The Amulet of Samrkand-The Bartimaeus Trilogy Book I by Jonathan Stroud

 CATEGORY: Fantasy, Adventure, Mystery

AGE GROUP: I don’t believe in it!

Nathaniel is apprenticed to a magician of low standing- Arthur Underwood. His master is strict and cold to Nathaniel, but underneath, he’s a weak man. But all changes-just because of an encounter with Simon Lovelace, a magician who’s immensely powerful and hungry for ambition. Nathaniel is publicly humiliated by Lovelace and his master didn’t lift a finger to defend him. Nathaniel from that point onwards, loses all respect for his master. Hungry for revenge, he summons a thousand year old djinni, Bartimaeus, of the fourth level (a feat rare of an apprentice his age) and orders him to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from Lovelace as a part of a disastrous plan he’s concocted. Bartimaeus is captured and Nathaniel’s afraid. (Magicians have fake names and they guard their true ones with immense care) On top of that, Nathaniel hasn’t received his fake name yet (He will late-John Mandrake) and Bartimaeus discovers his true one. What a disaster! Lovelace pays a small visit to Underwood’s house, believing he stole the Amulet. He blows out the whole house, leaves with the Amulet and only Nathaniel escapes alive due to Bartimaeus. Nathaniel is suspicuous of Lovelace and thinks he will put his plan into action in a gathering that’s coming up. It’s up to Nathaniel to stop Lovelace and since everyone thinks he’s a mad delinquent who blew up his master, this will be a little more difficult than he thought. Sounds impossible? Not for intelligent apprentices like him! This book will take your breath away as Nathaniel slowly unfolds Lovelace’s plan in his mind and vanquishes a huge monster.

One word-suspense. When I first looked at this book 2 years ago, I thought it would be boring. Luckily I opened my eyes and delved into this wonderful book! Be sure to read this book-it opens up into a whole new world of magic and awesome suspense! I hungrily gulped it up and am now reading the next book- The Golem’s  Eye.  Hold your breath for my next review!

Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke

Humans are invading!! Rosa Graytail, the rat, spreads this message in the dragon’s valley. Not many are willing to believe her, least of all, Sorrel the furry, mushroom-loving brownie. When the oldest dragon in the valley tells them all of a place where dragons can live in peace, the Rim of Heaven, located in the highest mountain range in the world, the dragons believe it even less. However, one young silver dragon, Firedrake, decides to set out to look for it, together with Sorrel. On the way, they pick up a homeless boy, Ben. Together, they set out on a dangerous journey, never made before and with spies flying around everywhere, who can they trust? They meet fabulous creatures and a terrible dragon-slaying villain, the Golden One. Do they make the trip, alive? Do they find the legendary Rim of Heaven? Only the book will tell you!!

This book was my first try at reading Funke’s books. It was very much like Eragon, dragon’s and the legendary dragon rider, fantasies, mythical creatures, terrible villains, spies and danger down every corner. If you liked Eragon, you’ll certainly like this!!

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Meggie and her father, Mo, are two book-loving individuals. In the past, when Meggie was three, Mo was reading aloud from a book, Inkheart, to her mother. Astonishingly, Mo read out four characters from the book!! Capricorn, the villain, Basta, the henchman, Dustfinger, the fire-eater and a furry biting marten replaced Meggie’s mother, two cats and a spider. Capricorn and Basta establish a village in the mountains and find another reader to read out the rest of the henchmen. Dustfinger makes his fortune as a fire-eater. Now, Meggie’s twelve and Dustfinger warns them of Capricorn. The duo hurry off to Aunt Elinor’s place to hide Inkheart. They don’t know that Dustfiger’s a double agent and Mo gets kidnapped and later Meggie and Elinor are captured too. Capricorn forces Mo to read out treasure for him. Dustfinger, realizing his sins, helps them to escape. However, Meggie gets captured again, along with Elinor, Dustfinger and Inkheart’s author, Fenogolio. Meggie discovers and Capricorn finds out that she, too, has the power to read things out of books. Together, Meggie and Fenogolio must do something to save their friends and themselves….time is running out and the executioner’s axe is waiting….

This book was awesome!!! I thought when Dustfinger helped them to escape, they had outwitted Capricorn. But they were back in the dreadful village again!! The last part was unexpected and the most exciting!! Don’t miss a chance to read it!!

Eragon-The First Book of Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

Eragon, a young farm boy living in the village of Carvahall, is hunting in the Spine when suddenly, a sapphire stone appears in a clearing. Eragon, out of pure curiousity, ventures towards it. He takes it back with him and tries to buy some meat with it. However, the butcher refuses and Eragon returns home with it without mentioning it to his uncle, Garrow or his cousin Roran. Overnight, the stone, no the egg, hatches. A beautiful baby female dragon emerges, and with it, a legend is reborn; the legend of the Dragon Riders. Eragon hides the baby in the forest and it grows to an enormous size within a few weeks. He names her Saphira and they both find they can communicate with their minds. King Galbatorix, an evil Dragon Rider, the only one left with a dragon after the fall of the Riders, somehow hears of Saphira and sends his dreadful servants, the Ra’zac to Carvahall. They kill Uncle Garrow, but Eragon escapes. Together with Brom the storyteller, Eragon and Saphira travel to the Varden, a group of rebels determined to kill Galbatorix. On the way, Eragon learns swordfighting, magic, reading, writing and many more skills from the old storyteller. After facing many dangers along the way…Do Eragon and Saphira reach the Varden unscathed?? Read the book to find out!!

 This book is one of my favourite books. I loved the magic, action, mystery and suspense. It really put me on the edge of my seat, wondering until it drove me crazy, what would happen to Eragon and Saphira next. I hope Christopher Paolini will write more books in the future!!

Eldest-The Second Book of Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

This is the second book in Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance trilogy; a sequel to Eragon.  Eragon and Saphira, his sapphire coloured dragon, have to travel to Ellesmera, the elf city, to complete their training. The elves have guarded Du Weldenvarden with such secrecy, so Galbatorix cannot find them or wage a war against them. Arya, the elf, and Orik, the dwarf, travel with them, too. The four of them successfully reach Ellesmera, where Eragon and Saphira find out that they’re not the only Rider and Dragon! There is just one Dragon and his Rider remaining; the elf, Oromis, and his dragon, Glaedr.  Eragon’s knowledge of the ancient language increases and his reading and writing skills are greatly improved by Oromis. Saphira learns how to do a great many stunts in the air from Glaedr.  Meanwhile, in Carvahall, Galbatorix wants to capture Roran, Eragon’s cousin, to interrogate him about Eragon; or hold him hostage. He sends the Ra’zac and some of his soldiers to capture Roran. Carvahall, unexpectedly, puts up a strong defence, inspired by Roran. A few battles take place and Carvahall wins all of them.  Katrina, who is engaged to Roran, is captured by the Ra’zac. Roran convinces most of the villagers to leave Carvahall, travel through the Spine, and reach Surda; to join the Varden.  In Teirm, a city, Roran finds out that Eragon is a Rider! He is astonished, shocked and angry because he feels Eragon is the cause of Garrow’s death. Deep down, he also feels glad that his cousin is alive.Meanwhile, the Varden are being confronted by war by Galbatorix’s army. Nasuada, newly appointed leader of the Varden, after her father’s death, is worried that Galbatorix might be present, meaning instant death for them all.  Fortune smiles upon the Varden; Eragon and Saphira reach a few days prior to the battle. During the battle, a new, mysterious Rider battles Eragon. He is definetly not Galbatorix. Who is he?…Who is the mysterious new Rider? Is Eragon able to defeat him? Do the Varden win the battle? Do Roran and the villagers reach the Varden unscathed? Read the book to find out!!

 This book was as good as the first one! A lot of information was revealed in this book. I got to know more about dwarf clans and elven customs. It was really very interesting. The only thing I found a little boring was the long winded explainantions. I think that the author should have shortened those a bit. Well, anyway, I am eagerly waiting for the third, final and last book to be released!! You can be sure I’ll be the first one to lay my hands on it!!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K Rowling

 Harry is waiting; four days before his birthday; at the Dursleys for the Order of the Phoenix to pick him up and deposit him in a safe place, hopefully out of Voldemort’s clutches. The Dursleys have been informed of the circumstances and are being transported to a safe place. Harry has to accept the fact that he might very well never see his relatives again(not that he regrets it!). Soon after the Dursleys leave, some of the Order of the Phoenix, including Fleur Delacour, Hermione, Ron, Fred and George, arrive to bring Harry to the Burrow; which has been highly protected.  Unfortunately, they were ambushed by Death Eaters. After a narrow escape from Voldemort, Harry arrives, unscathed, at the Burrow. Someone died too. (To find out who read the book!)  Meanwhile, Harry does not return to Hogwarts. He, Ron and Hermione will be starting out on a quest to find and destroy the horcruxes. On Harry’s birthday night, Rufus Scrimgeor, the Minister, delivers the contents of Dumbledore’s will to the trio. On the day of the wedding, the Death Eaters took over the Ministry and killed Rufus Scrimgeor. They somehow found out where Harry was hiding and apparated at the Burrow. Fortunately, Kingsley sent a Patronus beforehand and Harry, Ron and Hermione were able to disapparate the moment the Death Eaters arrived at the Burrow. Then, the trio embarked on a difficult, deadly, dark and dangerous mission; as neither can live while the other survives….

This book was so exciting I read it 3 times in a row!! J.K Rowling is indeed an awesome writer!! I expected Harry and Voldemort to die in the book; it looks like I was proved wrong!! I am sure you will enjoy it too!! Don’t miss a chance to read this…you’ll regret it!