Book #45 of 2024: Book of War by John Peel (Diadem: Worlds of Magic #7) The Diadem series had its ups and downs, but when it ended its initial six-book run with Scholastic in 1998, there weren’t really any major lingering plot threads that made its continuation seem likely or at all necessary from a …
Tag Archives: reread
Book Review: Alien Terror by Chris Archer
Book #40 of 2024: Alien Terror by Chris Archer (Mindwarp #1) Another old middle-grade reread for me. As a series launcher, this title has potential, although it remains mostly setup for the future at this point. When wimpy kid Ethan turns 13, he gains super-strength and expert fighting skills during times of stress, but is …
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Book Review: Book of Nightmares by John Peel
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 Review: Book of Earth by John Peel
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 Review: Sphere by Michael Crichton
Book #31 of 2024: Sphere by Michael Crichton I went through a big Michael Crichton phase when I was younger, and I had vague memories of this 1987 title being one of my favorites from back then. Revisiting it now, I’m not quite so impressed, although that may have something to do with how the …
Book Review: Book of Thunder by John Peel
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 Review: Book of Magic by John Peel
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 Review: Book of Signs by John Peel
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 …
Book Review: Book of Names by John Peel
Book #9 of 2024: Book of Names by John Peel (Diadem #1) A solid launch to a fun middle-grade fantasy series about a trio of kids drawn from separate worlds into a magical mystery linking them together. The worst thing about this first title is that it burns through so many of its ideas so …
Book Review: Orion and King Arthur by Ben Bova
Book #3 of 2024: Orion and King Arthur by Ben Bova (Orion #6) This is a pretty good rendition of the classic Arthurian legend, especially in its emotional build-up to the king’s fated tragic end. (I like the initial wrinkle of him meeting Beowulf in his younger days, too.) It’s a little stranger as an …
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The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 