Adult Fantasy: The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

About the Book: What happens to legendary heroes when they grow tired of saving everyone? How do you motivate a hero? How does someone go from being an ordinary, albeit talented child to being the greatest hero in a generation? The Wise Man's Fear is Day Two of the back story of the legendary hero Kvothe.

My Thoughts: Again relayed mostly through a series of flashbacks, this story continues to be fun fast paced and exciting. Rothfuss reclaimed his wonderful writing style and again the voice clearly changes when he is writing in the past versus writing in the present. Kvothe is flushed out much more as a character, but his story takes a darker and more dangerous turn. Adult relationships flourish in all of their complexity. While there were a couple breaks in voice as the book went on, for the most part Rothfuss quickly brought the story back to where I expected it to be. My biggest problems are that the middle of the book is a sexual romp in a fairy realm and the story seems to be progressing too slowly. I can handle sex in a book, but it seemed like 200 pages of the book was devoted to sex, it just kind of dragged on and on. The other problem with progressing too slowly is this. In the present, Kvothe is around 30 years old. By the end of the second book, he is not even twenty in his flashbacks. That means in the next book he has to cover 10 years worth of back story and I am not sure how he is going to do it.

Since this series is called The KingKiller Chronicle, I am hoping that the series will be longer than a trilogy. I have not heard how many books this series is scheduled for, but I image it will take at least 2 more.

Overall this book was very good and had a much better ending. Rothfuss has won me back and I well be impatiently awaiting the next book. I give it a 7 out of 10.

Teen Fantasy: The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott

About the Book: Have you ever wondered why almost every different belief system and mythology have similiar circumstances, similiar monsters, and similiar heroes? Maybe it is because all of the legendary stories of mankind are based on, at least in part, all of the same legends. And what if those legendary heroes, monsters, and legends still lived in secret in the world today? Josh and Sophie, twins from the modern day city of San Francisco are about to find out.

The King's Ruling: A nonstop adventure from page one, the Alchemyst is the first of six books in the The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series. As the story is about a fantasy adventure taking place in present day there are moments that the reader must suspend his or her disbelief, but as a whole Michael Scott creates a great fantasy adventure that is accessible to everyone yet still grounded in historical mythology.

Spoilers:--->Even though Josh is the annoying twin I think he may turn out to be the hero of the story. I love the historical characters in this story but the gods seem to be pretty easy to kill off. <---

Teen Fantasy: The Tapestry Book 1: The Hound of Rowan by Henry H Neff.

About the Book: Max McDaniels is just an ordinary kid, sure his dad works a little too much and talks like his dead mom is still alive, but that is his dad's issue not his. Max's life has not been easy he has had to deal with the loss of his mom and bullies, but his is just a regular kid. Or he was...until his trip to the art museum where he is chased by a strange man with one eye and he finds an old tapestry that no one else can see. This puts him on a path to adventure that will change his life forever.

The King's Ruling: Part Harry Potter, part Lightning Thief, the Hound of Rowan is a fun romp through Irish mythology. The characters are interesting and Max is a wonderful hero. The plot drags a little at times and sometimes the story seems to jump, but all in all I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to the next one. I give it a 7 out of 10.

Spoilers (highlight to view):--->I hope that Ronan has a much larger role in the second book, he is like the second coming of Sirius Black<---

Teen Fiction: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

About the Book: Junior, who is a budding cartoonist leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. He must learn to deal with racism from his kids at new school, claims that he is turning is back on his people from kids on the reservation, and making and succeeding on his new school's basketball team.

The King's Ruling: This would be a really fun story if it did not so accurately reflect the state that many native americans find themselves in today. Junior is very funny and the cartoons add a bit of humor to a bleak portrayal of Junior's life. This book is appropriate for any teen and I give it a 7 out of 10.

Spoilers (highlight to see)--->Junior's growth as a basketball player seems a bit exagerated, and this book would have gotten a 9 if its protrayal of native american life was not so accurate. (which i hate to say but its the truth)<---