I get bored easily when I read a book where I can predict the plot. The two things that really set apart the original stories are world development and character complexity. You need a strong character, filled with their own eccentricities, flaws, and virtues. And you need an interesting, well-developed world in which your character can live. If you do these two things well, the story easily writes itself. If you can discover how the character thinks, acts and interacts in their world, how they seek to solve their problems and fix their flaws—that’s what makes a story worth telling…and for me, that’s the story I want to write.
After the land of Cassé was destroyed, the survivors banded together to create the House alliances. Only the strongest, most cunning, and useful are accepted. For the Houses, there are only three laws: 1) Never remove your mask. 2) Never share your true name. 3) Survive. Anyone denied membership into the Houses is considered a Nameless Unchosen and is to be killed on sight. No exceptions.
Yet when Mynah, a tortured soul who has lived in the House of Vultures since she was seven years old, finds an unmasked boy in the forest, she is faced with a terrible choice: follow the law and kill the child, or show him mercy and risk war? A boy's life hangs in the balance. And Mynah's decision will forever change her world.
I love books with complex, interesting characters. It lets me view the world through a different lens, to see things from a new perspective. It’s more than just getting to know a new character—it’s about growing with him/her as they navigate the world in which they are set. There are characters in this book that you admire, that you root for, and that you love to hate—until you better understand their motives. That’s what really excites me, and this book delivers!
From the author of the classic Farseer trilogy, SHIP OF MAGIC is the first part of the Liveship Traders. Set in a land bordering the Six Duchies, Robin Hobb begins her epic tale of pirates, talking ships, magic, sea serpents, slave revolts, dashing heroes and bloody battles.
Wizardwood, the most precious commodity in the world, comes only from the Rain Wilds. But only a liveship can negotiate the perilous waters of the Rain Wild River, and liveships are hard to come by. They quicken only when three family members from successive generations have died…
This book absorbs you into its world! It’s the type of book that you pick up to read, and when you set it down, you have to take a minute to re-adjust back to reality. You say to yourself, “Just one more chapter…” Then it’s three in the morning, and you have to force yourself to turn out the light. You rejoice, grieve, and hope for the main character to achieve her goals. You long for a happy ending and admire the main character’s courage as she endures for the sake of her family. Through the trials she faces, you see love win out against all odds.
Sorcha, the seventh child and only daughter of Lord Colum, faces the difficult task of having to save her family from its enemies, who have bewitched her father and six older brothers while forcing her to choose between the life she has always known and a special love.
This book draws you into its own, unique world right from the first page. You immediately meet the main character in unusual circumstances—not where you might expect a protagonist to be found. Yet the author does a wonderful job of slowly showing you past events that brought the character to this place, and you find yourself hoping she will find a happy ending. I love the way the author draws you into the story so that you feel like you are experiencing what the main character feels.
In the territory of Ixia the government maintains control through the Code of Behaviour, forbidding the practice of magic, but danger lurks in mysterious places...
Imprisoned for murder Yelena Zaltana's punishment is death, until she is reprieved - for a price.
As the Commander of Ixia's food taster she will risk assassination from poison daily, a position she would be a fool to refuse... In a world where magic equals death and freedom is for the lucky few, survival is all Yelena has and the battle for her life has just begun.
I love the unpredictability of this author’s works! Every time I read her books, I’m never able to guess what will happen next. The main character of this story is so interesting; flawed, complex, strong, and vulnerable. I always get excited when I read books that let me escape into a new world or feel something toward the characters, and this book does the job beautifully. I read the first three books in the series in about five days, and couldn’t wait to get my hands on the next ones.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas started a worldwide phenomenon when she published her debut novel, Throne of Glass. To date, Sarah's books have spent more than 92 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and she has hit #1 on charts around the world. Her books have sold more than seven million copies and have been translated into 36 languages. Throne of Glass alone has sold over one million copies. Now you can own this epic fantasy classic in a deluxe hardcover collector's edition.
Throne of Glass begins the sweeping saga of assassin Celaena Sardothien,…
These books will always be on my list of favorites. The main characters are all animals, but the author does such a fantastic job describing them that you’d have to remind yourself they aren’t human. They are personified so well, yet there are also wonderful descriptions and details that remind you they are animals. I always found myself rooting for these characters in the same ways that I do when I’m reading a well-written book with human characters. You get sucked into their world, so much so that you almost feel like you are one of them.
5
authors picked
Redwall
as one of their favorite books, and they share
why you should read it.
This book is for kids age
9,
10, and
11.
What is this book about?
The first book in the beloved, bestselling Redwall saga - soon to be a major Netflix movie!
Redwall Abbey, tranquil home to a community of peace-loving mice, is threatened by the evil, one-eyed rat warlord Cluny the Scourge and his battle-hardened horde of predators.
Cluny is certain that Redwall will fall easily to his fearsome army but he hasn't bargained for the courage and strength of the Redwall mice and their loyal woodland friends . . .
One of TIME magazine's 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time
'Not since Roald Dahl have children filled their shelves so compulsively' -…
My life and work have been profoundly affected by the central circumstance of my existence: I was born into a very large military Catholic family in the United States of America. As a child surrounded by many others in the 60s, I wrote, performed, and directed family plays with my numerous brothers and sisters. Although I fell in love with a Canadian and moved to Canada, my family of origin still exerts considerable personal influence. My central struggle, coming from that place of chaos, order, and conformity, is to have the courage to live an authentic life based on my own experience of connectedness and individuality, to speak and be heard.
Trapped in her enormous, devout Catholic family in 1963, Annie creates a hilarious campaign of lies when the pope dies and their family friend, Cardinal Stefanucci, is unexpectedly on the shortlist to be elected the first American pope.
Driven to elevate her family to the holiest of holy rollers in the parish, Annie is tortured by her own dishonesty. But when “The Hands” visits her in her bed and when her sister finds herself facing a scandal, Annie discovers her parents will do almost anything to uphold their reputation and keep their secrets safe.
Questioning all she has believed and torn between her own gut instinct and years of Catholic guilt, Annie takes courageous risks to wrest salvation from the tragic sequence of events set in motion by her parents’ betrayal.
