I’ve been reading middle grade and young adult science fiction and fantasy books via visits to local library branches (thanks, Mom!) and bookmobiles (anybody under 40 remember those?) since I was in grade school and writing in those same genres since 2005. That was when I tapped into my love of MG/YA fantasy novels and began writing about dragons between gigs as a professional animation writer.
If you think it's all good deeds and stuffy politeness over at Camelot, you're wrong! Most people don't know this, but things are pretty bad right now. King Arthur's in jail, Merlin's gone missing, and there's a cruel demon in charge. Seriously! Now it's up to young Leonard, a page to a poor but kind knight, to set things right—even if that means going on a dangerous quest, outsmarting hungry monsters, or risking his life to make friends with a bunch of grumpy dragons.
Filled with dragons, magic, and irreverent humor, Dragonfriendis an epic YA Arthurian fantasy novel in the spirit ofThe Princess Bride, The Sword in the Stone, and Excalibur.
The Sea of Trolls is an excellent and satisfying read that immersed me in the fascinating Norse/Saxon world of 793 A.D. It’s the first book in one of the best series I've read in a long time—featuring rich world-building, magic at all levels, bold deeds, and a dry sense of humor.
Jack is an apprentice bard and just beginning to learn the secrets of his mysterious master, when he and his little sister are captured by Viking chief, Olaf One-Brow, and taken to the court of Ivar the Boneless. Ivar is married to a half-troll named Frith, an evil and unpredictable queen with a strange power over her husband's court. Jack is sent on to the kingdom of the trolls, where he has to find the magical well and undo the charm he has cast on Frith. He is accompanied by Thorgill, a shield maiden, aged 12, who wants to be…
Neil Gaiman is one of the most innovative and imaginative authors writing today. A fan of his work since Sandman, I picked up this book knowing I was in for a storytelling treat. Nobody Owens was tragically orphaned as a toddler, then adopted by the ghosts of a nearby graveyard and protected by an enigmatic guardian. "Bod" grows up learning the ways of the dead and with the knowledge that the man who killed his family relentlessly searches for him outside his graveyard sanctuary. The Graveyard Book is a charming, darkly funny read.
When a baby escapes a murderer intent on killing his entire family, who would have thought it would find safety and security in the local graveyard? Brought up by the resident ghosts, ghouls and spectres, Bod has an eccentric childhood learning about life from the dead. But for Bod there is also the danger of the murderer still looking for him - after all, he is the last remaining member of the family. A stunningly original novel deftly constructed over eight chapters, featuring every second year of Bod's life, from babyhood to adolescence. Will Bod survive to be a man?
No list with a title remotely similar to mine would be complete without The Hobbitfrom J.R.R. Tolkien. This was the book that hit me squarely between the eyes in my early teen years in the 1970s and compelled me to “pleasure read” YA/MG high fantasy from then until now (and, no doubt, beyond!). This wonderful introduction to the world ofThe Lord of the Rings contains a reluctant hero, a dragon, a wizard, bold dwarves, hungry trolls, fierce orcs, and a magic ring—all tied together in a grand adventure filled with humor and action-packed derring-do. What more could a fantasy reader of any age want?
Special collector's film tie-in hardback of the best-selling classic, featuring the complete story with a sumptuous cover design inspired by THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY and brand new reproductions of all the drawings and maps by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely travelling further than the pantry of his hobbit-hole in Bag End.
But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard, Gandalf, and a company of thirteen dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an unexpected journey 'there and back again'. They have a plot to raid…
Set in the modern world, The Lightning Thiefexplores the always fun premise of “What if the old gods never reallywent away?” Young Percy Jackson is a boarding school student who’s having a hard time figuring out who he is and why all these strange and mostly dangerous things keep happening to him. Percy doesn’t have much time to reflect when his true identity is finally revealed as he’s quickly thrown into an epic quest to recover Zeus’s stolen lightning bolt before god-level total war breaks out on Mount Olympus. This book (the whole series, for that matter) has everything I like in a good fantasy read—mythical creatures, good humor, and an action-packed story that keeps you guessing until the end.
The Lightning Thief: the First book in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series.
The first bestselling book in Rick Riordan's phenomenally successful Percy Jackson series.
Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood. I never asked to be the son of a Greek God. I was just a normal kid, going to school, playing basketball, skateboarding. The usual. Until I accidentally vaporized my maths teacher. That's when things started really going wrong. Now I spend my time fighting with swords, battling monsters with my friends, and generally trying to stay alive.
The Amulet of Samarkand is the first book in one of the best young adult fantasy series I've read in years. Bartimaeus is a smart and delightfully sarcastic djinni working for (he’d say he was "enslaved by") magical wunderkind, John Mandrake. Well-written and laugh-out-loud funny, these books explore a wonderfully odd yet familiar world full of scheming, usually malevolent spirits, often loathsome, backstabbing practitioners of magic, and exciting action. The first book (Amulet) got me hooked, and I quickly went on to devour the entire series.
The first volume in the brilliant, bestselling Bartimaeus sequence.
When the 5,000-year-old djinni Bartimaeus is summoned by Nathaniel, a young magician's apprentice, he expects to have to do nothing more taxing than a little levitation or a few simple illusions. But Nathaniel is a precocious talent and has something rather more dangerous in mind: revenge. Against his will, Bartimaeus is packed off to steal the powerful Amulet of Samarkand from Simon Lovelace, a master magician of unrivalled ruthlessness and ambition. Before long, both djinni and apprentice are caught up in a terrifying flood of magical intrigue, murder and rebellion.
My book recommendations reflect an abiding passion for Japanese literature, which has unquestionably influenced my own writing. My latest literary interest involves Japanese poetry—I’ve recently started a project that combines haiku and prose narration to describe my experiences as a part-time resident in a 1300-year-old Japanese hot spring town that Bashō helped make famous in The Narrow Road to the Deep North. But as a writer, my main focus remains novels. In late 2023 the second in a planned series of novels set in Ishikawa prefecture will be published. I currently live in Kanazawa, but have also been lucky to call Sapporo, Akita, Tokyo, and Fukui home at different times.
Emmitt’s plans collapse when his wife, Mirai, suddenly backs out of purchasing their dream home. Disappointed, he’s surprised to discover her subtle pursuit of a life and career in Tokyo.
In his search for a meaningful life in Japan, and after quitting his job, he finds himself helping his mother-in-law translate Kanazawa’s most famous author, Izumi Kyoka, into English. He becomes drawn into the mysterious death of a friend of Mirai’s parents, leading him and his father-in-law to climb the mountain where the man died. There, he learns the somber truth and discovers what the future holds for him and his wife.
Packed with subtle literary allusion and closely observed nuance, Kanazawa reflects the mood of Japanese fiction in a fresh, modern incarnation.
In Kanazawa, the first literary novel in English to be set in this storied Japanese city, Emmitt's future plans collapse when his wife, Mirai, suddenly backs out of negotiations to purchase their dream home. Disappointed, he's surprised to discover Mirai's subtle pursuit of a life and career in Tokyo, a city he dislikes.
Harmony is further disrupted when Emmitt's search for a more meaningful life in Japan leads him to quit an unsatisfying job at a local university. In the fallout, he finds himself helping his mother-in-law translate Kanazawa's most famous author, Izumi Kyoka, into English.
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