By Stephen R. Lawhead

It is winter in Mensandor. It is a season of change. It has been ten years since the king left for the war, and in the kingdom, things are stirring. Everything is not as peaceful as it seems to be.

For Quentin, an acolyte in the temple of Ariel, all of this is distant and far away. At least, until a wounded knight appears at the temple gate with an urgent missile for the queen. Someone must continue his quest. And Quentin, perhaps pushed by forces greater them him, chooses to do it.

So he leaves the only home he has ever known and sets forth for the capital city. The journey proves to be much harder and much more perilous than he could ever have imagined, but does that not simply mean that if he is to succeed, the reward will be so much greater?

If you like The Lord of the Rings or Arthurian fiction, you will like this book. The entire series is super epic and exciting and the characters are really interesting. And if you’re interested in books that have religion that feels more realistic, the religion in this series, is highly based off of Christianity. I liked that part and felt that it was done pretty well.

One thing I do remember about this book is that it uses a lot of deus ex machina which works with the plot but is not especially my favorite. It also tries really hard to be an epic fantasy without fully meeting all the criteria what I would think of as an epic fantasy. Still a worthwhile read, though.

General Stats:

• Genre: Fantasy
• Book 1 of 3
• Age: 8th grade and above
• My rating: ★★★★☆

By Suzanne Collins

It looks like it’s going to be a boring summer. With money being tight and his grandmother declining, Gregor has to stay home instead of going to the summer camp all the kids go to. Instead of hanging out with the other kids, he’ll be hanging out with his baby sister, Boots, and missing his dad.

At least, that’s the plan until Boots falls down the vent and Gregor (like any good big brother would) jumps in after her.

They don’t end up in the furnace.

Instead, they find themselves in an underground kingdom filled with strange creatures like rats, bats, and cockroaches. Though they may not sound strange to you at first, all of them are large enough to ride on.

And some of them are very interested in Boots.

At least they’re not alone in the Underland; a strange race of humans has lived here for hundreds of years. They may not seem trustworthy, and they may put a lot of stock in some ridiculous prophecies, but they’re Gregor’s only hope of returning home. And when they reveal that they might have information about Gregor’s dad, well, he may have a reason to look closer at their prophecies.

If you like funny characters, interesting creatures, and strange worlds, you will like this book. I loved the entire series and had so much fun reading it. And if you like the first book, just wait…they get better and better. Moreover, if you’re looking forward to reading The Hunger Games when you get older, this will give you a taste of Suzanne Collins’s writing.

General Stats:

• Genre: Fantasy
• Book 1 of 5
• Age: 7th grade and above
• My rating: ★★★★☆

By James Riley

If you think your life is messed up, then just consider the life of this book’s main character. First of all, his name. Fort Fitzgerald. Poor boy. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he gets teased about it. By his dad.

Oh yeah, his mom’s dead too.

Oooo, and you know what happens next? Fort’s dad disappears on vacation in DC when a giant monster erupts from the earth and destroys the majority of the national mall. Goodreads calls Fort devastated. I would call him shell-shocked, traumatized, depressed, and severely in need of lots of hugs. Instead, he gets the next best thing.

Justice (or revenge – it’s kind of interchangeable).

Because what would you do if you were recruited to a school that promised to teach you magic powerful enough to stop the monsters that hurt your father forever? What would you do if the government itself was telling you that this was your chance to make things right? You would take that opportunity and go to that school.

So Fort does exactly that. He goes to the Oppenheimer School to learn magic.

Now it’s important to point out that although this is a book about kids learning magic to defend the world, it explains it in a way that is very different than many other wishy-washy books do. Magic was discovered 13 years ago, and only those born after that date can use it. Therefore, only children can do magic. How are they taught it? Well, that’s too much to go into here.

Anyway, Fort goes to school, but he realizes it’s going to be a lot harder to get revenge – I mean justice – than he thought. In the first place, he might not even make it through the first two weeks. The people there are a bit, well, what should I say? Odd? Terrifying? Dangerous? And there are a lot of secrets he is definitely not supposed to learn about.

General Stats:

• Genre: Fantasy
• Book 1 of 5
• Age: 5th grade and above
• My rating: ★★★★☆

By John Flanagan

If you enjoyed Ranger’s Apprentice, then you will definitely, absolutely, completely enjoy Brotherband. If you enjoyed the Skandians, you will like this book. Any Erak fans? You will like this book.

This is the story of a group of Skandian boys who are all enter the training required to become warriors. They spend several months in groups, or brotherbands, that will, upon graduation, become crews of wolfships. Unfortunately, Hal, the main character, is not well liked by the majority of the other boys who are about to enter training. He, along with a few others, are outcasts.

For Hal, this is mostly because of his family. His mother was a former Araluen slave, who was freed by his father, a Skandian. But his father died on a raid, leaving Hal and his mother behind. Eventually, one of Mikhil’s (Hal’s father’s) shipmates, Thorn, comes to help Hal and his mother, Karina.

Anyway, backstory aside, Hal and the rest of the outcasts, after being rejected by the rest of the boys, form their own brotherband. And then they set out to win the brotherband contest and become the best group of warriors. They face many difficult challenges, but with the help of Thorn, and having the benefit of having an creative young skirl (captain), they may yet succeed.

This book is actually amazing. If you like competition/training books that aren’t to complex or long-winded, this is the one for you. And if you even kind of liked Ranger’s Apprentice, you have to read this one. And you won’t regret it, because it is a long series as well! Definitely read it after Ranger’s Apprentice, through.

Also I just learned that John Flanagan died so now I’m really sad. 😢

General Stats:

• Genre: Fantasy
• Book 1 of 9
• Age: 5th grade and above
• My rating: ★★★★★