Continent
Carpe Jugulum
The Fifth Elephant
Dwarfs, wolves and werewolves, the Watch and some Igors... (written on 4th February 2001)
The Fifth Elephant is the 24th Discworld novel.

In Ankh-Morpork, the Scone of Stone, the Dwarfs' sacred relic, has been stolen, and the director of the rubber factory has just been murdered.

As Sam Vimes is sent on a diplomatic mission to Uberwald for the coronation of the new King of the Dwarfs, and Captain Carrot has gone in search of missing Angua, Lord Vetinari reluctanctly promotes Fred Colon as Captain of the Watch...

Although presented as a novel of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, the action is principally centered on Sam Vimes and his struggle with the not-so-nice werewolves of Uberwald.

With its numerous winks to our own world, as well as the guest appearence of dear characters such as DEATH or Gaspode the Wonder Dog, the Fifth Elephant turns out as funny as I expected a Pratchett novel to be. Definitely a very good read!

The Truth
A —ing good read! (written on 7th October 2001)
The twenty-fifth Discworld novel tells the story of the first (and second) Ankh-Morpork newspaper(s).

As the youngest son of a well-to-do family, William was destined to a cleric, or a land manager, or maybe a soldier career. But in fact he's always liked reading and writing, and having moved to Ankh-Morpork he's trying to make words his living. Therefore for some time now, and five dollars, he has been writing a monthly news-letter to some select members of the nobility in several corners of the Discworld, in close collaboration with the Guild of Engravers... until one day, when he finds himself knocked down by the dwarf Goodmountain carrying a huge engine: a press.

And so the Ankh-Morpork Times was born. Being able to have many copies much quicker, and to sell them to much more people, he is also faced with the problem of having to find lots of new interesting things to say. And even though he realises that people are ready to take everything for granted as long as it's in the paper, he wants to tell only the TRUTH. And when the Patrician, Lord Vetinari, is arrested for the apparent murder of his clerk and the theft of seventy thousand dollars (in coins), William starts to investigate.

At the same time, competition arrives too. Less fussy about veracity, The Inquirer quickly becomes the people's favourite.

The Truth is a wonderful satire of the world of journalism and the power of media. But aside from that, with great new characters such as Sacharissa and Otto the vampire Iconographer, as well as dear old ones such as Gaspode the Wonder Dog and Vimes, it's also a —ing funny book... well of course it is!

Thief of Time
It's about time... (written on 5th June 2002)
Jeremy, a clockmaker of Ankh-Morpork has just been commissioned by the odd-looking Lady LeJean to build the first perfect, truly accurate clock, one that would render all others useless. But if he succeeds, time will stop and the world will end. And Death can feel it, so he asks his granddaughter Susan to investigate while he's trying to round up the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

At the same time at the History Monks' monastery, Lu-Tze the Sweeper has just taken a new apprentice, Lobsang Ludd, who seems to be able to slice time very, very finely.

In Thief of Time, the 26th Discworld novel, Terry Pratchett explores time paradoxes. Aside from his unmistakable humour which, again, made me chuckle and look a bit silly on the bus (but it's OK), I found the philosophical parts a bit too... well, philosophical, and I must admit I sometimes found myself out of my depth. But as a whole, I found this novel very enjoyable. And in any case I just love Igors.

The Last Hero
Short... but good. (written on 25th November 2002)
The end of the Discworld is near, as the geriatric Silver Horde, lead by Cohen the Barbarian, are on their way to Dunmanifestin with the firm intention of blowing up the Gods. They've even kidnapped a minstrel to write the story of their heroic lives. Someone has to stop them, and quickly!

So to save the world from total destruction, the Wizards of Unseen University and the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, Lord Vetinari, have no choice but to call Leonard da Quirm to the rescue. Soon the inventor, along with the very literal Captain Carrot of the City Watch and Rincewind the chicken-hearted WiZZard, embark on a perilous journey aboard the Kite, a bird-shaped flying device powered by Swamp Dragons. According to his calculations, if the Kite goes over the rim at great speed, it'll come back around and rocket right towards the hub, where lies Dunmanifestin, just in time to stop Cohen and his gang.

Even though The Last Hero might seems a little bit short, comparatively, of course it has the genuine, punful Pratchett style that we've all come to love so much. The good side of it is that it's read in no time, eh! And Paul Kidby's lavish illustrations are just astounding. Would do a wonderful gift idea, wouldn't it?

Night Watch
The Discworld's own "Back to the Future". (written on 14th October 2003)
This is the 27th Discworld novel (well, that is, if you don't count The Last Hero and The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents).

It is springtime in Ankh-Morpork, the lilac is in bloom. As his wife Sybil is about to give birth to their first child, Commander Samuel Vimes of the City Watch heads to the cemetary of Small Gods, to commemorate the day Sergeant John Keel, his mentor, and six other coppers died some thirty yeas ago.

Later, arriving at the Patrician's Palace, he hears that Carcer, a serial killer who's been wreaking havoc around town lately, has just been cornered. This might be his only chance to arrest the murderer.

Outside, there's a storm brewing. After a chase in the streets of the city, Vimes and Carcer end up in the tower of the wizards' University, a highly magical place. And as the Commander is about to catch his prey, lighting strikes, and both are transported back in time, some thirty years earlier... Soon Carcer commits another crime and kills John Keel.

Night Watch has a strong "Back to the Future" theme, where changing events in the past... well, the now, of course affects those in the now... well, the future. Many things have changed in thirty years, and Vimes struggles to put his own past back on the track. It won't be long until he encounters his younger self. Passing himself off as Sergeant John Keel, not only will he have to teach young Sam to be a good copper, but he must also survive the oncoming Revolution.

True to form, Terry Pratchett gives us yet another witty, intelligent, hilarious Discworld novel of the City Watch, with its traditional footnotes and tongue-in-cheek humour, and some cameo appearances of Death... what more could we possibly ask for?

Monstrous Regiment
Discworld farce. (written on 2nd May 2005)
This is the 28th Discworld novel, but it can be read as a stand-alone.

Polly Perks is a young woman who works at her father's inn, the Duchess (named after an iconic Borogravian figure). However, since it is one of the numerous "abominations unto Nuggan" for a woman to own pubs in Borogravia, she realizes that if she wants to keep the Duchess, she needs to get her brother Oliver back from the front. Indeed, Borogravia is at war, again, with one of its neighbours.

So when the recruiting party goes through town, she cuts her hair, disguises as a man, kisses the portrait of the Duchess and gets the Shilling. Now she's in Sergeant Jack Jackrum's army, along with a group of other makeshift soldiers, among which Maladict the reformed Vampire (who's given up blood for coffee), a Troll and an Igor. Soon enough she learns to walk and swear like a man, and to wear a pair of socks in her trousers.

I found Monstrous Regiment hard to get in at first, because I got all the names and nicknames mixed up and I wasn't familiar with military vocabulary, let alone military slang. But in the middle of the book the story started flowing more naturally and became much more exciting, and in the end I liked its "farce" twists and turns a lot.

Going Postal
From pillory to post... (written on 3rd November 2005)
This is the 29th Discword novel, but can be read as a stand-alone.

26-year-old Moist von Lipwig is a talented con artist. Or used to be: this morning he (well actually his "Mr Spangler" identity) was hanged. At least that's what the citizens of Ankh-Morpork witnessed. In truth, Moist von Lipwig was secretly and discreetly "rescued" by the Patrician, Lord Vetinari, and proposed a unturndownable challenge: to become the city's new Postmaster.

The book tells of how he'll get Ankh-Morpork's ancient postal service up and running again, with the help of Mr Groat the old postman, of Stanley the pinhead and keeper of the Rules, of Miss Adora Belle Dearheart of the Golem Trust, and of his parole officer Mr Pump.

Of course he'll face many obstacles, especially in this modern world where clacks can deliver a message in the blink of a shutter tower... yes, but there's been an unusual number of deaths on the clacks lately... Could he outrun them?

Going Postal hooked me right from the start. It was so exciting to explore the Post Office's old building, literally packed with old, undelivered mail, and to witness the invention of stamps... Of course Death makes his usual appearance (or apparition?), and the punny references (to The Lord of the Rings, the Internet, etc) are legion. The final race reminded me of an old film, the title of which I can't for the life of me remember, where some old fashioned service competes against the modern one... oh well. With this book, as well as with Monstrous Regiment and the Tiffany Aching sub-series, it seems to me that Sir Terry Pratchett is finally back on track after some years at half throttle.

Thud!
Plink! (written on 15th March 2007)
Thud! is the 30th Discworld novel and is a novel of the Watch.

As Koom Valley Day approaches (commemorating a huge battle between the Trolls and the Dwarves), and a Dwarf is found dead in one of the mines underneath Ankh-Morpork, unrest is brewing among the denizens.

Fearing the next reenactment will happen in the streets of his city, Commander Sam Vimes and his constables investigate. He'll discover the customs and rites of the Dwarf community, and its secret society, giving the book a touch of Da Vinci Code.

Every day at 6 o'clock (sharp!) though, he has to go back home and read "Where's My Cow?" to his baby son. With all the right noises.

Once more, Pratchett manages to sew modern social concerns (here, cultural and racial differences, and tolerence) into a funny and witty fantasy. I wouldn't say it was one of my favourite, but it was good and made me chuckle a few times. I particularly enjoyed the Gooseberry's apparitions (Vimes's palm agenda), and the female characters (Sally, Angua, Tawneee) in general.

Making Money
Chuckle double effect! (written on 1st October 2008)
Making Money is a Discworld novel and features the Man in the Golden Suit, Ankh-Morpork's Postmaster Moist von Lipwig.

Moist is bored. He misses his old, more adventurous life, back when he was Albert Spangler the con artist. So when he's not running the Post Office, he likes climbing to its roof at night, and has already picked all its locks.

But when Mrs Topsy Lavish, chairwoman and owner of 50% of the Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork, but owner also of Mr. Fusspot the dog who owns 1%, dies and leaves her shares to her dog and bequeaths Mr. Fusspot to Moist... he has no choice but try and make it work again.

It starts with the Mint, which actually runs at a loss. Since making coins costs too much and people are already using stamps as currency, Moist devises the first bank notes, which soon have the same success as his stamps.

In the meantime, Cosmo Lavish tries to take Vetinari's identity and Moist's girlfriend Adora Belle Dearheart uncovers ancient golems buried in the desert. And all the while the Glooper gloops.

I really like the character of Moist von Lipwig and was glad to read about him again. The book is of course filled with references that make you chuckle twice: when you get them, and when you find yourself clever because to got them... it's the Discworld double effect!

Incubust very short story
Troll Bridge short story
Theatre of Cruelty short story
Turntables of teh Night short story
The Sea and Little Fishes short story

Series: Discworld for Children

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents
Witty and gripping (written on 28th November 2002)
This is the story of Maurice, a cunning 4-year-old talking cat, and his gang of intelligent rats. Together with Keith, a stupid-looking kid who plays the flute, they travel from town to town, doing the plague-of-rats-and-rat-piper trick to earn some pocket money.

It works perfectly well, until the rats develop a conscience. They agree to do it one last time and head for Überwald, or more accurately for the small village of Bad Blintz. There they soon realize that something is amiss. Food in the village is rationed, rat tails are rewarded 50p a piece and strangely, there isn't a single "keekee" (regular rat) around. Teaming up with Malicia Grim, the mayor's silly daughter who thinks she's living in a fairy tale, they are determined to uncover the mystery.

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents easily stands among my favourite Discworld novels. With a story that sometimes reminded me of Mrs Frsiby and the Rats of NIMH and a humour echoing that of the Bromeliad, where Pratchett observes our silly human world through the eyes of other creatures, and where rats have names such as Hamnpork or Dangerous Beans because they liked the sound of it but didn't understand the meaning, it is as intelligent and sensible, sometimes scary, even sad at times, as it is hilarious. And David Wyatt's illustrations are just too cute!

Series: Tiffany Aching

The Wee Free Men
Absolutely loved it! (written on 16th June 2004)
This is the story of Tiffany Aching, a 9-year-old farmers' daughter, living in a green, hilly, full-of-sheep countryside named the Chalk (DW). One day when she's walking by the river with her capricious baby brother Wentworth, she's attacked by Jenny Green-Teeth, a monster with long teeth and eyes as wide as eight-inch soup plates. Nightmares are invading the land.

Not long after, Wentworth is kidnapped by the Queen of FairyLand. Following the advice of Miss Tick, a witch she met at the village fair, and her talking toad, and with the help of the Nac Mac Feegles, the blue-skinned little pictsies with the strong Scottish accent, she arms herself with a frying pan and her Granny's book on Diseases of the Sheep, and sets off in searched of her brother.

Beside being extremely funny and packed with action, The Wee Free Men is also a really sweet book, full of Tiffany's fond memories of Granny Aching, who was a famous shepherd of the Chalk, and a kind of witch in her own way. It's a story both for adults and children, telling you to look at the World around you, and teaching you, in a light way, the respect of Nature or other moral values. This might well be my favourite Discworld book, I absolutely loved it!

A Hat Full of Sky
Noble values sewn into a captivating story. (written on 19th May 2005)
This is the second book in the Tiffany Aching series (after The Wee Free Men and before at least a couple more with the tentative titles of Wintersmith and When I Am Old I Shall Wear Midnight).

Tiffany is now eleven, two years have passed since the events of The Wee Free Men and the incident with the Fairy Queen. She's learnt a few tricks since then, like the ability to step out of her own body, which is actually very handy when your only mirror is too small and you want to check if your hair is well combed at the back of your head. Although she likes wearing that invisible hat Mistress Weatherwax gave her.

Now Miss Tick the witch is bringing her to the mountains, to Miss Level's cottage to be more precise, an old witch with two bodies, where she shall begin her apprenticeship.

Her news friends, the other witches' apprentices, and especially Annagramma Hawkin, mock her because she's only good at sheep and cheese, and Miss Level only helps old people or acts as a midwife and she's not even doing proper magic, and of course Tiffany's not even wearing proper witch clothes with stars and sequins, let alone a real witch hat. In the end, Tiffany's apprenticeship turns out to be not exactly what she expected, but much, much more.

And all that time, the little blue fairy men, the Nac Mac Feegle, are watching over her. And what they find out is that an evil spirit, a Hiver, is pursuing Tiffany, waiting to take up her body the next time she steps out of it. Rob Anybody and his mates set out to help her.

I really really love the Tiffany Aching books. In them, and probably because they're aimed at a younger audience, Terry Pratchett manages to philosophize in a much more accessible and discreet manner than in his lastest (adult) Discworld books (like Thief of Time). The values he teaches here, through the relationship between people, or between people and the land, are very noble ones, and they're seemlessly sewn into a storyline that is in itself very captivating, and of course very funny. I really really love the Tiffany Aching books.

Wintersmith
A hymn to Nature and simplicity. (written on 27th December 2007)
This is the third book is the Tiffany Aching series (after The Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky, and before When I Am Old I Shall Wear Midnight).

It's the beginning of a long, cold winter, and twelve-year-old Tiffany Aching has to save the lambs.

Tiffany's an apprentice at Miss Treason's, the very, very old (she's 113) and blind witch. She likes working there, helping around, even though she finds it slightly irritating when the witch borrows her eyes. There she also learns about the "Boffo".

One night in a clearing, they witness the Dark Morris and Tiffany's dragged into the dance. The Wintersmith falls in love with her, and starts making Tiffany-shaped snowflakes and icebergs. And he wants to become human, too. For sure the girl is flattered, but if she doesn't do something about it, winter will never end, springtime will never come again.

To cap it all, Miss Treason is about to die. She makes it spectacular though! And naturally now the young Lancre witches are competing for her cottage, and since Annagramma's the oldest, she's most likely to get it. The problem is, she thinks witching is about Magick, whereas it's more like settling quarrels between farmers and midwiving, really. Hopefully, Tiffany's here to help (but shh, don't tell the other witches).

Of course, the Feegles are always around to lend their big wee hag a hand.

True to the Tiffany Aching books tradition, this third volume is a perfectly balanced mix between the funny (the Nac Mc Feegle's appearances for example, or Horace the cheese) but also real-world-relevant sides of Discworld, and a more bucolic, pastoral, romantic and nostalgic hymn to Nature and simplicity. Have I said I really really love the Tiffany Aching books?

Series: The Bromeliad

Truckers
A Fabulous and Hilarious Adventure. (written on 2nd May 2001)
Truckers is the first book of the Bromeliad trilogy (followed by Diggers and Wings).

Masklin and his family are the last ten nomes of their warren, devastated by cold, predators and hunger. Desperately, they set out on a last chance journey and climb up on one of the lorries of the humans.

What they'll soon discover is that this lorry has lead them to the Store of Arnold Bros (est. 1905), the home of thousands of other little nomes who, having never left the Store, think of the Outside as of nothing more than just another fairy tale. The coming of Masklin will be a great upheaval in their quiet lives. And as they learn that the Store is to be demolished, they make plans for their escape.

Although Truckers was originally written for a young audience, it's an enthralling adventure but also a story about understanding other people's ways and helping each other, and no doubt grown-ups will love it too. Because Terry Pratchett's unique sense of humour is lurking round every corner, especially when nomes try to interpret our human world... and what's more to make sense of it!

Diggers
Impossible to put down! (written on 6th May 2001)
This the second book of the Bromeliad trilogy (following Truckers and followed by Wings).

After escaping from the doomed Store of Arnold Bros (est. 1905), the nomes find refuge in a disused quarry. And although life's harder Outside than it was in the Store, after a while everything goes well... until they find out that the quarry is going to be reopened.

At the same time, they also learn that Grandson Richard, 39, an heir to the Arnold Bros (est. 1905) fortune, is going to Florida to watch the launch of his first telecom satellite. To Masklin it's an oportunity to send the Thing back into space where it could contact the Ship which will bring them back HOME. And so he sets out, with Gurder and Angalo, on a trip to the airport.

And as the rest of the nomes are waiting for them to come back, their food reserves are inexorably running out and the humans' presence is starting to be a real nuisance. Are they going to flee and hide or are they going to stand up to them?

As expected, Diggers is brilliant and extremely funny. And again, the confrontation between the nomes' and our view of the world is the source of many of the typically "Pratchettian" puns we've all come to love!

Wings
Not only very funny, but very intelligent as well. (written on 10th May 2001)
Wings is the third and final volume of the Bromeliad (following Truckers and Diggers).

Masklin, Gurder and Angalo have just left the quarry and are heading to the airport in hope to go to Florida, where they can put the Thing on a space shuttle so that it can call the Ship. Following Grandson Richard, 39, they board the Concorde.

What somewhat surprised me with Wings is that it's not only the conclusion to a tremendous adventure: the story really gets a level deeper, as the relationship between the nomes and the Thing develops. And don't worry, you still get those hilarious puns such as the one about frogs who have "such a tiny life cycle it still had trainer wheels on it"!

The Bromeliad trilogy is a gripping story, extremely funny and easy to read, but it's also a story about how the world around you can always amaze you if you only look a bit further than just at your direct neighbourhood. I highly recommend it to both children and grown-ups alike!

The Carpet People
A rebellion against oppression. (written on 27th July 2001)
The story takes place between the tall and multicoloured hairs of a carpet, in a place called the Dumii empire.

Under the omnipresent threat of Fray and after the destruction of their village, a group of carpet people decide to march against the evil mouls and snargs. Along the way, they meet other tribes with other ways of living and other points of view, and they know they'll have to ally with them in order to win the battle.What sort of disappointed me is that Terry Pratchett almost doesn't take any advantage of the setting of his story, i.e. an actual carpet, at all and in the end you realize it could have happened anywhere. However, he approaches many great themes, like proving that in union, there is strength, and in a way this is a pretty good early sketch for his later masterpiece: the Bromeliad.

The Dark Side of The Sun
Disappointing. (written on 2nd May 2002)
In a universe where probability math rules, Dom knows he's going to die on the day he becomes Chairman of the Board. However, he eventually manages to avoid numerous attempts on his life.

Accompanied by Isaac, a Class Five robot, and Hrsh-Hgn, a phnobe, he goes on a quest to find the legendary Jokers' World, supposedly situated on the dark side of the sun.

This early novel (1976, seven year before the first Discworld book) struck me as extremely messy. Indeed, I found the plethora of characters, races, robots and planets very confusing. Furthermore, since I'm not a Sci-Fi reader, the book failed to ring any bells and I guess I missed the puns and allusions. And even though Pratchett's famous style is already well recognisable, and premises of many later Discworldisms such as Hogswatchnight, Soul Cake Friday or Small Gods, are mentioned, they're not enough for me to recommend this book.

The Unadulterated Cat (with Gray Jolliffe)
A treat! (written on 23rd January 2002)
After reading a spellbinding 2000+ pages fantasy trilogy I needed something light and funny. The Unadulterated Cat did the trick perfectly. This book is about what Real cats should be, and also what they shouldn't be. About what they do, and eat, what to call them, etc.

No doubt you will enjoy this book, even if you don't have a cat (I don't). It's got good ole witty Pratchett style, with the habitual footnotes, and Gray Jolliffe's cartoons are terrific. It's read in no time and and will have you bursting out laughing incontrollably.

Good Omens (with Neil Gaiman)
It was all written... well, almost. (written on 26th November 2001)
Next week is the End of the World. But as Armageddon steadily approaches, as prophecied by Agnes Nutter the Witch, Aziraphale the Good Angel and Crowley the "Angel who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards" are just starting to realize that maybe it isn't such a good idea.

In the meantime, babies are swapped, the Witchfinder Army investigates and the Four Horsem- Bikers of the Apocalypse, Hell's Angels of course, along with the four other Bikers of the Apocalypse and the four teenage Cyclists of the Apocalyse all converge to Lower Tadfield in Southern England where it's all supposed to happen.

With a plethora of characters, puns round every corner and hilarious footnotes, Good Omens is not only another version of Good vs. Evil, but is also a pure delight when it comes to train your zygomatics.

Series: His Dark Materials

Northern Light US: The Golden Compass
Quite pleasant. (written on 28th June 2004)
This is the first book in the His Dark Materials trilogy (before The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass).

Set at the turn of the twentieth century in an alternate Europe where everyone is inseparable from their animal daemons, shape-changers that only settle at puberty, this is the story of Lyra Belacqua (and her daemon Pantalaimon), a teenage orphan girl living in Oxford College in charge of her powerful uncle, Lord Asriel.

Being a curious little girl, Lyra hears lots of gossip in the old halls. Some, about Dust, as well as pictures of a mysterious floating city in the aurora, make her dream of travelling North on one of her uncle's expeditions. But soon she also hears rumours of children, mainly from Gyptian families, who have started to mysteriously disappear, lured and captured by what people call the "Gobblers".

And when her playmate Roger the kitchen boy is kidnapped, she's desperate. But at the same time arrives Mrs. Coulter, an elegant and fascinatingly intelligent woman, who wants to take Lyra to her school in London. Believing that she'll learn more about Dust and maybe travel North with her, she soon becomes Mrs. Coulter's protégée. Until she realizes that the woman is none other than the head of the General Oblation Board of London, in other words the "Gobblers", and runs away.

The rest of the story tells how Lyra finally travels to Lapland, setting out in search of Roger and the other missing children with the help of the Gyptians, with whom she first takes refuge, of Panserborne (armoured bears) and witch-queens, and of the alethiometer, a strange compass-like device that reveals the truth to anyone who can read it, which the Master of Oxford College secretly gave her just before she left. Little by little, she'll become caught up in the adults' intricate powerplay.

I liked Northern Lights (US title: The Golden Compass), and found it quite pleasant to read, but I wasn't overly captivated by it. I was moved by Lyra's friendship with Iorek Byrnison, an exiled Panserborne, and deeply shocked, appalled, when I discovered what the "Gobblers" do to the snatched children, but that's about it. Lyra's a tad too temerarious and quick-witted, and in the end, I found her hardly believable. I'm very fond of Pantalaimon though.

The Subtle Knife
More gripping. (written on 8th July 2004)
This is the second book of His Dark Materials (after Northern Lights, or The Golden Compass in the US, and before The Amber Spyglass).

Will Parry is a twelve-year-old boy living in Oxford with his mother, who's suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, and his cat Moxie. His father, an arctic explorer, has gone missing almost since the boy was born.

Will's mother has been facing more and more crises of late, and strangers have been harrassing her repeatedly, asking questions about her husband, about the letters he sent her twelve years ago. Will decides to send her to his old piano teacher's house to keep her safe, but when these men come back and search their home, Will accidently kills one of them. Not wanting to call the police because they would put his mother into hospital, he takes his father's letters from their hiding place in the sewing machine, and flees.

But walking on the side of the road, he sees a cat much like Moxie suddenly disappear. Examining the patch of grass more closely, he discovers a window, resolves to cross it, and finds himself in Cittàgazze, a sun-drenched, palm-treed city on the sea shore, in another world.

The city looks as if everyone just left in a hurry though, and when Will is looking for food in the recently abandoned cafés, he stumbles onto a lost young girl, Lyra. Although shocked to see a human without a daemon, and after asking her alethiometer for advice, she knows she can trust Will, and they finally decide to help each other.

The rest of the book describes how they travel back and forth between worlds, Will searching for his father, Lyra gathering information about Dust, both making new allies as well as meeting new enemies, facing new, more deadly dangers.

I liked The Subtle Knife more than Northern Lights (US title: The Golden Compass), was more gripped by it as a whole. I particularly enjoyed the connections between Lyra's and Will's (our) Oxford, when Lyra discovers what is similar, and what is not, to the place where she grew up. There's still a rather mystic edge to the story which I don't quite get, but I guess everything will clear up in the last chapter.

The Amber Spyglass
Enjoyable. (written on 30th July 2004)
This is the third and last book in the His Dark Materials trilogy (after Northern Lights, or The Golden Compass in the US, and The Subtle Knife).

This volume starts just where the previous left off: after the conflagration on the hills near Cittàgazze, Lyra is nowhere to be found. Looking for her, Will meets two Angels, Balthamos and Baruch, who urge him to bring the Subtle Knife to Lord Asriel. He promises to help them, as soon as he's recued Lyra.

Lyra is actually in another world, where Mrs. Coulter is keeping her asleep with drugs, and telling the local population that she's a holy woman and that she's trying to heal Lyra, so as to be left alone and unquestioned. Soon though, with the help of a little village girl named Ama and of two tiny spies in the service of Lord Asriel, Gallivespians known as the Chevalier Tialys and the Lady Salmakia, Will finds her again and saves her.

But now the most dangerous part of the journey begins, because both children want to go to the Land of the Dead, to make amends and try to rescue Roger and Will's father.

As for Dr. Mary Malone, who crossed into Cittàgazze and then in yet another world, she meets a strange people called the Mulefa. Living with them for some time, she finally learns their language, make friends and discover they also know about sraf, the Shadow particles she was studying in her laboratory, or what Lyra calls Dust. She'll build a spyglass to see sraf and understansd its purpose.

Meanwhile, Father Gomez, an emissary of the Church, is on a Holy mission to kill Lyra, to prevent her from committing the original sin again.

I still don't know what to think of these books. The story is sometimes very moving, with some heart-wrenching passages, but the rest is sometimes dull and not very believable. I didn't think this final book tied up all loose ends either. It was enjoyable, but I wouldn't call His Dark Materials my favourite series.

Series: The Vampire Chronicles

*Interview With the Vampire (*Entretien Avec un Vampire)
*The Vampire Lestat (*Lestat le Vampire)
*Queen of the Damned (*La Reine des Damnés)
*The Tale of the Body Thief (*Le Voleur de Corps)
*Memnoch the Devil (*Memnoch)

Series: The Mayfair Witches

*The Witching Hour (*Le Lien Maléfique)
*Lasher (*L'Heure des Sorcières)
*Taltos (*Taltos)

*The Mummy (*La Momie)
*The Master of Rampling Gate (*Le Maître de Rampling Gate) short story

*Frankenstein (*Frankenstein)

*Where the Evil Dwells (*Le Pays du Mal)

Series: The Guardian Cycle

The Dark Moon as Julia Gray
Pleasantly surprising. (written on 31st October 2003)
This is the first book in The Guardian Cycle pentalogy (before The Jasper Forest, The Crystal Desert, The Red Glacier and Alyssa's Ring).

In Makhaya, on the Floating Islands, Empress Adina is about to give birth to her first heir. As prophecied in the Tindaya Code, a child born under a special lunar conjuction, the alignment of the Red, White, Amber and Dark Moons, is to become the Guardian, the hero that will save the world from a terrible disaster supposed to happen on the next alignment, seventy-five years later. But children born under this conjunction are usually crippled, and when the infant is finally extracted from his mother's womb, what a relief it is to see that he is in perfect health. However the Empress's joy doesn't last long, as she realizes her labour is not over yet, and gives birth to a second, badly misshapen child with strange glittering eyes. Believing this twin is an ill omen, and the incarnation of evil, she orders him to be taken away, his existence kept secret forever.

Fourteen years later, the crippled boy Terrel is living in a madhouse in Havenmoon with his friends Alyssa, a girl who can see into other people's dreams, and Elam, a young boy who's been arrested for stealing potatoes when the moon conjunction was not right for harvesting. Indeed, the whole Floating Island society is dictated by the Seers, astrologers who set up rules and taboos, according to the positions, waxings and wanings of the four moons. Their task is also to calculate the timing of the numerous earthquakes caused by the moons.

One day though, a strange, unexplained earth tremor occurs, opening a breach in the wall of Havenmoon's abandoned necropolis. Terrel and his friends go and explore the forbidden cemetary, where they find an old observatory and a library. Soon after this event, Terrel recieves his first visit in fourteen years. It is Shahan, a Seer of Makhaya, who tells him about the Prophecy of the Guardian, in which he believes Terrel might have a role to play. The boy also learns that due to the last earthquake, the Dark Moon has apparently left its orbit and that as a result, the next alignment should occur sooner than expected.

As another consequence, soldiers are now arresting everyone who's breaking a taboo under the new conjunction, as well as everyone who would have if the moons hadn't moved, and soon Havenmoon is crammed with prisoners. One day, soldiers try to rape Alyssa, but she defends herself with strange invisible forces. Believing she's a witch, they lock her up in a dungeon cell. When the old necropolis is about to be filled with prisoners, Terrel wants to save the books he found there. He and Elam manage to get out of the madhouse after cerfew, and on their way back, Terrel wants to check on his friend Alyssa. But Elam is caught, and Terrel has no choice but to escape if he wants to survive. In a dream that night, Terrel promises Alyssa that he'll come back to save her.

Looking for food and shelter in the countryside is not easy, the more so as Terrel often scares people off with his crippled right arm and leg and strange eyes. But realizing that he can feel earthquakes before they actually happen, he uses this strange ability to help a farmer save his herd. Finally accepted as farm hand, he then works another miracle and helps a cow and her calf in a difficult delivery. However, people start to become suspicious. Could he be the Enchanter from the legends? And when one night, Terrel is caught talking to an owl, he knows he can no longer stay on the farm.

The owl's mind was in fact controlled by Alyssa. Having the intuition that Terrel has a great part to play for the future of the Floating Islands, and having heard of rumours of a monster killing miners in Betancuria, she urges him to go there.

As you can guess by the length of this introduction, many unexpected twists and turns happen in The Dark Moon. In this first volume, we follow Terrel as he makes his way to the mines, meeting a pedlar who teaches him how to disguise his eyes using the "glamour", then travelling with a troupe of actors, all the while accompanied by Alyssa in the form of various animals, learning about what he's supposed to do once he gets there. And meanwhile in Makhaya, the Seers are calculating the new positions of the moons, as Prince Jax and his mother Adina's thirst for power is growing.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I was expecting more straightforward Sword & Sorcery fantasy, but it's actually pretty well written and full of interesting and likeable characters. The story hooks you right from the first page on, and until the last one. I noticed I have a tendency to love Orphan Boy & Prophecy plots, and once again, I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

The Jasper Forest as Julia Gray
A real pleasure! (written on 14th November 2003)
This is the second book in The Guardian Cycle (after The Dark Moon, and before The Crystal Desert, The Red Glacier, and Alyssa's Ring).

After saving the Floating Islands from utter destruction by bargaining with the elemental in the mines of Betancuria and letting the Enchanter take all the credit, Terrel is sent into exile, cast off on the ocean on a makeshift raft, with no idea where he is going. Probably to Macul, a land said to be inhabited by barbarians. Moreover, his link with Alyssa has been broken since he's been over water. After weeks adrift, at the mercy of the waves, his frail embarcation is finally driven ashore in a lagoon. The boy is about to die from dehydration when he's rescued by two young men, Aylen and Olandis, who take him up the river to their village.

In Fenduca, Terrel is taken in by Aylen and Olandis's father Kerin and step-mother Ysatel, and slowly recovering from his ordeal. Alas, he doesn't speak these people's language, and he can feel the whole village is suspicious of him. Could he really come from the Cursed Islands? Could he be an enchanter, a Sharakan? After some difficult times, Terrel is finally accepted when the villagers discover he has the power to heal animals, a power even Terrel was unaware of. And little by little, he'll learn their language and history: Fenduca is situated at the foot of a great black mountain, on the top of which lives the tyrant king Ekuban, in the jeweled city of Talazoria. And since the valley is the source of some riches coveted by Ekuban, the latter and his soldiers are constantly harassing the villagers.

Terrel has been searching for a way to go back to his home island of Vadanis when he has a dream in which he learns that there might be another elemental in the city of Talazoria, and that a terrible earthquake is threatening the world again if he doesn't stop the king from angering the "demon". Indeed, Ekuban has been holding the elemental prisoner in an old dungeon surrounded by a moat, and entertaining his nobles by sending beggars and cripples to fight it, to their death. Terrel will have to leave his new found friends soon.

The rest of the book describes our hero's journey to Talazoria, stopping on the way, against his will, in a mysterious valley enshrouded by clouds and where the sun never shines, to help lift a curse that has been preventing the women to have children for the last four years.

I liked The Jasper Forest a lot. It's not that this volume is extremely original, the layout being approximately the same of that of The Dark Moon, nor that the overall plot is passionating, it's just that the characters are so extremely likeable, and the story so well-written, that Terrel's day to day life becomes a real pleasure to read!

The Crystal Desert as Julia Gray
Similar plot, but a page-turner all the same. (written on 29th November 2003)
This is the third book in The Guardian Cycle pentalogy (after The Dark Moon and The Jasper Forest, and before The Red Glacier and Alyssa's Ring).

Over three years have passed since Terrel left the madhouse of Havenmoon. After preventing another disaster by bargaining with the elemental in Talazoria, he's crossed another ocean, to find himself in the desert of Misrah. Terrel is now travelling with the Toma, a nomadic tribe, earning his rightful place thanks to his healing skills. Among them are two refugees who will become his friends: Mlicki, a disfigured boy who seems to have some hidden powers, and his little sister Kalkara, who hasn't uttered a single word since the death of their parents in the raid of their village. Feeling somehow very close to the girl, Terrel searches for a way to break this protective barrier and uncover her mysteries.

Terrel feels he has to find another elemental in this land, but he has no idea where, until he hears of a plague spreading all over Nydus, which makes its victims afraid of water until they die of thirst. Knowing of the Ancient's sheer terror of the liquid, his doubts are now confirmed, all the more when he learns that the huge Kullana river has run dry since a tremendous earthquake caused the land to fissure in two. To save the world from yet another catastrophe, it soon becomes clear that Terrel has to take part in the Race of Truth, a long treck through the desert where no drinking is permitted during daylight. And not only has he to join Zahir, the Toma's champion's team, but they'll have to win this race in order to be granted access to the Mountain of Makranash, where the Ancient elemental supposedly resides.

Meanwhile, the Seers, as well as Muzeni and Shahan's ghosts, are still trying to decipher the prophecy in the Tindaya Code, whereas Jax is still behaving as if he were the Guardian and invading Terrel's dreams at each opportunity, torturing him and wreaking havoc with his weather-mage powers. As for Alyssa and Elam, as well as some of the sleepers encountered along the way, their spirits are coming to Terrel's help whenever they can.

Again, I loved reading about Terrel's adventures, learning the ways of the nomads in their search for precious water in the harsh and barren desert of Misrah. The overall plot is again pretty similar to that of the previous volumes, but who cares, when the characters are so endearing and interesting? As long as the pages keep turning, I don't...

The Red Glacier as Julia Gray
The Quiet before the Storm? (written on 16th December 2003)
This is the fourth book in the Guardian Cycle pentalogy (after The Dark Moon, The Jasper Forest and The Crystal Desert, and before Alyssa's Ring).

Another three and a half years have passed since the events of The Crystal Desert, our hero is now twenty-one. Still drawn by his instincts, Terrel is on the Skua, a ship heading for the ice covered island of Myvatan, where he believes resides another Elemental. And when he recognizes a vision from his dreams, the rock carved in the shape of a large whale described in the Tindaya Code, he has to convince the captain of the ship to let him disembark.

Emerging from Savik's Whale's blowhole, Terrel soon finds himself caught up in a war that's been going on for centuries between the Black, Red, White and Gold quarters. Taken to Saudark by the Black who suspect he's a spy, Terrel later discovers a society where water is the vector of magic. Indeed, whereas men fight with swords and spears, the Magians, all women, use the potency of water to create powerful weapons in the form of weather spells. It won't be long until Jax, taking over Terrel's body one day, impresses Tofana with his weathermage skills. The chief Wizard will then devise Fire Starters, a weapon capable of destroying their enemies utterly in the blink of an eye. If Terrel doesn't do anything about it, it will be an appalling massacre, and a threat for the whole world of Nydus.

The book goes on to describe the terrible war of magic in which Terrel reluctantly takes part, trying to make his way to the Elemental at the same time, and making new, invaluable friends on the road. Among them are Tegan and Yarek, two young people who, like him, are eager to bring peace back on Myvatan.

Whereas our hero's overall goal is still the same, this volume is a tad different from the previous ones in the sense that Terrel's search for the Elemental takes a slightly less ponderous place in the story, leaving space for a little more action. The new characters introduced here are again very likable and their society quite interesting. However, not much is said about the further deciphering of the Tindaya Code and the solving of the Dark Moon and Sleepers' mysteries, as Alyssa and the ghosts intervene less often. And I have to admit I kind of missed them, and had the felling that the pace had somehow decelerated. Let's hope this is only the quiet before the storm, as I'm looking forward to reading how things resolve in the climatic conclusion I'm expecting in Alyssa's Ring, the last volume.

Alyssa's Ring as Julia Gray
Coming full circle. (written on 22nd January 2004)
This is the fifth and final book of The Guardian Cycle (after The Dark Moon, The Jasper Forest, The Crystal Desert, and The Red Glacier).

More years have passed since the events of The Red Glacier, and after failing to heal the insane Elemental on Myvatan, it's now time for Terrel to cross the Movaghassi Ocean once more and make his way home, to Vadanis.

Terrel is now travelling in the land of Kenda with a ragtag group of men: Faulk, an imposing but taciturn former mercenary, Lawren, who believes he's a seer, Nomar the healer and his son Taryn, who can see in other people's dreams, and Roskin, a falconer. On the way, they also meet two runaways, a young lady called Yllen and Pieri the storyteller.

Stopping for the night at the Haven Inn, it isn't long before they pick up rumours among the local gossip that the city of Vergos is in turmoil. That same night, Terrel learns that there are Sleepers in Vergos, and that the next lunar conjunction, prophesied as the end of the World, is scheduled for less than three months later. He has to go there before it's too late. Alas, it is soon apparent that the elements are against him, as huge balls of fire start to fall from the sky and spurts of molten lava start to gush form the surrounding volcanos.

The book goes on to describe Terrel and his companion's struggle to avert disaster and find a way to finally get back to the Floating Islands before the next conjuction to fulfill the promise he and Alyssa made eachother so many years ago.

Again, I enjoyed this book a lot, but more because of the interaction between its characters than for the way the overall plot is solved. Indeed, Mark & Julia Smith (Julia Gray) once more introduced interesting and loveable protagonists, whom I liked spending time with, whereas the conclusion left me somewhat unmoved. But don't they say that the journey is more important that the destination?

Nobody's Son
A pleasant surprise. (written on 14th November 2007)
Shielder's Mark was abandoned by his father when he was a boy. In other words, he's Nobody's son. Having dreamt all his childhood of adventure and glory, he decides to go to the Ghostwood to try and break the spell of the Red Keep. And actually manages to.

Bringing back a sword named Sweetnesss as proof, he goes to the King's castle to claim the reward. King Astin asks Mark to give up the legandary blade in exchange for any