Should you require a comprehensive guide to mythical and magical creatures, Believe’s knowledgeable narrator, Sage Brightwing, is here to help! Doyle’s obvious affection for fantasy characters in combination with Hartas’s vivid, colourful illustrations results in a book with an absorbing level of detail.
Catherine Doyle has done it again! Skipping three months into the future from where The Dagger and the Flame left off, Seraphine has left the city of Fantome to start up her own order, the Flames, leaving Ransom behind as the leader of the Daggers.
A glittering young adult fantasy weaving together the viewpoints of the clever Seraphine Marchant and the cunning Ransom, this magical tale is bound to entrance readers the second they reach the first page.
Following twin queens Wren and Rose as they defend their kingdom from Oonagh, the twins’ evil undead ancestor. Burning Crowns is the final book of the Twin Crowns trilogy, but very much stands on its own as a fantasy novel with a large dollop of romance, well-developed characters and with the previous history of the story clearly explained for new readers.
This book is pure adventure from page one. Equal parts explosive danger and stealthy thievery, this captivating story of high-seas magic is the perfect escape.
The Lost Girl King is an adventure story set in Connemara in the West of Ireland. Amy and Liam Bell are siblings, gone to stay with their beloved grandmother for the summer. Their grandmother lives in the countryside and the children enjoy the freedoms that this offers. On their first day of this visit, while following a hawk across a river and through a waterfall, they stumble into the mythical land of Tír na nÓg.
This is an intensely emotional story about love, both sisterly and romantic, suitable for mid-teen readers. The main characters are twin seventeen-year-old sisters, Wren and Rose, who were separated at birth – one becoming a lonely princess who has been taught to hate witches and the other living as a witch in an isolated community. In the ever-popular life-swap genre, they trade places and learn to appreciate each other’s way of life, discovering their power in the process and meeting two handsome young warriors who sweep each sister up in their first passionate romances.
George’s father will not allow any mention of Christmas since the death of George’s mother on Christmas Eve three years ago. But when George discovers a shop that sells magical items and a snow globe which has captured one of his own memories, he and his Dad are whisked away to see Christmas past, present and future.
Bringing a trilogy to a fitting and satisfying conclusion is a challenge for any writer but from the first page Catherine Doyle takes up that challenge with style and gusto. Fionn Boyle, her central protagonist, is the Storm Keeper of Arranmore, and he, like Doyle, is facing the challenge of his life. The Morrigan, the immensely powerful dark enchantress, has been resurrected, and the Island has been cut off from the outside world. With no prospect of help coming, Fionn must prepare to face her.
Every so often a book comes along that wraps itself around you and uncovers your dreams. The Storm Keeper’s Island is one of those books.
