“Reality is malleable,” my mentor told me. As a boy I had always wished it so: I grew up in a pine forest with naught but deer with which to convene; friendship came in the form of books. I was—and still am to this day—an introvert by nature, so there was nothing more desirable than escaping some jibes and jabs from older siblings, or more serious issues like my parents’ drinking problems and my own struggle with depression. That’s when I found practical magic.
Lenna Faircloth was content enough to be junior librarian at one of the grandest libraries on the Continent, so long as at the end of the day she can enjoy a glass of wine and some decent shut-eye. Reticent and unconcerned with trivial matters, Lenna is startled the day her childhood friend, Gilbert, appears at her door, asking her to help smuggle stolen goods across national borders. Librarianis the first part of a young woman's journey set in an alternate, sparsely-populated world. When unfortunate circumstances leave a bizarre, out-of-place artifact of immense power in the sole custody of Lenna, she is forced to question her own wants, the source of her withdrawal from others, and the curious nature of the Continent's magic.
Diana Wynne Jones was a wonderful woman who always responded to my questions in a tidy hand, delighting a little boy who had made himself an author pen-pal. When a twelve-year-old Brian begged for a copy of her Fire and Hemlock—my library suffered a flood and its copy, lost—the best she could procure for the out-of-print book was a solitary copy she possessed… in Japanese. Our correspondence lasted several letters, topics ranging the gamut from life in England, the University of Oxford, and writing in general. It’s a retelling of the Scottish ballad, “Tam Lin,” and stars a strong female protagonist and an elegant take on magical realism.
In the mind of a lonely, imaginative girl, who can tell where fiction ends and reality begins? An epic fantasy, spanning nine years...
The fire and hemlock photograph above Polly's bed sparks memories in her that don't seem to exist any more. Halloween; nine years ago; she gatecrashed a funeral party at the big house and met Thomas Lynn for the first time.
Despite the fact that he's an adult, they struck up an immediate friendship, and began making up stories together - stories in which Tom is a great hero, and Polly is his assistant. The trouble is, these…
Jones’ work embodies practical magic, something I strive to achieve with every word I write. The novel is the story of Sophie, who is cursed by a witch, and learns that she has some magic of her own. She talks to flowers and they bloom, and she can do amazing things with curtains. I read this at twelve, and still read it every year. Pics to prove upon request.
Now an animated movie from Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki, the oscar-winning director of Spirited Away
In this beloved modern classic, young Sophie Hatter from the land of Ingary catches the unwelcome attention of the Witch of the Waste and is put under a spell...
Deciding she has nothing more to lose, Sophie makes her way to the moving castle that hovers on the hills above her town, Market Chipping. But the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl, whose appetite, they say, is satisfied only by the souls of young girls...
There Sophie meets Michael, Howl's apprentice, and Calcifer…
In my opinion, there’s never been a more fantastic description of ‘practical magic’ as in Clarke’s novel. It’s an alternate history of Great Britain where gentlemen rediscover faerie magic but use it in the most conventional ways. There is also a great bout of madness and an obsession with pineapples that makes the book all the more charming. Clarke’s footnotes alone could be a book in of itself.
Two magicians shall appear in England. The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me The year is 1806. England is beleaguered by the long war with Napoleon, and centuries have passed since practical magicians faded into the nation's past. But scholars of this glorious history discover that one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell whose displays of magic send a thrill through the country. Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of…
The subtlety of Alexander’s magic cannot be denied in the first novel of his series, The Chronicles of Prydain. Be it Eilonwy’s bauble or a portent-telling porcine, Alexander is a master at magic with the deftest of touches. And who can resist Gurgi’s munchings and crunchings or an oracular pig? The series as a whole is wonderful, but The Book of Three is truly a piece of art with its sentimental characters and use of the arcane.
Since The Book of Three was first published in 1964, young readers have been enthralled by the adventures of Taran the Assistant Pig-keeper and his quest to become a hero. Taran is joined by an engaging cast of characters that includes Eilonwy, the strong-willed and sharp-tongued princess; Fflewddur Fflam, the hyperbole-prone bard; the ever-faithful Gurgi; and the curmudgeonly Doli--all of whom become involved in an epic struggle between good and evil that shapes the fate of the legendary land of Prydain.
Released over a period of five years, Lloyd Alexander's beautifully written tales not only captured children's imaginations but also…
Morgenstein sets herself apart with her use of practical magic to showcase the beauty of the circus, of the pantomime. Two magicians—unbeknownst to each other—compete to enhance the circus through practical magic, only to fall in love outside of it. It’s a gloriously written homage to the use of the arcane arts in subtle ways.
Rediscover the million-copy bestselling fantasy read with a different kind of magic, now in a stunning anniversary edition to mark 10 years since it's paperback debut.
The circus arrives without warning. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Against the grey sky the towering tents are striped black and white. A sign hanging upon an iron gates reads:
Opens at Nightfall Closes at Dawn
Full of breath-taking amazements and open only at night, Le Cirque des Reves seems to cast a spell over all who wander its circular paths. But behind the glittering acrobats, fortune-tellers…
The constellation we know as Taurus goes all the way back to cave paintings of aurochs at Lascaux. This book traces the story of the bull in the sky, a journey through the history of what has become known as the sacred bull.
Each of the sections is written from the perspective of the mythical Taurus, from the beginning at Lascaux to Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, and elsewhere. This is not just a history of the bull but also a view of ourselves through the eyes of the bull, illustrating our pre-literate use of myth, how the advent of writing and the urban revolution changed our view of ourselves, and how even bullfighting in Spain is a variation on the ancient sacrifice of the sacred bull.
The constellation we know as Taurus goes all the way back to cave paintings of aurochs at Lascaux. In I Am Taurus, author Stephen Palmer traces the story of the bull in the sky, starting from that point 19,000 years ago - a journey through the history of what has become known as the sacred bull. Each of the eleven sections is written from the perspective of the mythical Taurus, from the beginning at Lascaux to Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Greece, Spain and elsewhere. This is not just a history of the bull but also an attempt to see ourselves through…
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