Carol's Notebook

The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny I picked up The Great Book of Amber a while ago. It has the entire series in one book, but I'm reading them one at a time.I read this book during the read-a-thon last weekend. It was a perfect choice, actually- quick, fairly short, and lots of adventure. The Guns of Avalon picks up where Nine Princes in Amber left off. Corwin is determined to fight for the throne of Amber. He has some supplies he needs to collect which takes him to Avalon. While there, he must help fight the creatures of the Circle of Evil, a part of the Dark Road to Chaos that he unleashed on the world, both Amber and Shadow, by his curse. Once again, Corwin doesn't know who to trust and how far to trust them. I enjoy the action in these. they're just fun. Traveling through Shadow plays a big part in this one, with some really interesting descriptions...

Vicki of Reading At The Beach hosts A-Z Wednesday. Today's letter is L. I'm going back to one I read in May 2008. At the time I was also reading Alice in Wonderland with Amber, who was 8. It was interesting to see how Beddor took bits of the original tale and transformed it into a good fantasy adventure. This is the first in a trilogy, but I did not read the others. The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor The Myth: Alice was an ordinary girl who stepped through the looking glass and entered a fairy-tale world invented by Lewis Carroll in his famous storybook. The Truth: Wonderland is real. Alyss Heart is the heir to the throne, until her murderous aunt Redd steals the crown and kills Alyss' parents. To escape Redd, Alyss and her bodyguard, Hatter Madigan, must flee to our world through the Pool of Tears. But in the pool Alyss and Hatter are separated. Lost and alone in...

Flesh and Fire: Book One of The Vineart War by Laura Anne Gilman I may have mentioned before that I love "food fiction," stories that incorporate food or wine as a major part of the plot. Usually, those seem to be cozy mysteries or romances, which was why I was thrilled with the opportunity to review Flesh and Fire, a fantasy novel where magic and wine are intertwined. It sounded different, but definitely like something I would enjoy. In the Vin Lands, only Vinearts make wine. They grow the grapes, press them and create both vin ordinaire and spellwines, wines that heal, change weather, make fire, and so on. However, something evil is happening in the lands; out of season illnesses are destroying vines, giant sea monsters are killing sailors, and at least one Vineart has disappeared. Who or what is causing this? One Vineart, Malech, and his student/slave, Jerzy, are determined to find out. The world Gilman has created is fascinating. Each of...