Book #39 of 2024: Book of Nightmares by John Peel (Diadem #6) This was the last of the original six Diadem books published by Scholastic from 1997 to 1998, after which the middle-grade fantasy series would lie dormant for almost a decade until getting revived under another publisher. Presumably that’s also why it’s the first …
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Book #35 of 2024: The Bride of the Blue Wind by Victoria Goddard (The Sisters Avramapul #1) Much as I’ve been enjoying author Victoria Goddard’s sprawling Nine Worlds fantasy saga, I’ve found this title to be a refreshingly distinctive change of pace for it. In lieu of her typical writing style, the novella is told …
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Book #33 of 2024: Book of Earth by John Peel (Diadem #5) This is by far the best of the original six Diadem novels published by Scholastic from 1997 to 1998 (and perhaps of the entire series, which resumed many years later under Llewellyn). It picks up on the cliffhanger ending of the volume before, …
Book #29 of 2024: The Game of Courts by Victoria Goddard Another interesting little Nine Worlds / Lays of the Hearth-Fire prequel novella that sheds light on a minor character from The Hands of the Emperor — in this case, his Radiancy’s esteemed personal valet Conju an Vilius — but isn’t quite robust enough of …
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Book #28 of 2024: Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian The Weird Western vibes of this adventure novel are delightful, presenting a version of the post-Civil War midwest that’s populated with demons, ghouls, and similar entities, all treated matter-of-factly as threats that an unwary traveler might encounter like any other. I’m less sold on the plot, …
Book #27 of 2024: Book of Thunder by John Peel (Diadem #4) The third Diadem story wrapped up the major plot arcs that had been driving the action thus far, which means that this next volume has to function as a bit of a proof-of-concept for the saga moving forward. What are these books about, …
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Book #23 of 2024: In the Company of Gentlemen by Victoria Goddard I’ve been bouncing around the timeline of author Victoria Goddard’s Nine Worlds cozy fantasy series, the volumes of which are interconnected but pretty forgiving of any specific reading order. This novella recounts one particular tale of the Red Company, her infamous band of …
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Book #21 of 2024: Book of Magic by John Peel (Diadem #3) Somewhat surprisingly, this third Diadem novel wraps up the major plot arc that’s been driving the action thus far, and from what I can recall, things are pretty episodic from here on out. One wonders if the series was originally planned as a …
Book #17 of 2024: The Tower at the Edge of the World by Victoria Goddard This 2014 story was one of the first titles published in author Victoria Goddard’s massive Nine Worlds fantasy setting, and is also one of its earliest to take place chronologically. It’s relatively short at 62 pages in paperback — it …
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Book #15 of 2024: Book of Signs by John Peel (Diadem #2) This sequel retains the juvenile feel befitting its middle-grade audience, but it’s enough of an improvement over the previous volume that I’ll bump my rating up from three stars to four. The story is more straightforward, with a minimum degree of recap for …
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