Elves Books

I admit I bought the story mostly because of the cover drawing. That said, I wasn't disappointed.

Basically this is a YA style urban fantasy. The author writes well and the four characters are engaging. The basic premise is that four adolescents discover that something is unworldly about their birth.

The first part of the book is fun, but then the author apparently lost interest. The denouement is clumsy and unsatisfying - the story just ends instead of being resolved. The author is talented and I will probably read her next offering. She would benefit from reading Plot (Elements of Fiction Writing)

Maybe it's just me and my own sense of humor, and seriousness, but I wasn't amused by these stories at all. Bursting out with laughter? No. And the artwork is awful. I'm a fan of the ElfQuest series all the way up to Kings of the Broken Wheel, and the change from beautiful, symmetrical elves to ugly, lopsided weak characters was shocking. There's a lot of fanart out there that's better than this! And the dialogue was flat and simple.

If you're a really diehard fan of EQ, stay away. If you like the series, but can accept the art, boring stories, and all, then go and read it. I hope the artists that drew this get better. I don't think I could take it if they started doing the main stories.

I don't own this book, I read it at the library. Now, I wish I did own it! The art isn't the same quality as the Elfquest comics by Wendy Pini, but it was good and kind of "cute" looking. And the stories were hilarious - I burst out laughing in some parts! This Elfquest book is intended for children, but it can be enjoyed by anyone - especially Elfquest fans.

The first time I looked at Bedtime Stories I was really upset. I love ElfQuest, and Bedtime Stories seemed like nothing more than a bunch of half standard artwork. But then I sat down and actually read it. And thought about it. And then I laughed so hard I thought my sides were going to split. This is not an example of the mature, highly involved stories we've come to expect from the world of two moons. This is what we have been telling our children for as long as fairy tales and Elves have existed. Why should Elf parents be any different? I found the artwork crude but the Elf twist on some very familiar stories amusing and interesting. After all, a good story *is* a good story, right?

Apparently, the Pinis have decided that since their cult-like following will purchase *anything* with the EQ name on it, they may as well take the money and run, ignoring the fact that their once-pet project is being dragged through the mud. "Bedtime Stories" is possibly the worst example of the drop in quality which has been occuring since the mid-80's on the World of Two Moons. The art is, simply put, terrible -- sloppy, amateurish, and our well-loved characters are barely recognizable! The stories are all derivative and devoid of the slightest spark of imagination. The "humor" falls completely flat.

Even "completists" will be sorry they bothered. Thank goodness I only borrowed a copy from the library! The price would be highway robbery for a book this slight, even if it were much better done than it is. Time to break out the old comics again, and try to remember what I liked about "Elfquest" in the first place.

I am surprised and dissapointed by this book. The art in particular is very poorly done to someone used to Wendy Pini. Proportions and perspective change completely from frame to frame, and the expressions are rendered with no ability whatsoever. The storylines were simplistic and had little to do with the Elfquest series (which I have very much enjoyed) The characters were simply not the same as those in other stories-they were simply grafted onto stories written without the Elfquest motif in mind. That would not be so bad, but the artwork was so terrible that I could barely finish. I am returning this book, and I would strongly discourage anyone from buying it.

This is a review of the Kindle Edition. The table of contents is not linked to the individual stories. Since this is a collection of stories, it makes the Kindle Edition book unusable -- you would have to click, page-by-page, to reach your desired story.

Philip has faithfully translated this collection of the Grimm Brothers' anthology of oral folktales. He has chose to include twenty of the classic German tales in this beautiful edition. Hardcover, with gilted pages, and metallic highlights in the illustrations creates a very stunning picture. Philip has selected some of the most well known favorites, but also a few that modern times have forgotten. The reading level is approximately third grade, though the stories look as though they would be better understood and more entertaining if read aloud. There tends to be just one illustration per story. While they are wonderfully done and framed with more artwork, they don't do much to tell the plot of the story and are not always matched up with the text. Every classroom should have a collection of Grimm's fairy tales, but this isn't the one. This book seems to have been designed more for collectors and to sit on a shelf than to be handled by youngsters on a daily basis in a classroom environment.

Why 4 stars?:
This is not a book to be read, but one to be collected and set upon a shelf to collect dust. The illustrations are beautiful and the information provided about the tales and the brothers is excellent. However, this book was not made for children to read their favorite tales from.

I always hesitate to write a review because I know that everyone enjoys different things. But, for my own personal taste, I was disappointed in these cards. When I first saw them, I could hardly wait to order. I love working with Fairy tarots, but I have always dreamed of someone doing a tarot based only on the Elves.

I had tried to order the complete kit for this tarot which is supposed to include a book that will 'explain' the stories behind the meanings of these cards. After waiting nearly a month, and then being told it would be at least another month before the entire kit was available, I canceled the first order and simply got the cards. Would I have been happier waiting for the kit? I'm not sure.

I am not an advanced tarot reader, but I have made several sets of tarot cards of my own. When I read through the meanings assigned to the Tarot of the Elves, I was confused. The card meanings are based on stories that I don't know. I quickly realized that, without the story behind the pictures, I was lost.

Also, the pictures were a bit disconcerting to me. There is a lot of blood and death shown in the pictures. Sometimes, as in the suit of Cups, I have a difficult time telling whether the elves on the cards are male or female. Facial expressions on many of the cards seemed frightening or 'creepy'. There were several times when a chill ran up my back while examining the pictures for the first time. All in all, this was not what I had expected to see in an Elven land and I have to admit that it made me sad.

I did try to work with the cards. At first I tried simply drawing one card every morning and using the meaning to help guide my day, but the cards had such depressing meanings that I was uncomfortable doing that. Next I thought I might use the cards from this tarot and simply substitute the meanings that I was more familiar with when reading tarot. But the pictures were so foreign to what I was used to believing about tarot cards that I quickly stopped trying to do that, too!

I think for now I'll put these cards away. They don't 'feel' right to me, but others may really enjoy them. Maybe I'm just not as 'Elvish' as I thought. Maybe that is my problem. I guess I wanted an 'Elven Tarot', not a 'Tarot for Elves'. After having seen these cards, I would not buy them for myself again.

I like to purchase tarot decks more because I see them as art than because I work with them in divination. I purchased this one as a gift for a friend and I am very satisfied my purchase. I don't know how it will work as a divination tool but I am sure that my friend will be very satisfied from the beautiful imagery and the strong energy this deck radiates when touched.

This was the first book by Tom Holt for me. Despite what other people say about him, and despite the playful and interesting premises I THINK I see looking at some of his other books, it's hard to imagine I'll read another one. The main character spends the whole book either being obnoxious himself or (far more of the time) being a punching bag getting abused by his far more obnoxious girlfriend. There's no explanation why he's so in love with a continuously abusive girl, other than that he's a loser (which really is the explanation given, albeit obliquely). The last third of the book is nothing short of grueling to make it through--bitter people banding together for a common goal, but not being nice about it--but you slog on through because you're expecting a payoff. That payoff comes in one of the most abrupt and pointlessly bad endings I can recall. How can I describe it? Ah yes: "Hideous." And the funny thing is how completely, totally, and utterly CONTRIVED the explanation that ending was. Ugh. What a waste of time, for both him and me. It frustrates me that I can't ask him for my money back.

Tom Holt stories are typically more than a bit eccentric and fantastic, with a hefty dash of humor - word play and situations that might be at home in Terry Pratchett (Guards,Guards or Witches Abroad period more than the more-recent novels) or Douglas Adams book - almost always in the displaced-fish-out-of-water mold. Like Pratchett, Holt stories often have a large dose of supernatural or magic in them, but many of them take place in England. Great ingredients for light hearted fun.

This book has some of the best individual lines and a great premise, but the characters aren't as engaging as usual or even likable, and even worse, the ending is flat-out depressing. I found it the least re-readable of his books.

For an introduction to his funner, lighter-escapism with great humor, try Snow White and the Seven Samauri, or Who's Afraid of Beowolf.

When it's a story about a little boy who sees an elf at the bottom of the garden, who grows up into a larger sized little kid, still intimidated by his menacing step-dad, and daunted by his own uselessness and general futility of life, we know we are in for another Tom Holt variety show..

With a Darth Vader step-dad and a loony mother, poor Michael doesn't have a great deal of back bone. But that's ok, beacuse his best friend at the mostly-boys-only school is Cruella, and she has attitude in spades.

It seems that Daddy George (the Darth Vader step-dad) has enslaved a whole lot of elves to work in his shoe factory. Altough it takes a lot to get Michael to the point of seeing himself as their saviour, he eventually (and with a lot of prodding from various plot contrivances, and baleful girls, not to mention saccharine elves) makes an attempt to find out and fix whatever his relatives have been up to.

Being who and what he is (a monumental screw up of the kind only teenage and gormless boys seem to acheive), the operation is doomed to failure, a fact he recognizes from the outset.

Slow in places, and at times a little too carried away with describing the interminable boredom in interminable detail, this book is nontheless very enjoyable.

Through reading, I've been moved to push quotes from the book upon people.

Michael is very reminiscent of Prachett's Rincewind, only done in Holt fashion. The spineless acceptance of fate & realization of his place on the food chain make them very similar.

Holt imbues a waft of romance to the book via Cruella, and it's refreshing (The Portable Door has been his other major excursion into "happily ever afters") only I felt at the end of the book he has somewhat betrayed his characters the ending they deserved.

It's as if Holt was happy writing the middle and just before the ending experienced a disappointment that forced him to conclude the book on bitter note, instead of the humorous twist which he usually leaves the reader with.

A poignant paragraph:

"..difference between romance and real life. I think they probably have tupperware hearts in Elfland, thin and bendy and impossible to break, and thus not worth having. This side, we have the real thing; we have all the real things, good and bad, and it's the fact that they can be lost and bruised and broken that makes them valuable. They have all the looks and the style and the flowering cherry trees, we have grotty streets and lousy weather and love that can't be Araldited back together again if you're cack-handed enough to drop it. They have elves who can edit out the bad and boring bits and live for ever; we've just got little people, living short lives, living every second of them, whether we like it or not."

The little people of the title is multi-layered, and not just the obvious reference to elves /gnomes it seems to be at first.

Enjoyable and humorous although a little meandering.

Kotori December 2004 - ojadis@yahoo.com

Save your time and money - this book was a disappointment. I have always enjoyed the Holt books I have read - but Little People was a complete waste of time and money. An interesting idea, that is poorly executed; boring and tedious. Why, when there are so many good Holt books, was this the only one on the shelves of my local Border's.

I am a big fan of Tom Holt, who writes "intelligent" fantasy in an incredibly funny style. He is best when he sticks to subjects related to mythology (classical, Aurthurian... just about anything, actually) and history, as that is what his background is. This book, on the other hand, felt like a rush job. Parts of it made no sense (even for a book about elves), the characters were one dimensional and trite, and the book dragged on f-o-r-e-v-e-r and should have ended about five times before it actually did.

If you are interested in reading a laugh-out-loud fantasy book by someone who knows his mythology, read "Flying Dutch" or "Expecting Someone Taller" or "Odds and Gods" or anything that has a historical or mythological basis before you form an opinion of Tom Holt. He really does have his brilliant moments: this book, however, is not one of them.

I like to read about absurdities, and I expected that this book would describe absurd Christmas inventions over the years. This book is nothing more than a collection of patents, without any editorial content at all. So you get to see the mind-numbing diagrams the 'inventors' made, along with their tedious descriptions, just as the patent office received them. Too boring to even attempt to find the humor. An editor should have distilled the jist of each invention and added a little humorous commentary. Don't waste even a few dollars on this.

It's beginning to read a lot like Christmas. The publishers spew out the Yuletide titles, and we read them. And sometimes we weep. In the case of Richard Ross' latest, we laughed. Often. This collection of patent applications --- think Santa Claus detectors, singing elves, inflatable snow people and collapsible, pine-scented fake evergreens, smoke alarms in the shape of haloed angels --- proves what happens when the creativity, curiosity, capitalism of idle wanna inventors collide ... perhaps sparked by a generous helping of spiked eggnog. Santa, baby, all we want for Christmas is the tree that sticks out his tongue, patent #US6.053.790.

This material originally appeared in black and white and apparently Wood's wife Tatjana colorized it. Although the coloring is mostly fine, she appears to have worried about nudity and painted one-piece bathing suits onto female figures! It's not QUITE the equivalent of painting pants on the Sistine Chapel figures - but only because this is not some of Wallace Wood's best work! A few pages are simply oversized text or blown-up sketches. Another irritation is the publisher's reminders of the material we missed by not buying the deluxe edition (the 'picto-fiction' version of the story, available in its entirety in "Woodwork" and partially sprinkled through this edition to pad out the volume!!!)

"Wally" Wood was one of the greatest comic-book artists of the 20th century, standing directly alongside greats Jack Kirby and Will Eisner. Famed for his amazingly detailed sci-fi work, particularly for EC comics, Wood also created some marvelous heroic fantasy for the Marvel and Warren lines. Frustrated by low pay and corporate-art strictures Wood created the "pro-zine" Witzend in 1966. A predecessor of `adult' comix like HEAVY METAL, the magazine published experimental and controversial material, including the stories collected here.

Wood recognized the popularity of Tolkien-esque fantasy and "The Wizard King" was intended to be an irreverent take on the genre, with anti-heroic characters and ironic plot twists. Unfortunately there's a lot of repetition and the story never even quite meets the standard set by his stories in the mainstream Marvel title, "Tower of Shadows." Wood's fantasies for EERIE and CREEPY are much better - the influence of writer Archie Goodwin is missing here.

This story came across as being something that was just thrown out there no real thought put into it took me three weeks to read it. A book usually only last 1-2 days once I get home (depending on what's on the work schedule).

ok, if you're following Terry Brooks's current work, you might spot the trend here. his newest trilogies have all been short works that lack resolution at the end of each individual novel until you reach the final installment.

these are all single books that have been hacked into thirds, either by the publisher or by the author, in order to make more money.

and now i'm disgusted to see that they have now split his original novel, the sword of shannara, originally published back in the 70's, in order to make even more money. seriously, this is such a blatant rip-off i'm considering a boycott of all del-ray books; too bad it wouldn't work.

5 stars for the complete Sword of Shannara novel. Great stuff. And the first of many great Shannara novels. But with this particular book offered here the money trawling publishing company is selling you only one third of the original novel. They split it into three books which cost individually the same as if you bought the Sword of Shannara novel as one book in its complete form. Did that make sense? What they are doing surely does not make sense...except to their profits! Buy the original Sword of Shannara novel and enjoy.

Sword of Shannara is a fine book. Why'd they split it in two? What kind of peson decides that the best thing to do is split up a perfectly good story into seperate books? At least they only divided it in half (I think) instead of thirds. Seriosly, who has the idiocy to chop up a story to make it easier to sell? (In case I haven't been clear, I'm refering to Lord of the Rings)

This is unbelievable. It's also unfortunate since some will get duped into buying this. Shame on the publisher and shame on Amazon. Why not break into 5 books for 7 bucks a pop.....don't just be greedy, get really hoggish!

This book is recommended for ages 4-8; however, I found I couldn't use it for my preschool program. There are too many words on each page and not enough pictures. The pictures look drawn with a pencil and are not very interesting. I was hoping for pictures to depict what is going on on each page since my students are learning Spanish. I was also hoping the theme could be carried over into doing our own scavenger hunt for presents. This book failed miserably and I ended up using a Dora book instead.