The Faerie Locket

The Faerie Locket is the companion novel to the Dungeon's and Dragons A Practical Guide to Faeries. I found it at the Bookshelf and thought it sounded rather intriguing. While it is written for a younger audience (and it's very obvious about this as soon as you start reading it) I thought it was an entertaining book overall.

Twelve-year-old Jade finds a faerie locket, which transports her to the Feywild. Once there she is transformed into a Pixie. She finds herself at the heart of a war between the Ice Queen and the Summer King. Despite having lost her trove of power, the Ice Queen is trying to conquer the Feywild by freezing it and thereby killing the summer fey. As a desperate last hope, the Summer King has sent the locket to a human girl in the hopes that she will fulfill a prophecy and end the war. There's just one problem: the locket was meant for Vira, Jade's older sister. Can Jade do the impossible and stop the war within three days? Especially when almost everyone doesn't believe she can?

The Faerie Locket is a really quick, light read. I read it in one night while I was at camp. Keeping in mind that this is a story meant for a younger reader, The Faerie Locket is an all around fun story. At its heart it is the story of Jade becoming a hero, even when all the adults dismiss her because she is too young (and later for also being a pixie). My one problem with it came from a misunderstanding: when originally reading the plot synopsis, I thought it was a girl from "our" world that is brought to the Feywild. Instead it is a girl from a fantasy world who is transported to the realm of faeries which exists alongside her realm. Once I got over that, I found the book extremely enjoyable.

Shadowmoor

It's taken me awhile (I read the first story back in March), but today I finally finished the Magic:the Gathering Shadowmoor Anthology! And I have to say I really liked it! Right off the bat I was enchanted with the land of Shadowmoor, from the treefolk and giants to the merrows and elves. I liked that there were no humans present. It, and Lorwyn (the sunny, happier Shadowmoor), reminded me of a fairy tale land and I liked that. But if Lorwyn is the happier side of the coin, Shadowmoor is the dark, Brother's Grimm fairy tales. Almost all of the tales in this anthology are darker, and many have twists that end in death, destruction and suffering.

There were nine stories in total, most by authors I am unfamiliar with (unless they wrote stories in some of the other Magic anthologies I have read). Out of the nine stories, I really enjoyed five of them, and thought another three were alright. It was only "Expedition," the story about the kithkin doun trying to teach fear to one of its members, that I really didn't like. Shadowmoor was a great read, and I wish Wizards of the Coast would continue to tell tales from this dark land (and its sunnier counterpart).