The first volume of Stephen Donaldson's Gap series tells a story that sets he stage for the volumes to come. It's a futuristic tale of three people: two pirate ship captains, Angus Thermopyle and Nick Succorso, and a woman, Morn Hyland, who is Thermopyle's captive and the object of Succorso's interest. Determined to free her from Thermopyle's clutches, Succorso frames his rival for a crime he did not commit, freeing Hyland from Thermopyle's control and leaving her former captor a prisoner of the authorities.

This is the plot of the book, and yet it isn't a spoiler to explain any of this as these developments are all outlined in the very first chapter. What follows in the seventeen succeeding chapters is a detailing from Thermopyle's perspective of the events that made Hyland his prisoner and how Succorso creates the circumstances necessary to free her. It's an impressive feat of storytelling, as even knowing the outcome I was still engaged by Donaldson's description of the developments leading up to the confrontation at the beginning of the novel. The achievement is even more remarkable given Donaldson's characterization, as what starts out as a cliched tale of a chivalrous hero rescuing a beautiful damsel from the clutches of a swinish villain becomes a more complicated story with no real romance or heroism, just degrees of self-interest and depravity. While the narrative is often a brutal and unpleasant one, it's a masterful exercise in writing that serves as an effective introduction to a morally complex universe.

This first part of the Thomas Covenant trilogy is tough going. Our main character, Thomas, suffers from leprosy in our world in the 1970s. He is transported to a fantasy world of magic and unusual creatures where he is revered as a possible saviour in a struggle against Lord Foul. Over 500 pages long, the novel takes us on two long journeys, greatly embellished and wordy. It’s not an easy read and I’m not convinced that it’s worth reading the next two volumes as it’s not particularly engaging.

Cute story of a witch on her broom with a lot of hitchhikers.  The rhyming poem is wonderful.  It was longer than I expected of a board book but adorable.

While it doesn't adhere to the most basic conventions of mystery stories, and the plot raises more questions than it resolves, I really loved Nell the Detective Dog. The art is loose and free and feels very active, and Nell is just perfect. I love a clever dog.

But seriously, what is with that guy? And the wheel barrow? What? I don't understand.

Library copy

The witch and the cat are happy together and fly around on the broom. A sequence of events have them meeting new friends and the witch decides to bring the friends with them on the broom. When tragedy strikes, all of the new friends come to the rescue and they discover a solution to make room on the broom for everyone. 

Lexile Measure: AD600L

I would use this with a sequencing activity. I have also used it in a classroom when I was the mystery reader and I dressed up as the witch and we did bubbling cauldrons.