Science Fiction and Fantasy Books

My kids really liked the book, but it has an element of death. It is labeled as for seven and up, but I personally prefer children's stories to be lighter in subject matter. If this was read to a very young child, parents would probably need to have a discussion about death with them. What my kids liked best: the fox helping the squirrel, the dwarf and his secrets, and the black stag because the fairies got to ride on his antlers.

In this installment of The Fairy Chronicles, several new fairies are introduced. The same fairy team of the first three books is present, except Dragonfly on vacation with family, but Periwinkle is added to the mix. She is a Native American fairy with special skills coinciding with her culture, to add to her fairy gift of sun tolerance to fit with pink periwinkles. I have been buying these for my granddaughter. Since I only see her about once a month, I get to read her books before gifting them to her. She agrees with me that Firefly and the Black Squirrel is wonderful. When the fairies go to their Fairy Circle, more fairies are introduced. We can't wait for their adventures. We took a drive to a park last week and along the way we saw what we deemed as purple meadows and white meadows. They weren't the same as the ones in the book, but we still had fun imagining that there were fairies flitting about them on a fun adventure. We really liked this book.

Firefly and the Quest of the Black Squirrel has a fantastic assortment of characters: dwarf, black squirrel, goblin, twenty plus assorted fairies with six being the main participants in this fairy mission, bees, hornets, birds, brownies, the magical Black Stag, the Shadow of Death, and a magical creature known as a squit. Each of these characters is given a colorful personality, even the bees and hornets, to add to the intricate kaleidoscope. The squit, Firecracker, who is a furry, fluffy creature about the size of a basketball when dry (and a baseball when wet) has a wonderful personality. The fact that he might not even be real adds a certain charm to this book, making it extremely memorable. My two children loved this story, and I am looking forward to reading it again and sharing it with other family and friends. I think this book would appeal to a multitude of readers, and I do recommend it along with the others in this series. The books contain activities and nature facts in the backs as a bonus.

The Mom's Choice Awards® honors excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. An esteemed panel of judges includes education, media and other experts as well as parents, children, librarians, performing artists, producers, medical and business professionals, authors, scientists and others. A sampling of the panel members includes: Dr. Twila C. Liggett, Ten-time Emmy-winner, professor and founder of Reading Rainbow; Julie Aigner-Clark, Creator of Baby Einstein and The Safe Side Project; Jodee Blanco, New York Times Best-Selling Author; LeAnn Thieman, Motivational speaker and coauthor of seven Chicken Soup For The Soul books; Tara Paterson, Certified Parent Coach, and founder of The Just For Mom Foundation(tm) and the Mom's Choice Awards®. Parents and educators look for the Mom's Choice Awards® seal in selecting quality materials and products for children and families. This book has been honored by this distinguished award.

Firefly is a fairy. She goes camping with her friends. They go to Fairy Circle and meet new fairies. They go on a Quest to save all black squirrels. I like this book because they are saving black squirrels. Most books the people go and save other people. The fairies save the black squirrels and they end up saving people too. I didn't know there were black squirrels, but they are real. The dwarf has a squit named Firecracker. The fairies get to ride on the antlers of the black stag. They find blue moon clover to save the squirrels. This is a good book.

The Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series is a great find for the fantasy reader. I highly recommend all the books in this series. Fritz Lieber is a fantastic writer, if you have never read his books you are in for a treat.

The Lankhmar series has two main characters Fafhrd the Barbarian and the Gray Mouser. Fafhrd is a barbarian and thief. The Gray Mouser is a small quick-witted thief and sometime wizard. They are best friends and go on many fantastic adventures together, which are told as a series of short stories. This book is a reprinting of two books: Swords and Deviltry (The First Book of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser); and Swords Against Death (The Second Book of Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser).

The first book describes where Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser come from and how they meet. In the second book Fafhrd the Barbarian and the Gray mouser lose their first loves to death, and they set forth on a quest that leads them throughout Newhon on a series of adventures where they finally steal the mask of death from Death himself.

To sum up, if you like fantasy, you'll like this book.

This book is the earliest adventures of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, their early lives, how they met and adventures. The novellas are rich in detail of the surroundings and show that the world of Nehwon is well-developed. Fafhrd and The Grey Mouser's interactions are realistic (except perhaps for the high-flown language) and kept me turning pages eagerly. Lots of hack'n'slash as well as intellectual puzzles, a few moments of hair-raising suspense and some definite sizzle. Classic swords & sorcery with very little mumbo-jumbo and no complicated explanations.

Fritz Leiber is without a doubt one of the the most over-looked of a group of authors that are basically the fathers of the modern Fantasy genre. Ill met in Lankhmar is an excellent collection of short stories detailing the meeting and early adventures of the two most renowned Heroes/Rogues in the fabulous world of Nehwon Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. What is most enjoyable about the stories is the crisp action filled pace Lieber sets while still managing to describe everything in a way that gives you a feeling of immersion in the rich, exoctic world of Nehwon and the vast City of Lankhmar which is the Heroes main base of operations. The main characters are exceptional creations. Two lovable never do wells who usually emerge from there various adventures victorious but with little or nothing to show for it. There is a comic bent to their various escapades that is very enjoyable. Overall, just a great collection of short stories.

The book reads like a series of short stories. Cele Goldsmith commissioned Fritz Leiber to write a series of Fahrd and Gray Mouser stories for Fantastic Stories pulp (one of the two early plups edited by Cele Goldsmith). That says it all. They are a fast read with plenty of action and very little of the long, dreary and seemingly endless descriptions of scenery etc.. found in many other books. The stories revolve around characters and the deeds of those characters. Unlike Jordan's Wheel of time series, which provides pages and pages of explanation of the types and colours of curtains found in each room of a house, something happens on every page.

Fahrd is like a Viking big, lustful and not scared to kill. Gray Mouser is an apprentice wizard that is not scared to use the black arts to get revenge eg. burning enemies to a crisp. Forget political correctness which is expected in so much of the literature these days, you will not find it in this book. It is like the old Star Trek (kill anything that gets in your way) and unlike the Next Generation (lets us open up the lines of communication so we can have meaningful dialogue).

If you like short stories that are well written, do yourself a favour and get a copy of this book.

Poor Fritz Leiber. He has never truly received the credit he deserves for fostering the fantasy genre. Along with the old Conan stories and Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, this is amongst the most influential works of fantasy fiction.

Fascinating worldbuilding, intrigue and exciting characters abound in these tales, all told with Leiber's exceptional artistic skills. Not only are the plots and personalities compelling, but Leiber has a magical rhythm to his storytelling and descriptions. This is one of the few stories that is on my "reread" list.

Pick this up and you'll love the stories--and when you look at the copyright date of these tales, you'll come to appreciate just how much Leiber has affected the fantasy authors that have come since.

My three-year old grandson loved the book. The story is good and the art is exceptional.

As an artist I tip my hat to William Joyce! I read in an earlier review someone saying it is done in simple watercolor but thats not watercolor unless its watercolor pencils. Such meticulous detailed work even as George ventures down the railing of the stairs he passes a depiction of "Sunday afternoon on the Island of Le Grande Jatte"! This book is a prize the story line is so cute the text is perfect for age 2-6 and the adventure and art are unforgettable. No wonder PBS made it into a show!

I loved this book. It was so cute. I thoughtit was good for every one. It was about a kid who wonders about how it would be if he was shrunken and when he was sleeping he actully shrunk. But he had to do some chores and they were the simplest things like watering the plants or feeding the goldfish turn into the biggest adventure.

I gave this book a five because a little kid name George has a dream of him being small like a "teddy bear". When he had the dream he was in his bed sleeping, his mom left a note of chores and he was doing the chores. The "scary" part in the book was when the cat sees George and thinks his is a toy and the cat tries to put his claw on him ,but George runs and hides from the cat. This book is great and I think William took a long time doing the cover and pictures and I say the book cover and pictures are really beautiful. I love this book because he had a dream that was weird that he was small and that he had to do big chores. I would recommend this book because it is a cute book for a 1st and 2nd graders I think they will love it because all of the cute pictures and the funny pictures they would love to read this book a lot of times and I would like to some day read it again because it would be so nice to read it over and over.

I love this book and give it over and over to all the children that I care most about

The prequel is not my favorite of the Otori series. Because of the amount of information that comes to light in the rest of the series the author felt like all the characters needed fleshing out. This "fleshing out" of characters makes the middle of this book very convoluted with an unnecessary amount of characters. The author finally comes around to giving the reader what they really want towards the last third of the book. I liked it but it didn't hook me the way the first two books did. This prequel is like the end of the series that takes itself too seriously and assumes we are all enthralled with minute details that don't carry the story line anywhere useful.

For all of you who stumble upon this website, START HERE. I read Across The Nightengale Floor about 2 years ago, and then finished the series. I ran across this book by accident and purchased it right away. I just finished it and It has been a challenge to remember names and events from the original Nightengale book. I think I will go back and read the original trilogy again before I read the last book.
It is quite frankly some of the best writing you will find. The characters are so vivid you half expect them to step into your room while you are reading about them. The portrait painted of Japan is breathtaking. I wish I could of seen the Japan of yester year, it sounds incredible. Bottom line is READ,READ,READ these books, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Lian Hearn has done the impossible: Recreated the beginning of an already existing series on the Japanese Otori Clan. The result is to deeply establish the reader's ownership of their history and investment in the characters. While this thick book appeared daunting, it was a quick read. The author combines great story telling with lovely descriptions of nature that are tranquilizing.

I was very pleased to find "book one" , which I wish I had read before having finished the series. Knowing too much can be very painful specially when you find yourself wishing that you could change the moves. A great book for a lover of this series.

Prequels are always a dangerous thing. We know where the story is going to go, and in many ways there is no suspense because we know whether certain characters will survive or perish. But the lure for authors (and publishers) is undeniable despite the fact that it is the rare prequel that enhances a series rather than merely rides on its coattails.

Lian Hearn's "Heaven's Net is Wide" defies that generalization. Hearn has written a novel of strength and beauty, loss and betrayal, love and hope. This novel lays the foundation for her enjoyable "Tales of the Otori" series.

The greatest strength of this novel is that it focuses on Lord Shigeru, young heir of the noble house of Otori. Lord Shigeru is the man who discovers young Takeo, the hero of the later novels, but while Shigeru casts a large shadow over the later books, he's not much of a direct actor (for obvious reasons). So this novel focuses on this valiant, tortured, stoic young man as he struggles to save his house and his realm from destruction.

It is also a novel about love, as the poignant affair between Lord Shigeru and the beautiful Lady Naomi of Murayama blossoms into full-fledged adoration.

Readers of the Otori series will have probably already read this book. If you haven't yet picked up this series, this novel is an excellent place to start, as Hearn lays a terrific foundation for her later work.

Strange, supernatural game playing beings are at the heart of this book. They like to play games on a very large scale, as in planet to planet, and are not particularly nice.

A young boy gets involved, and is made into one of the participants. He meets others, and they decide to do something about it, as well as running into the Flying Dutchman, the Wandering Jew and Prometheus.

I discovered this book a few years ago after my mom took me to a book store, and told me to get some books. It follows a twelve year old boy as he travels through other worlds in hopes of someday making it back home. The characters are great, and the plot is even better. I love how Diana Wynne Jones describes the other worlds/dimensions. It is a thought provoking book. the only problem i have with it is that at some points it's hard to follow, and it starts out a bit slow. Other than that, this book is fantastic and has become one of my favorites.

This is probably my favorite of Diana Wynne Jones' books, since her humor in the others can grate on me. The main character seems (to me)to be a fairly normal kid one or two centuries ago. (Of course, I'm an expert on neither normal kids nor that time period, so maybe I'm wrong.) That never gets too jarring; he adapts pretty well to almsot everything.

Concept

They (the villains of the book are refered to as Them, always in italics and capitals) are ancient and thouroghly weird demons playing continual games with entire worlds for their boards. People are their playing peices. However, if one of the "pieces" sees Them (not everyone can)They banish that person to another world. HTe person must switch worlds every time the Them playing that world make a move, so that they cannot make any changes to "play". If they get Home, to their own world, they can stop, but no one ever gets Home. Besides, time flows differently for Homward Bounders (world travlers)than for their worlds. A year passes for Jamie, but a century passes for his world. I was strongly reminded of Rip Van Winkle, and I wondered if Jones was thinking of that story, too.

The main characters (Jamie, Helen, and Joris, mostly Jamie) are all new Homeward Bounders. They haven't been away from Home long, and are still both fiercely angry at Them and hopeful to get home. Older Homeward Bounders have given up.
Jamie is fairly ordinary for his time period in England, but Helen and Joris are both really weird. Other Homeward Bounders are taken from mythology: Ahasuarus (the Wandering Jew) and the Flying Dutchman.

Other Characters:

Helen (proper name: Haras-uquara) is wacky. She comes from a world which is really nasty. Everyone there steals from everyone else, except the House of Uquar, where she grows up. (Uquar is their name for Prometheus, who taught them about Them before he was chained.) She has an odd ability to change one of her arms into anything she can think of- an elephant's trunk, or a Living Blade to fight Them with. (The living blade was the idea of Konstam, who will be mentioned with Joris. It is a weapon against demons.) Helen loves creepy things, like bones and rats and bugs. WHich is fun and wacky, espessially in a girl. She isn't the sort of nice and pretty girl in most stories- in fact she never shows her face unless to look at a rat or bug, prefering for some reason to keep it covered with her hair. She isn't a quantifiable character. I like her.

Joris is also significantly weird, but nto as fun. He is a slave and an apprentice demon hunter (until his eighteenth birthday, when his master will free him but he will stay a demon hunter). He is obsesssed with said master, Konstam Khan, one of a huge family of demon hunters led by a woman named Elsa Khan, who don't hold with slavery adn were somewhat ticked off at Konstam for having a slave. It can get to be a bit annoying (to Jamie and Helen more than to the reader) the way Joris keeps talking about Konstam, but it's not too big a thing. And both Joris and Konstam turn out to be useful in getting rid of THem.

Okay. The story is darker than most of Diana Jones' books; the characters are pretty ambivilent and flawed. The ending isn't really happily ever after for Jamie, because (in order to keep Them, once expelled from teh worlds, from coming back) Jamie must travel between worlds forever. He'll be able to visit his friends, but each time he'll be the same age, and they'll be older. He comes up with it himself, but it's not an easy ending. It's necessery, but I wish there was another way. Endings like that are good; they are realer somehow.

But it doesn't end badly. Prometheus is freed and can go home; the other Homeward Bounders can go home, if only to die. Which, for soem of them, would probably be a relief. Helen goes back to fix her world, which was so nasty in part because of Their games. It'll be hard work for her, but you get the impression she'll have fun. She claims she will, anyway.

I like this book a lot, and i appologize if my review was scattery.

A well-crafted book like this has literary merit long before most YA fiction was considered to be of much merit at all. The mythic background of this book is tremendously evocative to me. A former reviewer mentioned the Christ symbolism of one of the characters - this is simply false - the chained up nameless character is Prometheus, the bringer of fire to humanity.

Reflecting in the mood of the multiverse an odd and endearing British Empire view of the universe, the tropes of the "bounds", the conspiratorial THEM, the mythic depths, and the presence of a cosmic game, combined with the sombre mood of the plot - all of these give this book great merit as one of DWJ's strongest works.

You could say it's a collage of myths - that can be a good or a bad thing depending on whether like myself you have fallen in love with the mythic elements. I have read this book countless times since I was very small and still enjoy it, so this is my cheerful recommendation.

Jamie, an average boy living in 19th century London, stumbles upon his destiny at only 12 years old. He discovers a mysterious building known only as the Old Fort, and is punished for trespassing in a way he could not have even guessed. Jamie is captured by Them, robed spirits who 'play' the worlds like gameboards, and is whisked away to wander the thousands of worlds by traveling the Boundaries. He is gives only one hope, that if he finds his way home he may stay there and 'reenter play'. Jamie visits worlds of nomadic peoples, war, jungles, and even cannabilism. He eventually makes friends with Helen and Joris, other lost Homeward Boundaries with a bitter hatred of Them. This trio and other friends make a plan to overthrow Them once and for all to put the worlds back to normal... but will it be enough?
The Homeward Bounders was one of Dianna Wynne Jones' more serious novels, with discussions on hope, reality, friendship, and having a place to call home. I loved the creative multi-universe setting and the way the book grabs your attention and doesn't let go. The ending was anything but happily ever after, but satisfying all the same.

Not as strong as the first two but still excellent. The cataclysmic battle for the future of Great Kingdom continues, sweeping everyone and everything up in turmoil and war. Robert Stanek moves between the many story lines with a deft hand. Ultimately, this is another one I couldn't put the book down.

Finally a book that really grips my attention. This book ROCKS! I would recommend it to ANY reader. I now have Dragons #4 too. Robert Stanek is right up there with the other true master authors!! Thanks Robert for such wonderful writing.

I couldn't put it down. What a great book. The plot will hold your attention, the characters are vivid and the action is compelling. In it's entirety, a very enjoyable book. I highly reccommend it and it's sequel.

The ends comes for the men of the kingdoms and the elves of the reaches. The wars they've all been trying to prevent have started, and there doesn't seem to be any hope left, but Prince Valam Alder, and his family are not about to give up. They are going to fight to the end, meanwhile Xith and Noman continue to build the mysterious company they believe can save everyone, and Adrina has a secret key she's told no one about. The dragon is with her and he's trying to hook his claws deeper. It is a great book you should buy it!!!!

I loved this book even more than the first two!! I could really imagine what was going on! It was full of adventure and magic and action! If you like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, you will LOVE this book! A 5 star winner!

Based on the same-titled movie released in 2001, Mel Odom's novelization of the Angelina Jolie flick is top-notch, enveloping every quality that made the archaeologist one of the most popular icons of the video game franchise.
Lara Croft observes the first third of a complete planet alignment - an event that happens once every five thousand years - through the high-tech telescope at her home, Croft Manor. Little did she know, only hours later, she would become an integral part in protecting the alignment's omnipotent power from ill-intended hands.

Through her deceased father's gift of a planetary clock, she travels from one exotic location to another to locate the pieces of the power's medium, a triangle emblazoned with the All-Seeing Eye, the Masonic symbol of omniscience. But an internal desire to see her father again brings her motives to locate the triangle halves into question. If she finds the pieces, will she use the power it contains for herself? Or will she snatch the godly control away from her foes and bury its abilities for another five thousand years?

Odom's literary portrayal is accurate and engrossing, detailing the emotional impact of each event and discovery, someting that may be lacked in the film version. Rather than drooling over Angelina Jolie, Raider fans can envision the described settings and locales in the book with relative ease, with every exotic touch in place. There are only very slight changes in the book, such as Croft enemy (or perhaps not) Alex West's naked romp from the shower to the bedroom in response to mysteriously lurking shadows (provided by Croft, of course); that differs from the movie's ending locale of the dining room and its strategically placed dining table.

But the story proceeds with the same heart-pounding action and romantic passion that's found in the box-office seller. Though short, it makes the reader feel as though they are in Croft's military-booted shoes, even as much as the video games do.

- T.C. Robson

This book is great. It is just like the movie, only with a little more dialouge. There are even parts before Lara's dad died telling how he tried to stop the evil. The deleted scenes only able to watch on the DVD are in this book, and I thought that was great! The action level seems a little less than the movie. The book seems to just speed by the action and to the point. I didn't really like that factor. If you liked the movie, read the novel, it is GREAT!

Very good in fact. It adds alot to the movie. More fleshed out characters and such. It's only 6 bucks, so what do you have to ose? Another plus is the 8 pages of pictures featuring the amazingly beautiful Angelina Jolie.

This book was just.. WOW!! It was way better then the movie, b/c the movie can only put a certain amount of scenes, but the book you get it all! i loved all the stuff between lara and alex, if you are a lara/alex fan this book is definatly for you!!

Long ago a meteor fell onto Earth with a magical, metallic form within it. Witnessing its power, it was forged into the (thought of) holy form of a triangle and a temple was formed to protect it. A city grew around the temple, The People of the Light were there. During an invasion, the nine planets aligned and the power of the Triangle was shown. Realizing no mortal should possess such power, the High Priest ordered it cut into two smaller triangles. One stayed at the temple. The other was hidden at the end of the Earth. However, the Craftsman who cut the Triangle in half secretly made a highly advanced device. It could serve as a guide to find the hidden piece, and preserve the Triangle's powers for future generations. It was a magic clock.

Lady Lara Croft was much like her father had been. Beginning with a clock he had hidden for her to find someday and tales he had told her as a child, she must set out to save the world. The Illuminati, a secret group of powerful people, were out to find the two triangle pieces before the planets aligned (which happened only once every 5,000 years). At her side was Mr. Hillary, her butler, and Bryce, her technician. Two tombs must be entered and survived or the world would belong to Manfred Powell.

***** I made that brief as possible, but left out much to do it. Even though the movie, as of now, has not been released, I can already tell that the book gives much more insight to Lara and the adventure in which she finds herself. However, many scenes have the potential to be much more vivid and exciting on the big screens! I found it to be a wonderful book! I plan to be in the theater, with a huge group of friends, on its first night out! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Alfreda knew how a girl was supposed to behave and what her role in life was to be but this did not stop her from longing for the same opportunities in life as her brothers were offered. The normalcy of her world is suddenly shattered when werewolves come to her village claiming several victims and awakening an old power. Alfreda and her family are forced to accept an old family obligation and it is up to Alfreda to conquer the power or be destroyed by creatures from the other side.

I found the story to be a pleasant read and developed affection for the characters described. I did think there was room for a bit more rounding out on the relationships but that can be addressed in a second book. I would have like to have seen Alfreda's discover more about her feelings for her beau before the book ended but it left a nice opening for another story if needed. The story wrapped up quite quickly and had a little bit of a rushed feeling to it but I closed the book with a smile. Over all I recommend the book as a good light hearted read.

Wings of Morning - is the name for the third book, at least i think it is. i came upon it on one of my usual random searches of katharine eliska kimbriel's works and this one was new so check it out bc i hope ally and shaw get together in this one!

I just adore this book, I almost have it memorized after many readings. Unfortunaly my baby riped it up so I need to find a new one. For anyone who is looking for a bit of interesting reading, buy it!

I discovered this quiet classic just after it was first published. I have lost track of how many times I have read it. It is very well written, telling its story through the eyes of an 11 - 14 year old but on an adult reading level. Having been a solitary wiccan for 17 years, I was skeptical that it might be just another "monsters and mayhem" tale, but the author manages to walk with ease "between the worlds" without the tiniest smidgeon of exploitation to be found. I have "redisovered" it after a long absence from it, and was astounded to find it had developed an amazing following. So much for that "just to read on the plane" beginning! Bottom line is great story, characters that are vibrantly alive, and a fascinating plot through man, myth, and magic. My only complaint: we need a third book to round out the story!!!!!! Ok, so I'm busted, I want a happy ending with Allie and Shaw... P.S. I now own three copies of "Night Calls" and its sequel, "Kindred Rites" because everyone keeps borrowing them from me!

I received Night Calls as a gift, and didn't read it for several months. I shouldn't have put it off! I was fortunate enough to take it with me on a long train ride, and very little reading time has been spent more pleasantly.

The backgdrop of the story is one I haven't encountered before: the American frontier, but through the eyes of a budding young girl/witch of Scandinavian descent. The unusual (but light) cultural slant, coupled with the author's ability to write a story that serves the characters, gave me a new perpsective on dark fantasy. The reader learns about the magic art along with the protagonist, and the writing makes all of it believable. Much of the magic element of the book is based in herbalism, of which I know little, but which the author presents with authority. However, the technical details never overshadow the human elements of the story. I would recommend this book to adult and young adult readers. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Pale Phoenix is a wonderful book. so detailed and well written that you can see your self there with the main characters. enchanting and a joy to read. i first discovered it 6 years ago at the local library and ive been rereading it(and i dont like to reread books *nods*). adios

This was a great book. The author kept you in suspense until you figured out what was going on. It is about a girl named Miranda and her parents. They take in an orphan named Abby. It was going okay, and then Miranda realized there was something weird about Abby. Then she started searching Abby's past.

This is another fine example of Kathryn Reiss's writing. I think it was a great book. I read atleast 4 times because I loved it so much. I really hope Kathryn Reiss becomes well-known. She has a great imagination and sense of literature. This classic tale about a pheonix rising from the ashes is a great story for young and older people to enjoy. I'd give it 10 stars if I could.

The only way that you will reall you will really understand this book fully is if you read the first book, Time Windows. The basic plot is that a girl , Miranda has a very great life with her parents and neighbors in her small Northeastern town until they take in this orphan named Abby to live with them. Miranda and Abby do not get along a weel and things change for Miranda. She beginds to start uncovering Abby's amazing past and helping her deal with it. If you read this book you will really benefit from it becuase, if you read anymore books by this author, the character Abby appears in many of them breifly.

This story is so suspenseful, that I was kept on the edge of my seat the entire time! This time-travel book, involves a young, thirteen-year-old girl by the name of Abby Chandler, who mysteriously and magically escapes a horrific fire, in which her family was killed. Abby does not know it, but a small, magical, stone flute carved in the shape of a phoenix, given to her by a Native American woman, Willow, saved Abby from dying in the fire with her family. But the flute did not only save Abby's life, it also threw her ahead in time by at least three hundred years! One second Abby was living in the colonial era, and the next second she was in a field of snow, without any knowledge of the buildings and houses around her.

Eventually Abby crosses paths with a young, fifteen-year-old girl, Mandy Browne, of Massachusetts. Unknown to both girls, but the day these two meet is the day Abby is rescued from her seemingly inevitable fate of living forever.

Mandy discovers there is something about this girl that isn't right. Whenever Mandy hears Abby hysterically crying, she goes to her room, but Abby is not there. What is even more strange, is that Mandy's parents do not hear Abby's wretched crying. In addition, Mandy discovers pictures of Abby's dating back hundreds of years. The strange thing is though, is that in all of the pictures there is a girl who is the splitting image of Abby, with the exception of clothes from each time period.

Twice, Mandy confronts her parents about Abby's crying, and twice Abby somehow returns back to her room, denying all of it, to which Mandy's parents take sides with Abby. Abby now knows that Mandy can unquestionably hear her crying when she has traveled back to her home of ruins. Since no one else has been able to hear her crying when she has been there, she decides to tell Mandy what really happened to her. Shocked and surprisingly moved by Abby's story, Mandy has no idea what to say and she is left speechless. Abby thinks that because Mandy can hear her crying, she will be able to help Abby save her family.

The rest is up to you to figure out what happens to the two girls. I loved this book and I know that anyone who reads it will too!

This book builds on book #1 but can stand on it's own. Kept me turning pages and involved. Well developed characters, unique alternate universe properties and characters. Deftly written. highly recommended. m

This book grabbed me right away. It picked up right where the first book left off and included more of the love story of Jared and Kelsey from Parallel Attraction. Our main characters for this book were Marco McKinley, protector of the king, who was dark and moody. Thea Haven, warrior and cousin to the king, was strong but vulnerable. This book features their love story. We even have an introduction of the main characters for the next book in the series, Parallel Seduction, with Hope and Scott. This is a wonderful new series,fresh, inventive and extremely entertaining.

Deidra is spoiling her loyal fans with her books of Midnight Warriors, her characters are strong and you really fall into the stories quickly, you'll soon be like the resst of us begging her for more.

Have you ever spent time at the bookstore eyeing up all the titles and not finding one that grabs you? Tapping your chin, thinking, you'd love to find a new author you could latch onto who's writing a series. Books you could look forward to - as if they were your next heartbeat.

THE MIDNIGHT WARRIORS SERIES has done that for me. The first book I purchased was the second in the series, PARALLEL HEAT. As soon as I began reading the pages, Marco McKinley and Thea's precarious love story and suspenseful plot held me spellbound. The alien Refarian base in the Grand Tetons and mitres chamber in the outreaches of Yellowstone whirled me out of my life and left me looking past the stars, searching and wondering what was going on out there and here on earth.

Marco McKinley, a shunned Royal Guardian, is a tortured alpha soul and Thea Haven - an intuitive and cousin to Refarian King Jared - feels she's in no man's land when her prophesized marriage to King Jared doesn't happen.

Earth thinks the Refarians are their enemies and wants to destroy them. Thea and Marco end up fighting together to protect their King and human Queen, bringing their love to an explosive climax - forbidden because she's a D'Ashani and he's a Madjin but whirling together, nonetheless.

Deidre Knight has me making a beeline to the shelf now. :) She's also awakened me to higher things. This is an author who does her research and makes the pages come alive.

As the second book in the Parallel or Midnight warrior Series, Parallel Heat takes all the elements that endeared readers to the first book and added more suspense and more romance. As a cross between romance and science fiction, this paranormal romance will delight an audience beyond either separate genre.

Thea Haven, cousin to the exiled king Jared Bennett, has been devastated by his choice of queen in the human Kelsey Wells. After all, since she was a young child, she was raised to take her role as Jared's wife. When Thea encounters Marco McKinley who challenges her earlier presumed destiny. Both feel an attraction they can barely control. As a Madjin, a sworn protector of the royal family, Marco feels duty requires him to uphold his sworn oaths and loyalty, especially when in a past and parallel universe, he betrayed all. Can he change the past and protect the Refarian race and the planet Earth they protect? Unfortunately, the humans at Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming cannot tell the difference between the Refarians and the Antousians. To them, an alien is an alien. In trying to remedy one past betrayal, have deeper complications been initiated and how will this parallel world affect the fate of Earth which stands on the brink of destruction?

Whereas the first Midnight Warrior novel Parallel Attraction focused on the romance between Jared and Kelsey, Parallel Heat steps up the level of suspense and action without sacrificing the complex romance between Thea and Marco. Readers will find the continuing relationship between Jared and Kelsey integrated into the main thread instead of shoved off to the side or as only minor details as in so many other trilogies or series. When I read the first book, I wondered how any other book could possibly surpass the intensity and beauty of the first --- this book matches the first and also adds more suspense through the developing ominous betrayal on the horizon!

The plot is intricate and yet it is the complexity that delights the reader. The possibility of parallel times and universes provokes the imagination, especially in Deidre Knight's presentation of the concept. The primary characters are seen through a variety of perspectives. The stories of the secondary characters are developed with depth and heighten the ever-increasing suspense. The romance has elements of tragedy looming on the edges, but as romance discovered in the midst of a great war, it has an immediacy and depth that caused me to gasp at its beauty and danger.

If you loved the first book, Parallel Attraction and are considering the purchase of this book, I would recommend buying this and Parallel Seduction at the same time. The ending of the second book is so riveting that you won't want to wait for delivery of the third in the series.