This is a bit wordy but hopefully it will help
Witches and Wizards and Dragons, Oh My!
Good Things Come in Threes: Fantasy Series to Enjoy after You Have Indulged Yourself in Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings
by Bonnie Kunzel
After reading Harry Potter (all four books) and The Lord of the Rings (four -- if you count The Hobbit), most of us probably indulged ourselves by heading for the movie theater in November (for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets -- Harry Potter #2) and again in December (for The Two Towers -- The Lord of the Rings #2). We've gotten our Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings fix -- for the time being. But now what? Of course, we can always reread -- one of life's guilty pleasures. Rediscover old friends, immerse ourselves in familiar settings and scenarios, revisit old haunts and experience the thrills of adventure and discovery -- once removed. That's the joy of rereading. We've been here before, but it feels so good to be back again.
However, steeped in fantasy as you may be, are you nevertheless in the mood for something new? Want to try one of the incredible fantasy trilogies written expressly for young readers? I know that the statement "The Golden Age of Science Fiction is Twelve" applies equally well to fantasy; that many fans of fantasy as well as science fiction discover the joys of reading these genres around the age of twelve. That's when they frequently begin reading works by adult authors, like the long-lasting, immensely popular Xanth series by Piers Anthony, the Valdemar novels with their mind-reading, horse-like companions by the prolific Mercedes Lackey, those magnificent dragons in the Pern opus by Anne McCaffrey, the Wheel of Time cycle by Robert Jordan (that goes on and on and is still nowhere near completion, much to his many fans' intense delight) and the many hilarious visits to Discworld that Terry Pratchett has provided us.
In addition to the incredibly rich offerings available today in the adult fantasy market, there is a fantasy phenomenon taking place in the world of children's and young adult books. No doubt fueled by the explosive popularity of Harry Potter, more and more fantasies are being written or reprinted or added to by authors who are writing specifically for young readers. In the past year alone, Diane Duane has added new volumes to her So You Want to Be a Wizard series, and Meredith Ann Pierce, author of the incredible Darkangel trilogy, has finally returned to the fantasy fold with the remarkable Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood. I have also learned that plans are underway to re-issue The Spellkey. Good news indeed! And I'm sure we've all heard the incredible good news that Philip Pullman has decided that he has not finished with the world of The Golden Compass. He still has more to add to the adventures of Lyra and Will. I know he writes slowly and carefully and exquisitely. So I know it will take him quite some time to finish the fourth in this extraordinary series. But I can't help it. I still can hardly wait!
So what to do to pass the time until we can expect more Harry and Lord of the Rings #3? I have a suggestion. Why not try some of the other fantasy trilogies that are out there and popular with teens (and adults) today? It was easy to come up with a list of my favorite fantasy trilogies. The hard part was deciding what order to put them in. Should I go by subject matter, by recommended age level, by thematic complexity? Well, I'm a librarian. So why not in alphabetical order -- by author. If you are an adult, please don't stop reading now, thinking there won't be anything on this list you will enjoy. I promise you. I'm an adult. I've read and enjoyed these. There are some really wonderful, imaginative works that are being turned out today for fantasy readers -- young or old. On the other hand, if you are a younger reader, look through the list and see which ones you've already read. Not all of them, one hopes, but you never know. If you find something new, dive right in. You'll find wizards and witches and shape-shifters and dragons and good and evil witchcraft and Arthurian sagas and -- I sincerely hope -- lots and lots of fun!
Kevin Crossley-Holland
So let's begin with a new Arthurian saga that has attracted a lot of readers and gotten a lot of critical attention. Kevin Crossley-Holland is a British author who has taken a most unusual approach in his retelling of the adventures of King Arthur. His protagonist is a young boy, Arthur de Caldicot, who lives on the border between England and Wales in 1199. In The Seeing Stone, Arthur longs more than anything else to become a squire. He's worried, however, because his father has him studying his letters with the local priest. He doesn't want to become a scribe or priest, but he just can't seem to make his father understand. Arthur also has a friend and protector, the mysterious Merlin, who visits him periodically. On one visit, Merlin gives Arthur a shining black stone, a piece of obsidian, and tells the boy to keep it safely hidden away, only looking into it when he is alone. What Arthur sees when he does look into this "seeing stone" is his namesake, King Arthur, as a young boy. The more he learns about King Arthur, the more he begins to wonder about the similarities between their lives, especially when he finally recognizes the Hooded Man who advises and instructs King Arthur as his own Merlin. And you get all this in 100 very brief chapters -- lots of vivid scenes of what life in the Middle Ages was really like. One other thing to keep in mind while reading The Seeing Stone. It was on the shortlist for the Whitbread award, won a Smarties Prize Bronze Medal, and has been nominated for the 2002 Los Angeles Young Adult Book Prize, the first year that a work by a British author has been among the finalists for this prestigious award.
Book 2 of his Arthur Trilogy, At the Crossing-Places is even longer -- 101 brief chapters, vignettes of the life of the now 14-year-old Arthur de Caldicot. At the end of The Seeing Stone, Arthur got his wish about becoming a squire. When Lord Stephen came to hold court at his father's castle, he was impressed by Arthur's courage, in particular how the young boy spoke up at the trial of a local man accused of theft. Shortly afterwards, Arthur was invited to come to Holt Castle and train as Lord Stephen's squire. His eventual goal is to go to Jerusalem and the Crusades. As he concentrates on his training, Arthur still consults his "seeing stone," continuing to follow the adventures of his namesake as he prepares to follow his lord into battle. His adventures when he does go on a 13th Century crusade will have to wait for Book 3, which we hope will be available in the very near future.
Susan Fletcher
From Arthur let's visit another medieval-type world, a world of kings and knights and battles. This world has something Arthur didn't face -- dragons. But this is not a world in which humans live in fear of dragons. In the spin that Susan Fletcher has given her trilogy, it is a world in which dragons live in fear of humans. It all started with Dragon's Milk, published in 1989. Young Kaeldra accidentally discovers that she has the ability to communicate with dragons the night there is a birthing -- the first such in a hundred years. The ancient ones (dragons) left the land of men ages ago, but according to rumor, they left something important behind -- clutches of eggs. The rumors must be true, because for the first time in what seems like forever, there is a hatching being guarded by a dragon mother. Then Kaeldra's younger sister comes down with a case of the dreaded vermilion fever. The only cure for it is dragon's milk. So Granmyr sends Kaeldra to find the dragon's cave. She does so, discovers she can communicate with the dragon, and then strikes a bargain. For enough dragon's milk to cure her sister, Kaeldra will babysit for the young dragons. And so she meets and falls in love with three wonderful babies: Embyr, Pyro and Synge, who behave just like mischievous puppies and whose favorite word is "hungry." Everything is fine until a dragon-slayer appears and kills the mother dragon on one of her sheep raids. Now Kaeldra is left with three baby draclings to guard and protect. Which won't be easy because most people want to kill dragons, not save them. I loved this book and kept hoping there would be more about these characters. Dragon lore abounds in a fast-paced, diverting page-turner -- a fantasy with a heart!
In 1993 Susan Fletcher published another dragon book: Flight of the Dragon Kyn. I thought it would be a sequel to Dragon's Milk, but it's not. Instead, it's more of a prequel, set in the same Northern, snow-covered world of the previous novel and explaining how dragons came to the hidden valley. Kara (15) is called to the court of King Orrik. When she was a child of four, she contracted vermilion fever and was left near a dragon's lair to die. But she didn't die. Instead, the dragon mother nursed the young child back to health and then sent her home, with no memory of what had happened during her absence. King Orrik wants to wed Princess Signy and provide his kingdom with a much-needed heir. But she will not accept his offer of marriage until he has slain the dragons who killed her brother. That's where Kara comes in. Ever since her stay with the mother dragon, she has had the ability to call down birds from the sky. Legend has it that those who can call down birds can also call down dragons. At first Kara enjoys her stay at court, but then comes the dragon hunt. When she finally does call a dragon, while it is being slaughtered she "remembers" it as the one who mothered her and saved her life so long ago. Afterwards she tries desperately to come up with a plan to save the remaining dragons, in spite of the King's command to the contrary. Once again there's a lot of action and a lot of dragon lore in a fantasy that covers the gamut from intrigue to rebellion to romance.
Three years later, in 1996, the third volume in Fletcher's dragon trilogy appeared, The Sign of the Dove. This is a sequel to Dragon's Milk, set once again in a world where only a few humans are willing to fight to save the lives of dragons. The Sign of the Dove is how these rebels identify each other. It's not an easy task because the Kargs want the dragons dead, especially after their deposed Queen has offered incalculable wealth for dragon hearts, which are supposed to make warriors impervious to steel. Even some Elythians are willing to join the hunt, which unfortunately includes Kaeldra's brother-in-law. It is seven years since Kaeldra saved a clutch of dracling babies. The remaining dragons have all disappeared, but there is still a protector up north waiting for the final eggs to hatch so that she can lead the babies across the sea to a safe heaven. When word arrives that the next-to-last dragon mother has been slain, a gallant young harpist and a girl with green dragon eyes join the quest to save the baby draclings and take them north to safety. More struggles to save the dragons, more struggles with these adorable (if rather sharp-toothed creatures), more fights, healing, fast-paced adventure and fun. I was not the least bit disappointed with any of the books in this trilogy, taken individually or all together.
Robin Jarvis
How about something a little darker? All right -- how about something considerably darker? Then you're ready for another British import -- The Deptford Mice trilogy by Robin Jarvis. I'm a longtime Watership Down fan, and I'm always looking for animal fantasies along those lines. I've read about deer (the Herla of Fire Bringer by David Clement-Davies) and about wolves in his newest animal fantasy, The Sight. I've read about ants in Robin Hawdon's incredible A Rustle in the Grass. I've read about the adventures of a young Silverwing bat in Kenneth Oppel's remarkable Silverwing and followed him as he seeks to rescue his father in the sequel, Sunwing. And I'm as excited as my teen readers when the prolific Brian Jacques produces a new Redwall novel. I love those mice and all their animal friends (and enemies). So I was ready, willing and able to tackle a new animal fantasy. I must admit, I didn't expect it to be quite so dark. On the other hand, look at the cover. Why wouldn't it be as dark as it is? The books in this series might be dark, with a truly frightening villain, but they are also riveting page-turners. I wound up reading them in one sitting. (By the way, that's the other advantage to these trilogies written for a younger audience. Most of them are not only fast-paced, but considerably streamlined, especially when compared to some of the hefty tomes being produced for the adult market. They're also so engaging that it's difficult to stop reading them. But I digress!)
The Dark Portal grabs you from the very beginning. The mice who live in Deptford have been warned to beware the grill and its malevolent influence. Behind it lie the sewers and the kingdom of the rats and the Dark Portal, entrance to the lair of their god Jupiter. But no matter how careful the mice are, they can't escape the evil call that comes to them every once in a while. Emanating from the Dark Portal, it call them through the grill to their destruction. That's what happened to Albert Brown, whose daughter, Audrey, refuses to believe that her father is dead and goes into the sewers looking for him. Her only protection is a brand new Anti-Cat Charm, luckily for her. When she disappears, her friends come looking for her and wind up in the middle of a bloody, gruesome battle against seemingly impossible odds. In the end, the mice discover who and what Jupiter is. The question is, will they live to tell the tale?
The Crystal Prison, Book Two of The Deptford Mice Trilogy, continues the adventures of Audrey and her friends. In this novel, the power-hungry rats and the mystical bats that play such an important role in Book One take a backseat to nature-loving mice. The ruler of the squirrels gives Audrey a special mission. The mouse-maiden is to accompany the young fieldmouse Twit back to his home, taking the fortune-teller rat, Madame Akkikuyu with them. Madame survived the final battle against the evil Jupiter, but the elderly rat's memory is now as patchy as her fur. Even though the Starwife hasn't seen evil in the heart of this rat, she still doesn't trust her. And since their former foe thinks she is now friends with Audrey, the logical strategy is to have Audrey take her far, far away. Audrey's brother insists on going as well, to see that they all arrive safely. At journey's end, Audrey and her companions discover that Madame Akkikuyu did not have any evil in her heart; it was in a tattooed face on her ear. The voice that comes from this tattoo leads to acts of murder, accusations of witchcraft against Audrey and the return of Jupiter -- just in time for Book Three, The Final Reckoning. It's back to London and a final showdown that involves lots of action, lots of gore, the deaths of friends and allies, the theft of the very stars from the sky, and a final stouthearted stand against one of the most villainous villains it has been my pleasure to encounter -- thankfully vicariously.
William Nicholson
Time for a change of pace, and I have just the trilogy to recommend. Have you encountered William Nicholson's Wind on Fire Trilogy yet? If not, you're in for a real treat. The Wind Singer, Book One in The Wind on Fire Trilogy, is an example of a perfect world. At least, that's what the society in charge thinks. In fact, they are the only ones who think it is a perfect society -- the members of the ruling class who enjoy all its amenities. Much as in today's test-driven society, wealth, status and advancement depend on the individual's ability to perform well on standardized tests. But in this world, the entire family has to take the tests. The city of Amaranth has become a rigid, caste-bound society that is defined by these tests. Even the colors its citizens are allowed to wear and the neighborhoods they live in depend on the outcome of these tests. Kestrel and her twin brother Bowman are different from everyone else. Their parents are individualists who think for themselves and are not impressed by the concept of taking tests to improve their station in life. Kestrel takes it one step further and rebels against the status quo. This leads to a secret meeting with the imprisoned Emperor and a quest. Kestrel and Bowman are to leave the city and look for the missing key to the Wind Singer. If their quest is successful and the Wind Singer sings again, after generations of silence, the stranglehold of the rigid caste system that has taken control of Amaranth will finally be broken. That's a lot of responsibility to put on the shoulders of two such young children, but Kestrel and Bowman are strong and independent and more than capable of successfully completing such a mission -- if they don't die trying.
Well, they don't die and they do succeed. In fact, they live to fight another day, as you'll find out when you read Slaves of the Mastery, Book Two in The Wind on Fire Trilogy. Talk about starting with a bang! In the opening pages the city of Amaranth is destroyed by the soldiers of The Mastery. Kestrel alone escapes being marched off to slavery. From her perch high on the smoking ruin of the wind singer, she watches as the Mastery's handsome leader, Marius Semeon Ortiz, destroys her home and marches the unresisting survivors off. Kestrel vows revenge, but then collapses among the fallen and is picked up by the forces of the Sovereignty of Gang. They hope for a truce with The Mastery by offering Princess Johdila in marriage to the ruler's son. So now Kestrel is on her way to the Mastery as the companion of Princess Johdila, with revenge never far from her mind. Meanwhile, Bowman has risen to a similar position, that of companion to the prospective groom, the leader Ortiz who destroyed Amaranth. Escape seems impossible because The Mastery punishes any act of disobedience by burning the friends and relatives of the rebels -- alive. But then a strange being visits Bowman and gives him a message. He is the child of the prophet, the one sent to destroy and to rule. Only by accepting this role foretold for him can he save his sister's life and lead his people out of imprisonment. Their journey continues in Firesong, the third and final book in the trilogy. What will happen next to the twins and their people?
Garth Nix
Moving right along, let's talk about one of my favorite fantasy trilogies written for young people in recent, or for that matter in many years. Garth Nix is an Australian author who has more or less swept the young adult fantasy arena by storm with his fascinating account of the adventures of the daughter of a Necromancer. Her name is Sabriel, and her adventures (unsurprisingly) begin in a novel of the same name, Sabriel. Sabriel's mother died giving birth, and the baby's infant spirit was already at the first Gate of Death when she was brought back to the land of the living by the Abhorsen. He's the necromancer, the one who can lay the dead to rest or bind them to his will. Now the Abhorsen has a daughter to follow in his footsteps. He sends her out of the Old Country to a boarding school where she can learn how to use her magical abilities in safety. He monitors her progress and visits her when he can. But then he fails to come to her graduation. Instead, a visitation appears, bearing her father's sword and the seven bells essential to his craft, the ones he uses for binding the dead. That's when she realizes that her father is in danger. If she wants to save him, she must cross over into the old country and begin practicing necromancy herself for the very first time.
In the sequel, Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr, Sabriel is the Abhorsen, practicing necromancy to protect her kingdom. She is married to King Touchstone, the young man she rescued in her quest to save her father. And she is the mother of two children. Her daughter is destined to follow in her father's footsteps and be the next ruler. Her son, Prince Sameth, is already in training to be the next Abhorsen. But his confidence is shattered in an encounter with a deadly enemy, making the young prince doubt whether he will ever have the skill to serve as the Abhorsen. In the meantime, Lirael, a daughter of the Clayr, has problems of her own. At fourteen she is much too old to continue wearing the blue tunic of a child. But since she still hasn't received the Clayr Gift of Sight, she is not entitled to wear the white tunic of an adult. She is pretty much in despair when she is given another option. A job opens up for her in the library. During the next four years she works her way up from the yellow tunic of a third Assistant Librarian to the red of a second. She also discovers that while she is still denied the Gift of Sight, she has other gifts that are even more powerful. As she explores the bowels of the library and is attacked by creatures of the dark, she fends them off with magic and a sword. (I ask you -- how can you not love a book about a sword-wielding librarian?) Lirael discovers that she can also combine Charter and Free magic to create an elemental creature, the Disreputable Dog, who helps her in her battles and in finding The Book of Remembrance and Forgetting. Now the Clayr have a Rememberer again, for the first time in years, and Prince Sameth has an ally to help him in his struggles against the forces of evil.
When you get to the end of Lirael, you will discover it is a cliffhanger. There's a reason for this. Garth Nix explained at the Young Adult Library Services Association Science Fiction and Fantasy Preconference in San Francisco in the summer of 2001 that he had not written a trilogy. He wrote Sabriel, and then he wrote a one-volume sequel, Lirael. But that book was so thick that his publisher insisted he cut it in half. So he did, literally. We've had to wait over a year now for the other half of Lirael to be published. But the end is near. Fantasy fans can rejoice that Abhorsen will be published in February of 2003. At last we'll discover what happens to Lirael and Prince Sameth in their battle against the evil threatening their kingdom. Stay tuned!
Meredith Ann Pierce
It's hard to find something new to follow the stellar fantasies produced by Garth Nix. So how about something old instead? I am delighted to announce that the Darkangel trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce is back!!! This trilogy has never been out of favor with my fantasy fans, and I lived in fear that one of the out-of-print volumes would fall apart. They didn't, and now I can relax. A paperback edition is available of all three. The adventures of Aeriel, the young slave girl who risks her life to confront a vampire, are readily available again. If this is your first encounter with this fascinating trilogy, you are in for a rare treat.
The Darkangel is the first volume of the trilogy. That's where we first meet Aeriel, a young slave girl who has to follow her beautiful mistress, Eoduin, up the mountain to gather hornbloom nectar for a wedding. Her mistress insists on going up the mountain, in spite of her old nurse's warning to beware the Darkangel, a vampire who steals maidens and drinks their souls. Who could believe such a story? But her disbelief turns to terror when the Darkangel himself comes for her. Aeriel runs to a nearby village for help, but no one dares challenge the vampire. So she sets out alone up the mountain after the Darkangel. If she is too late to save her mistress, she can at least avenge her. But when she comes face to face with the Darkangel, Aeriel has the same helpless reaction to him that her mistress had. She too is swept away, but not to become his bride. She is far too ugly for that. Besides, he only takes one bride a year, and that honor (and fate) has already been bestowed upon her mistress. As with his other brides, he drank Eoduin's blood, ate her heart and now wears her soul in a special necklace. Aeriel's fate is far different. She is to be a servant in his castle, caring for the thirteen "wraiths" who live there, all that is left of his brides. She also tends the garden and dares the vampire's wrath to feed his starving gargoyles. Like any woman who spends time with the Darkangel, she falls under the spell of his beauty. But Aeriel does more than just bask in his presence. She tells him stories, including the one about the King's son who was stolen by the Water Witch. This story gives the vampire nightmares. To get them to stop, he decides to kill Aeriel. She manages to escape and goes looking for the starhorse with the blade adamant that she can plunge into the Darkangel's breast. When her quest is successful and she returns to the castle, things have changed. She has grown and filled out and is much prettier than before, so pretty that the Darkangel selects her to be his fourteenth and final bride.
The suspense and romance in the second volume of Aeriel's adventures. In A Gathering of Gargoyles, Aeriel is indeed the bride of the Darkangel, but unlike his previous thirteen brides, she's still alive. She and Irrylath (the Darkangel) have left his castle and made it safely to the home of his mother. Irrylath, though, is still very much under the spell of the White Witch, who had turned him into the Darkangel. To help her husband and protect the kingdom from the White Witch, Aeriel must go on a quest and fulfill a prophecy. She has to find the vanished wardens of the land and bring them back to serve as steeds for Irrylath's six brothers, who will need them in their battle against the White Witch. Along the way, she is joined by various companions, including the six gargoyles she freed when Irrylath was still the 7th Darkangel. They all help her on her quest, which is fortunate because she is threatened by bandits, other Darkangels, and anything else the White Witch can think of to throw in her way. More unrequited love for a soul in torment, but at least there is the beginning of hope that her love may win redemption for Irrylath after all.
The Pearl of the Soul of the World is the final installment of the adventures of Aeriel. In it, things are looking up for Aeriel and her world -- at least at first. Evil is on the run, the lovers are finally united, a bright future appears to be in store for the entire world, mysteries are revealed and the White Witch is destroyed. General rejoicing for all concerned -- right? Wrong! Because Aeriel has to make a choice. She can have her one true love or save her world -- one or the other, not both! The battle is over, the wardens are ready to set about rebuilding their devastated lands, but Aeriel's work has only just begun: should she choose to accept this mission and save the world? This beautifully-written fantasy series is a favorite of teen girls, who rarely get all the way to the end with a dry eye.
Philip Pullman
Now that we're in the P's, it's time to consider one of the most remarkable fantasy trilogies to come along -- ever. And the fact that it was specifically written for young people just makes it that much more remarkable. By now I imagine that just about everyone has heard the news that Philip Pullman accomplished the previously unheard of feat of winning the Whitbread Award for The Amber Spyglass. This is not just the children's award. There are five Whitbread Awards given each year: adult fiction, first novel, poetry, memoir and children's work. The five winners are then stacked against each other and the overall Whitbread winner selected. For the first time ever a work for young people won the top award. All three volumes of this beautifully-written work comprise an opus of significant literary quality. All three are extraordinarily compelling in their depiction of a world very much like ours, only different. A world in which babies are born bonded with shape-changing daemon companions. These daemons can take any shape until the child reaches puberty. That's when the daemon selects a permanent shape. But the two remain bonded for life. If for any reason the bond is broken, the connection severed, they both die. This is a world where mysterious dust particles or dark materials have appeared in the frozen north.
In Book One, The Golden Compass, Lyra, who lives at Jordan College and roams the nearby town at will, goes off to search for her missing father, Lord Asriel, after he disappears on a quest to investigate this mysterious Dust. Children are disappearing from town as well, including a close friend. So Lyra sets off, hoping to rescue them as well as find her father, not realizing that the opening battle in a war is about to begin. On her quest she takes the Golden Compass her father gave her before he disappeared, explaining to his daughter that it would tell her the truth, once she discovers how to use it. On her side are witches, an explorer, and an armor-wearing polar bear (my favorite character). Rallied against her are scientists conducting experiments on the missing children, trying to sever their bonds with their daemon companions while keeping them alive. Even her own mother enters the fray, against Lyra.
In Book Two, The Subtle Knife, Lyra meets Will, a boy from Earth. His father disappeared years ago. Will's home was invaded by strangers looking for letters from his missing father. Will fought them off and then escaped through a gateway to an alternative world. This is a truly frightening world in which adults have fallen prey to specters. But Will meets a girl there, a fighter accompanied by a daemon companion. He and Lyra become friends. He is looking for his missing father. Lyra's Golden Compass tells her to help him in his quest, but then it is stolen. After a life and death struggle that results in the loss of two fingers, Will becomes the bearer of the Subtle Knife. The two are separated at the end of the novel, but not for long.
Lyra and Will complete their mission in The Amber Spyglass as the author brings his audacious revision of Paradise Lost to a conclusion that is both serene and devastating. We discover who captured Lyra at the end of The Subtle Knife. We learn that Will still has this blade that can cut between worlds and make it possible to travel back and forth at will. Will is joined by two tiny winged companions who are determined to escort him to Lord Asriel's mountain redoubt. But Will has a different goal. He is determined to rescue Lyra and return her Golden Compass to her. The armor-wearing polar bear is back, as is Dr. Mary Malone from the second volume. In fact, she's the one who invents the Amber Spyglass during her stay among the elephant-like mulefa. That's how she makes the horrifying discovery that Dust is disappearing through the cuts made by the Subtle Knife, leaving death in its wake. Only Lyra and Will can stop it, but first there's the Church to avoid, since it's the Church that wants Lyra dead. Then there's the final battle against evil, an Armageddon involving polar bears, fallen angels, Lyra's mother and father, representatives of the Church, you name it. Will the world survive? Not without a supreme sacrifice (of course -- there's always a sacrifice!) So moving, so incredibly well-written, so suspenseful, so hard to put down, and so very, very sad in the end. And I am absolutely delighted that the author has decided to revisit this world and add one more volume to the adventures of this resourceful young girl and her faithful friends and companions.
Sherwood Smith
After you come down from the literary heights of the Pullman trilogy, you will probably be in the mood for something much lighter. How about another trip to an alternate world, featuring a young girl who does not have a shape-shifting companion. Instead, she does the shape-shifting herself. Sound intriguing? Then you're ready for Sherwood Smith's Wren trilogy, beginning with Wren to the Rescue. Wren is a young orphan who discovers that her best friend is not what she appears to be. Instead of an orphan like Wren, Tess is a princess who has been in hiding from evil King Andreus since she was five years old. Her parents have finally decided that it is safe for her to come home, which she does, bringing Wren along as her companion. But as it turns out, she came home too soon after all. The very first morning she is kidnapped by a servant of King Andreus and whisked away to his fortress. Wren goes to the rescue, accompanied by Tyron, a young magician or wizard in training. Her other companion is Connor, the youngest and clumsiest of Tess' uncles. He's a flop at working magic but was born with the ability to talk to animals, which comes in handy during their quest when Wren is turned into a dog. The three have adventures galore -- riding on giant bird creatures, fighting against the minions of evil King Andreus, crawling through dark tunnels. Eventually they are captured and thrown into Andreus' dungeons, but not for long. The fantasy quest itself is quite good, including as it does elements of mystery pertaining to Wren's birth and parentage. But the real strength here is the interaction of these three likable young teens as they set out to rescue their friend.
Wren's adventures continue in Wren's Quest. Her mission this time is to find her own long-lost relatives. Prince Connor goes with her on her quest. He is not very skillful at magic, having failed to pass even the most basic test. But when they are pursued by enemies, he's the one who is able to call upon inner resources and control the weather in one case and work a little shape-changing magic in another. In the meantime, the kingdom is in danger -- again. The Princess is trying to find out what is going on at court. Tyron, the young journeymage, tries to help by taking the shape of a dog, with nearly disastrous results -- for him. But of course Wren and Connor arrive in time to help save the day. What fun!
In volume three, Wren's War, Wren and her friends are at war -- and how! In the palace, the Princess faces treachery and the murder of her mother and father by the minions of Andreus. She manages to escape and is soon rallying the people of her kingdom to stand with her against him. At the same time, she is trying to stay out of the clutches of her Uncle Fortian, who plans to keep her "safe" (i.e., a virtual prisoner) while he takes over the country as her regent. Fortunately, she is not alone. Helping her are Connor, Tyron and of course Wren. Connor is loyal and faithful and level-headed enough to see that the country needs healing -- the healing he can bring about if he can activate the land magic of his heritage. The talented journeymage Tyron becomes a master after he helps Connor remove the land-binding spell so that he can heal it. And Wren does a lot of shapeshifting, taking the form of a big mountain owl, courtesy of a magic necklace that a sorceress gave her. The struggle is won, finally, by the strong bonds of friendship and respect these four young people have for one another.
Kate Thompson
I really hated to say good-bye to Wren and her friends. But then I discovered another shape-shifting treat, the Switchers trilogy by Kate Thompson. More teens who can assume different animal shapes. More battles against the forces of evil. More fun! In the first book, Switchers, Kate, who lives in Dublin, discovers that she is different. She is a shape-shifter or switcher, able to switch back and forth between human and animal shapes, which is why she likes to go for long walks and spend time all alone. She was seven or eight when she switched for the very first time. In the safety of her bedroom she suddenly became a bear. Ever since then she has understood that she doesn't have to be just Tess all the time. But now her family is moving and there's a strange boy at the bus stop who seems to want something from her. He has even told her, "I know about you," and "I know what you do." She soon discovers that Kevin is also a switcher. He prefers being a rat, of all things, and he wants Tess to help him -- you guessed it -- save the world! The weather has gone crazy. There are ice and snow storms building up in the arctic regions that are beginning to head south. An elderly woman, a former switcher herself, explains the problem to the children. The krools have been awakened from their icy slumber and are on the move, spreading ever thicker ice and snow storms to hide their progress. Kevin and Tess must hurry to confront them before it's too late because Kevin's 15th birthday is rapidly approaching. That's when switchers must decide which form they want to assume -- permanently. Not only do the two teens battle the krools, in the form of dragons, exhibiting amazing flights and pyrotechnic displays, but they also have to avoid fighter planes searching for the monsters who destroyed an expedition. Needless to say, the pilots are quite puzzled at the sudden appearance of dragons in the arctic skies! This clever fantasy features two strong teens who are so different that they are drawn to each other because of how different they are.
Tess and Kevin return in Midnight's Choice, except Kevin is no longer in human form. He has taken the form of a Phoenix, the mythical golden bird that arises anew from its ashes. He had to assume this form or perish in his final battle against the krools in the previous novel. Only a Phoenix could absorb a direct hit from flying napalm -- and survive. After Tess switches to the shape of a Phoenix and joins Kevin in the park, she has such a golden, rewarding, energizing time that she is seriously considering the Phoenix for her permanent shape as well. But that's next year - when she turns 15. Then Kevin is captured and put in the zoo and the pet rat that belongs to Tess responds to a mysterious call and escapes. Tess takes the form of a rat herself and follows him. At journey's end she finds a teenage boy and his anemic mother. Martin is a vampire. To protect herself from his attack, Tess has to become one herself. But this puts her under his control and gives her a very different, much darker outlook on life. Tess remains under his control until Kevin escapes from the zoo and comes to rescue her. In the resulting battle, Tess becomes the catalyst for the transformation of both boys. Her desperate struggle just to be human again spills over and makes the boys human as well. Kevin is once again her red-headed best friend, while Martin the vampire finally has a chance at a normal life. When the excitement is over, Tess still has one last year to spend as a Switcher. But then what?
In Wild Blood, the third in the Switchers trilogy, the big day is rapidly approaching. Tess will soon turn 15, and when she does, she will lose a very special part of her life. She will no longer be able to switch, take the form of any animal, fly with the birds or crawl through tunnels underground with the mice. What's worse -- she must decide what shape she wants to assume when she turns 15 -- whether to remain human and lose the freedom of flight or scurrying around in dark tunnels, or to give up her humanity and enjoy the all-too-brief life of one of her animal forms. Then comes the final blow. She will not be able to stay at home with her family and friends as the final change approaches. Her parents are going on a trip, and she has to stay with cousins at their farm in Ireland, two boys who do a lot of the work on the farm, an asthmatic girl, a kind, but rather retiring aunt, and a loud, abrasive, threatening uncle. Because he is determined to sell off some of the wild land, strange things start happening on the farm and in the woods around it. Kevin comes for a visit and plays Pied Piper to save some mice from poison. But then some children disappear and Kevin is blamed for leading them away as well. There's also a secret involving a mysterious uncle to be solved, and then Tess's birthday finally dawns. What's it to be? Will she choose to be an animal, opt to become a fairy, or will she decide to remain human after all? Inquiring minds want to know. Inquiring readers will not be disappointed -- in this as well as both of the previous entries in this extremely well-written series.
Jane Yolen
From shape-shifters back to dragons again -- what could be more perfect? Especially when the dragons are those that inhabit the pages of Jane Yolen's masterful Pit Dragons trilogy. For the past two decades teens (and adults) have been able to follow the adventures of young Jakkin Stewart as he works himself up from bondsman to dragon master. Dragon's Blood first introduces young Jakkin, who works on a "worm farm," where dragons are bred and raised to fight in the gaming pits. Jakkin has come up with a plan to gain his freedom. He will steal a dragon hatchling, raise it, train it to fight, and in that way leave his old life behind. He is taking a chance because there are severe penalties for anyone caught stealing a dragon. Also, not all dragons turn out to be first-class fighters, and not everyone who tries to train them has the gift for it, the ability to mind-bond with the "great worms" as the dragons are called. Jakkin manages to get his hatchling and in the process accidentally bonds with the baby dragon to a much higher degree than formerly seen between a dragon and his trainer. His former master even helps him with the training, as does a mysterious young girl, Akki, who knows far more than she should about the planet's ruling class and the intricacies of the gaming system at the core of the planet's society. Lots of action in this fast-paced read as well as a truly lovely relationship that develops between Jakkin and his magnificent dragon, Heart's Blood, with whom he communicates in glorious color.
The story of Jakkin and his dragon continues in the second volume of the Pit Dragon trilogy, Heart's Blood. When the novel opens, Jakkin is a Pit Master and Heart's Blood a successful contestant in the pits of Austar IV. She is also the mother of five hatchlings, baby dragons that Jakkin hopes to be able to imprint in the same manner that he did with Heart's Blood. If he succeeds, he'll be able to communicate with them in the same special way that he does with their mother. His plans are changed when he gets drawn into the political turmoil on Austar IV. His beloved Akki has disappeared into a rebel group and an off-world politician urges Jakkin to infiltrate that group and find out what is going on, not only for Akki's sake but for the good of his world as well. When violence erupts, Jakkin and Akki are forced to flee for their lives, with only Heart's Blood standing between them and an angry mob that blames them for the destruction of the dragon pit. Jakkin has to face the death of Heart's Blood and the loss of everything he has worked so hard for, but in the end, as he and Akki flee for their lives, they still have each other and the baby hatchlings to help them survive.
In the final volume, A Sending of Dragons, Jakkin and Akki have managed to escape and are living in the wild with Heart's Blood's five young dragons. But Jakkin and Akki have changed. They can now communicate with each other mentally as well as with the baby dragons, a change caused by the time they spent hiding from their pursuers inside Heart's Blood's body. In addition to their enhanced communication skills, they can also more easily endure the planet's bitter cold. Fleeing from a helicopter, they enter the caverns of Auster and discover a deadly cult, a dangerous bloody society of gray people and gray dragons who have developed a belief-system based on metal and dragon's blood. It's touch and go for awhile, but in the end Jakkin and Akki manage to escape this deadly cult and start a whole new life together.
Trilogies and beyond!
So does this give you a wide-enough range of fantasy "threesomes" to explore while you wait for your next Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings fix? Remember, these are trilogies. I've deliberately stayed away from foursomes -- and more. I could do another whole article on the fantasy treasures to be found in even longer series for young adults, and probably will -- in the very near future. But for now, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to give one or more of these trilogies a try. I've attempted to provide a broad spectrum of the fantastic and the fun, hoping that there will be something here to please just about everyone. Are you a King Arthur fan? Try David Crossley-Holland's very different take on the Arthurian legends. Are you into dragons in a big way? There's the adventures of dragons in peril in the works of Susan Fletcher and in the dragon pits on Austar IV, an intriguing world created by Jane Yolen that has attracted readers for the past twenty years. Do you prefer other types of animals? If you don't mind a little blood and gore, give the rats and mice that inhabit the world created by Robin Jarvis a try. Are you tired of rigidity and conformity? Want to experience the battles and turmoil of a society being forcibly recreated? Then take a look at what happens to the citizens of the city of Amaranth in the works of William Nicholson. If you like beautiful writing and are intrigued by the idea of a protagonist who has the dead on his (or her) side to help battle the forces of evil, then you should definitely give Garth Nix a lot of attention. On the other hand, if you are more intrigued by vampire adventures, turn your attention to the recently reissued works of Meredith Ann Pierce -- so gloriously dark, so incredibly well-written, so difficult to put down once you've started reading them. Do you find literary fantasy to be more appealing? Want to spend time with a master of style, nuance, characterization, bold sweeping philosophical explorations -- and have fun doing it? You don't have to go any further than Philip Pullman's fantasy masterpiece, acclaimed by critics and beloved by readers of all ages -- a truly extraordinary accomplishment. Do you prefer more light-hearted fare? Then by all means let Sherwood Smith take you into Wren's world. You'll be glad you got to know these characters, who develop such strong bonds of friendship and respect as they struggle to survive -- against treason and court intrigues. Or perhaps it's not the royal experience you're looking for. Want to know how a normal young girl manages to cope with the discovery that she's not so normal after all? Then spend some time in Kate Thompson's world, especially when her young protagonist has to decide how she will spend the rest of her life -- at age 15. Talk about the road not taken!
I hope you enjoy reading some of the titles in this article as much as I have enjoyed putting the list of what I wanted to include together for you. It's been a delightful trip down memory lane for me. A chance for me to call up old favorites and place them alongside newly-discovered treasures in a forum where both will be appreciated (I hope) by a variety of readers. Here's a smorgasbord for your delectation, a pastiche for your pleasure, a fantasy sampler for the young -- of all ages. Enjoy!
Bonnie Kunzel
Youth Services Consultant
NJ State Library