What Katniss does not quite fully grasp are the signs of unrest throughout Panem. Her and Peeta’s victory was a direct slap in the face to the Capitol. Her victory in the Hunger Games has incurred even the President’s wrath, and she must do her best during the victory tours to quell the sparks of rebellion.

If he’s made the journey all the way from his city, it can only mean one thing. I’m in serious trouble. And if I am, so is my family. A shiver goes through me when I think of the proximity of my mother and sister to this man who despises me. Will always despise me. Because I outsmarted his sadistic Hunger Games, made the Capitol look foolish, and consequently undermined his control.

Little does she know what President Snow has in store for the girl on fire.

I was overjoyed to return to Panem and see that Katniss was the same feisty girl that I had left. The new characters are just as fun (think Finnick Odair). The book takes a turn into slightly more adult territory with graphic descriptions of unrest and “peacemaking” attempts (riots, bombing, etc.). As before, Ms. Collin’s writing draws the reader in..without waiting for permission. One scene in particular had me holding my breath–where new PeaceMakers attempt to catch Katniss going beyond the fence to hunt. Ms. Collins weaves together the perfect elements of tension, deceit, and humor to create excellent scenes. Which makes me wonder when the movie’s coming out.

There are also a few things that are touched on that I’m sure will resurface in the final book, such as rumors of “District 13″, and what becomes of our beloved stylist, Cinna, who seems to have a mysterious past.

Read an excerpt from the second chapter here, where the book really starts to gain some steam.

However, as winter approaches, the battle against the hobgoblins grows dire. More and more dragons are lost in battle, and esquires cannot be trained fast enough to take to the skies.

Quenelda’s father, the Earl DeWinter finally realizes how adept, but snobbish Quenelda is about flying. Since she has flown as a child, she scoffs at those esquires who do not have a natural talent for flying. The Earl makes a deal with Quenelda: she may have her very own battledragon, as long as she can teach Root, a gnome esquire, to fly. It just so happens that Root not only has a fear of dragons, but he is completely inept. Slowly an unlikely friendship blooms and together Quenelda and Root must unravel a conspiracy designed to strike at the very heart of the SDS itself.

The Dragon Whisperer is a completely entrancing children’s tale. Every spare moment I had I searched out this book so that I could continue reading. I love that our young protagonist is a girl, and the prejudices she encounters reflect many a young girl’s dream to break into a male dominated industry. Quenelda’s character is refreshing since she too is flawed, and over the course of the book begins to overcome her personal biases. Ms. Hare does an excellent job balancing her world of fierce dragons and rabid hobgoblins with a more whimsical side, such as naming Quenelda’s battledragon Two Gulps and You’re Gone.

The sequel, Dragon Isle will be published in 2010. Quenelda’s special talents hint at a much larger destiny for her, and I’m guessing we will see our slowly maturing heroine overcome ever more drastic situations with Root’s help. The Dragon Whisperer is an excellent debut novel, and can be enjoyed by all ages!

The book begins with Meggie and her parents in Ombra, with Aunt Elinor left behind in the original world that they came from. Dustfinger has been taken away by the White Women, and the Adderhead is immortal, thanks to a bargain he made with Mo. Meggie is torn between Farid and Doria, a young man in the Prince’s motley band. Mo has taken on the identity of the Bluejay, and risks his life daily on raids with the Black Prince’s men. Orpheus, a character who has Mo’s talent for reading things “out of books”, soon becomes an enemy who wants nothing more than Mo’s death. However, when Death itself makes a deal with Mo, no one can change the events of the Inkworld.

At 500+ pages, I found myself gravitating towards other books while I was trying to finish Inkdeath. The plot meanders mercilessly and I found myself practically screaming to just be done with it. The “love interest” was interesting at first, but I am never quite sure what Meggie is thinking, and she is the background much more often. To top it off, Mo and Resa are constantly at odds, as though their marriage will dissolve any minute, and everything simply gets better at the end of the book without explanation.

Overall, I didn’t love the series and probably would not be on my re-read list. It seems to have gained quite a bit of popularity with the YA crowd, so perhaps there’s something there that I’m missing. There is also a movie titled Inkheart that came out in January, starring Brendan Fraser. Watch the trailer below if you haven’t already!

It begins where Eldest left off: Eragon  and his cousin Roran plan to infiltrate Helgrind in order to rescue Roran’s beloved, Katrina. Meanwhile, the Varden needs help (as always) and Eragon attempts to politick with the dwarves while they choose their new king, since Hrothgar was killed in the last battle against Murtagh.

Brisingr, which was supposed to be the end of the Inheritance Trilogy, is unfortunately now a middle book, with “middle book syndrome” to boot. Brisingr simply dragged on. And on.

Eragon did little to improve his knowledge of magic, maturity, or much of anything. He is still very much the immature farm boy from book one. In fact, Brisingr was more about Roran and his character development rather than anything else. Paolini also pulls the “I-am-your-father” thing on us again! In all honesty, that’s really something you can pull on your readers once. Twice is just stupid…It’s already been done!

Further, Paolini’s writing seemed very heavy, filled with tongue twisting words and excessive adjectives. I understand he is attempting to write in an “epic” manner, but considering this is marketed as a young adult book, even I was bogged down by the writing style. There were times I would go back and re-read a sentence, just to make sure I was understanding its meaning through all the purple prose.

Very little was revealed until the very last chapters of the book–this could have easily been edited down, making it a trilogy as originally planned. The most interesting part was when Eragon and Saphira attempted to communicate with a sentient tree, and Saphira ends up getting annoying and blowing fire at it, leading to all kinds of fun.

Overall, if it gets kids to read, great. But content-wise, Brisingr was sorely lacking any substance.

Inkspell impressively weaves the story of Ombra, where Meggie, Mo, Resa, and Fenoglio find themselves after the events of Inkheart. The characters, especially Dustfinger, finally come to life and have differing personalities and quirks. Funke also seems to have really put herself into worldbuilding– Ombra and the surrounding lands can easily be imagined. I don’t want to give too much plot away as Inkspell follows the events of Inkheart, but we do know that almost all of Meggie’s family ends up in Ombra, except for her book collecting aunt Elinor. Further, Mo is gravely injured and it’s up to Meggie to help her parents while avoiding those that wish them harm.

I also enjoyed how Funke employs various villains–each are “bad” to differing degrees. As in most children’s books, there is only one villain who remains alive until the very end. Here, Funke uses a number of baddies that harass Meggie and her family, and sometimes even the villains kill other villains. This is a refreshing break from the usual, and also fleshes out Funke’s writing–after all, there is never just one bad person in this world–you will come up against many.

A much better read than the first–If you weren’t crazy about Inkheart and didn’t follow up on the sequels, it will be worth your time to read Inkspell. I hope Funke keeps it up in Inkdeath, the final book of the Inkworld trilogy.