Reviews by Crooty

This is the first book of the Axis Trilogy (followed by Enchanter and
StarMan).

The story takes place in Achar, a land ruled by the Seneshal, a powerful religious organisation teaching the Way of the Plough and the fear of the god Artor. For centuries, the Seneshal has also been teaching that two other races living in Achar, the Icarii and the Avar, are evil magical creatures. They are called the Forbidden.

Our hero, Axis, is the BattleAxe, the chief commander of the Axe-Wielders, the army of the Seneshal. He's also the illegimate son of the Princess Rivkah, King Priam's late sister, and his half-brother Borneheld is the Duke of Ichtar and heir to the throne. A strong enmity lies between the both of them, as Borneheld has always been jealous of Axis's achievements and success with women, and hated him bitterly because of the shame Axis's birth is causing him.

With Ice Creatures appearing at the border, a sign that the evil Gorgrael is stirring, the Acharites are preparing for war. But when Axis is asked to escort Faraday, the beautiful young noblewoman bethroted against her will to Borneheld, to the stronghold of Gorkenfort where his brother lives, they can't help falling in love with each other.

However, when stopping at the Keep in the Silent Woman Woods to seek help and answers, Axis reads the Prophecy of the Destroyer: to survive this war, the Acharites have to unite with the people they call the Forbidden, and Faraday has to wed Borneheld to prevent him from killing Axis out of sheer jealousy, as he is the only person who can save the world from Gorgrael. The time has come for them to bring their beliefs into question.

The reason why I didn't give this book five stars is that I found Gorgrael and his minions a bit grotesque at times, and were it not for the strong and extremely loveable (or loathable) characters such as the Sentinels, or Belial and Azhure, as well as for the enchanting descriptions of the beautiful relationship the Avar and Icarii have with Nature, maybe I wouldn't have liked this series. But even though the pace of the book can be irregular, the battles scenes are most suspenseful too. In the end I liked BattleAxe (or The Wayfarer Redemption as it's called in the US) a lot, and I admit I can't wait to read the next book, so it mustn't be that bad, must it?

This is the sequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...

...and I'm afraid I didn't like it as much, probably because what happens to Charlie and his family and Mr. Wonka is much more far-fetched. And what I enjoyed in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was precisely that however extraordinary, everything was plausible, or at least very close to.

In this book, our eight protagonists shoot to the stars in Mr. Wonka's glass elevator, and are mistaken for terrorists by astronauts in a space shuttle. Then they have to fight monsters called Vermicious Knids (sound the K), and when they finally get back down to the Chocolate Factory, the story shifts to something totally different... but closer to the style of the first book, therefore more to my liking: Wonka-vite, the rejuvenating pills.

So yeah, it's enjoyable, but I wouldn't call it a must-read.

As the title implies, this is the story of Charlie. Charlie Bucket is the only son of a very poor family. He lives in a very small cottage just outside of town, with his Mom and Dad, his two Grandmas and his two Grandpas.

Charlie absolutely loves chocolate. Alas, his parents are so poor they can only afford to buy him a bar once a year, for his birthday, which is awaited eagerly. Needless to say that passing by Willy Wonka's enormous chocolate factory, the most famous in the world, on his way to school every day is close to torture for poor little Charlie.

Until the day Charlie finds one in only five golden tickets in the whole world that entitles him to a visit of the reknown factory.

I decided to read this book before Tim Burton's adaptation comes out. What a wonderful children story, full of adventures and twists and turns! The factory's a fantastic place, the characters are great, especially Grandpa Joe, and I'm looking forward to seeing the talented (among other qualities) Johnny Depp as Mr. Willy Wonka. And Quentin Blake's illustrations are excellent. Definitely something I'm going to read to my kids (when I have some). I ran to the shop right after I finished it to buy its sequel: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator.

Finally I've found it: the book of tales of Odin, and Thor, and Bifrost, and Ragnarok! What a pleasure to read the tales that inspired so much of the world's fantasy literature! Here you'll find the background stories behind and the likes of Beowulf, the Nibelungenlied or the Volsungs' Saga, and obviously the roots of Professor Tolkien's own Middle-Earth mythology, so numerous are the similarities.

Not only are the thirty-two myths comprised in this translation very well told and captivating, but the introduction and notes are very complete and interesting, not to mention the very practical glossary and index. I haven't read Snorri Sturluson's Edda so I can't compare, but I'm pretty sure Kevin Crossley-Holland's is one of the best reference books on the subject, a must-have on one's shelf.

...but not what I expected either.

The saga of the Volsungs is a compound of old Norse lays. The first part tells the story of Sigurd's ancestry and of his quest to slay the dragon Fafnir. The second is very similar to the Nibelungenlied, with characters such as King Gunnar, Hogni and Brynhild.

Once again, even though Odin, the Valkyries and other supernatural beings appear here and there in the first part, I was expecting this book to comprise much more Norse mythology, such as tales of Yggdrasil, Bifrost and Ragnarok. Maybe I should give a try to the Prose Edda?

Anyway, it wasn't too difficult or boring, and of course it was nice to spots some of Tolkien's sources of inspiration.

I was offered this book by a friend who surely knew I like Tim Burton's films. What a beautiful gift: these funny yet macabre little poems are just perfect!

"The Unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone..."

But when one day she overhears two hunters arguing about the existence, or not, of her kind, she starts wondering if she's indeed the last unicorn, and sets off on a quest to find others like her. Nobody believes in fairy tales anymore and everyone she meets thinks she's nothing more than a white mare. Even Mommy Fortuna, who captures her one night while she's indiscreetly sleeping on the edge of a wood, and puts her in a cage to entertain and impress customers of her Midnight Carnival, alongside other animals that the witch turns into various illusory mythical beasts. Hopefully, one of Fortuna's assistants, Schmendrick the wannabe magician, recognizes the unicorn for what she really is. He releases her, and travelling together, meeting a new companion called Molly Grue on the way, they make for King Haggard's cursed castle. There lives the terrible Red Bull, the blind, devilish creature responsible for the disappearance of the unicorns, or so they've heard.

The Last Unicorn is a real fairy tale, where everything seems to happen in a kind of ethereal, parallel reality. Beagle’s style is such that every place, every character, and every action that takes place is hard to focus on, as if it were a dream that you're trying to remember. And on the other hand, it approaches very real themes, ones you can relate to, such as finding who you are and what you want to be, or making the right choices and compromises in your life... I won't say I understood it all, but I was charmed by this deep, very poetic, and sad tale of love and magic, good and evil, by this quest for seasons of candor, when we believe in fairy tales and legendary creatures.

This is the third and final book of The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara trilogy (after Ilse Witch and Antrax).

There are only a few survivors in the ruins of Castledown. As some of them are still trying to get out, others go in search of lost pieces of the Jerle Shannara, only to come across more monsters, the bloodthirsty beasts that dwell in the forests and mountains of Parkasia.

And not only do the heroes have to find a way to repair the airship in order to cross the Blue Divide and go back home, but the Morgawr has just arrived with a fleet of airships and is attacking them to take possession of the legendary Books of Magic that he believes have been found.

Held prisoner on Black Moclips by Cree Bega and his Mwellrets, Bek barely manages to escape with the help of the shapeshifter Truls Rohk, and goes in search of Walker in the ruins of Castledown. When they finally find him in the maze of corridors, the Ilse Witch is beside him, holding the bloodied Sword of Shannara in her hands.

What she's experiencing at this moment is the magic of the artefact flowing through her, making her see the Truth, the dreadful horror of all the things she's done under the Morgawr's dominion. So shocked, so ashamed is she of what her life has been for all these years, she hides deep within herself, and falls into a catatonic state. Before leaving, Bek promises the dying Druid to bring her back to the Four Lands and to do everything to protect her, as she has yet another destiny to fulfill.

After reading a more cheap sci-fi than fantasy Antrax, I was rather scared and didn't now what to expect of this book. To my relief, Morgawr is in my opinion the best volume of the Jerle Shannara trilogy. Packed with action, and with characters that finally grow in depth, it reminded me of some of the good old Shannara adventures.

This is the second book in The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara trilogy (after Ilse Witch and before Morgawr).

After his visits on Flay Creech, Shatterstone and Mephitic, the Druid Walker realizes that the challenges he and his friends faced on these islands were nothing but a test, the castaway's map nothing but a lure. Whatever lives in the ruined catacombs of Castledown, the ancient, giant city from the Old World, covets their magic.

At the beginning of Antrax, picking up where Ilse Witch left off, the protagonists are scattered in little groups, exploring Castledown and its surrounding jungle in search of the legendary books of magic. It won't be long until they come across hoards of metallic monsters and fire threads, trying to block their way at all costs. And soon they'll learn that the whole city is controlled by Antrax, an intelligent computer from before the Great Wars, programmed to protect this great knowledge forever.

Meanwhile, on the Jerle Shannara, the members of her crew have been made prisoners after being attacked by the Ilse Witch's airship, Black Moclips. They are locked up in her hold and Little Red, who is dangling from a rope attached to the ship's rigging and all but exhausted, might be their sole hope of survival, as the Jerle Shannara is slowly drifting in the wind, heading towards the huge, stomping and crushing ice pillars of the Squirm.

At the same time, Bek Rowe is facing Grianne, the Ilse Witch, trying to make her see the truth about who she is, nothing but a pawn in the Morgawr's game.

Even though this book is quite suspenseful and contains some interesting character development, what I didn't expect is that in this volume, Terry Brooks blends a great deal of Science Fiction into his Sword & Sorcery. Antrax is crammed with hackneyed themes reminiscent of Brazil or The Matrix, and with all kinds of stereotypical robots that reminded me, in turns, of R2D2 or Robocop. The fate of some of the heroes is so horrible it might even have made good Thriller matter. As a whole I enjoyed this book but also found it all a tad annoying.

This is the first book in The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara trilogy (before Antrax and Morgawr), set one hundred and thirty years after the events of The Heritage of Shannara tetralogy.

Ilse Witch opens with Hunter Predd, a Wing Rider, patrolling the Blue Divide coast on his Roc Obsidian, and finding the half-drown body of an Elf, whose features are hideously mutilated. When Hunter discovers a silver bracelet and a map with strange writings on the barely alive creature, he knows the latter must be Kael Elessedil, the Elven King's brother, gone thirty years ago in search of a ancient, mysterious magic. Could the map lead to it? After bringing the body to the healer's, Hunter hurries off to warn Allardon Elessedil, the King of the Elves.

But the healer's assistant is a spy, and soon his mistress the Ilse Witch learns of what has just been found: the directions to a magic which she too covets.

In the meantime, Hunter Predd is sent to Paranor to ask Walker Boh for help, as the last of the Druids is the only one who can decipher the map. Back in the Elven city of Arborlon, Walker reluctantly agrees to follow the castaway's map in search of the magic, but not before striking a bargain with Allardon. In exchange for the his help and for sharing whatever he'll find on the way, the King will allow Walker to set up a Druid Council, something they've both been arguing about for ages.

The first half of the book describes Walker going all around the Four Lands to assemble a crew of about thirty people for his quest. Among them, the young Highlander Quentin Leah, descendant of Morgan Leah and wielder of the supposedly magical Sword of Leah, if only he knew how to unleash its power. With his best friend Bek Rowe, an orphan adopted by Quentin's uncle, they are sent East, to Anar, to recruit Truls Rohk the shapeshifter, and Panax, a dwarf. As the story flows, Bek starts wondering about his past, about who is parents really were.

Coming along are also Hunter Predd and Obsidian, a couple of other Wing Riders and their Rocs, and Ard Patrinell, the former Captain of the Elven King's Home Guard, who will be in command of a small party of Elven Hunters. Ahren Elessedil, one of Allardon's sons, Ryer Ord Star, a young seeress and empath, and a healer called Joad Rush will be joining them too.

And to fly over the Blue Divide, Walker will also need an airship, a light-powered vessel now common in the Westland. The Rover Spanner Frew will build the Jerle Shannara, whereas Redden Alt Mer, a.k.a. Big Red, and his sister Rue Meridian, a.k.a. Little Red, will captain it. More Rovers will be necessary to man it.

The second half of the book describes the Voyage of the Jerle Shannara and its crew, following the instructions on the castaway's map. Hopping from island to island, first Flay Creech, then Shatterstone, then Mephitic, they're supposed to retrieve three keys. After overcoming many obstacles and fighting the ghastly monsters that guard these keys, they'll finally land near Castledown on the Isle of Parkasia, to open the door behind which lies the legendary magic.

As a whole, I'd say that Ilse Witch is entertaining, but not exceptional. The descriptions are enjoyable but not very poetic and rather straightforward, leaving little room for the reader's own imagination. The monsters are a bit grostesque, the characters a bit shallow. However, I must say I liked Bek's shy, unsure and awkward personality. The women seem interesting too, but maybe that's because I'm one too. I hope they'll hold water in the next installments, and that the story will become deeper and maybe, will live up to the previous Shannara books.