And thus continues what is possibly the slowest reading year I've experienced in a verrrrry long time. Since I really enjoyed the first book in the Warren the 13th series (and reviewed it a few weeks ago) I thought I'd be safe reading its sequel Warren the 13th and the Whispering Woods by Tania del Rio & Will Staehle. I was totally right. (Thank goodness for middle grade fiction when you're in a bit of a reading slump, ya'll.) After the events of the previous book, the hotel has become wildly popular as the world's only traveling hotel. However, trouble is brewing right around the corner in the Malwoods where the Witch Queen Calvina has decreed that she must have the hotel and its occupant Beatrice (remember she vanquishes witches). While Warren and his friends are unaware of the trouble brewing in their mists, Warren has set out on his own quest to find something to repair the hotel's control panel and lands himself in one mischief after another. (Ever heard of a snake oil salesman? How about one that literally sells snake oils that he procures himself?) Unforeseen dangers, new allies, scarier enemies (in larger numbers), and the resilience of a hotel manager pack the pages of this fun little book. Once again, I need to note that this book has amazing illustrations that I'd be more than happy to frame and put on the walls of my apartment. This is a really great series to use as a bedtime readaloud with a slightly older child because reading aloud isn't something you should stop once your child can read to themselves. #librarianrant2k19 10/10 for this sequel and I'm excited to continue with the third book Warren the 13th and the 13-Year Curse which is due out on March 26th of this year. 

 

In the Black Cauldron with Witch Queen Calvina.                [Source: Entertainment Weekly]

 

What's Up Next: Elfquest Archives: Volumes1-3 by Wendy & Richard Pini

 

What I'm Currently Reading: Strange Magic: An Essex Witch Museum Mystery by Syd Moore

A missing boy, government agents, an interdimensional portal...

Mia has one goal for her senior year at Whispering Woods High—find her missing older brother. But when her science project reveals a portal into another dimension, she learns that travelers are moving in and out of her woods in the most alarming way and government agents Regulus and Arizona are policing their immigration. Mia’s drawn to the mysterious, aloof Regulus, but it’s no time for a crush. She needs to find out what they know about her brother, while the agents fight to save the world from viral contamination. But when Regulus reveals that he knows Mia’s secrets, she begins to wonder if there’s more going on than she thought...and if she was wrong to trust him...

Available now at these online retailers:

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Scribd * * Page Foundry/Inktera * * The Book Depository

It wasn't going to be long, not with the popularity of the Magic: The Gathering trading card game, for Wizards of the Coast to capitalise on the phenomena and release a series of books based on the game. Seriously though, Magic: The Gathering is like the crack cocaine of the roleplaying world – they made bucket loads of money on the product – enough to pretty much buy T$R – that they didn't need to capitalise on it at all. All they needed to do, which is what they have done, is to continue to release expansion packs and revised editions and the money would simply keep on rolling in.

I like Magic: The Gathering – it is fun to play and it is also fun to build the decks upon which the game is played. It was also fun trading cards to get your hands on those elusive rares and out of print cards to make your deck even better. I spent hours, and thousands of dollars, on this game, and now all I have to show for it is my red goblin deck, my black Breeding Pit deck, and my green weenie deck, as well as a few prized cards that I did not end up selling when I sold the rest of my collection on ebay (and my collection does include a Fast Bond, though I don't believe I have my Demonic Hordes any more, though I do have 4 Mazes of Ith, a common card still worth $20.00 a pop).

I've got back into the game again since I found a shop that hosts sealed deck tournaments here in Melbourne, and I pop in once a month (or am planning on doing so, since I have only been once so far). While I am not going to go hell for leather with collecting cards any more (though if a booster pack does pass my way with a shiny mythic rare, then yoink).

I really don't remember much about this book except that it would mention certain cards as it went through the story, and a part of me thought that I could make a deck with all of the cards that were in this book, that is until the Black Lotus was mentioned.

The funny thing with Magic: The Gathering, is that the ultra-rare, out of print cards, such as the Black Lotus, can fetch hundreds of dollars a pop (and the current price of a Black Lotus is around $5500, rounded up). Hey, I thought that you could actually invest in Magic Cards, and it is something that I might actually consider, though I must say there is always a risk that 1) nobody actually wants the card when you want to turn it into cash and 2) nobody plays Magic: The Gathering any more. Still, the price of the multi-lands

have gone from $25.00 when I last played to game to $120 now. Not only does it form a hedge against inflation, but the longer it remains out of print (and the longer the game remains popular) the more expensive the card becomes. However, I have already outlined the risks, and since I am not an investment adviser, please don't rush out and spend $5500 on a Black Lotus and then try suing me because that piece of cardboard has become worthless.

'Whispering Woods' starts off and moves a great deal more slowly than 'Arena', because, I think, Emery was leaning too hard on the fact he was writing a trilogy and could take the time for the character development that Forstchen ignored in favor of blood and explosions. What we get is almost a reverse of 'Arena', a look at the repercussions of a Wizard's actions through "common" eyes that had been so dehumanized as "the mob" previously.

In 'Arena' Garth and the other wizards simply pulled a bauble out of their satchels and summoned creatures to fight and die on their behalf without a thought. Emery wonders where did those creatures live before finding themselves suddenly in the Arena? Did they have any say at all in being summoned?

That is what makes this book interesting as a tie-in novel to the series. Emery introduces shades of grey into the workings of magic. Spells must be learned, mana must be gathered and summonings be "tagged" to gain the knowledge and power they need to fight the corrupt wizards, but they come at a heavy price. Garth justified his killing of thousands as the only way to stop the corrupt Arena system, but he didn't really give a damn about anything other than his revenge. Gull (and Greensleeves and Lily (his love-interest)) know they're in the right, but to what lengths are they justified in going?

I'm touching on the other two books of the trilogy, and I don't want to oversell them--these are tie-in novels for a trading card game after all--but I was impressed at the way Emery addressed these issues at all and didn't make the woodcutter a great general at the drop of the hat the way more prestigious genre novels sometimes do, or give Greensleeves and Lily full use of their powers when the discover them late in life and unschooled. The "movement" Gull and his sister found isn't a total success either. The end of 'Whispering Woods' has the group victorious, but not totally, and at a terrible cost of life.

At this stage the characters are still unsure and unformed, but they do get better and makes, with Hanovi Braddock's 'Ashes of the Sun', one of the most satisfying prerevisionist Magic storylines.

Garth/Greensleeves

Next: 'Shattered Chains'

Previous: 'Arena'