Fantasy Books

This is my favorite book. When I think of it, I recall being touched deeply as a child and haunted ever-after as one can be after waking from the most precious of dreams, trying to relate that experience to the waking world and having no choice but to relinquish it. While this might be described as a children's fiction, I still cannot understand how Mr. Davidson could have invented this narrative experience without either strong inspiration from realms beyond this one, or (may I dare say) without having experienced such an unimaginable happening himself. I am very happy to find that this book is getting some recognition. May it continue to open imaginations to questions of what is tangible and what is possible.

I ordered this book because of the reviews on Amazon.com - I like kids' books even though it has been a long time since I was a kid. I also liked Rose of Tibet by the same author. Under Plum Lake is pretty strange - it's the classic tale of the Garden of Eden, or Shangri-La, the protagonist is shown paradise and then shown the door, cast back into his normal life. However, it has a tragic effect on him - he can't function in his real world anymore because he longs to go back to the underwater paradise, it's all he can think about. Well-written, very colorful, sad and even stressful - also it seemed a lot like an LSD trip. By the way, one of my favorite books as a kid that I found again as an adult is Tom's Midnight Garden, although it is meant for a younger reader it is just as engrossing and evocative as Under Plum Lake.

I read this book in [...] Now at [...] I still think about this book. This not only got me into reading for the first time ever, but it also let me know that it was okay to keep my imagination growing. At a time when it wasn't cool to play with toys anymore or dream about ridiculous things, this book kept me going. Great great book. As you will see.

This book was one of my favorites growing up and my brothers absolute favorite! Now 36, I thought of it when I was telling my 10 year old what I read when I was younger. At that time, she wasn't interested in reading a lot. I bought this for my brother and she took it and read it first and hasn't stopped reading for the past year! Now we can talk about other realities and about not taking 'normal' definitions of reality as the only definitions. This book has really opened up her thinking (as it did mine!) She has now read about 15 novels since Under Plum Lake and we can make references to this book and laugh and really share some special moments.

Like everyone else here --- I picked this book up when I was 10 or 11, and totally and completely fell in love with it! Although I was a total girly girl (I was reading Anne of Green Gables and Daddy-long-legs at the time) --- this book still captivated me. I read and re-read that book until it was in tatters. Finally, when I was 14 or 15, I donated during a book drive. Ever since then, I've regretted it! I'm glad to see that there are still some copies around in the "used" section --- I'm so placing my order today!!!

I had this book when I was little and now I read it to my daughters. The illustrations are unbeatable--you could spend an hour looking at each page. Every time you read it you see something new, and I've been reading it for years. The lesson learned from the story is that while you can go off and travel the world for something you think you love, the place where the most love really is is at home.

This book is just brilliant. The illustrations are incredible. Kids just stare at the pages just to see the pictures. The message is one to take home as well. Highly recommended

Every page of Mark Alan Stamaty's masterpiece contains a picture or reference to a donut. A plain donut, no frosting. Sam, a slender little boy who wants more donuts than his parents could every buy, embarks on a mission to find donuts in the big city. I won't spoil the ending to Sam's wonderfully-illustrated journey except to say that donuts can save your life. So, who needs "Who Needs Donuts?" You do.

I have owned this book since it was first published in the 1970s. The pages of my original copy are falling out as I have read it to children SO many times. Children never tire of looking at all the quirky signs and details. And of course the plot makes perfect sense. The author is a genius. It is the perfect gift for any child but particularly for someone interested in drawing and fascinated by cities.

THIS BOOK HAS GIVEN 2 ADULTS HOURS OF GIGGLES! A CHILDHOOD ABSOLUTE FAVORITE IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR OUR KIDS' CONSUMPTION!! THIS BOOK IS EVERYTHING EVERYONE HAS SAID IT IS...SIMPLY AMAZING. THE ONLY THING WE WOULD LIKE MORE IS TO HAVE A CUP OF COFFEE WITH THE AUTHOR TO PICK THAT AMAZINGLY INSANE BRAIN OF HIS!!!
(WE WOULD SPRING FOR THE DONUTS!)

PS:DID I MENTION THIS IS A GREAT BOOK FOR KIDS TOO?

I didn't like Gaia in this book. She thought that just because she lost one friend it meant that she couldn't have any other friends.

I'm getting tired of saying, "Gaia is changing" but that's exactly what happens in each and every book. Gaia changes... things happen, and she responds, and she learns from it.

This wasn't my favorite book. But it was definitely one that builds on Gaia's character a bit more. It built on all the characters, actually... and the ending was really memorable, so you'd better bet I'm going to read the next one right away.

fearless #9 was one of my favorites in the series so far. mary moss is dead and gaia is determined to kill the man who she thinks killed her friend. meanwhile, her wheelchair bound buddy ed is trying to get her to cope with marry's death. but gaia only pushes ed away. sam is planning on breaking up with heather, but she doesn't suspect it because her & ed are becoming close again. this book truly shows what a friend is, and that they will be by your side no matter what. i liked this one because it is filled with a lot of emotion and action. i would only suggest this book if you have read all the other ones in the series first though!

Fearless # 9 was a very entertaining book. Francine Pascal completely keeps you going with these books. She is a great Author, .. this book was well worth it!!

Mary Moss was a funny, wild, and crazy girl who taught Gaia how to have a little fun. She also taught her how to be a friend, and how to let go and love life more. Mary was once a junkie, very much addicted to cocaine until she became friends with Gaia. But now, Mary is dead. Gaia doesn't know this, but it was Loki who murdered her. By helping Gaia "let go", Mary learned some dangerous secrets about Gaia's past, which inevitably put her in danger. Loki decided that "the Mary girl" must be terminated. And Gaia couldn't save her. In this ninth volume of Fearless, Gaia is so full of anger and grief about Mary that she wants to take action. To avenge her friend's murder. Gaia thinks that Skizz, Mary's ex-dealer who was threatening Mary for money before her death, is responsible for what happened to Mary, somehow. So Gaia goes on a little mission to murder Skizz.

Wow. This book is so thrilling. The ending is great, too! It made me cry (you gotta love Ed, the sweetie!) So go out and read this book already!

mary moss has been murdered. to top it off it was done right in
front of gaia. so gaia has decided to close herself to the world
in order to hunt down this low life drug dealer who took her friend's life over a measley 500 bucks? will our heroine have
the courage to do this and face the dire consequences after?
this has to be the best fearless book to date. i know i have not
read any of the other ones besides no. 10, but this is such a
climax in gaia's life that all readers of this series should not
miss it. it has more surprises than buffy the vampire slayer's
season 6 finale.(if any of you watch that show.)suffice it to say
that this one cannot be missed.

Laura is a normal girl with a sweet younger brother and a frazzled single mother. Her life is ordinary until the day her brother is stamped with the image of a horrible man. Laura turns to Sorry, an older, intriguing boy who she believes to be a witch. Will he be able to help her?

This story is entrancing to read. I first read it as a 13 year old, and I still find it fascinating. It is a great read, especially for those interested in witchcraft stories.

Margaret Mahy's book is an unusual take on the juvenile magic-user theme. It takes place in New Zealand, in a single-parent home. Laura Chant lives with her divorced mother, and her toddler brother. Nothing is entirely reliable in Laura's world, certainly not her slightly flaky mother, their extremely flaky car, and especially the surrounding landscape, being transformed from forest and farm into a new subdivision.

Chant, perfectly named, can sense things that others can't. She can sense that her brother's rapid descent into illness is supernatural, and that it is linked to the boy's unfortunate contact with the also perfectly named Carmody Braque. She also can sense that the mysterious prefect at her school, an older boy named Sorensen Carlisle, is a "witch" and that he may hold the only key to healing her brother.

Sorry, as he's called, is one of those magnificent characters, the enigmatic boy who shows all the signs of being a proto-romance hero. But here, he's young, sly, and not above using his advantage over Laura. Mahy writes Laura as a strong character, and watching her handle Sorry is a lot of fun.

This novel is full of brooding atmosphere but with a great contemporary setting. Mahy's protagonist carries her weight, but everyone else is equally nuanced and fascinating. The book calls itself a romance, but I've never read an adult romance filled with such menacing ambiguity.

This book is amazing. The writing is so simple and so beautiful that the images stay in your head for days after you've finished it. The story is about change and transformation, seen through the eyes of the two very different main characters. Both of them is different at the end, and has a different place in their lives and their families. The romance between Laura and Sorry really moves you, because they learn to love themselves as they fall in love with each other. Also, the magic and danger feels so real and not stupid or made up at all. The best thing about this book is that when you finish it, you feel transformed too. I love this book.

GENERAL COMMENTS: "The Changeover" strikes the tone of a precocious adolescent with verve. Fourteen-year-old Laura sometimes communicates with an open frankness that gets ignored, sometimes through sarcasm, which she uses as a screen when she must tell the truth but doesn't necessarily want to be understood. Her sensitivity to the nature of others grants her an awareness of her own growing body even as she delves into her gift to protect her brother. This book does a good job of showing the selfishness of teenagers, AND the selfishness of the parents that love them imperfectly, even as they compare to the sinister greed of Carmody Braque, the villain. The resolution(clue: quasi-spoiler appears in the rest of this sentence) aptly makes use of this comparison, by depending upon Laura's understanding of Carmdoy's needs, and her ability to exploit them as he exploits the children's desires.

MORE SPECIFIC DETAILS: Her sensitivity to others allows fourteen-year-old Laura to recognize danger, but she remains helpless in deflecting it, as when her parents get divorced. At fourteen, she is faced yet again with her gift of sensing the nature of things, and this time, it's her baby brother who will suffer. Mahy intertwines Laura's current dilemma with her family issues. She lives in a single-parent family in which the mother is no angel (although awfully close) and the absent father is no demon (although most noticeably absent). Laura is aware that her parents have needs that don't always include her best interest, but this doesn't mean that she doesn't seethe with resentment. At times, her mature assessment of the situation only frustrates her desire to react as a child.

ABOUT SORENSEN, LAURA'S CO-STAR: The flip side of her family is Sorensen Carlisle's two-parent family in which both parents are women (his mother and grandmother). His guardians, who are both witches, were sorely disappointed in Sorensen when they found a boy instead of the girl who might complete their circle of magic, and deserted him, albeit with a generous allowance, to an adopted family. One day he shows up at their door, with obvious marks of abuse on him, and in spite of his gender, the mark of magic as well. This late in the game, they are forced to repair their mistake as best they can-- only they can't take away his alienation from himself. It is these two teenagers that must fight Carmody, without further estranging themselves from their families in the bargain.

I read this book as a teenager when it originally came out in 1984. The greatest compliment that I can give The Changeover is that twenty+ years later, I still reread it sometimes--and I still enjoy it. I can't say that about too many of my childhood books.

The Changeover was a rare bird back in mid-eighties--there weren't too many well-written books about magic and the supernatural with teenage girls as the protagonists in those days. This was a genre that I adored and could never get enough of back then. So this novel was an instant favorite.

There are certain books that you read when you are young that shape the kind of person that you become--not necessarily in a large way, but in subtle way. The Changeover was one of these books for me. I didn't realize it when I read the book at fourteen, but The Changeover is a metaphor for changing from childhood to adulthood--from becoming a girl to becoming a woman. And this book really captures that--all the insecurity and the fear, and even the pleasure that you feel as a girl in your own new-found, womanly power. I guess this book appealed to me so much because it made me feel better about a lot of the things I was going through at fourteen; it gave me a certain confidence in myself: I wasn't just getting older--I was becoming a different being.

I have read other comments about this book and I agree with the reviewers that say they want a sequel. I still think about Laura from time to time--she and I were the same age when the book came out--and I often wonder what became of her and what type of woman she became.

This ain't your normal miniature! Yeah, it's plastic, but the coloring, texture, and detail are really great. This sits on my office shelf, so I can look at it every day. Expensive, but worth the money for me.

I bought this dragon for my daughter who loves dragons. I had bought her the Gargantuan Black dragon and we were both impressed with that one. Well, the Red Dragon is just plain awesome!! It is a fantastic piece of work that blew my daughter away when she opened it. The only negative comment I have about it is the flame (breath weapon). It was difficult to get it attached correctly, but I don't consider that enough of a problem to rate the dragon below a 5 star rating. I actually thought the dragon looked better without the flames, while my daughter liked it with the flames. It has become the centerpiece to my daughter's collection!

Ok, it's not Godzilla ;) but when you drop THIS huge brute on yer gaming table, you can just see players wilt, muhaha!
-As a "miniature" (lol, bit of misnomer there, it really is colossal), it's good. the paint job is better than on most minis, as you'd expect for the size/price.
-Alas you won't use it much, I mean, how often do your players HAVE to fight a great wyrm dragon, hm? So it's mostly there for show and fun if you use the minaitures for Roleplaying, as I do, instead of playing the "miniatures game" itself.
-Only concern is the size, as the box is about 1'x2'x2', so, I hope you've got a loving spouse or plenty of room. It's quite light though.
-The material all the WOTC minis are made form is very tough and flexible, so, unlikely to get bits broken or paint chipped.

So, all in all, great "mini", but more for the "fun" than "use" factor :)

this product is every dragon lovers dream. this minuture sature is very well madeand has good detail. i like it's size too, not too small and not to big. i don't play D&D that much, but it is a woundeful addation to my collection of dragon satures.

The first thing I can speak of this mini is its huge size. When I got it out of the box, I at first thought it was in a larger box, but no; it was in a big box because this thing lives up to its name colossal. Superb details, coloration form, this mini will not only get used in my games, but will be displayed proudly on my shelf with the others.

It comes with battle maps and stat cards, although I hardly noticed them. This item can be a bit pricey, but it is very worth it.

Morgan is amazing in this book. I must say this book was my favorite so far. I havent read the fifth yet but this was actioned pack. I finished this book in one day.

Oh, my god. I liked Cal so much and he turns out evil. Such a dissapointment. The book itself wasn't though. I don't want to give too much away. But pretty much what happens is Cal and Selene turn out evil, Hunter turns out good.
I am so confused(sarcastic). Its a real page turner. Anyone who loves to read, read it.

And agian this is one of my Favs!

This book is awesome just like the other ones.
Morgan is just starting to calm down when her she is haunted by a terrible thing that happened in a pervious book. Cal is acting strange and makes Morgan more nervous. Towards the middle of the book Morgans life is shifted when an unexpected visitor shows up.
This book is great and I couldnt put it down. Cate shows in Dark Magick that something is coming. You pracitcally feel it in the words. Its exciting and shifts the plot for the rest of the books.

The events at the end of the previous book have Morgan very upset. Is Hunter dead? Did she really kill him? Has anyone found his body? Every day and hour brings agony for her.

Cal becomes more mysterious. He is both closer and more secretive, and strange things are going on with his mother. Morgan becomes confused. But then she finds out Hunter is alive. She is relieved to know she was not responsible for someone's death.

In her confusion she must learn to try and trust Hunter and even his cousin Skye. What she learns makes her more confused.

Final confrontations reveal much about the characters and their plans. It is a good and tense story. Can't wait to see what happens next.

I purchased the Sweep series for my 13 year old daughter in the hopes that maybe she would read. "She hated to read." Well I was amazed, and could not get her to go to sleep, as she would spend the whole night, with a night-light on reading these books. She enjoyed them so much, and could not stop talking first about Cal and then Hunter, that I had to see what all the fuss was about.
Well after two weeks, a book a day, for a girl who hated to read, it sparked my curiosity, so I started reading, and was surprised to find out how enjoyable a Teen book about Teen Witches could be. I am not really into Wicca, but these books are really enjoyable. I am on my fifth book, and my daughter read each twice, and is know on the Circle of Three Series. I have to highly recommend these books to those parents who can not get their daughters to read. These are excellent stories, full of fantasy, horror, and fun.

I jsut had to repond to the critical review at the top. I first heard this book when I was 5, and agian when I was 8. i loved i tboth times. I recently bought it (as an adult) becuase it is definately a book that everyone should own. It has a incredible magic of its own that sweeps you along.This book is a classic that every child deserves to hear.

This book taught me to go for what you want in life. It teaches that no matter how impossible it may seem, it can be done. I read this as a child, now I am 29 and I still think of it. I still like to sit down with a chunk of cheese and a loaf of bread as a snack, just like Dakin took with her on her journey. When it snows in the winter I think of the colored snow on the mountain that Dakin was determined to investigate. I have even tried to make colored snow myself. Gargoyles have a whole different charm to them once you know this story. Just from writing this I am excited to read the book all over again.

I read this story to my daughter for the first time when she was 4 and she loved it. A year later she wanted me to get it out of the library again. Recently, she insisted that we buy it. We read it through twice and now, since she is an excellent independent reader at 6, she is reading it again for atleast an hour at night to herself. Her favorite part is when the gargoyles say that they can "still feel". She has made her own stuffed gargoyles out of paper and pretends to be Dakin talking to them. This story is pure magic. It combines all of the elements of a questing story, but the fact that it is about a brave girl who knows her own mind, makes it special. There aren't many stories written for young girls like this and that makes it even more unique. I highly recommend it to anyone with a child who has a thirst for adventure and an interest in all things magical.

This adventurous, amazing, edge of your seat tale is my all-time favorite book! I've read it about three times and I've never gotten tired of it. When ever I see it in a library, I jump up and down and tell everybody "that's my favorite book!" I suggest anybody I see and all of my friends to read it. It is extremely entertaining.

I remember my mother reading this book to my twin sister and me. It was a hard back copy that she had gotten from the Library. My sister and I would come down out of our bunk beds and sit on the floor with my mother as we were enthralled to listen to her read this story. I loved the colored snow and the gargoyals. When I was married and had my first child I desired to read this book to my son and I did but it was mostly for me since he was only a few months old at the time. I will read it to him again. But I love this book. This story is a great treasure to me that I will always remember.

This book has its cheesy moments, but they can be fully forgiven because its adventurous plot, lovable characters, and vivid milieu are so much fun to explore. I first read The Heavenly Horse (and its sequel, Piper at the Gate) when I was about eleven years old and have picked it up many, many more times in the seventeen years since then. It's a shame it's out of print. I'd love to see a re-issue of this book, an unabridged audio version, and yes, I'll also throw in my hat for an animated film. It's just all around a wonderful story.

It seems every little girl loves horses. And I was no different. I read a ton of horse-themed books, but quickly wanted something new. I wanted more than the traditional "girl works on a horse farm" horse book. I loved Farley's Black Stallion series, but even then I wanted more fantasy than reality. Stanton delivered beautifully with her duology about Dancer, the Heavenly Horse. This was one of the first stories I encountered to truly anthropomorphize horses (even beyond Black Beauty). Horses are not only sentient, they have a pantheon of gods made up of all the breeds. They talk and socialize. They fear. And there is a "devil."

Duchess is the last of the Appaloosas and has been horribly abused. Her breed has nearly been exterminated. Though her coat is buckskin, she carries the genes within her to bring spotted Appaloosas back. Dancer is the first among the horse breed gods, an Appaloosa stallion, and he wants to make Duchess his. But, the Dark Horse wants to stop them at all costs and unleashes a fanged monstrosity called Anor.

Not only is this a classic good versus evil story, it touches on some moral issues in a subtle way. Such as the mistreatment of animals, and the rightness of keeping animals in captivity. Duchess gives young readers a "person' to identify with on these topics. This is also a rousing adventure with a well-thought out mythology and great characterization. Highly recommended to all horse-lovers, and anyone who loves a good story. Unfortunately, this book and the sequel, Piper at the Gate, are out of print. But worth looking for on the secondhand market.

This is a riveting story, and one I'm glad to find on Amazon! If you liked Wastership Down, you'll love this story. The horses are portrayed in such a realistic fashion that you'll never watch two interact in the same way again!

The title was abit odd, but as soon as i read it, i was crazy for it! Duchess ,Susie, and El Arat were only some of the rich characters featured in this book. (WARNING SPOILERS!) i totally cried a river when Susie died and was totally shocked to find out about El Arat being evil. after the billionth time i read it, you start to see clues to her dimise. an awesome book do not pass up!

This is a truly epic read.
I would even venture that people who have no interest in horses should pick it up and get stuck in.

Like most of the reviwers here, i was first introduced to it as a teenager and have gone back to it countless times since.

Anyone that enjoyed Watership Down, or indeed epics such as The Hobbit, should consider getting hold of a copy (i've just purchased my second copies of both 'Heavely Horse' and 'Piper' - the urge has come to read tham again and just i can't wait long enough to pick up my original copies from my mums house!)

One thing i don't understand is why an reputable-but-edgy animation studio (Blue Sky, or Brad Bird - are you reading this?) has not spotted this book's potential and made a film out of it. One reason could be that some of the characters are truly terrifying, and they would find it difficult to rate as a result (yes boys, there's plenty of eerie - not to mention downright horrific - stuff happening here; so, as many readers have mentioned, don't let the title put you off!)

Finally, for the benefit of those that are not overly keen on the fantasy genre (of which i am one!), it should be mentioned that this book is not purely fantastical. It has a strong grounding in reality and day-to-day issues such as animal cruelty. This make it all the more compelling.

Read it.

A disorienting story, much too contrived. A patchwork of events taking place in both dimensions, space and time. Definitely confusing and surely inconsistent. Consequently, when the protagonists (and the author) are stuck in jeopardy somewhere or somewhen, something or someone appears out of the blue to get them (and him) out of their predicament. I must confess I didn't understand all of it... and I didn't seek to do it.

In my opinion one of the all time science fiction classics,along with Radix.You can skip the other two of the quadralogy.The story and the science are top notch.attanasio at the top of his game.I recommend this to all science fiction buffs and a great introduction to the work of Mr.Attanasio.

I love this book. I read it years ago and forgot the name of the book, the author and only now do I realize it was part of a series of books, and yet I have never forgotten the story. I think for me the most powerful part is how limited humans are relative to the Tryl (a species on Earth that evolves to an intelligence and grace greater than humans 1 billion years after we kill ourselves off) and yet we keep on, going on. Attanasio gives us the big and little of humanity sometimes within the same sentence. I read a lot of science fiction and generally the harder the better but Attanasio, like David Zindell's Neverness series, is an exception to the rule. There is enough "hard" science, like Gai's jumping up from basically the zero point dimension into a dimension much less dense and at much lower energy, to be fascinating in its own right. Another great book it reminds me of -- the Oddessy. The relationship between Gai and Ned O'Tennis (the fighter pilot) is very similar to that between Athena and Oddyseus. All in all, a great read.

The last legends of earth is a wonderfully fantastical story were the classical limitations of time and space are broken. Aliens of the future interact in a bid for god-like supremacy long after the civilizations of man have been lost in the dust. Humans become the fodder for spider-like beings and a battle for human freedom ensues. The worlds Attanasio describes are imaginative and timeless. This is a story is a classic Sci-fi adventure but also has retains a sense of humanity, love and the human spirit. This is one of my favorite books by the author; I also recommend his Arthurian series.

In my opinion, this is (along with the first book in the Tetralogy, Radix) one of the finest sci-fi/fantasy novels written in the past 30 years. It's a rollicking good time, with good vs evil, heroes and villains, interesting scientific concepts, a romance that even manly men could appreciate, and a tempo that speeds up and slows down at just the right times.

Heavily influenced by Lovecraft, Attanasio writes stuff that is not intended to be the joy of English majors or grammar prudes but is deeply fascinating and tells great, highly imaginative stories. This book is no exception. If character is the end-all and be-all of literature to you (ugh!) and story and plot are less interesting to you, then you may not find most of Attanasio's work to your tastes, although his characters are certainly believable. Certainly in LLoE there are some highly interesting characters to add to a mind blowing story that spans billions of years.

After having read the original book in the tetralogy, Radix, when it came out so many years ago, and being so impressed by it, I was disappointed by the next two books in the series. They were interesting but lacked stories that sucked you in. Not so with LLoE, which is a page turner of the highest order. I don't think you'd have to be a sci-fi fantasy buff to appreciate it, but if you are it's one of the best. It certainly has one of the most evil races of monsters in ALL of literature, the zotl. If you can read about them and not get the creeps, you should probably be in an institution somewhere.

In fact, if all you read of the tetralogy were Radix and LLoE, you would be well served, but you might want to read the others for the sake of completeness.

my son really likes these books, the shipping was fast and easy. just click and read. no need to spend gas money when you can shop with ease at home.

They are wonderful. My six year old twins are fascinated. We read two chapters to them a night and they are transfixed. The parents and the children in this house highly recommend this series!

Mary Pope Osborne is such a talented writer. I really like her books. I wonder how she got her ideas...

This Magic Tree House Boxed Set has proven to be a wonderful past time for my granddaughter. She reads every evening before bed and it's a time to quiet down and prepare for sleep!! She loves her Magic Tree House books and I intend to get her the rest of the series very soon. The books are just the perfect length with lots of thrills. Your kids will love them.

I made the decision to purchase some of the books to the Magic Tree House series due to the fact I got tired of having to wait for the books to be check in at my library. I am glad I did, and so is my son. My son loved how they came in a "boxed" set.