Some of us think of our siblings as friends for life. Those of us who have siblings also know that much of the time, your bonds can transcend friendship, and sometimes not in a good way. Both forms of love between siblings are lovingly rendered in James Shade’s debut novel, Thieves of Islar. Young Jaeron, Chazd and Avrilla deAlto lose their father, Henri, in a tragic house fire. To avenge him, the siblings form a guild with their closest friends…

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In Living Shadows, the second book in Cornelia Funke’s wondrous Mirrorworld trilogy (currently being repackaged and reissued in the US as the Reckless trilogy), death haunts every page. We follow Jacob Reckless, our protagonist, as he attempts to rid himself of the moth devouring his heart. Given to him by the Red Fairy whom he carelessly betrayed, it begins to fill his body with excruciating pain. He must find an ancient crossbow belonging to an infamous witch slayer and a…

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As you plunge into the into the depths of The Petrified Flesh, Cornelia Funke’s newly revised and updated first volume of her Mirrorworld trilogy, you start noticing things. Like that the two protagonists are named Jacob and Will and that they’re brothers with an undying love for one another. Unfortunately, that love has been thwarted by Jacob, the older of the two. For much of the time, he journeys through a treacherous and magical world which he inhabits with the help…

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