Elves Books

Iceland is one amazing place,a beautiful natural landscape interwoven with sagas and tales of Elves Dwarves Trolls to name but a few this easy to read book of short abridge folk tales covering areas of Iceland and the hidden races,magic,heros and Gods is a smashing short story bed time read for Children, not to graphic and easily censored with a quick thumb through whilst my son brushes his teeth,and away we go spooky but no nightmares,perfect bedtime winter tales and sagas stretching back from the hardy Viking settlers of this wild and rugged land.

What a wonderful imagination! A fresh and new book for children bound to become a classic. The authors have captured all the wonder of Christmas. Looking forward to more books. A true delight.

Very cute little booklet that keeps the kids happy and busy!

I thought that I could not draw until I got this book and now I am the best drawer in my class!!

My husband and I are both teachers and as a parent with boys in 5th and 6th grades, I found this an outstanding novel. Stanek was able to weave ancient myths and legends into an action-packed adventure-filled story.

This is one of the best books I have read! The book is about a young mage and his journey to save himself as his world changes and a young princess who is just beginning to see the world as it is. Both must face dangers and perils as they journey into the unknown.

The characters feel and experience the same things readers do. The author cleverly interchanges adventure with mystery that keeps the readers' attention. My sons and I loved listening to this and couldn't stop.

The voice artist does a great job in telling the tale and the book has left my sons wanting to listen and read more. As a parent/teacher, is there really anything else I could ask for than that?

Read this, AND read the sequels! They keep getting better and better!

When I was a child the same things appealed to me as to other children. I had many of the same interests and beliefs--I followed as much as led. It was with this special book that I began to seperate my own child into the adult that would someday be. This book doesn't have fancily colored illustrations or a flashy narrative style that depends on shock or novelty. This book is a quietly absorbing tale that kept this child reading it over and over. It lets the reader bring his/her imagination to the story--then the story sets it on fire. Bravo, Ms. Calhoun.

The Legacy of Tirlannon is the next big thing in fantasy stories. The first book in the series, The Freedom Fighter, is our introduction into a vast and ancient realm named: Tirlannon. Author Patrick Reid has contrived a world that is filled with just as much detail as Middle-Earth, if not more, and reading The Freedom Fighter takes you there as effortlessly as reading and watching the great epics of our time: Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter. If the rest of this new saga is filled with as much action, adventure and epic scope, in a few short years you'll be adding the Legacy of Tirlannon to that short list of "great" epic stories.

Little Fur is a wonderfully narrated, unabridged audiobook story about a half-elf, half-troll named Little Fur, who is far older than she appears. Distressed about the tree-burning that city humans are doing to the patch of wilderness that is her park home, she sets out on a quest to protect what is most dear to her. With help from a shaggy Shetland pony, a crow, and an owl, she hopes to make a difference in hearts, minds, and lives. Written and read aloud by Australian author Isobelle Carmody, Little Fur is delightful and engaging listening for all ages and very highly recommended for family, school, and community library audiobook collections. 3 CDs, 2 hours 50 minutes.

When first published as a Zondervan pocket paperback in 1974, this book received rave reviews. You can find it quoted all over the Internet, although it has long been out of print. At the time Dr. Purtill was teaching an SRO class called Philosophy and Fantasy at Western Washington University in Bellingham WA, and a lot of that class went into this book. Thus it was one of the first scholarly examinations of the fantasy of Lewis and Tolkien. Dr. Purtill went on to pen two more related books: J.R.R. Tolkien: Myth, Morality and Religion; and C.S. Lewis' Case for the Christian Faith, both examining these authors from the standpoint of a philosopher. Ignatius Press has now reprinted the entire Philosophy and Fantasy trilogy in trade paperback editions.

The second edition of this book is revised and expanded from the first Zondervan edition. The most important inclusion is of Dr. Purtill's two most requested essays (based on a search of the Internet), "That Hideous Strength: A Double Story"; and "Did C.S. Lewis Lose His Faith?" as appendices. The first essay considers the third book of Lewis' science fiction trilogy on its own merits, and jumps off from a very brief discussion of it in Lord of the Elves and Eldils. The second essay answers, from a philosopher's perspective, implications in the play and film Shadowlands, that Lewis abandoned his faith following his wife's death. Purtill resoundingly shows that this was not the case, that if anything, this tragedy strengthened Lewis' belief that these are the shadowlands and his wife Joy had journeyed to the "true country".

This is not another of those "Tolkien said this, I think this about that" books that proliferate around these authors. One extremely interesting aspect of the book is where Purtill answers critics of Lewis and Tolkien whom are now forgotten and the reader is not likely to encounter, while Tolkien has been proclaimed "Author of the Century" and Lewis' books are selling far better than they ever did in his own day.

Purtill is also uniquely posed to consider these authors because, like them, he is also both a professor and a writer of fantasy, his latest novel being The Eleusinian Gate. Although Purtill speaks little of his own use of ancient Greek mythic materials in his own novels, he does consider Tolkien's use of Norse myths and his background in Beowulf and the Arthurian tales. Ignatius has done us a great service in reprinting these works by Dr. Purtill (and they plan to reprint more of them), and Amazon's great price makes this the gift book of the season.

What a cute and engaging book for kids of all ages. A warm and uplifting story that is wonderfully illustrated. This year's favorite Christmas book.