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                      Order of the Phoenix: USA/UK/Canada July 13, 2007 Australia July 12, 2007 Half Bloof Prince: United States November 21, 2008 |
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A Wizard of Earthsea
In this enchanting novel by Ursula K. Leguin, a boy called Sparrowhawk quickly learns of the art of power and sorcery. Obtaining his true name ,Ged, he becomes the apprentice of the earthquake stopper, Ogion, and longs for great power quickly as possible. He is sent to the magic school of Roke. Ged befriends a boy named Vetch and makes an enemy of the prentice Jasper. Jasper and Ged compete in a reckless competition for the greatest display of power and wizardry. Ged looses a dead soul in an attempt to outdo Jasper, and is overpowered by this mysterious creature. The archmage of the school asks Ged to leave. He goes on to become a small village’s magic weaver. The village is threatened by nearby dragons.I won't spoil the surprising end twist but this was an amazing read and my personal favorite of all fantasy, scifi, or classic books I have read. I highly recommend it. I also loved the other books in the series except for The Tombs of Atuan. That was an alright book and helps the plot a lot but was a little too mooshy for my liking. So check out A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursual K. Leguin! (cartoon synopsis of the book)
Eragon 
Eragon lives with his uncle in the midst of the Spine mountains. A boy of fifteen, he has never known any life aside from that of farming and hunting in the wilderness, with the closest village hours away. Until, that is, he finds a mysterious blue stone from which hatches a brilliant blue dragon that bonds with him immediately. Eragon calls her Saphira and raises her in the woods with scraps of meat that he smuggles out to her until she is capable of hunting. But things quickly go awry. Two mysterious men enter the town, and when Eragon returns to his home he finds it in flames with his uncle mortally wounded beneath the wreckage. He sets off seeking justice against those who murdered his uncle, taking with him Saphira and a mysterious storyteller, Brom, who seems to know a great deal about dragons and history which has been nearly forgotten. Soon, Eragon finds himself swept up in the conflict that is rocking the land of Alagaesia—the war against Galbatorix, the sorcerer-king of the realm and the man
responsible for eliminating the dragon riders who once kept peace in the land. During his quest, Eragon learns of Alagaeisa's troubled past, and learns to harness the magical power which belongs to all those who ride dragons.
Eldest 
Now, in Eldest, Eragon and Saphira must journey to the elven city of Ellesmera to complete their training as Rider and dragon. The great majority of the ancient Riders were elves, and the Varden signed a pact with the elf queen Islanzadi that the elves would be given a part in Eragon’s training. He sets out with a small escort of dwarves and Arya, a beautiful elf maiden who shows no interest in Eragon’s poorly-disguised romantic intentions.
In this book, Paolini introduces a second plot that happens concurrently with the main one. Back in Eragon’s home village of Carvahall, the Empire comes looking for Eragon’s cousin, Roran, and violence quickly ensues between the villagers and the imperial soldiers, led by the murderous Ra’zac. Roran must lead the villagers in an exodus south to escape the Empire’s wrath, dogged by Imperial soldiers at every step.
Essentially, I though Eldest was more of the same—if you enjoyed Eragon, you’ll certainly enjoy its sequel. Paolini’s writing, characterization, and plotting are all somewhat improved, but his skills are comparable to those in the first book. The prose is solid, the characters fairly engaging—particularly the dragon Saphira, with her odd mixture of humor, reflectiveness, and ferocity—and Paolini’s descriptive passages are excellent, if occasionally long-winded. The plot is somewhat slower-paced than Eragon’s, but Paolini’s world-building and character conflicts are enough to keep up interest, and it is good to read an unabashedly archetypal story. The way he handles magic is also fascinating—Paolini obviously thinks much more deeply about the ramifications of his magic system than many authors do, and he incorporates the ramifications into his work.
Pyrdain Chronicles 
In the Prydain Chronicles, we follow a young boy. The young boy named Taran is an assistant pig keeper. He is brought up by an old, wise man and sent on various sweet adventures to steal a book from three witches, find out who his parents were, and other quests of the such. The Black caulron is very famous but Taran Wanderer was my favorite of this excellent series. I highly recommend it if you like teen fantasy fiction novels. I haven't read the series in a while but what I do remember of them was the impression that you can achieve great things even if you're an assitant pig-keeper and some other great life lessons also. So go to your local library and check out The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, or The High King all by Lloyd Alexander.
Ender's Game 
Ender's Game describes Ender's journey from a normal six-year-old to the only commander who can save the earth from the Buggers. It is rather sad to see someone of Ender's quality reduced to a killing machine, even if he does feel remorse.
Ender also becomes the greatest strategist. He has many unfair situations thrown at him that he rises above to become the victor in every battle. His teachers at Battle School are none too obsequious, either. They want everyone to hate Ender, so they make it seem like Ender is the only one they like so the other students get mad.
Ender's Game would be a good choice for someone who likes science fiction, and who doesn't mind violence and some colorful language. It is very interesting and keeps you on the edge of your chair to the end. It has some surprising twists that leave you wondering but also some obvious hints about what is going on that you can figure out after you've read the book. This was a very enthralling, orginial book. Ender is pushed to his absolute mental extremety and still defies the odds beyond all reason. I couldn't put this book down for a second until I finished it and I bet you won't either. I recommend the rest of the series and advise you to check out other books by Orson Scott Card. He's an incredibly amazing science fiction writer and is phenomenally talented.
Journey to the Center of The Earth 
This book is an absolute classic. Jules Verne was a writer worthy of praise beyond description. Journey to The Center of The Earth starts out with a professor discovering a map in the spine of an old book. It contains the directions to the center of the Earth. The professor takes along his young assistant on his quest. It takes them all the way to Greenland where they hire a guide and climb into the depths of a supposedly inactive volcano. On their journey, the young companion is lost, ancient animals are rediscovered, and the group barely eludes death a number of times. So be sure and check out any book by Jules Verne, but especially this entrancing science fiction novel.
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