So long to one series, hello to a new one

From January 16 to February 14 I was immersed in The County of The Wardstone Chronicles by Joseph Delaney. The series is incomplete and the next installment (The Spook's Nightmare) is scheduled for UK release on May 27, 2010. It was weird to read The Sugar Queen this week because for nearly a month I had read nothing but this series, and I had come to love and care about all the characters. I also loved Delaney's knack for scenery and detail, and The County seemed like such a real and attainable location :)

For fans of Harry Potter, Septimus Heap, and other magic-and-fantasy YA series, The Wardstone Chronicles (known as the Last Apprentice series in the US) is a must-read.

I’ll miss Tom, Alice, the Spook and their pet boggart, who I’ve come to know and love in this last month, but I’ll see them again in May. Until then, it’s a sad but fond farewell to the world of The County...

...and a 'hello' to the Seven Realms of Avalon! The Great Tree of Avalon by T.A. Barron is a completed trilogy so there will be no axiety awaiting the next installment (I could barely focus last year, I was so excited about The Last Olympian!).

Here's some info...

Child of the Dark Prophecy - T.A. Barron

- 12 October 2004 by Philomel

- (Hardcover) 432 pages

- GR reviews: 42% (5 stars), 33% (4 stars), 19% (3 stars), 4% (2 stars), 1% (1 star)

Long ago the great wizard Merlin planted the seed that would become the peaceful world of Avalon. Now, the enchanted land is in peril, and its fate lies in the hands of three people-but only one of them is Merlin's heir who can save Avalon, while the others are destined to destroy it.

Shadows on the Stars - T.A. Barron

- 6 October 2005 by Philomel

- (Hardcover) 432 pages

- GR reviews: 44% (5 stars), 33% (4 stars), 19% (3 stars), 2% (2 stars), 0% (1 star)

Continuing the Great Tree of Avalon epic, three companions embark on separate, far-reaching quests to solve the mystery of the vanishing stars-confronting the very powers of darkness along the way.

The Eternal Flame - T.A. Barron

- 19 October 2007 by Philomel

- (Hardcover) 400 pages

- GR reviews: 43% (5 stars), 33% (4 stars), 19% (2 stars), 0% (1 star)

I'm not putting the blurb because it has a SPOILER! I got SPOILED!!