Book Review: "Lost" by Sarah Prineas

Lost by Sarah Prineas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Lost", the second book in The Magic Thief series, picks up right after the first book ends. Conn is still a wizard, but without his magic loci he cannot do any spells. Feeling lost and empty, Conn attempts to do magic using pyrotechnics - and by "pyrotechnics", I mean explosions.

The action and characters in this book work for me, as the plot moves along at a nice, believable pace. I like how the author keeps everyone true to form, but allows for the characters to change and grow as the story moves forward. I especially like that Conn manages to bother those in charge by being right about matters in which they want him to be wrong.

For those who haven't read the first book, the main portion of "Lost" is written from Conn's point of view. But the author, Sarah Prineas, lets the reader see into other character's heads through letters and diary entries. I like this format, as it gives me a bit more information about what is going on in a believable way.

I recommend The Magic Thief series from both kids who enjoy reading fantasy to adults who don't mind getting books in the Young Adult section of the library.

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Woot! I Won!!!

Last week, I entered a drawing for three books on Sarah Prineas - Fantasy Author.  (If the name sounds familiar, that's because I recently reviewed one of her book, "The Magic Thief".)  The books are advanced reader copies, because all of the books get released to the public on September 18th.

Yesterday, I received an email saying that I won!!!  Now, I am anxiously awaiting the package with my new books:

• "Under Wildwood" by Colin Meloy, the second book in the Wildwood Chronicles
• "Darkbeast" by Morgan Keyes
• "The Peculiar" by Stefan Bachmann - a Steampunk fantasy (squee!!!)

I feel so incredibly excited - this is the first time I've won a book, never mind three books!!!  I already reserved the first book in the Wildwood Chronicles from the local public library, so I'll try to get that one read before the books arrive.

Book Review: "The Magic Thief" by Sarah Prineas

The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Pick up this book and read it!!!!

If you like adventure, read it.
If you like fantasy, read it.
If you like magic, read it.
If you like good characters, read it.
If you like evil characters, read it.

Basically, "The Magic Thief" has it all!

I checked this book out of our local library because I love reading fantasy books with magic in them. I have a few other books that I am reading at the moment, so I didn't give "The Magic Thief" much thought. Then I opened it up and began to read. About 100 pages later, I realized that I hadn't put it down.

Sarah Prineas' writing is deceptively simple, easy to follow, and fun to read. She weaves the words around, giving just enough details for you to see a picture in your head without boring you to death with the color of each flower petal. She weaves more words around and poof! Nicely developed characters, appropriate to their place in the story. She weaves even more words and a plot appears. Sometimes I felt that the bad guys were a bit obviously the bad guys, but so do several characters in the story. So instead of feeling badly written, it felt like the slimy people were clearly slimy to everyone.

As an added bonus, this book works for kids as well as adults. So if you are looking for the next book series to read with your kids, viola!

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