Brightdreamer's Book Reviews

 

 

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Book Review List J - L

Organized by Author Last Name

 

J

Time Tourist Outfitters, Ltd.; The Toronto Time Agents series, Book 1: Fiction, Sci-Fi: ***+
Cinder Edna, illustrations by Kevin O'Malley: Fiction, CH Fantasy/Humor/Picture Book: ***+
Redwall; The Redwall series, Book 1: Fiction, MG? Fantasy: ***
The Loneliest Girl in the Universe: Fiction, YA Sci-Fi/Thriller: *+
Just Good Friends; The Escape to New Zealand series, Book 1: Fiction, Romance: ***
After London or, Wild England: Fiction, Sci-Fi: **+
The Fifth Season; The Broken Earth trilogy, Book 1: Fiction, Fantasy/Sci-Fi: ****
The City We Became; The Great Cities trilogy, Book 1: Fiction, Fantasy: *****
Emergency Skin; The Forward collection: Fiction, Sci-Fi: ****+
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories 2018 (editor, with John Joseph Adams): Fiction, Anthology/FantasySci-Fi: ****
Fairy Quest Volume 1: Outlaws, illustrated by Humberto Ramos; The Fairy Quest series, Outlaws Issues 1 - 2: Fiction, MG? Fantasy/Graphic Novel: ****
Fairy Quest: Outcasts #1, illustrated by Humberto Ramos; The Fairy Quest series, Outcasts Issue 1: Fiction, MG? Fantasy/Graphic Novel: ****
Fairy Quest: Outcasts #2, illustrated by Humberto Ramos; The Fairy Quest series, Outcasts Issue 2: Fiction, MG? Fantasy/Graphic Novel: ****
The Ballad of Perilous Graves: Fiction, Fantasy: ***
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: The Road to Neverwinter; The Dungeons & Dragons series: Fiction, Adventure/Fantasy/Media Tie-In: ***+
Low Road West, illustrations by Miquel Muerto Flaviano; Issues 1 - 5: Fiction, YA Graphic Novel/Sci-Fi: ***+
The Story of Owen; The Story of Owen series, Book 1: Fiction, YA Fantasy: ****
100 Websites for Fiction Writers: Nonfiction, Writing: ****
The Lives of Christopher Chant; The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Book 2: Fiction, MG? Fantasy: ***
Dark Lord of Derkholm; The Derkholm series, Book 1: Fiction, YA Fantasy/Humor: *****
Year of the Griffin; The Derkholm series, Book 2: Fiction, YA Fantasy/Humor: ***
Merlin Conspiracy: Fiction, YA Fantasy: ***
Reflections: Nonfiction, Autobiography/Writing: ***+
Tough Guide to Fantasyland: Fiction, Fantasy/Humor: *****
Blessed Lands Egypt: Fiction, Fantasy/Romance: *
Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer; The Unusual Chickens series, Book 1: Fiction, MG Fantasy/Humor: ****
I'm Not Dying with You Tonight (with Gilly Segal): Fiction, YA General Fiction: ****
Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book: Fiction, Fantasy/Humor/Picture Book: **
Terry Jones' Barbarians (with Alan Ereira): Nonfiction, History: ***+
Terry Jones' Medieval Lives (with Alan Ereira): Nonfiction, History: ****
Lovabye Dragon, illustrations by Randy Cecil; The Girl and Dragon Books: Fiction, CH Fantasy/Picture Book/Poetry: ****
The Eye of the World; The Wheel of Time series, Book 1: Fiction, Fantasy: ***+
The Last Human: Fiction, Humor/Sci-Fi: ***
Fantasy Art Masters: Nonfiction, Art: ****
More Fantasy Art Masters: Nonfiction, Art: ***
The Perfect Storm: Nonfiction, History/True Stories: ***

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K

Windward: Fiction, Fantasy: **+
Pride's Run; The Wolf's Pride series, Book 1: Fiction, YA Fantasy/Romance: ***+
Burned; The Dragos series, Book 1: Fiction, Fiction/Romance: ***
Under an Outlaw Moon: Fiction, Crime/Historical Fiction/Thriller: ****
Monsters Eat Whiny Children: Fiction, CH Humor/Picture Book: ****
Eclipse Volume 1, illustrated by Giovanni Timpano; The Eclipse series, Issues 1 - 4: Fiction, Graphic Novel/Sci-Fi: ****
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Divination: Nonfiction, Folkore/Magic: ****+
Arms and Armor in the Art Institute of Chicago: Nonfiction, History/Warfare: *****
HTML5 & CSS3 for Dummies: Nonfiction, Computers: ****
Crown of Serpents; The Tununda Mysteries series, Book 1: Fiction, Fantasy/Mystery/Thriller: **
Change the Past; The Time Shifters series, Book 1: Fiction, YA Romance/Sci-Fi: ***
These Broken Stars (with Meagan Spooner); The Starbound trilogy, Book 1: Fiction, YA Romance/Sci-Fi: ****
This Shattered World (with Meagan Spooner); The Starbound trilogy, Book 2: Fiction, YA Romance/Sci-Fi: ****
Their Fractured Light (with Meagan Spooner); The Starbound trilogy, Book 3: Fiction, YA Romance/Sci-Fi: ***
Clutter Antidote: Nonfiction, Organization: ****
The Divide; The Divide trilogy, Book 1: Fiction, MG Fantasy/Humor: ****
The Summer Tree; The Fionavar Tapestry trilogy, Book 1: Fiction, Fantasy: ***
The Complete Guide to Mysterious Beings: Nonfiction, Paranormal: ***
The Dragon Quartet; The Dragon Quartet, Books 1 and 2: Fiction, Fantasy: ****
The Dragon Quartet, Volume 2; The Dragon Quartet, Books 3 and 4: Fiction, Fantasy: ****
Hello, Universe: Fiction, CH General Fiction: ***+
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate; The Calpurnia Tate series, Book 1: Fiction, MG Historical Fiction: ****
I Kill Giants, illustrations by JM Ken Niimura: Fiction, YA? Fantasy/General Fiction/Graphic Novel: ****
Storm; The Elemental series, Book 1: Fiction, YA Fantasy/Romance: ****
The Girl In Between; The Girl In Between series, Book 1: Fiction, YA Fantasy/Romance: ****
How to Be an Antiracist: Nonfiction, Autobiography/History/Politics/Sociology: *****
Tarot for Writers: Nonfiction, Creativity/New Age/Writing: ***+
The Clone Assassin; A Clone Republic novel, Book 9: Fiction, Sci-Fi: ***
Song in the Silence; The Tales of Kolmar series, Book 1: Fiction, YA? Fantasy: ****
The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: Nonfiction, Animals/Science: ****
How to Draw and Paint Dragons: Nonfiction, YA? Art: ****
Good Owners, Great Cats (with Sarah Wilson): Nonfiction, Pets: *****
Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy: Nonfiction, Writing: ****
The Leopard's Daughter: Fiction, Fantasy: ****
The Wild Road; The Wild Road series, Book 1: Fiction, Fantasy: **
11/22/63: Fiction, Sci-Fi/Suspense: ****+
Billy Summers: Fiction, Crime/Thriller: ****
The Body: Fiction, Thriller: ****+
Cujo: Fiction, Horror: ****
The Dark Tower I: Gunslinger; The Dark Tower series, Book 1: Fiction, Fantasy: ***
The Eyes of the Dragon: Fiction, Fantasy: ***+
It: Fiction, Horror: ****+
The Mist: Fiction, Horror: ****+
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft: Nonfiction, Memoir/Writing: ****
Pet Sematary: Fiction, Horror: ****+
The Shining: Fiction, Fantasy/Horror: ****
The Talisman (with Peter Straub); The Jack Sawyer trilogy, Book 1: Fiction, Fantasy/Horror: ***+
Dragons vs. Drones; The Dragons vs. Drones series, Book 1: Fiction, MG Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi: ***+
The Hollow Places: Fiction, Fantasy/Horror: ****
Swordheart: Fiction, Fantasy/Humor/Romance: ***
Thornhedge: Fiction, Fantasy: ****
A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking: Fiction, YA? Fantasy: ****
Forbidden Mind; The Forbidden trilogy, Book 1: Fiction, YA Sci-Fi: ***
Captains Courageous: Fiction, MG? Adventure: *
The Jungle Book: Fiction, MG? Adventure/Collection/Fantasy: ****
The Second Jungle Book: Fiction, MG? Adventure/Collection/Fantasy: **+
With the Night Mail: Fiction, Sci-Fi: ***+
The Depths: Fiction, Adventure/Thriller: **
The Book of Story Beginnings: Fiction, MG Fantasy: ****
The Glasswright's Apprentice; The Glasswright's Saga, Book 1: Fiction, Fantasy: ***
I Want My Hat Back: Fiction, CH Picture Book: ***+
This Is Not My Hat: Fiction, CH Picture Book: ***+
Surface Tension; The Seychelle Sullivan Suspense series, Book 1: Fiction, Mystery/Suspense: ****
The House in the Cerulean Sea: Fiction, Fantasy: ****+
Under the Whispering Door: Fiction, Fantasy: ****
Animal Drawing: Nonfiction, Art: ****
The Best of Damon Knight: Fiction, Collection/Sci-Fi: ***+
By Sword, Stave or Stylus: Fiction, Collection/Fantasy: ***
Dreamhunter; The Dreamhunter Duet, Book 1: Fiction, YA Fantasy: **
The Dragon of Trelian; The Trelian trilogy, Book 1: Fiction, MG Fantasy: ****
Domesticating Dragons; The Build-A-Dragon Sequence, Book 1: Fiction, Sci-Fi: ****
The Dragonling Collector's Edition, Volume 1; The Dragonling series, Books 1 - 3: Fiction, CH Fantasy: ****
The Dragonling Collector's Edition, Volume 2; The Dragonling series, Books 4 - 6: Fiction, CH Fantasy: ***
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler: Fiction, CH General Fiction/Mystery: ***+
Shipwreck; The Island trilogy, Book 1: Fiction, MG Action/Thriller: ****
Survival; The Island trilogy, Book 2: Fiction, MG Action/Thriller: ***+
Escape; The Island trilogy, Book 3: Fiction, MG Action/Thriller: ****
Restart: Fiction, MG General Fiction: ****
Vacation Guide to the Solar System (with Jana Grcevich): Nonfiction, Science: ***+
Ghost Talkers: Fiction, Fantasy: ****
The Calculating Stars; A Lady Astronaut novel, Book 1: Fiction, Sci-Fi: ****
The Fated Sky; A Lady Astronaut novel, Book 2: Fiction, Sci-Fi: ****
The Spare Man: Fiction, Mystery/Sci-Fi: **
Guardian Cats and the Lost Books of Alexandria: Fiction, CH? Fantasy: *+
Dragon Night: Fiction, CH Fantasy/Picture Book: ****
The Sorcerer's Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter (with Elizabeth Kronzek): Nonfiction, MG? Folklore/Media Reference: ****
Steel Crow Saga: Fiction, Fantasy: ****
Write a F*$%ing Book Already: Nonfiction, Business/Writing: ****
Broken Wings; A Time Travel Romance: Fiction, Historical Fiction/Romance/Sci-Fi: ***
The Dark World: Fiction, Fantasy: ***+

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L

The Fire Rose; The Elemental Masters Fairy Tales: Fiction, Fantasy: *****
The Serpent's Shadow; The Elemental Masters series, Book 1: Fiction, Fantasy: ****
Firebird; The Fairy Tales series, Book 1: Fiction, Fantasy: ***+
Flights of Fantasy (editor): Fiction, Anthology/Fantasy: ***
The Black Gryphon (with Larry Dixon); The Valdemar universe: The Mage Wars trilogy, Book 1: Fiction, Fantasy: ***
Bedlam's Bard (with Ellen Guon); The Bedlam's Bard series, Books 1 and 2: Fiction, Fantasy: ***
The Elvenbane (with Andre Norton); The Halfblood Chronicles, Book 1: Fiction, Fantasy: *****
Elvenblood (with Andre Norton); The Halfblood Chronicles, Book 2: Fiction, Fantasy: ****
Bird by Bird: Nonfiction, Writing: ***+
The Haunted Mesa: Fiction, Action/Sci-Fi/Western: **+
Now Write! Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror (editor): NonFiction, Essays/Writing: ***+
Starflight; The Starflight series, Book 1: Fiction, YA Sci-Fi: ***
Skulduggery Pleasant; The Skulduggery Pleasant series, Book 1: Fiction, MG Adventure/Fantasy/Humor/Mystery: ****+
The Blue Fairy Book; The Andrew Lang's Fairy Book series, Book 1: Fiction, CH Fantasy/Folklore: ***
Slap Dash Your Way to Cash: Nonfiction, Business: **+
Beyond the Open Door: Fiction, CH Fantasy: ***
An Unwanted Guest: Fiction, Thriller: ***
Magic or Madness; The Magic or Madness series, Book 1: Fiction, YA Fantasy: *+
The Jolly Regina; The Unintentional Adventures of the Bland Sisters series, Book 1: Fiction, CH? Adventure/Humor: ****
Run; The Hunted series, Book 1: Fiction, YA Horror: ***
The Boy Who Cried Ninja: Fiction, CH Humor/Picture Book: ****
Hocus Pocus, You're Focused!: Nonfiction, Self-Help: ***+
The Maya: Life, Myth and Art: Nonfiction, History: ***
The Ballad of Black Tom: Fiction, Fantasy/Historical Fiction/Horror: ***+
Savvy; A Savvy novel, Book 1: Fiction, MG Fantasy: ***+
Dreamscapes: Creating Magical Angel, Faery & Mermaid Worlds in Watercolor: Nonfiction, Art: ****
One Word Kill; The Impossible Times series, Book 1: Fiction, YA Sci-Fi: ***
Painting Wildlife Textures Step By Step: Nonfiction, Art: *****
George Grove and the Dragon; The George Grove series, Book 1: Fiction, MG Fantasy: *
7 Ate 9: The Untold Story, illustrations by Ross McDonald; The Private I series, Book 1: Fiction, CH Humor/Mystery/Picture Book: ****
Ancillary Justice; The Imperial Radch trilogy, Book 1: Fiction, Sci-Fi: ****
Drawn Together, illustrations by Dan Santat: Fiction, CH Pictur Book: ****+
Jade City; The Green Bone Saga, Book 1: Fiction, Fantasy: ****+
Perspective Made Easy: Nonfiction, MG? Art: ****
How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way (with John Buscema): Nonfiction, YA? Art: ****
Dragon Pearl; A Rick Riordan Presents novel: Fiction, MG Fantasy/Sci-Fi: ****
Piratica; The Piratica series, Book 1: Fiction, YA Fantasy/Humor: *****
Piratica II; The Piratica series, Book 2: Fiction, YA Fantasy/Humor: ***
The Silver Metal Lover; The S.I.L.V.E.R. series, Book 1: Fiction, Romance/Sci-Fi: ***+
Carmilla: Fiction, Fantasy/Horror: ***+
Catwings, illustrations by S. D. Schindler; A Catwings Tale, Book 1: Fiction, CH Fantasy/Picture Book: ****
A Wizard of Earthsea; The Earthsea Cycle, Book 1: Fiction, MG? Fantasy: ****
The Tombs of Atuan; The Earthsea Cycle, Book 2: Fiction, MG? Fantasy: ***
Rocannon's World; The Hainish Cycle, Book 1: Fiction, Sci-Fi: ****
Big Book of Dragons, Monsters, and Other Mythical Creatures: Nonfiction, Art/Folklore: ****
Swords and Deviltry; The Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories, Book 1: Fiction, Adventure/Collection/Fantasy: ****
Swords Against Death; The Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories, Book 2: Fiction, Adventure/Collection/Fantasy: ****
Swords in the Mist; The Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories, Book 3: Fiction, Adventure/Collection/Fantasy: ***+
Aliens in the Backyard: Plant and Animal Imports into America: Nonfiction, Nature: ***+
Descender: The Deluxe Edition Volume 1, illustrations by Dustin Nguyen; The Descender series, Issues 1 - 16: Fiction, Graphic Novel/Sci-Fi: *****
Descender Volume 4: Orbital Mechanics, illustrations by Dustin Nguyen; The Descender series, Issues 17 - 21: Fiction, Graphic Novel/Sci-Fi: ****+
Descender Volume 5: Rise of the Robots, illustrations by Dustin Nguyen; The Descender series, Issues 22 - 26: Fiction, Graphic Novel/Sci-Fi: *****
Descender Volume 6: The Machine War, illustrations by Dustin Nguyen; The Descender series, Issues 27 - 32: Fiction, Graphic Novel/Sci-Fi: ****
Ascender Volume 1: The Haunted Galaxy, illustrations by Dustin Nguyen; The Ascender series, Issues 1 - 5: Fiction, Fantasy/Graphic Novel/Sci-Fi: ****+
Ascender Volume 2: The Dead Sea, illustrations by Dustin Nguyen; The Ascender series, Issues 6 - 10: Fiction, Fantasy/Graphic Novel/Sci-Fi: ****+
Ascender Volume 3: The Digital Mage, illustrations by Dustin Nguyen; The Ascender series, Issues 11 - 14: Fiction, Fantasy/Graphic Novel/Sci-Fi: ****+
Ascender Volume 4: Star Seed, illustrations by Dustin Nguyen; The Ascender series, Issues 15 - 18: Fiction, Fantasy/Graphic Novel/Sci-Fi: ****+
Sentient, illustrations by Gabriel Walta: Fiction, Graphic Novel/Sci-Fi: ****
A Wrinkle in Time; The Time Quintet, Book 1: Fiction, MG Fantasy/Sci-Fi: ***+
Watchers: Last Stop; The Watchers series, Book 1: Fiction, MG Sci-Fi: *****
Watchers: Rewind; The Watchers series, Book 2: Fiction, MG Sci-Fi: *****
Watchers: I.D.; The Watchers series, Book 3: Fiction, MG Sci-Fi: *****
Watchers: War; The Watchers series, Book 4: Fiction, MG Sci-Fi: *****
Watchers: Island; The Watchers series, Book 5: Fiction, MG Sci-Fi: ****+
Watchers: Lab 6; The Watchers series, Book 6: Fiction, MG Sci-Fi: *****
Breaking Wild: Fiction, Adventure/Thriller: ***
Power Up, illustrations by Matt Cummings; The Power Up series, episodes 1 - 6: Fiction, YA? Graphic Novel/Humor/Sci-Fi: ***+
Arabella of Mars; The Aventures of Arabella Ashby, Book 1: Fiction, YA? Adventure/Sci-Fi: ****
Arabella and the Battle of Venus; The Aventures of Arabella Ashby, Book 2: Fiction, YA? Adventure/Sci-Fi: ****
Arabella the Traitor of Mars; The Aventures of Arabella Ashby, Book 3: Fiction, YA? Adventure/Sci-Fi: ****
Ella Enchanted: Fiction, MG Fantasy: ****
Fairest: Fiction, MG Fantasy: ****
A Tale of Two Castles; The Two Castles series, Book 1: Fiction, MG Fantasy: ***+
The Two Princesses of Bamarre: Fiction, MG Fantasy: ****
Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly: Nonfiction, MG? Writing: *****
A Natural History of the Unnatural World (with the "Cryptozoological Society of London"): Fiction, MG? Cryptozoology/Fantasy/Folklore: **+
The Chronicles of Narnia; The Chronicles of Narnia series, Books 1 - 7: Fiction, CH? Fantasy: ****
Slow Your Prose: Nonfiction, Writing: ***+
E-mergency: Fiction, CH Humor/Picture Book: ****+
Eccentric Circles: Fiction, Fantasy: ***
How to Draw Animals: Nonfiction, Animals/Art: ***+
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon: Fiction, MG? Fantasy: ****+
The Fantasy Illustrator's Technique Book: Nonfiction, Art: ****
Elatsoe: Fiction, YA Fantasy: ****+
A Snake Falls to Earth: Fiction, YA Fantasy: ****
The Grace of Kings; The Dandelion Dyansty series, Book 1: Fiction, Fantasy: ****+
Monstress Volume 1: Awakening, illustrations by Sana Takeda; Series, Volume 1: Fiction, YA Fantasy/Graphic Novel: ***+
Over the Moon: Fiction, MG Fantasy: ***+
My Sparkling Misfortune (with Alla Alekseyeva); The Lakeland Knight series, Book 1: Fiction, YA? Fantasy/Humor: ***+
Before Adam: Fiction, Adventure/Sci-Fi: ***+
The Call of the Wild and White Fang: Fiction, Adventure/Historical Fiction: ***
Trials of Artemis; The Haberdashers series, Book 1: Fiction, Historical Fiction/Romance: ***+
Planet Paradise: Fiction, Graphic Novel/Sci-Fi: ***
Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves: Fiction, YA Sci-Fi: ****
Why Bother: Fiction, Self-Help: ***+
At the Mountains of Madness: Fiction, Horror/Sci-Fi: ****
The Giver; The Giver quartet, Book 1: Fiction, YA Sci-Fi: ****
Acheron Rising; The Federation Chronicles series: Fiction, Sci-Fi: ***+
First Watch; The Fifth Ward series, Book 1: Fiction, Fantasy/Mystery: ****
Schaum's Quick Guide to Writing Great Short Stories: Nonfiction, Writing: ****
Stash Your Swag - 100+ Secret Hiding Places: Nonfiction, Finance/Survival: **
Winged Fantasy: Nonfiction, Art: ***
The Ruin of Kings; A Chorus of Dragons, Book 1: Fiction, Fantasy: ***+

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