Harris, Charlaine: Dead as a Doornail

ISBN: 0441013333

From Publisher's Weekly:

Harris's rousing fifth Sookie Stackhouse fantasy-mystery (after 2004's Dead to the World) pits vampires, were-creatures, shifters and one fairy godmother against a sniper with an apparent aversion to nonhumans. If trying to discover who's behind the shootings isn't enough, the telepathic cocktail waitress from Bon Temps, La., has to cope with a few other distractions: her sexy "Were" friend, Alcide Herveaux, needs her help in his father's bid to become the next leader of the local werewolf pack; her boss, Sam Merlotte (a collie in his spare time), gets shot; her house partly burns down; and what's she to do about the handsome vampire bartender who dresses as a pirate at Sam's place? Between one mishap and another, Sookie is one busy gal. Harris does an admirable job of creating a heroine who's not only interesting but completely believable in a world of the strange and the different. Natural and humorous dialogue and a nicely paced plot that doesn't dwell so much on Sookie's old boyfriends help make this entry the best yet in the series.

This review pretty much says it all. Plus, the fact that I read it in less than a day. Because it was just that good. If you're into vampire romance chicklit, this series is definitely for you. I also have to agree with the above review - Ms. Harris could have spent a lot of time dwelling on Bill, but he only plays a minor role, which is quite excellent. However - no major sex scene in this one. I guess she was too busy being shot at and having her house set on fire and all that.

On the plus side, we get to see a lot more about the fairies and meet a very, very interesting were-tiger. Mmmm... can't wait for the next one!

Batson, Wayne Thomas: The Door Within

ISBN: 1400306590

From the Publisher:

There is an unseen world of good and evil where nightmares are fought and hope is reborn. Enter The Door Within.

Aidan Thomas is miserable. And it's much more than the strange nightmares he's been having. Just when life seemed to be coming together for Aidan, his parents suddenly move the family across the country to take care of his wheelchair-bound grandfather. When strange events begin to occur, Aidan is drawn into his grandfather''s basement where he discovers three ancient scrolls and an invitation to another world.

No longer confined to the realm of his own imagination, Aidan embarks on an adventure where he meets knights, warriors, kings and mysterious Glimpses who can travel between worlds. Aidan joins them in the struggle between good and evil. With the fate of two worlds hanging in the balance, Aidan faces Paragory, the eternal enemy. Will Aidan be willing to risk everything and trust the unseen hand of the one true King? The answer comes from "The Door Within."

This is a book that came up in the CSFF Blog Tour a month or two ago. I didn't have a chance to read it at that time, but I ordered it from Amazon on the recommendation of many of the other readers. If nothing else, it was a hardcover book that I could get for only $15, and the packaging was extremely pretty.

The background of The Door Within goes something like this: Wayne Thomas Batson is a middle school (junior high) teacher in the States. His class challenged him to write one of their assignments along with them and he rose to the challenge. Out of that was born The Door Within. As his classes went on, he continued to write - 13 years later, we see the book in print, along with book 2 (Rise of the Wyrm Lord) and book 3 (The Final Battle).

For those that don't know, the trilogy is an allegory for the fight between God and Satan, and the Christian life. In non-allegory terms, basically Aiden becomes a Christian and this portrays his fight against himself and against evil, without becoming actually talking about any of those things.

I've only read the first book, so I can't really comment on any of the others at this point. I really enjoyed the book, even though it was definitely aimed at a younger audience then I am used to reading. I would say that readers as young as 10 could read this book with very little problem. The only concerns I would have is that it might seem scary in parts to some younger readers, plus there are words that they may not know (you know, technical knight-y type words). With parental guidance, I am sure that this book would be acceptable even to children as young as 6 or 7 (provided the parents read it to them). However, I would caution that parents of easily frightened or impressionable children wait a little while to crack this one open. I would imagine that the next two books will only get more frightening due to the nature of the story.

All in all, I thought that the book was very good. Mr. Batson did an excellent job creating and "growing" his characters. He had the right amount of suspense and humour and even a little bit of hinted romance (nothing blatant, as it is a kids book).

The only thing that I didn't like was how the technical knight-y words (yes, that's the technical term for it, by the way) were all in italics, at least the first time they appeared. This kind of irritated me as a Fantasy reader, they usually only italicize words that are in another language or something like that. While I guess it makes it easier for younger readers to identify that word to get help with it, I thought that it was unnecessary.

The book, if you haven't heard, is absolutely beautiful. The pages are watermarked with blue, and the ink is absolutely stunning. I have never read a book that was printed in colour before. It adds a completely different element. I have to say that Tommy Nelson Publishing did a more than excellent job printing these books.

If you are interested in finding out more about Wayne Thomas Batson, what he's doing now and more about the Door Within world, I recommend visiting his blog and taking a look around. He's a very personable guy, and will definitely talk to you! In fact, if you were viewing my blog during the tour, you'll notice that he left a lot of comments, and also replied to every email I sent him. It was quite impressive. So, anyway, check it out!

Harris, Charlaine: Dead to the World

ISBN: 0441012183

From Publishers Weekly:

Fans of Laurell Hamilton's Anita Blake looking for a lighter version of the vampire huntress should cotton to Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic Louisiana gal who really wants to be normal, but suffers from a huge self-confidence problem, a case of permanent bad luck, difficult relatives and a penchant for attracting unsavory characters of the not-quite-human kind.

In this fourth quirky installment in this hitherto mass-market series (after 2003's Club Dead), Sookie finds that her bad luck has taken a new turn for the worse. Sookie's love interest, Bill the vampire, runs off to Peru to do research. In his place, Sookie is stuck with Eric, Bill's boss (and head vamp for the district), who appears out of thin air buck naked with no memory of who he is or what he does. Coincidentally, Sookie's brother Jason goes missing. Less coincidentally, but more ominously, a coven of witches (who also happen to be shape-shifters and vampire blood addicts) comes rolling into the nearest big city, looking for trouble. Consistent, well-built characters and a strong, action-packed plot that will keep readers guessing to the end distinguish this frothy fusion of romance, mystery and fantasy.

I loved this book, and it was a fantastic way to break the heaviness of the Tad Williams book that I had just read. I don't have a lot more to say on it - it's a brain candy book with a good plot line, good characters and just the right amounts of tension, romance and supernatural elements.

I really enjoy this series, and will continue to read it. I was a little sad for Sookie at the end of the book, but I am pretty sure that she'll bounce back. She usually does!

This book is for people aged 18+ due to the sex scene and suggested sex. Also, there's a fair amount of violence, although not a scary graphic gory kind of violence (if that makes any sense at all!). I can't wait to read the next book, and the book after that, and... well, you get it.

Williams, Tad: The Dragonbone Chair

ISBN: 0886773849

From the Publisher:

The Dragonbone Chair is the story of Simon, a young kitchen boy and magician's apprentice whose dreams of great deeds and heroic wars come all too shockingly true when his world is torn apart by a terrifying civil war fueled by ancient hatreds, immortal enemies, and the dark powers of sorcery.

This was a pretty heavy book to come into after reading a Rachel Caine book! I was sad because it totally blew my 100 pages a day record for the beginning of the year out of the water. It was a good book, and interesting, but very dense, and the printing is pretty small.

Measuring in at over 700 pages, The Dragonbone Chair is no weekend reading. It definitely took a bit of time, and a lot of desire to read it. Maybe the story just didn't grab me like other books too. It's possible that I didn't relate to the main character, so while it was interesting, I wasn't dying to know more. I think I felt that the first quarter of the book where Simon runs around chasing cats and working in the kitchen were kind of boring. Or maybe I just thought that Mr. Williams' very complex character building was a waste of my time - I don't know.

All in all, it's not a bad book. Don't pick it up thinking that you'll blow through it really quickly... unless you really love it, and then you might. It definitely has some great things about it - warring brothers, elves (Sithi), trolls, giants, a young boy who becomes a man on a journey of much trying and problems.

It's very likely that I will eventually feel similar to how I did with George RR Martin's A Song of Ice And Fire series. The first book was kind of boring, but the person who recommended it to me loved it with such passion that I felt that I had to read it. The second book was better, and by the third book, I was so hooked that I bought the fourth the day it came out in hardcover, and stood in line for a few hours to have them all signed! So, I have hope for the rest of this series (well, trilogy in four parts, really). While I won't be picking up The Stone of Farewell right away, it's definitely still be in my To Be Read pile, and I will get to it (along with Green Angel Tower, Parts 1 &2) eventually.

I would recommend this book to all people who love high fantasty in all it's glory. There isn't an excessive amount of graphic violence in this book, and no sex or swearing at all. I would imagine that anyone who can plow through it should read it - meaning that there's no age that I would deem this book inappropriate for, save young children who might be frightened by some of the dream sequences.