And they lived happily ever after.

That’s how all fairy tales end, but is it really the end of the story? Not according to Jim Hines in The Stepsister Scheme. This novel recounts the adventures a bunch of strong-willed, smart-mouthed princesses have, while rescuing Prince Charming (aka Armand).

Meet Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella as you’ve never seen them before. These are not Disney heroines who burst into song at a moment’s notice; these are real life girls with histories and minds of their own. Snow knows mirror magic and uses it to keep her friends safe. She also is an unapologetic flirt. Talia (who detests her fairy tale name of Sleeping Beauty) is a martial arts expert and has some well-earned anger management issues. She hates fairies and everything to do with them. Think about that one!

Then there’s Danielle Whiteshore…our heroine…who was a maid, but recently married the crown prince of Lorindar. Upon returning from their honeymoon, Danielle is visited — and attacked — by one of her wicked (and strangely magical) stepsisters. Apparently, the steps still think they can have the prince for themselves and have abducted him. Danielle and her friends go after him, encountering trolls, drunken pixies, flying horses, evil queens, and their own worst fears. As they move from one hair-raising escapade to the next, you’re never quite sure how the princesses are going to survive…let alone win.

But, after all, it is a fairy tale and the adventure (and the series) must continue. A second installment furthers these strong women’s friendships and tales of derring-do in The Mermaid’s Madness.  Apparently, Hans Christian Andersen didn’t write the entire story of what happened to the young mermaid who fell in love with a human prince.

By the way: These books actually live up to their fun cover art! If you notice a similarity to a certain set of three girls who worked for someone named Charlie, you might be on to something.

Kristen Blount – Administration Office

Do you know what you want to be when you grow up?

Imager by L. E. Modesitt introduces Rhennthyl, a young man trying to answer that question. He knows he doesn’t want to be a wool factor like his father and brother. He seems to do very well for a time as a journeyman portrait painter, until starting to exhibit signs of magic. Then, the studio where Rhenn works explodes…after he ill-wishes his master’s odious son. Not sure what fate awaits him, he crosses the Bridge of Hopes to enroll in the college of Imagers.

In this world created by Modesitt, magic is called imaging — which happens when one of the talented few imagine something and it becomes real. This seems all good when you want to replace a broken vase, but has some less obvious applications such as imaging air into a person’s heart to stop it.

Reading the first half of Imager reminded me of attending college. Rhenn enters into a crash course of science, philosophy, and government, which, in turn, offers a surprisingly thorough way to provide world building. It also leads to fairly slow plotting. But once unknown bad guys begin taking shots at Rhenn on a fairly regular basis, the story progresses more quickly.

Rather than a rip-roaring adventure itself, this first book in a new series works more to set the scene for future installments. Rhenn does solve the mystery of who’s shooting at him and why, but his advancement as a talented imager seems to matter as much as back-alley shenanigans. Imager is a well written, but fairly quiet, introduction to a world and a main character about to experience political upheaval on a large scale and professional upheaval on a personal level. The second book is due to be published in October, and I’ll be waiting to read it. I want to see what Rhenn is capable of now that he’s grown up and has answered the question of what he wants to do with his life.

Kristen Blount – Administration Office

If you like new twists on standard fairy tales, then Mercedes Lackey’s Five Hundred Kingdoms series is just right for you. It begins with The Fairy Godmother, a slightly different take on the Cinderella story. Our heroine Elena has all the hallmarks of a classic Cinderella…wicked stepmother, nasty stepsisters, and a life of drudgery. Unfortunately, her designated prince is still a child. Instead of a "happily ever after,"Elena finds herself ignored and unemployed at the end of the local service fair. Just when all seems lost, Godmother Bella appears and anoints Elena as her apprentice. Although Elena loves her new position, she never quite gives up on her dream of a prince charming. From here, the story takes off into a lark of an adventure, offering lovely romance and silly myths at every turn.

In the Five Hundred Kingdoms, magic mostly takes the form of The Tradition — being all those fairy tales we think we know so well. The Tradition likes to chivvy people and situations into standard paths, whether the folks involved really want to be characters in those stories or not. So, the godmothers use the Tradition to manufacture happy endings, but also thwart the same Tradition when necessary. After all, not all the old fairy tales represent good defeating evil.

The rest of the series takes different stories apart and reassembles them in new ways. In One Good Knight, Princess Andromeda (Andie to her friends) is sacrificed to a marauding dragon, who really doesn’t want to pillage and plunder. Here, The Tradition is used and abused with sacrificial maidens, ragged bands of rebels, evil counselors, bookworm dragons, and other delightful bits in a setting reminiscent of ancient Athens.

If you are looking for some light, fantastical readings, check out these novels today.

Kristen Blount – Administration Office

I am a sucker for dragons. I’ll read just about anything that has dragons, although I prefer them to be intelligent creatures instead of marauding predators. I was thrilled when Tanya Huff introduced me to cool new dragons in The Enchantment Emporium. These dragons are suave, debonair fellows, except when they get bored — and they tend to have short attention spans.

When Allie Gale inherits her grandmother’s antique and yo-yo shop in Calgary, she moves to Canada because she’s at loose ends. Plus, Allie’s family has certain talents to charm (literally) the world into going their way, and she’s not entirely sure that all is what it seems. She has good intuition because she quickly befriends a homeless leprechaun, discovers her attraction to a reporter who writes about the arcane, and deals with her wild-child cousin Charlie.

When you mix all these elements together with dragon lords who like to fly over the shop, you get a story that runs on non-stop action and surprises. Huff has a talent for entertaining her readers with snarky banter and hysterical situations. There’s one scene in which a bar fight doesn’t go exactly how anyone planned (do you plan bar fights?). And if this weren’t enough, twelve Gale aunties arrive for the final showdown between good and evil…beware the pie.

If you enjoyed The Enchantment Emporium, Huff has also written several series. Keeper’s Chronicles begins with Summon the Keeper, another fun urban fantasy featuring a kick-butt young witch, a particularly vocal cat, and Hell in the basement. Her military sci-fi series Confederation follows the career of Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr as she saves the universe and keeps the recruits in line.

Kristen Blount – Administration

Inda opens with the kids’ first war game of the spring, where, according to local tradition, the boys attack and the girls defend. The girls win!

Indevan-Dal Algara-Vayir, commonly known as Inda, is the second son of the local prince. As such, he will defend the family’s lands while his older brother attends court and fights for the king. This model, however, is about to change and wreak havoc on Inda’s life.

In Inda’s world, the Mongol-like Marloven tribes, who essentially grow up on horseback, have conquered and married into more courtly, settled lands. In fact, two languages are still in use — one for court and correspondence, and another for war. It took me a while to figure out all the changing, multiple titles, but it helps build a realistic culture.

In Sherwood Smith’s novel, a rich world unfolds as she details the fairly unglamorous life of an academy cadet. Upon unexpectedly being invited — along with other second sons — to the royal academy, Inda turns out to be a military genius, with an ability to see the strategic picture, even while directing tactical maneuvers. What Inda often loses track of, though, is the political scene. A victim of said politics, Inda is exiled from his beloved homeland, and finds a haven aboard ship. His strategic skills and fighting ability stand Inda in good stead in his new life, but he never forgets home.

Inda’s adventures are the center of this sprawling novel, but it also includes developments in Marloven-Hess. I often found myself reading ahead looking for chapters with Inda’s friends from the academy, or his sister Hadand and the other girls. Smith does an excellent job of showing how different people excel in different kinds of intelligences: military, emotional, political, ship-faring, scholarly, and others. I like Inda’s sister, in part because of her ability to operate well on many of these levels.

This is a big, fat, high-fantasy novel, and I’ve barely touched on the bare bones of the story here. Inda begins a terrific series, followed by The Fox and King’s Shield, which has a wide cast of characters, adventures galore, and a plot with enough twists and turns to satisfy any fantasy reader.

Kristen Blount – Administration Office

While driving one night, Frannie O’Neill, a veterinarian in Colorado, notices something unusual by the side of the road. Stopping to investigate, she is incredulous to discover a human with feathers. Frannie learns that the "bird girl" Max has a fantastic tale to tell about her escape from mad scientists and the “people” sent to recapture her. But not only does Frannie have to deal with Max’s unusual story, she must also contend with her new tenant Kit Harrison, who could be either a confidante or an enemy.

James Patterson, known for his Alex Cross and Women’s Murder Club series, is the author of this fantasy title. Told from Frannie’s point of view, When the Wind Blows is as fast-paced as his other books and reads like a movie.

With intriguing and mysterious characters, Patterson reveals just enough to keep the reader looking for more and he gracefully obliges with a sequel. In The Lake House, the story continues as the bird children (yes, there are several) are returned to their biological parents. With the parents finding it difficult to raise their special offspring, Frannie and Kit ask the court for custody. Of course nothing is easy, as the crazy men responsible for the experiment will stop at nothing to recapture their creations.

Finally, check out Maximum Ride based on (but not identical to) some of the characters in these books. Don’t look to the teen series for a continuation of the above story, as these tell the tale from Max’s point of view. There are five books in the series: The Angel Experiment, School’s Out – Forever, Saving the World and Other Exteme Sports, The Final Warning, and the latest,  Max.

Pick up When the Wind Blows (and Patterson’s subsequent books) for a thrilling read!

Robert Bates – Glenwood Branch

When it comes to fiction, I tend to love any title that’s both humorous and tells an engaging story. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate a good tear-jerker, but it’s harder to make me laugh out loud than it is to make me burst into tears. (Just kill off a kid or a dog and I’m a river.) I saw a book returned to the library that had an interesting cover and a weird title, so I picked it up. Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy had me laughing so much I was scaring people around me, and then scaring them even more when I followed them saying, "No, no, let me just read to you this one part; it’s fantastic!" I took the book with me on vacation and was sad whenever I had to leave it in my hotel room, unfinished.

The story focuses on 12-year-old Stephanie, niece to Gordon Edgley, a reclusive author who has just died. A mysterious man clad in a fedora, scarf, and trench coat is at the reading of the will, and thus enters our hero. Stephanie inherits her uncle’s estate, and the story jumps on a roller coaster ride from there. Skulduggery Pleasant is the fedora-wearing stranger whose sense of humor is so wonderful; I truly wish I could have him as a friend.

An extra fun bonus was reading the author’s information on the back sleeve — "The reason Derek writes his own biographical blurb is so that he can finally refer to himself in the third person without looking pompous or insane." To let readers know, this is a young adult book, but I recommend it for both teens and adults. If you’re looking for something light and hilarious, Skulduggery Pleasant is one title you just might like to pick up.

Jennifer Johnson – Glenwood Branch

Have you ever wanted to travel to a place like Middle Earth? In Guy Gavriel Kay’s The Summer Tree, five young professionals take a rather unexpected trip to a world far different from our own. The novel recounts how the five (Kim, Jennifer, Paul, Dave, and Kevin) are invited to Fionavar and how their adventures begin. "Adventure" might be too friendly of a word, as each faces a personal ordeal which leads to greater sense of self and responsibility. These are not books for those looking for simple wish fulfillment and a happy ending, à la Disney. As is true in the old stories, sometimes victory comes at a very high price that only the greatest heroes can pay.

Fionavar is not a direct copy of Tolkien’s world, but it certainly pays homage to it — which is only fair, because Kay worked with Christopher Tolkien on J.R.R.’s estate when The Silmarillion was published. Fionavar operates as the first world where all the archetypes found in our world’s stories began. I love this book and the other two in the series (The Wandering Fire, and The Darkest Road) because of the way Kay weaves so many threads together into a coherent, unique whole. The books draw from, at the very least, Celtic, Greek, Arthurian, Germanic, and goddess-cult mythology.

In his other novels, Kay continues to mine the rich veins of mythology and heroic tales. The Lions of Al-Rassan is a wonderful novel based on El Cid and the Moors in Spain; the two books of the Sarantine Mosaic draw on the history of imperial Byzantium; and in Ysabel, his most recent work, Kay recounts the bloody history of Provence, France, in a book that has some fun ties to the Fionavar Tapestry.

Kristen Blount – Administration

Thirteen Orphans by Jane Lindskold begins a new series by one of today’s leading fantasy authors. Lindskold excels at building magic seamlessly into her worlds and offering standard tropes in a novel (excuse the pun) manner. The story itself is fairly straightforward, but this book shines in the attention paid to details.

While traveling to see family friend Auntie Pearl during summer break, Brenda Morris learns two things — her family has an unusual history AND she’s heir to her dad’s magic. In Thirteen Orphans, the Chinese zodiac and mah-jong combine to form a system of magic. Brenda’s dad embodies the Rat and Auntie Pearl is the Tiger. All of the zodiac animal characters are fully realized, with personality quirks and other traits aligning them with their magical identity. The story follows Brenda as she discovers her heritage and decides to claim it as her own.

The original orphans were the advisors to a child emperor, the 13th orphan sent into exile from an alternative version of China called the Lands of Smoke and Sacrifice. Several generations have passed since then, and not all the current "orphans" are aware of their heritage. When someone begins to hunt the twelve and steals memories of their heritage, the Tiger and several other orphans come together to solve the mystery.

Lindskold definitely did her homework in devising this version of our world. The system of magic that relies on mah-jong tiles, with its suits, hands, dragons, and winds, fascinated me. The novel starts a little slow because the author has so much world-building to accomplish, but it’s hard to put down in the last 100 pages or so. I’m definitely looking forward to a sequel.

Kristen Blount – Administration

I must admit Robin McKinley is one my favorite authors. Most of her books can be found in the YA section and are fantastic retellings of fairy tales and other adventures. Sunshine is a dark departure for her, and a most wonderful one at that. This multi-layered, richly drawn story happens in a world that looks a lot like ours, but with some important differences. For example, people in McKinley’s setting use the Internet to search sites about demons, fairies, and vampires. Sometimes, the supernatural creatures talk back in the chat rooms.

Rae Seddons is the pastry cook at her stepdad’s diner, where she specializes in making cinnamon rolls as big as your head. Charlie, her stepdad, gave her the nickname Sunshine after watching her spend an entire winter sleeping in patches of sunlight. Narrated in her unmistakable first person voice, Sunshine is gregarious with an attitude, but definitely does not suffer fools gladly.

After a grueling, hot day at work, Sunshine decides to relax at her grandmother’s cottage beside a local lake. A nasty group of vampires kidnaps Sunshine and uses her as bait to lure a starving enemy of their own kind. Only this vampire, Constantine, seems to have a moral code and demands Sunshine tell him stories so he knows she is a rational creature. After two days of their mutual captivity, Sunshine and Con combine wits and magic to escape. Following that first, inadvertent meeting, the two main characters share a bond that leads them into strange and dangerous adventures.

One of the things I like best about Sunshine is that McKinley doesn’t sugarcoat the vampires. They are completely alien and inimical to humanity. There’s a quiet war being waged, and it’s clear that humankind does not hold many advantages. Even though Con is allied with Sunshine, he never stops being a creepy vampire. The scene where Sunshine and Con are chained together drips suspense and terror.

Unfortunately, McKinley does not write many sequels. When you get to the end of the books and want "More! Now!", you can join the rest of McKinley’s fans in their frustration. So, allow me to recommend all the rest of her novels, including two of my all-time favorites The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown.

Kristen Blount – Administration