Book Review: Jinx's Magic by Sage Blackwood (a.k.a. Yay Sequels!)

After reading Jinx by Sage Blackwood (and blogging about it), I was really excited about the upcoming sequel.  Sometimes I get too excited and then the sequel is a let-down.  But not this time!  Jinx's Magic is just as good, if not better, than I had hoped. 

The evil Bonemaster has been sealed away, but the seal won't last.  The wizard Simon goes off to battle him once more, but something goes wrong.  And now, in order to save Simon, Jinx has to travel to a land where using magic will get you killed and ... go to school.  He's really not happy about this.  On top of that, a former friend is now threatening the forest Jinx calls home, war is starting, and why is a spectacle-wearing werewolf following Jinx around? 

This is the second book in the trilogy and it works like most middle books: the action intensifies, the bad guys get badder, betrayal and intrigue abound, and the hero learns some cool new tricks.  The world around the forest of Urwald gets explored, fun new characters are introduced, and elves turn out to be terrifying.  All in all, I can't wait for the next book!

~ Book Ninja

(Stupendously) Bad Trip

There are some people who are fantasy people. There are some people who are sci-fi people. Then there are people like Platte F. Clark who have decided why not have both? In the same book. At the same time. Which is one reason why "Bad Unicorn" has to be one of my top book picks this year.

Middle school is hard enough when your mom doesn't understand your gaming obsession and you have to watch out for a bully called the Kraken, but then Max Spencer discovers the weird book he's had for years is magic. Like, real magic. And he's the heir to the greatest sorcerer of all, Maximilian Sporazo. It gets even worse when he accidentally transports himself, his friends Dirk and Sarah, and his local gaming store owner Dwight hundreds of years into the future... Meanwhile, a sorcerer in another realm is looking to get a hold of Max and his book. He recruits Princess, the most feared unicorn in the realm, to help him. But how can you track someone who's time traveled? And how exactly does one get back to the right time let alone fight a carnivorous unicorn (in the past AND the future), especially when you've only just discovered you can do magic?

With a bad tempered zombie duck, man-eating unicorns, golf-worshipping monks, more zombies, scary dragons, robot reality TV, and a talking sentient centipede game, "Bad Unicorn" is hysterical and awesome in so many amazing ways. Go read it. Now.

Teenagers Fight Communism with Magic!

Okay, technically it's alchemy, not magic.  And technically, they're trying to prevent everyone from using nuclear weapons; they're just starting with the Communists.  And technically, it's the adults who are supposed to be preventing nuclear war, but they keep getting kidnapped.  So it's up to three teens with an ancient book of alchemy recipes to outwit the bad guys and save the day in The Apothecary by Maile Melov.  Which brings me back to: teenagers fight communism with magic - er, alchemy!  In 1950s Britain, of course. 

I knew I'd like this book the moment that Janie, the narrator and main character, confessed her desire to be more like Katharine Hepburn.  If you have not seen a movie with Katharine Hepburn in it, go do so.  Her award winning classics are The Philadelphia Story and The African Queen, but the films where she co-starred with Spencer Tracy, like Adam's Rib, are a lot of fun too.  My personal favorite of her movies is Bringing Up Baby - because escaped leopard!  Anyway, the point is, if a character in a book decides that Katharine Hepburn is their role model, then I approve.  And then I recommend the book and the witty Ms. Hepburn to you.

"If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun."  ~ Katharine Hepburn

Book Ninja