Manga Picks: Dawn of the Arcana by Rei Toma

"Dawn of the Arcana" is a stunningly-illustrated manga that takes place in a medieval fantasy world inhabited by humans and "ajin", who are part humans and part animals.

Prince Caesar of Belquat and Princess Nakaba of Senan must wed to keep the peace between their warring countries, but they have nothing in common.  Prince Caesar wants to control his new bride, but soon discovers she is more than his match. Furthermore, he faces an unlikely rival - her faithful ajin servant, Loki.

Although the plot moves slowly at times and the characters are not unique to shojo manga, the relationship between Princess Nakaba and Loki is so touching it is definitely worth the read. 

I give this manga four jousts out of five.

Graphic Novel Picks: "The Last Dragon" by Jane Yolen (Author) and Rebecca Guay (Artist)

Jane Yolen is no stranger to dragons, as fans of her "Pit Dragon Chronicles" will attest. 

Once again she's create a credible fantasy world that is entralling from beginning to end.  Two hundred years ago, humans thought they had defeated all of the dragons.  Now, in the islands of May, one has returned, and it feasts on animals and humans alike.  Can a healer's daughter and a reluctant hero vanquish the last dragon?

Part fairytale, part hero's quest, the characters and plot are familiar, but instead making "The Last Dragon" seem unoriginal, this only adds to the feeling that you are reading a genuine legend.  Also, Rebecca Guay's gorgeous illustrations elevate this tale to a higher level.

This is storytelling at its best.  I give this graphic novel four and a half dragon's egg out of five. 

Book Picks: Zombies vs. Unicorns

This is hooves down the best anthology I've ever undead - I mean read.

Although this book features some of my favourite authors, such as Carrie Ryan, Cassandra Clare and Scott Westerfeld, I put off reading it for almost a year.

Why?  Because for some reason I thought every story was about a unicorn battling a zombie, and frankly, I thought all that blood and gore and broken horns might get a bit tedious.

But it turns out that each story features either zombies or unicorns like you've never seen them before. Some of the strongest offerings were:

Team Unicorn


 - "The Third Virgin" by Kathleen Duey
 - "The Highest Justice" by Garth Nix
 - "The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn" by Diana Peterfreund

Team Zombies

 - "Bougainvillea" by Carri Ryan
 - "Cold Hands" by Cassandra Clare
 - "Prom Night" by Libba Bray


Not only did I love every story in this book, but the banter between Holly Black (Team Unicorn) and Justine Larbalestier (Team Zombie) is hilarious.

I give this book five out of five baby killer unicorns.

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So tell me, zombies vs. unicorns?

Celebrating the Year of the Dragon

In celebration of 2012 being the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese calendar, why not read a book featuring dragons?  What dragon books do you recommend?  Some of my suggestions are as follows:

1.  "Here, There Be Dragons" by James A. Owen.  This is a must-read if you are a fan of "Peter Pan", "The Chronicles of Narnia" and "The Lord of the Rings".

2."Dragon's Blood"  by Jane Yolen.  This is the first book in "The Pit Dragon Chronicles" and I loved it so much I've read it twice.

3.  "The White Dragon" by Anne McCaffrey.  It's been a long time since I've read this book, but maybe I'll reread it to see if it is as good as I remember.

4. "Flight of the Dragon Kyn" by Susan Fletcher.  I haven't read this yet, but based on the reviews it sounds like it is worth a look.

Click on the covers to learn more:

New Releases: Spice & Wolf Volume 5 (Novel)

The English translation of Volume 5 of Isuna Hasekura's "Spice and Wolf" novel series will be released on December 13, 2011.  

This popular Japanese series concerns a young merchant, Kraft Lawrence, who one night on his travels, discovers a strange girl with a wolf's ears and tail sleeping in his cart.  She turns out to be Holo the Wisewolf, a harvest goddess whose is a wolf in her true form.