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Here are some more mini reviews of books. I’m going in order of when I read them.

First up: Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan

I have had this book on my shelf for quite a while. Beta liked this book back in early middle school and now he’s in college and I finally read it.

Great book. It’s right in my wheelhouse as far as types of stories go. It was good enough to stand on its own but, like most things these days, it is the first of a series. And not just a trilogy, it has several books. I read this first book – the Ruins of Gorlan – and then read the second.

The first book you could read by itself and probably be content with it. But the second book absolutely does not allow for that, as it has a cliffhanger ending that might as well have “To Be Continued” on the last page.

Next up: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

I read someone else’s list of books they liked and this was on it. I had already seen the movie and wasn’t planning on reading the book, but that inspired me to try it

It’s a really quick read. It was not my style, the way it was written. It’s a lot more casual in the language and the way the story is told. Maybe what some people would call the voice of the author. It wasn’t bad, just not my cup of tea.

It was also apparent to me that the movie was a loose interpretation of the book. If you like the movie, don’t think to yourself that you’ll automatically like the book.

It wasn’t as different from the movie as The Iron Giant was – that one I think the movie studio just bought the name and ignored most of the book.

Next up: The Green Ember by S.D. Smith

I think the same list of books that inspired me to read How to Train Your Dragon also had this book in it. I haven’t read Watership Down because of its length, so when I saw this one I thought of it as a lightweight alternative to Watership Down. I can’t tell you how it compares to Watership Down because I still haven’t read that one.

But this one was fine – a very rabbity adventure. There are more books in the series, but I didn’t get into it that much that I felt like going on in the series.

Next up: Tripods by John Christopher

A different person mentioned this book in passing, and I looked it up and saw it was the type of book I might like, so I tried it. It was one book, then he wrote two more later to make it a trilogy, then he wrote a prequel.

I read the first book, and I got through it faster than I was expecting. I’m guessing it was written for a slightly younger audience than my usual picks. So then I decided I might as well read the rest of the trilogy. But I decided against the prequel. I’m not ruling it out entirely, but the trilogy is fine without it.

It often gets compared to War of the Worlds, and that’s a fair comparison as far as a one-sentence overview is concerned. The details are different, and the point of view is different, and the plot is different, and the style of writing is different. So don’t judge it too much if you’ve already read War of the Worlds.

Last up: Fawkes by Nadine Brandes

This one took a while to get through, and I’m still trying to figure out why. It was an interesting premise, and there were some slight plot twists that kept it fresh.

I think it was because there was too much angsty questioning by the main character that kept slowing the book down for me. I did get through it, and it did redeem itself by the end. And it did not leave me wondering about a book two or three because it had a strong ending.

The author does have some other books I might try; I’m curious if it’s her writing style in general that got in my way, or just this particular character in this particular story.

That’s it for this review. More book reviews coming up later this year.