Average customer rating:
- A waste of time
- Brilliant
- Masterful....
- A great book for a silent vaction.
- not a light read
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Silence in October
Jens Christian Grondahl
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary
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The Echo Maker: A Novel
ASIN: 0156012979 |
Book Description
After eighteen years of marriage, an art historian wakes up one morning to find his wife standing in the bedroom doorway with her bags packed, leaving him with no explanation. Alone in his Copenhagen apartment, he tries to make sense of his enigmatic marriage and life. Memories of driving a cab, quiet walks in the snow, and intense sojourns in Paris and New York pass through his mind in fleeting images. The more he thinks of his wife, however, the more mysterious she becomes to him. Slowly he realizes that two people can live together for years without ever really knowing each other, and that the most important encounters in one's life are dictated by chance, not design.
Exploring with great subtlety the secret, unpredictable connections between men and women, Silence in October is a psychological novel of immense acuity and masterful storytelling.
Customer Reviews:
A waste of time.......2004-11-15
This is one of the worst books I've ever read. I bought it because the first couple of well-written pages drew me in. However, there was no plot to speak of and the story line went nowhere. I was very disappointed in the ending, which really did not wrap up the story in a satisfying way. Reading this book was honestly a waste of my time and I wanted to share this fact so that others will not make the same mistake.
Brilliant.......2003-09-10
I was so gripped by 'Silence in October' that I was compelled to finish it in two days. With themes similar to that of the film 'My Dinner with Andre' and the poetry of American writer jani johe webster, this profound novel addresses the core of our being with beautiful and unrelenting questions on meaning and being. The prose is clean, and the content brings this novel into the circle of truly great literature.
The narrator's meditation on the departure of his wife, the meaning of that relationship and other 'defining' relationships, resonates with our own experience of the mystery of intimacy. Do our relationships over time define and create us, and who is the person still within, the person who might have existed had these relationships perhaps not (randomly?) happened? As the narrator reflects so astutely of his wife, 'When did it dawn on her that there was still an unknown woman trying to draw breath through her nose and mouth, a woman I had never set eyes on, behind her familar features?' The narrator, who, for undoubtedly metaphorical reasons, remains unnamed, also reflects on the passage of time, the inadeqacy of words, and most powerfully, the nature of projection onto another: 'I thought I was writing about Astrid, or about Ines and Elisabeth for that matter, but in fact I was only writing about myself, and when conversely I tried to recall my own thoughts and feelings through the years, I merely interpreted the fleeting shadows that an Elisabeth, an Astrid, and an Ines in turn threw on the valud of my skull's mumbling loneliness.'
One cannot help but read this novel and think of Andre reiterating the most essential human questions of 'Who are we? Where do we come from? And where are we going?', or the line from jani johe webster's powerful prose poem 'the weariest river,' in which she writes, 'and if there be no self discover, but rather a collection of aped masks, fastened to a dangling puppet, what then? we all have to make this search, do you think, before death nudges us for the last time?' And like the film 'My Dinner with Andre' and webster's poetry, there is, in this novel, both a disturbing, haunting element, and yet also an element of the possibility of emanicapation from our illusions.
Masterful...........2003-04-14
I generally don't read a lot of fiction unless something original about the story captivates me. I picked this one up for no particular reason and found the subject matter compelling - the odd dynamic in relationships whereby you can spend years with someone and share all levels of deep intimacy and yet still not really know them. Grondahl's work on a pure story level was incredibly satisfying, exploring the complexity of the human psyche and portraying the protagonist's deep introspection and trains of thought with wonderful skill. The story was also written in the first person with no real interference from any all-knowing narrator - no small feat.
All told, this is a thoughtful and thought-provoking piece of work. It is a book you cannot (or should not) read quickly; rather I found myself getting through chapters or even different scenes within chapters and having to stop and think about what I read.
Highly recommended!
A great book for a silent vaction........2003-01-28
In October, I was spending my vacation in Sweden and Denmark. Before my trip I ran across this book and thought it would be interesting. I was spending some time in Scandinavia and wanted to read something with a different view of the world-so why not a Scandinavian author?
Upon my second night in Sweden I began reading this book. I was suprised at how the story pulled me deeper into the book. Sometimes the book seemed complex; but the story flowed so well. It's now January and I still think about this book!
This book was a great find. I hope the US publishers will print more of his books. If they don't, Mr. Grøndahl's books have been translated into German and many other languages; so I will just read the others in German.
While in Copenhagen, I made sure my friends bought the book as well for their holiday in India. This was the only English book by the author I found while in Copenhagen.
not a light read.......2002-09-27
This book ranks with Norman Rush's Mating and Tim Parks's Destiny as a deep and absorbing portrayal of a relationship viewed from the inside of one person's psyche. The main character is a man in his forties at a turning point in his marriage whose story is told very narrowly in the first person. I don't think the reader ever even learns his name. We are never told anything objectively about his experiences but Grondahl brilliantly puts us inside his head. This book requires some concentration to read since the story is so internalized but the effort is more than worth it.
Average customer rating:
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Lucca
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0641653689 |
Product Description
While recovering from a devastating car accident, Lucca, a young actress with a string of love affairs behind her, is told by her doctor that she may never see again. Robert, her doctor, is recovering in his own way from his wife's infidelity and a failed marriage, finding happiness only in the weekend visits of his young daughter. As he and Lucca begin to share their life stories through daily conversations, the two slowly reveal to each other their own stories of heartbreak; Lucca admits her deliberate role in the collision that nearly killed her, and Robert begins to let go of his past betrayals. A love story of immense emotional reach and affection, Lucca probes deep truths of lust, loneliness, and the healing power of belonging.
Product Description
CONTENTS: ~ ~~ ~ NOVELLA:
Silence Is Deadly [Lloyd Biggle, Jr.];
NOVELETTE:
Dark Windows [Bryce Walton];
SHORT STORIES:
Rx [Alan E. Nourse];
Puppet Government [George Revelle];
The Poors [Harry Lorayne];
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Average customer rating:
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October: the silence (Immagini e testi)
Nathaniel Tarn
Manufacturer: M'arte edizioni
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
British
| World Literature
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| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
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| Contemporary
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ASIN: B0006C8CAC |
Book Description
In the enchanting novel Prospero's Children, Jan Siegel introduced an extraordinary heroine and the lushly evocative world of wonders and terrors that quickly enveloped her normal adolescent life. Now Siegel summons us back to the magic with the continuing story of Fern Capel--and the remarkable power of her extraordinary Gift . . .
After surviving an amazing, terrifying summer twelve years ago, Fern makes a fateful decision: to deny the mystical powers that pulse through her family's past. Yearning for a simple, quiet life, she decides to marry a man twenty years her senior, a man who insists they wed at the Capels' summer house in Yarrowdale, a place swelling with mood, marvel, and magic. For when Fern returns there with her best friend, Gaynor, ancient, sinister forces reawaken.
Yet Fern has had enough: Enough of running from her fate, enough of hiding from her Gift. As she turns to face her destiny, the real world falls away, and Fern is once again swept into another land, removed from Time, void of comfort. It will take all her skill and daring to fight her way back to the present and save the people she loves from the ever-growing danger that threatens to destroy them. And to her utmost surprise, the key to survival is a dragon with the capacity to rule the world . . . but who will relinquish it all to one man.
Jan Siegel has created an intense, fascinating world. To surrender yourself under her captivating spell is to remember how remarkably powerful a literary voyage can be.
Customer Reviews:
"I Left No Rivals. I Do as Dragons Do...".......2006-12-11
There is no middle ground when it comes to Jan Siegel's novels: you either love them or hate them. Considering I love them, you might want to take this review with a pinch of salt as you may take my advice to read it and find that it is simply not to your taste. In any case, borrow before you buy and hopefully you'll enjoy these books as much as I do. They are beautifully written, with intriguing ideas and careful plotting, and (in my humble opinion) are among the best books that the fantasy genre has to offer. In a world of Tolkien rip-offs, it is a rare thing to find a fantasy novel that transcends the cliches into something fresh and new, yet resonant with older traditions and mythologies.
In the previous novel "Prospero's Children", Fern Capel came into her inheritance as a witch, fell in love, bartered with a demon and travelled back in time to the final days of Atlantis in order to race evil powers for possession of the Lodestone. Now twelve years later she has done everything she can to put that traumatic summer firmly behind her. She wraps herself in a world of respectability, and is about to marry the charismatic Marcus Grieg, a man twenty years her senior. Returning to Yarrowdale with her best friend Gaynor Mobberley (the site of her adventures twelve years earlier) at her financee's insistence, Fern begins to feel ancient powers emerging about her once more. These otherworldly forces are not so eager to let such a powerful witch out of their grasp, and the day before her wedding Fern falls into a mysterious coma whilst her spirit wanders far away.
Whilst Fern's brother Will, the ex-wizard Ragginbone and Gaynor attempt to unravel the mystery to Fern's illness, Fern herself finds herself keeping the strangest of company under the World Tree, where the heads of souls bound to purgatory hang like fruit on its branches. The two groups find themselves uncovering a long forgotten story of the dragon-charmers, a family of Atlantis that possessed the power to (obviously) charm dragons - and realise that there is every chance a dragon still exists somewhere in the world, waiting to be hatched. Whoever possesses such a powerful creature will wield a weapon that hasn't been seen in the world for centuries, and there are several parties determined to get their hands on it.
There have been complaints that Fern's decision to turn her back on her powers is frustrating after the story arc of the previous story in which she gradually had to come to terms with them. To a point this is true, but I find it much more realistic that Fern would desire to forget the supernatural aspects of her life. Siegel has a good grip on Fern's personality, and the actions of this twenty-something Fern is certainly true to the persona of her teenage-self. The events of "Prospero's Children" were traumatising for a young girl, and it makes perfect sense that the sensible and practical woman she's grown into would reject her powers in day-to-day life - using them only when necessity demands it.
However, I do agree that the book is somewhat slow-paced to start with: it is not till chapter five that Fern's adventure really begins after she's put into her magically-induced coma (and since the chapters are quite long, it takes a while). But the mystery, intrigue and suspense of the rest of the novel more than makes up for it. Intricately plotted, we are introduced to figures and conceits that are fully revealed later in the novel, at exactly the right time and place, some of which may or may not have a place in familiar mythology. Images, dreams, symbols, plot-twist, action - all are painstakingly strewn throughout the story and explored in Siegel's beautiful poetic-prose. It isn't just a gimmick, it fully enhances the story and is comparable only to Patricia McKillip.
The range of ideas at work in the story is truly breathtaking: its so tempting to start listing them, but that of course would ruin the enjoyment you would get out of discovering them yourselves. Let's just say that "Dragon-Charmer" is a tapestry of rich and intricate ideas and concepts; you can almost sense that even the minor characters have lives (no matter how strange) outside the context of the story that is told.
But then again, you may hate "Dragon-Charmer" and its predecessor "Prospero's Children", as they are so unique that it's hard to categorise and compare them with other books. All I can to is recommend you take the time to read them and hope that you'll like them as much as I did.
a mediocre book.......2006-05-14
I remembering reading this book when I was in fourth grade. I had just gotten into the fantasy reading craze, and the cover of the book attracted me, so I just grabbed it and checked it out. when i read it, it felt very dry to me. the characters weren't very deep, and the plot seemed odd and contrived. It seemed that out of the hundreds of pages of the book, not much really happened. the climax seemed like a joke, and the main character's imprisonment at the Tree seemed too prolonged. however, i did get a sense of grandness, strangely enough. it seemed that there might have been something about the book i didn't understand. so maybe the book seemed bad to me because i was young at the time. maybe it was because i read the second book and not the first. whatever it was, i know i didn't enjoy it all that much; it wasn't a enjoyable thing, reading it, which you find yourself doing when you have a good book in your hands. it was a task. and i suppose that is the worst thing anyone can say about reading a fantasy novel
"The Dragon Charmer" Lacks Charm.......2006-03-14
_The Dragon Charmer_ is the second novel in a (recently titled)Fern Capel Trilogy written by author Amanda Hemingway under the penname Jan Seigel. The first book being _Prospero's Children, sets the characters and stage for this novel, as a sequel more then ten years after the original novel.
_Prospero's Children_ told the tale of Fernanda Capel and her well intentioned but bumbling father Robin and precocious but thankfully not cliched younger brother Will as they inherit a house from recently deceased and very distant relative. From this setting, we weave a tale of Fernanda who is, as it turns out a witch or rather someone with "The Gift" of magic as a matter of fact. First truly seen in the mythical and ancient civilization of Atlantis. _Propero's Children_ centered around the search for a key made from a magical stone that can open the gates of death itself. Sixteen year old Fern, whom in _Prospero's Children_ was introduced as a slightly prudish, responsible and prickly herione was at the center of this tale who later came forwards to see it's completion as she; at the last half of the novel travels back in time to Atlantis where she discovers the kind of true love that happens once in a life time and ends up witnessing the downfall of Atlantis and inadvertently starting up the events that lead her adventures over a thousand years into the future.
_Prospero's Children_ had a magnifiscent tone, brought on by Seigel's beautiful and boardering on purple prose that fit the novels dreamy feel and easy pace. While each character was well developed with their own voice and solid place in the story. Never a character that seemed to struggle to fit into the rest of the story or exist simply as support for the protagonist. One of the major delights of the story was the character of Alison or Alimond, the antagonist or secondary antagonist. An ancient witch of some power whose motivations for searching for the key were at once heartbreaking and entirely selfish. Alison remains in this reader's mind as a prime example of how to make a three dimensional antagonist. While the Oldest Spirit, existed as a good almost omniscent force to keep events moving for Fern and the characters.
The novel ended with a bit of sadness and budding hopeful future for Fern whose is just now coming into her own as a powerful witch.
However _The Dragon Charmer_ begins nearly ten years after that novel ended, and shows the reader that the potential and hopeful future for Fern as merely stalled out completely. As if the author couldn't think of ways to rise Fern to a higher level and merely left her as an uninspiring adult who has returned to her formerly prudish ways. If going deeper into them as all the growth and potential Fern had as a child has dissapeared with adulthood (which as we see is a common theme in these novels, the loss of potential and shinning of youth for the boring depressing future of adulthood).
Nearly ten years later Fern Capel is a college graduate engaged to be married to a man nearly twice her senior. Fern's reasoning for this arrangement isn't true love or even comfort, but a simple unwavering determination to stick to the "natural path" that she had imagined for herself as a child. A suitable career, a prudent marriage and possibly children in the distant future being the entire scope of Fern's future. Fern's fiance is a fluttery and distant character who it seems does exactly what the author avoided so wonderfully in her first novel and that is make a secondary character merely for the sake of supporting the main character. However not even Fern takes true center stage in this novel as her chapters are infrequent as we see most of this novel from the very, very uninspiring and useless main character (I hesitate to even call her a protagonist), Fern's friend Gaynor Mobberly. Brought forth as a love interest for Fern's younger brother Will, now college age and every bit the precious rake he was as a child. Gaynor, while not an unlikable character, is simply put...boring. Useful to the story only as a way for new readers to the series to catch up on what happened before hand, if they didn't read _Prospero's Children_. Even that is haphazardly done as we hear only second hand brushby accounts of what occured in the first novel. New readers to the series will perhaps get the bare bones idea as to what happened in the first novel but loose the full scope and emotional impact of it on the characters or what should have been the emotional impact on the characters.
For Will, Robin, their housekeeper, Ragginbone and even Fern have simply stalled as characters and lost what original voice and sparkle they have. The novel's main theme is Fern's forceful return to her destiny as one of the gifted, as the weekend of her wedding she is taken (in spirit) from her body and forced to become the prodigy of a familiar legendary figure. Morgan le Fey (called Morgus) in these novels. A power bloated witch, eternally stuck in the mideval mindset and cold hard determination to rule the ancient kingdom of Britain, in her mind called Logrez. Morgus and her partner in crime exist out of time underneath the world tree (Yddragssil in Norse Mythology) where the heads of the dead must spend a season for every evil deed committed. Morgus awaits for the head of a particular person. The only person in existence gifted with the ability to charm Dragons. As Fern learns her new craft, reluctantly from Morgus she must use all of her wits to ellude becoming a mindless pawn for Morgus and eventually make her escape. Morgus is a one dimensional villain, who is shown as being irredemably evil without the true motvation for her desired conquest. Unlike Alison whose motivations were, in some twisted sense reasonable. Morgus has no true inspiration, no real reason to want to conquor Britain. She merely wants to because she *can* and her twisted obsession with Fern evolves to a rather squriming climax as a rather uncomfortable and barely brushed upon and non violent rape scene seems to serve no purpose other then to show just how *evil* Morgus is.
As Fern struggles to free herself, with the help of a twisted child of Morgus. Will and Gaynor back in the real world, struggle to find a way to save her and keep her body safe. Mean while the looming figure of the Oldest Spirit isn't present in this novel, a noticable lack in the plot itself.
_The Dragon Charmer_ is a charmless, sparkleless "second novel" in a trilogy that had complete promise in the beginning as being a true fantasy classic. While it will perhaps remain a prime example perhaps of true urban or modern fantasy, the second novel in the series is noticably lacking from the first. All the character growth and potential lost under an uninspiring plot that leaves the reader mildly unsatisfied. For those readers whom truly loved _Prospero's Children_ and wish to finish this series it is only partially reccomended.
Inventive.......2004-08-25
The first time I read this book was in a huge book that included all of the books in this series. The whole thing was titled _The Witches Way_, I believe. You may want to check that before you quote me on it.
There were many things I loved about this series. The first is that the protagonist is a woman. The second is that after having read many fantasy books and series, this one seemed to be very well worded gramatically and in its variety of adjectives...I actually learned some new words. The plot is complicated in the sense that it goes back and forth in time... time in general blends in these books. Past becomes future, present becomes past, etc. etc. etc...which is all part of the fun. There is much more than that though.... I personally consider this series one of the best. I lent it out to a relative and she couldn't put the book (whole series in one) down until the last.
well-told story by a maturing writer.......2003-05-10
Like the author's first book, Prospero's Children, this book begins in rural England, where elements of magic and strange happenings are gradually introduced into an otherwise modern setting. Also like the first book, the main character spends a significant part of the story isolated in a different "world." In this book, however, the author does a much better job of carrying two story lines, and integrating the other world into the main story. The character development and sense of realism are also much improved. I found this book to be a entertaining read, with some interesting ideas and story elements, all very well told. I recommend this book and look forward to reading more of Jan Siegel's work.
Average customer rating:
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The Dragon Charmer
Douglas Hill
Manufacturer: Barn Owl Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Action & Adventure | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic | Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Dragons | Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Fiction | Self-Esteem & Self-Respect | Social Situations | People & Places | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Action & Adventure | Literature | Children's Books | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Dragons | Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths | Literature | Children's Books | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
General | Literature | Children's Books | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic | Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror | Literature | Children's Books | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Fiction | Self-Esteem & Self-Respect | Social Situations | People & Places | Children's Books | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
ASIN: 1903015367 |
Book Description
Elynne, the daughter of a dragon charmer, is the unlikely heroine of this fantastical children's story. Despite being shy and easily frightened by the ferocious creatures that her father keeps, a connection emerges between a royal baby dragon and Elynne. Given confidence by their friendship, Elynne finds the courage to come to the dragon prince's rescue and save the day.
Customer Reviews:
PERFECT FOR CHILDREN.......2007-06-13
THIS IS A GOOD BOOK FOR KIDS EASING INTO NOVLES. IT'S ABOUT A 12 YEAR OLD GIRL WHO'S FATHER CAN TAME DRAGONS BY PLAYING HIS PIPES. IT IS A RARE GIFT TO CHARM DRAGONS WITH MUSIC AND THE GIRL FEELS SHE IS A DISAPOINTMENT BECAUSE SHE IS TERRIFIED OF DRAGONS AND CAN'T PLAY THE PIPES. BUT WHEN A FLOCK OF DRAGONS NESTLES IN A LITTLE VALLEY IN FRONT OF THEIR FARM A CRIMSON QUEEN (BIGGER THAN ALL THE OTHER DRAGONS) STAYS LONGER THAN THE REST TO LAY HER EGG AND NEST IN THE CHARMER'S BARN TO HATCH IT. NILES IS THE VILLIAN WHO WANTS TO STEAL THE EGG AND MAKE A FORTUNE BY SHOWING IT TO PEOPLE. MAMA GETS VERY ANGERY AND BADLY INJURES ELYNNE'S FATHER WHILE CRASHING THOUGH THE BARN'S ROOF AND GOES OFF IN SHURCH OF HER EGG. ELYNNE FEELING RESPONSIBLE FOR SHE OVER HEARD NILES SPEAKING TO ANONTHER PERSON ABOUT STEALING THE EGG GOES OF TO THEIR HIDEOUT AND STEALS THE EGG BACK. ON HER WAY HOME THE EGG HATCHES (UH-OH BIG TROUBLE THERE) ELYNNE MUST QUICKLY GET HOME AND SHOW EVERYONE BEFORE THE BAD GUYS GET THERE. WHEN SHE GETS BACK HOME HER FAMILY IS AMAZED SHE DID ALL THOSE THINGS BY HERSELF BUT THEIR JOY IS CUT SHORT BY THE BAD GUYS INTRUSION AND THE BABY PRINCE FLIES TO THE BARN. ELYNNE CLEVERLY TRICKS NILES AND HURRIES TO THE BARN WHERE SHE AND THE PRINCE HIDE UNTIL ONE OF THE BAD GUYS USES HER FAMILY TO GET HER TO COME OUT OF HER HIDING SPOT. WHEN THE BAD GUYS TRY TO TAKE THE BABY DRAGON FROM HER THE PRINCE MAKES SO MUCH NOISE THAT MAMA CRASHES THROUGH THE BARN ROOF AGAIN NILES AND ONE OF THE BAD GUYS GET CAUGHT IN THE DEBRIS AND HER FAMILY PLUS TWO OTHER BAD GUYS ARE THROWN OUT OF THE BARN. ELYNNE IS VERY LUCKY THAT THE QUEEN REALISES HER BABY IS UNHARMED THE TWO START CROONING TOGETHER AND ELYNNE HUMMES THE DRAGON CHRAMER SONG. WHILE SHE IS SINGING THE TWO REACT THE SAME WAY OTHER DRAGONS ACT WHEN HER FATHER PLAYS THE PIPES, SHE CONTINUES TO SING UNTIL SHE MAKES OUTSIDE TO HER FAMILY. ONCE ELYNNE STOPS SINGING THE QUEEN TAKES HER BABY IN HER CLAWS AND FLYIES AWAY. ELYNNE'S FATHER IS SO PROUD OF HER THAT AT THE END OF THE BOOK HE PUTS UP A SIGN "DAN AND DAUGHTER - DRAGON CHARMERS".
Average customer rating:
- Middle book of a darkly imaginative trilogy
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The Dragon Charmer
Jan Siegel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HWYT0S |
Customer Reviews:
Middle book of a darkly imaginative trilogy.......2007-09-16
Jan Siegel (pseudonym for Amanda Hemingway) is also the author of "Prospero's Children" (1999), and "The Witch Queen" (2002), the books that precede and follow "The Dragon Charmer" (2000) in this fantasy trilogy starring magically-gifted, Fern Capel.
These three books need to be read in order if any sense is to be made of Fern's increasingly complicated love life and her growing power as a sorceress. The first novel in the trilogy, "Prospero's Children" starts out as a YA coming-of-age fantasy, populated with evil villains (a witch, an idol, and an art gallery owner) and eccentric good guys (the Watcher, a female werewolf, a house goblin). Unfortunately, the second half degenerates into a standard Swords and Sorcery fantasy about Atlantis. It's almost as if the publisher said, "Okay, Jan, this is a great novel but we need another 100 pages, and why don't you throw in a Lost Continent. Lost Continents are very big this year."
Nevertheless, read the Atlantis bit very carefully, because the following two novels constantly refer back to Fern's sojourn in this ancient, drowned world. If this author has a serious fault, it's her overuse of extended flashbacks. Her greatest strength is her darkly imaginative blend of worlds (excluding Atlantis). The World Tree where Fern spends most of "The Dragon Charmer," is borrowed from Norse mythology and inhabited by nightmarish crones. There is also a savage boar that eats the fallen fruit from the Tree - the regenerated heads of those who did evil in their lives on Earth.
This is my favorite book in the trilogy, even though Fern spends most of it in a coma. Her body is tended by her friends and relatives after she reclaims her paranormal Gift, and her spirit is stolen out of Time by a sorceress who is looking for a new apprentice.
Meanwhile Fern's brother, Will and her friend, Gaynor, with the help of other characters from "Prospero's Children" such as the Watcher and the werewolf, try to solve the mystery of her sudden descent into a coma. Their adventures and Fern's struggle to return to her body from the Land of the Dead and the not-so-dead, alternate to the very end of the book, where all of the story threads are combined into a very satisfying climax involving Fern's most ancient Enemy and the dragon of the title.
Although witches, dragons, and drowned continents inhabit many mundane fantasies, they've been combined into a darkly imaginative sorceress's brew in this trilogy. Not to be missed.
Average customer rating:
- Dragon Charmer charms young readers!
- Dragon Charmer
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Dragon Charmer
Ruth Siburt
Manufacturer: Royal Fireworks Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Children's Books | Subjects | Books | Baby-3 | Ages 4-8 | Ages 9-12 | Animals | Arts & Music | Books on Cassette | Books on CD | Authors & Illustrators, A-Z | Computers | Educational | History & Historical Fiction | Issues | Literature | Obsessions | People & Places | Popular Characters | Reference & Nonfiction | Religions | Science, Nature & How It Works | Series | Sports & Activities
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0880923504 |
Book Description
Since her fathers death early in 2080, 13-year-old Elizabeth has been her mothers right hand girl. Mom had to work now, and it seemed that the only time Elizabeth wasnt worrying about her mom, her younger sister, or herself was when she was dreaming, reading, or thinking about dragons. Yet, even in her wildest dream, she never imagined becoming a dragon keeper, a Dragon Charmer, responsible for the care and well-being of a fierce, brave, beautiful, and endangered dragon.
Most dragon literature was defamatory and prejudicial and focused on a few mischief makers fighting fearsome presence. No one wrote about the dragon melting snow or moving clouds with the breeze from its wings, or the dragons song. Merlins apprentice, Maxine, set out to right the wrong and establish The Society for the Preservation of Dragon, or Dragon Charmers. Members learned that dragons grew very slowly and received a new scale only when a person did an unselfish, good deed. A magical reference book catalogued the name of the person responsible for the good and the time and date of its occurrence. Elizabeth was shocked to see that her fathers name appeared many times, and that the last entry was yesterday. He was still alive!
As Elizabeth works through the mystery of her fathers disappearance and the responsibilities of a Dragon Charmer, the reader witnesses a future world where water is in critically short supply; where biblio-vox system audio books have replaced the old-fashioned book that had to be read with the eyes word by word; where pets are not allowed; where schooling is accomplished through group interactive television; and where soap and water have been replaced by Rad-scan cleanser.
Customer Reviews:
Dragon Charmer charms young readers!.......2002-01-10
This gripping, fast-paced novel (slim and tightly-written at only 93 pages) combines ancient dragon-lore with an ominous future setting. With a few deft strokes, the author paints a surprisingly detailed picture of life for schoolkids in the year 2080. Cady is a well-drawn protagonist whose qualities, struggles, and deepening predicament compel the reader to keep turning pages. What does one do if suddenly entrusted with the care of a tiny dragon -- in a society that forbids the keeping of even normal animals? Ms. Siburt writes with humor, creativity, and an unerring sense of plot. Dragon Charmer is delightful, suspenseful, and satisfying -- a great classroom or bedtime story. One can only hope that more such books from this author are soon to follow.-- A Reader in the Far East
Dragon Charmer.......2000-01-26
Dragon Charmer by Ruth Siburt is an exciting story about a young girl, Cady Dulac, who is entrusted with the care of a tiny dragon named Arson in a futuristic time when pets are illegal! Cady befriends a not-too-popular boy, Willie Raimer and together the two protect Arson and work to solve the mystery of Cady's father's disappearance. I love to watch the expressions on the faces of my students each year as I read this book to them. They really get caught up in the tale and can't wait to hear more! This is a wonderful story full of adventure and the value of friendship!
Average customer rating:
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The Dragon Charmer
Jan Siegel
Manufacturer: Voyager
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books | Alternate History | Anthologies | Arthurian | Contemporary | Epic | General | Historical | History & Criticism | Magic & Wizards | Series
ASIN: 000651281X |
Average customer rating:
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Dragon Charmer
Douglas Hill
Manufacturer: ZZCFRANCES LINCOLN C
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K1YHQ2 |
Average customer rating:
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The Dragon Charmer
Jan Siegel
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0007153449 |
Average customer rating:
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Dragon Charmer,The
Jan Siegel
Manufacturer: Ballantine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000KYEUY8 |
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