The Looking Glass Wars

Wouldn't it be wonderful to live in Wonderland? Princess Alyss Heart is a 7 year old girl living in Wonderland. Her mother, Queen Genevieve, rules the queendom. This is one big happy family except for her Aunt Redd. Her Aunt Redd has been cruel and spiteful ever since the day her mother picked her sister Genevieve over Redd to be next in line to rule. Now Redd has come back from her exile to lead her own rebellion. To keep Alyss out of Redd's hands, Alyss Heart is put into the hands of Hatter Madigan, her mother's guard and head of the Millinery. Unfortunately, they are separated as they travel out of Wonderland through the Pool of Tears and Alyss ends up in Victorian London. There she meets Lewis Carrol, who she learns to trust. That trust is soon broken when he writes down her story...with a lot of changes. She is furious that he could do such a thing to her, making her life seem like a fantasy. In this world, no one believes her.
Now in the meantime, others are having troubles too. Redd has taken over Wonderland and the small resistance, named the Alyssians, are trying their best to just stay alive. Hatter Madigan is having quite a hard time finding Alyss. He searches all over the world for her, trying to bring her back to her homeland to stop the invasion. I would tell you more, but I don't want to ruin the book! You'll have to read it yourself to find out what happens!
I would have to rate this book a 9.9 on a scale from 1 to 10. It was fabulous! It is stuffed with action and mystery. You begin to feel as if you are walking, or as it often turns out to be, running beside the characters on this miraculous journey. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a book with a bit of sadness, a lot of action and just a hint of mystery!
Also, there is a sequel called Seeing Redd. Apparently, a third book is scheduled to come out too! So you will have plenty of reading material if this hooks you! It sure caught me!

Ranger's Apprentice: Icebound Land

For a time, through the beginning, before chapter two, you find yourself with Will, an apprentice ranger for those who don't know, and Evanlyn on a wolf- ship caught in the middle of a sea with a massive storm flying at them at full speed. At the same time Halt, Will's master, is chasing a general of Morgarath, who they had just defeated, and his one hundred and one free-lance duplicates. After being caught up in the storm for so long the wolf-ship finally drags its way into the safety of a staging point harbor. Halt far across half a sea decides to take his chance to rescue Will so he commites a dead against his king and is banished for a period of one year, on his way to the port Horace, Will's best friend and a battle school apprentice, manages to join Halt on his journey in Celtica to Skandia where Will was taken to be a slave after being captured in the war against Morgarath. The story mainly centers on Will and Evanlyn in the beginning half and Halt and Horace through out the book in their journey to Skandia and the fights and adventures they had there. I liked the adventure that Halt and Horace took part in to reach Skandia to find Will and rescue him. I would rate this book at a 8 1/2 on a scale of one to ten. The end of the book does have a mild cliffhanger, thankfully you don't have to wait because the next book is out. (Next Post Down)

Ranger's Apprentice: The Battle for Skandia

You start off in this book with Will, an apprentice ranger, and Evanlyn in a Skandian cabin in the Northern mountains of Skandia after Will and Evanlyn escape a harsh life of slavery. The book follows Will, Evanlyn, Halt, Will's master, Horace ,an apprentice form the battle school, and other smaller characters in their own perspectives of their time in Skandia. When a foreign army from the South the Araluens and the Skandians must come together to ward off the enemy so that not only Skandia but all the countries in the region will stay independent of a foreign rule. As the foreign army marches towards the capitol of Skandia they encounter attacks from not only land but from sea too; all thanks to Halt's careful planning. Everyone helps out from Halt's planning to Horace's protection to Evanlyn's spying and ideas to Will's forming of a smaller archer unit. Everyone's help is need if everyone wants to stay free of a foreign oppressor. On a scale of one to ten I would rate this book at an eight. I loved the tactics but thought that some of the parts in the book seemed to run a little dry.