Category Archives: Fantasy

313R: The Boat Shrinks to be Carried

I am looking for a fantasy book in a series of books about young people of Celtic descent who live in the southern American states who encounter and fight beings of Celtic mythology. They travel on a boat which resembles a metallic dragon which shrinks to be carried. One of the young people is an Native American Indian who gets help from beings of the Native American Indian mythology. The books, I think, were published in the 1980s.

313J: Girl gets carried by big bird to a fantasy land

Girl gets lifted by a big bird to a far off fantasy land. She has golden blonde hair and brown eyes. All of the people in the new land have white hair and blue-green eyes, and the kids ride to school on six-legged unicorns.There is a wise old woman who grants each person one answer to an important question in their lifetime. This was a children’s book I borrowed from the library in 1972 or 1973.

309D: Each hut being a different emotion

Blue greenish background, with ground at the bottom, plants growing up. A figure/person  just right of the center, facing right. Title at the top, red lettering(maybe with some vine like font) 

Two lead characters, both boys, roughly the same age go from their world to a fantasy realm through some sort of door where they have the option of becoming a warrior type, magician/wizard type, and third on I can’t remember. One boy chooses a Warrior class the other is Wizard/Magician, can’t remember the specific name. The end goal is to get to a crystal city of sorts. There they fight a shadow version of themselves. Warrior boy is Asian(has Asian sounding name just can’t remember it), lives in the slums. Other kid is white, rough home life, if I’m remembering correctly. I remember at the beginning, one if the first person the Warrior boy(Asian name) comes across is an old man who lives in 12 different huts. Each hut being a different emotion. When he goes to another hut, he is the most extreme version of that emotion. I think it only talked about happiness, anger, and sadness.

 

309A: Trying to get home

Not a kids book I don’t think-

A fantasy/SF paperback maybe from the 80s? About a woman  who gets dumped off on a semi primitive planet by her hosts. I’m remembering something like it was a traveling party ship? And she gets dumped in some small seaside town? She makes her way to the big city and attempts to earn money to support herself/get off planet by telling fortunes in the town market but is brought up short and taken up by the powerful magician of the town who sees that she has no magic and is faking the fortune telling. Very bad in a place where magic is real.

He is a sarcastic and very self satisfied type.

His brother challenges him for primacy in the family -a magicians duel – that is short circuited by her non magical interference. The brother loses. The jerk/ magician acts like himself some more.

So….

Our heroine (in some sort of snit with the magician) somehow gets on a ship leaving the planet only to find herself stuck with the magician who leaves on the same ship ( in a very self satisfied and sarcastic way, of course) to talk her back.

307V: Two beings in one

Fantasy novel with very stylized surreal/dark artwork – I am looking for a fantasy novel, which I believe may be a two book series, that stands out for having had an artist create particularly striking artwork for the story. Some might consider them a bit disturbing/surreal – heavy linework. The only clue I have on the story itself would be I believe the villain is actually two people (beings?) in one.

 

307F: Half-Dragon General

In the 80’s (at around 10-13yrs old) I read a YA fantasy trilogy about a warring general who was half human half (lizard/reptile/dragon?) who’s skin is covered in (tiny blue) scales. He was looked down on for this deformity but his difference was part of his driving force. The trilogy follows a young girl who was captured or sold into the war party/entourage and follows her journey as the general conquers lands etc. I can’t remember much more but she eventually becomes his mistress or concubine type of slave maybe?

Paperback trilogy, Young adult section, fantasy fiction. It seemed new at the time but it could have been written in the mid to late seventies or early eighties? It seemed to be set in a slightly game of thrones non-era era? All three books were of average novel length. I partially remember the covers being full colour, maybe a central picture in a darker arched border?

306S: Peopled with birds

A British import that I read about 15 years ago, similar to WATERSHIP DOWN, except that it was peopled (ok, bad choice of words) and narrated by birds, and one specific bird on a quest that involved a long distance flight. This wasn’t by any means a children’s book.