Posts Tagged: Jonathan Stroud

First Lines: The Last Siege

It’s winter. After being caught trespassing on the castle grounds, three teens conspire to spend a night in the ruin, just to show the old caretaker. Then, as it often goes in a story, things spiral out of control. This time, a real siege ensues. Written at the same time as the first part of… Read more »

First Lines: Buried Fire

Trapped below a mountain, the dragon waits. Occasionally, one of his discarded thoughts creep up to the surface. And every once in awhile, somebody gets captured by one of those thoughts, and receives some of the dragon’s powers. Now, the ancient seal that keeps the dragon imprisoned is broken, and his disciples plan to awaken… Read more »

First Lines: Bartimaeus: The Ring of Solomon

My first encounter with Jonathan Stroud was a typical case of judging a book by it’s cover. And as it turned out, The Amulet of Samarkand was totally awesome. The further two parts of the Bartimaeus-trilogy were also a blast. What I particularly loved about the series is the source of the magic that is… Read more »

First Lines: The Ghost of Shadow Vale

There’s an ancient Icelandic folk tale that goes something like this: once upon a time, a monster was preying on Thorhall’s sheep, and strong and stubborn man called Glam was the only one who dared to herd them. Glam fought the monster and killed it, but did not live to tell the tale. Not long… Read more »