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I love fantasy. And I don’t mind the occasional horror. But when you mix the two genres, something goes haywire. The combination creates a crazy, hazy, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind kind of story. The Resurrection Fields by Brian Keaney (#3 in the Promises of Dr. Sigmundus series) was that type of book. It left me questioning, did I love this or did I hate this?

The story follows a few different characters: Dante, who has projected his spirit into the body of a bird to protect himself from an evil being that is possessing his body; Bea, Dante’s friend, who finds herself in the heart of the madness; and Nyro, who seems to be the only one who remembers that his missing friend Luther ever existed. Now that Dr. Sigmundus is dead, the evil spirit, Orobas, is using Dante’s body to reign over the land and build a bridge to the resurrection fields.

Dragon books are hit or miss. But The Fire Eternal by Chris D’Lacey is a definite hit. The story is unique to the world of dragon literature, as these dragons are made from clay. It follows the Pennykettle family, their clay dragons, and their borders, Zanna and Alexa Rain. Zanna’s husband, David, has been gone for five years. He died in the Arctic, or so they think. Lucy Pennykettle still holds onto hope that David is alive. She sends a journalist to get information out of Zanna and investigate his disappearance.

This week I read Secrets of Deltora by Emily Rodda and The 39 Clues #6: In Too Deep by Jude Watson.

As series companion books go, Secrets of Deltora is a great one. The book is basically a guide to the land that Emily Rodda has created in her Deltora Quest series. It’s nice bonus to have in case you’ve taken too long to read the series and can’t remember certain details about the story. You learn about each of the gemstone-named territories and the native dragons. And you get an inside look at all the cities and creatures that are unique to each region. Not only is the book informative, it’s also very visually appealing. It’s a large, hardcover book with a funky hologram on the cover. The pages, which are made to look old and weathered, contain lots of colorful images and illustrations. This companion book is a great addition to the Deltora Quest series.

The 39 Clues has be one of my favorite YA series since book 1. But I must say, books 6 knocks its predecessors out of the water. The strong character emotions in this book will attract more female readers. And it takes place in a great setting too–Australia, home of koalas, kangaroos and dingos! But aside from these warm and fuzzy animals, Australia is also home to some of the worlds deadliest creatures. And as you’d expect, Amy and Dan encounter perhaps the most frightening of them all. In Too Deep is sure to keep you hooked on the series.

This week was all about the fantasy books. Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke and The Wizard of Rondo by Emily Rodda each offer a great assortment of fantastical creatures–everything from dragons, brownies and humunculus’s to dots, talking pigs and terlamaines.

Dragon Rider is a fantastic adventure novel by one of today’s most popular young adult authors–Cornelia Funke, author of the Inkheart Trilogy. Dragon Rider follows a dragon named Firedrake, a brownie named Sorrell and a human boy named Ben on their quest to find a legendary Himalayan mountain range known as the Rim of Heaven. But trouble is hot on their trail. An evil, manmade dragon named Nettlebrand wants nothing more than to locate the Rim of Heaven and eat all the dragons who reside there. Somehow Firedrake must find the legendary mountain range without leading Nettlebrand to the world’s only dragon sancturary.

The Wizard of Rondo is the sequel to The Key to Rondo by Emily Rodda. The first novel in the series was a little easier to follow and had a more magical feel. The Wizard of Rondo is more like a murder mystery. When cousins Leo and Mimi return to the world of Rondo, they find their friends have deemed themselves a Quest Team. They recieve a letter from a distraught resident in the Hobnob and set out on their first investigation. Wizard Bing has disappeared, and his apprentice, who has been transformed into a giant mushroom, is now in custody of Officer Begood. Someone his behind these mysterious events and it’s up to the Quest Team, along with Leo and Mimi, to uncover the culprit.