Ravenwild by Peter Plasse

One of the most beautifully illustrated books I have read in a long time is Ravenwild by Dr. Peter J. Plasse.  The gorgeous illustrations are by the incredibly talented Michael Longenecker. Even if the book were a dud, I would recommend it just for Longenecker's richly detailed paintings and drawings which are sprinkled thoughout the book!  However, this book is a very good read.  I spent a snowy day in March reading this tale, and I am now a confirmed fan.

Ravenwild is a fast-paced story, with a large cast of characters. In the first chapter we meet King Rolan Fairman and his second in command, Thargen.  He the king of Ravenwild, a small country in the world of Inam'Ra and has been at war all his life against both the gnomes and the trolls. He is once again under attack. His infant son is endangered, but he saves him, sending the boy and the queen to safety with his wizard, Taber.

The story switches to modern day Connecticut and Dr. Blake Strong. On his way home from the hospital one night he is tricked into a meeting with one 'Hemlock Simpleton, wizard extraordinaire' who tells him that a great many lives depend on him and on Jessica, his wife, and insists that they come to Ravenwild with him, even though it is 'interplanetary travel', or rather, 'interdimensional travel'. 

This is not a popular notion with their children, 16 yr old Orrie (son), and 10 yr old  Jaqueline (daughter). However, through a series of events, their 15 yr old daughter, Stephanie, ends up going to Ravenwild with 16 yr old Erik, the young Crown Prince.  The rest of the Strong family follow her, but they become separated.

In many books about teenaged heroes the parents are conveniently absent. In Ravenwild they were an important presence. The whole family has a sharp, sarcastic sense humour which had me chuckling along with them at times. The three children and their friends are each quite likable and are drawn with their own distinct personalities. They do share certain familial traits with their parents, which is common in a close family.

This book was definitely one of those books that began slowly, but got better as it went along.  As you read further and the Strong family is broken up and scattered, the branches of the story start to split off into this complex but exciting tale.

As the story progressess, we are introduced many other characters like Jared, the kind and lonely human who lived out in the woods of Ravenwild for years, and the deliciously evil troll Emporer Malance.


The tale is told from a variety of perspectives, from not only the 'good' side, but the 'bad' side as well. All of the different species, elves, dwarves and gnomes have distinct personality traits and mannerisms within their societies, and they are really well portrayed. Even the enemy species of the book (the Trolls), have a wide range of good and bad in their society.  There are the nasty Emperor Malance who despises humans, and the caring and helpful Daria and Forrester who do everything they can to help the Strong family.


This is an excellent first novel, and as I said at the beginning, the book is worth it for the artwork.  If you stick with it you will find a wonderful tale that is slated to be a trilogy.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling

November is National Novel Writing Month, where millions of authors attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.  I did it last year, and I am attempting to do it again this year.  I have dropped everything to do this, and am up to 14000 words as of this morning.  This week I will be revisiting my first ever post on this page, which was written in celebration of the new website for all things Harry Potter, 'Pottermore which is still in the Beta Testing stage'.

I loved this book as much as I loved all the ones that have gone before, and also enjoyed the movie, despite the differences in the basic stories.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling is the final book in the series, and is the book where we meet the adult that the boy Harry Potter has become. He is still a very young adult, but he is making adult choices and trying desperately to protect the people he loves. I loved the book and immediately read it twice! Now I am re-reading it again and it is just as exciting to me as it was the first time I ever read it. Rowling's characters are masterfully drawn. They feel like real people and the reader cares about them like they are real people. That feeling of attachment carries through all the books in the series and the final book in the series is no exception. For those people who have never read the books and have only seen the movies I will only say that you have missed so much of the story!

The book takes up after Dumbledore’s death. Voldemort has completed his ascension to power and has gained control of the Ministry of Magic. Harry, Ron, and Hermione decide to leave Hogwarts to hunt and destroy Voldemort's remaining horcruxes as Dumbledore had requested. In order to ensure their friends and families' safety they go into hiding. They begin the search despite the fact that they have little knowledge about the remaining horcruxes. What they do know is that two of them may be objects that once belonged to Hogwarts founders Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff, and the third may be Nagini, Voldemort's snake familiar. What the objects are and their whereabouts is unknown, but they are sure that Nagini is with Voldemort. As they search for the Horcruxes, they discover many things about Dumbledore's past; things which are not at all comforting to Harry.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione find the first horcrux, Salazar Slytherin's locket, by sneaking into the Ministry of Magic disguised as employees. Now they must carry it with them until they find a way to destroy it. Under the object's malevolent influence and suffering from the stress of being on the run, Ron abandons the others. A mysterious silver doe, the patronus of an unknown friend leads Harry to the Sword of Godric Gryffindor, which is among the very few objects able to destroy horcruxes. However, when Harry attempts to recover the sword, the horcrux, which is on a chain about his neck, attempts to kill him. Ron suddenly reappears, saving Harry’s life. Ron uses the sword to destroy the locket.

I like the way that Rowling portrays Ron, Hermione and Harry as young adults facing this terrible situation. They are forced to grow up too fast, but they rise to the occasion. They each have strengths and weaknesses that make the story engrossing. At this point in the tale Harry is a bit of an ass. Hermione is desperately trying to hold everyone together. Ron's slow crumbling under the weight of the horcrux is absolutely one of the better parts of the tale, and the way that Rowling deals with his insane jealousy is very realistic. Hermione's complete mystification is so natural, as is Harry's hurt and anger at what he perceives as Ron's unwarranted attitude. There is a part of them that knows that the deterioration of their friendship has arisen because of the piece of Voldemorte's soul that is held within the horcrux and that it is the horcrux that is causing Ron's depression and anger, but still they are not able to deal with their own emotions. I was totally hooked at that point when I first read it, and it is still one of the better sections from my point of view.

Reunited, the three resume their search, and continually encounter a strange symbol, that an eccentric wizard named Xenophilius Lovegood (Luna’s father) tells them is the symbol of the mythical Deathly Hallows. The Hallows are three sacred objects: the Resurrection Stone, with the power to summon the dead to the living world; the Elder Wand, an unbeatable wand; and an infallible Invisibility Cloak (hmmm…ring any bells?). Harry discovers that Voldemort is desperately seeking the Elder Wand. He realizes that the evil wizard is unaware of the other Hallows and their significance and is completely ignoring them. Against his friends' better judgement, Harry decides that finding and destroying Voldemort's horcruxes is more important than procuring the Hallows because the destruction of each horcrux weakens him. In a mad adventure, they break into a Death Eater's personal vault at the Wizarding Bank, Gringotts, to recover another horcrux, Helga Hufflepuff's cup. Harry learns that another horcrux is hidden in Hogwarts. The three find a way to enter the school and a fierce battle ensues, the climax of which finds Harry saving Draco’s life; an act which makes all the difference in the end.

Voldemort and his followers besiege Hogwarts and an all out wizarding war ensues. Several main characters die in the battle, and each time I read this part I cry over their deaths as if they are my friends. In another deeply moving scene Harry discovers, while viewing the memories of Severus Snape, that Voldemort inadvertently made Harry himself into a horcrux when he attacked him as a baby and that Harry must die to destroy Voldemort. (Snape has always been my favorite character after Harry in this series.) These memories also show to Harry the truth of Professor Snape's unwavering loyalty to Dumbledore and his role as spy in Voldemort's camp.

Harry then fully understands what he must do, and he willingly makes that choice.

I loved this very dark and thrilling finish to the wonderful series. It is a book that I will read again and again, and I will push my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren to read it! When you see the movie you are only seeing the book-report version of the story, and of course it is wonderful, but the real action is inside the book!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - The Story of Snape