Category Archives: Fantasy

328V: Early 2000s Fantasy Novel

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I'm looking for the title of a book that's been bugging my bf for years - he read it in the early 2000s (he thinks that's when it came out) and when I asked him for a description, he said he thinks they were teens and all versions of classic monsters. One of them was Medusa in disguise hunting some kind of agents (and there are cutaway chapters where she's hunting them) and she maybe had braided hair? They may have either been ON an island or IN Ireland and were maybe collected together because they were told that Medusa was after them, but she was actually after these agents/government guys and there to protect them. Also, one of them was maybe a swamp monster?

328U: 60s-70s time-travel medieval fantasy, siblings, beautiful illustrations

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I checked this book out multiple times from our public library. Author’s name must begin with Bu-Ea based on shelf location (preceded Eager; after Burnett), is not Ruth Chew after reviewing her catalog. Previous helpful respondents from other attempted search sites have suggested A Walk in Wolf Wood (Mary Stewart) or A Walk out of the World (Ruth Nichols), which are lovely and similar, but incorrect (my lovely childhood public librarians were not illiterate enough to repeatedly mis-shelve this book, and my memory is solid about where it was located on the shelves).

This is a beautifully illustrated, middle-reader American (I think) fantasy book about a brother/sister or possibly male/female friends who somehow stumbled from their somewhat urban home/apartment building into a medieval setting when coming home from school one day in the woods near their home.

Sister ends up spending time with women from the group (I remember some looming?) and brother with the men (possibly becoming a page/squire?) There is maybe a joust, some magic or Merlin-y magician, the illustrations were very lovely with lots of woods/trees. Cover art and some interior pen+ink drawings reminded me of the cover to the film adaptation of Camelot.

I was born in 1970 and was a very early and voracious reader, so this book cannot have been published much later than 1976; my guess (contextually) is that it’s most-likely a little earlier than that.

Many thanks!!

328N: Four Elements Represented By Four Girls

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I’m looking for a book published between 1980 and 1995. It’s about 4 girls representing the 4 elements (air, water, fire, earth). It’s told mainly from the point of view of the fire element, I believe. She might be called the fire brand but I’m not sure. The girls have to connect and retie the knot of elements that is holding the earth. There is a very vivid description of the knot, and the four colors of the cords making it. This book might be part of a series and it might be considered young adult.

328M: Adventures Of Royal Fairy Family (Solved!)

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I am trying to remember a book I read back in about the late 90s. Here is everything about the book I can recall.
The book was printed in green ink, to include the illustrations.
The story was about a fairy (I think) that was able to ride on clouds. I think the name was Mica or Micah. He went to a kingdom of humans and met a princess. The princess’ kingdom had lost a war with the other kingdom and was being taken to be married to the ugly princess of the other kingdom.
The fairy arranges the escape of the princess and takes her to his world. While there, they arrange to get married.  They have two children, a son and a daughter.
The book continues with the lives of the children. The son ends up saving a princess from a curse and marries her. The daughter makes friends with a knight and a dragon. An angry mob goes after the dragon. The knight helps defend the dragon. The knight and the daughter marry.
It was a bit of a strange book.
The writing level from what I remember was the same as the Harry Potter books.
I wish you luck.

328L: Fatherless Girl Protects Younger Brother

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Appreciate your help with this book I started reading, but did not finish.  There is a young girl who is protecting a younger brother and I think the father dies(d).  Everyday it’s a trial to go to the bakery and get bread and return home without being beaten and/or raped.  Believe there is also danger from some beast or maybe a wolf.  It’s not modern times but maybe medieval or a time of tribes.  Feel pretty certain the author is well known.  I thought it was Picoult but that doesn’t seem to work out. Maybe King?

327I: The Missing Blond Princesses

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I’ve been looking for a book that I started reading sometime during third grade (which would have been around 1998 or 1999), but wasn’t able to finish before my teacher gave away various books to another teacher.
Obviously, I have no idea what it was called, but I remember it was not a picture book. I don’t remember what the cover looked like, but I imagine that the title said something with “Princess” in it, and something that would have sparked the interest of a 3rd grader. I also don’t recall the author or the year the book was published, but it would have been before 1999. I also don’t remember any names of characters or places.
What I remember from the book (if I’m remembering correctly) is that the protagonist is an ordinary blonde girl, who lives in modern times and is somehow whisked away from her life to a fairy-tale-like world and told that she is going to be the next princess of whatever world she is taken to. What she learns is that every princess before her was also blonde, but mysteriously went missing. This world she is taken to has strange birds that fly in the sky (based on what I pictured/remember thinking of when I read the book – again there were no pictures – but I imagined they were vulture-like). People are afraid of these birds, as they also believe these birds have taken the missing princesses. What the protagonist seems to start to uncover, however, is that these birds might actually be the missing princesses – maybe some kind of curse or something.
That’s either how far I got, or all that I remember. I know it’s not much to go on, but it’s been bugging me for years.

326Z: Magical Land Emits Personalized Alluring Scents

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I read this book in middle school between 1998-2000 and checked the book out from my school library. It was probably published in the late 80’s or 90’s. It was from the fantasy genre and included a magical land that the young female main character found by following a trail that brought her to a waterfall with a hidden entrance. Once she was in the magical land, there was some kind of dangerous landmark that lured people by emitting a pleasant scent that specifically appealed to each individual. For the main character I think it was a warm scent like cinnamon/honey/nuts/vanilla. I think this book may have also featured a relationship between the main character and her grandmother. Please help!

324G: Vampires create living breathing buildings out of human slaves

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I read a fiction series in 2006 while I was pregnant with my daughter. The author was male.  It seems there were at least 9 books in the series…maybe as many as 15.  I checked them out in hard cover from the public library in Boise Idaho.

I remember the series beginning in a land where Vampire masters harvest from herds of worker slave humans.  Humans are basically chattel to the masters.  The masters transform the bodies of live slaves into buildings. The stuff of body parts are re-purposed for architectural functions…..tall, complex buildings where slave lungs and hearts are pumping water and fresh air throughout the layers of the buildings.

The vampires called their homes “eyries” like eagle nests.  Tall buildings.

The series moved forward being quite political as Vampire masters battled amongst themselves to destroy each other.  Alliances, betrayals, etc…

As the story developed, it turns out that the vampire land is an alternate plane of Earth. Some characters from modern Earth cross over, get themselves into trouble, then return to Earth.  Eventually, guns get introduced to the vampire kingdom.   During the final (?) book, a battle is happening between a handful of characters and Nazi soldiers who are jumping back and forth across the dimensions.  Absolutely crazy stuff…

I realize this isn’t a whole lot to go by.  Thank you for any help you can provide. My brain has residue of the images of the breathing, living buildings. Amazingly creepy and awe inspiring.

323N: Magical Teen Elizabeth

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When I was a teenager in the 80’s I read a book called “Elizabeth”.  The book was about a teenage girl who either had magical powers or magic was somehow insinuated.  The cover was black and I believe it had a broken mirror on the cover.  In the story she had a red mark on her upper thigh that she received from a spider bite maybe but it was identical to another character in the book, like an aunt or something.  She would remark in the book how older men were attracted to her and she enjoyed it.  I have looked everywhere online for the book and even called my local library.  I guarantee the book is not about Queen Elizabeth or Elizabeth Taylor because that is all that I find out there.  Please help!!