My Name is Memory / Ann Brashares

"My name is Memory", written by Ann Brashares, author of "The sisterhood of the travelling pants", is the first of a planned series of three books about love, reincarnation and past lives. It is the romantic tale of Daniel, who, throughout many lifetimes, keeps falling in love with the same girl, Sophia (her name and form changes throughout the book , but Daniel refers to her as Sophia in the most part, to avoid confusion). Due to a special gift, "The memory", that Daniel possesses, he is able to recall his beloved throughout each reincarnation he undertakes, and search for her. This ability also allows him to recall his past lives and other souls he has encountered in his past. In Daniel's current reincarnation, he is a senior student at high school, in the small town of Hopewood, Virginia. Sophia is currently known as Lucy. Initially, she does not remember Daniel, but as her memories of Daniel and their love starts to awaken, a dark force comes between them...

The book alternates between the past and present with ease, with Daniel and Sophia/Lucy narrating in the story in turns. I particularly enjoyed the glimpses into history the reader is shown as Daniel is searching for his eternal love. We travel right back in time to 541AD, the time of Daniels first life. From then, he has lived more than a thousand years, and has had many varied and interesting lives, in different cultures and countries. He has been a merchant, a soldier and a sailor in various lives, but has never had a child or grown old. He did however fall in love and this is the one thing that has endured.

This is a magical book, reminiscent of " The time travelers wife". Part romance, part historical and part fantasy, this is a highly unusual book, that leaves you wondering what happens next, and eagerly awaiting the next installment of the trilogy.

My Name is Memory / Ann Brashares

The Skull of the World - Kate Forsyth

This is the 5th book in Kate Forsyth's Witches of Eileanan series and in my opinion one of the best. I actually read this for the Read It 2011 Twitter challenge. The theme of May was #grrlpower and there was a lot of it in this new instalment.

The Skull of the World focuses on the journey of Isabeau, our original protagonist. It takes off where she left off in Book 3 - in a self-imposed exile on the Spine of the World. Isabeau is learning from her father's people, the Khan'cohbans, and is soon to embark on her Journey of Initiation to the Skull of the World. It is here that she discovers her remarkable and unique power (there's no way I'm telling you what it is, you'll just have to read the book). She returns to Luceshire and continues her study to become a Sorceress only to find her life uprooted again when the evil Margrit of Arran strikes. Isabeau, using her newfound Sorceress skills and that talent she found in the Skull of the World (the one I'm not telling you about) is the only one who can stop Margrit.

This is one of my favourite books in the series and a great choice for #grrlpower. We've known Isabeau from the first book where she was nothing but a 16-year-old girl with very little understanding of witchcraft and the world outside of the woods in which she lived. Now she's grown into a powerful witch with the potential to be one of the greatest Sorceress's of all time. Along the way she meets with adversity and has to fight her mental and physical demons to get where she is today. These include the memory of being tortured, her horribly maimed and disfigured hand and the realisation that her path may not be like that of her Sister's. Isabeau makes a choice to overcome these difficulties and this choice leads to an inspiring personal journey.

I really enjoy Kate Forsyth's style of writing. She draws the reader in with her intriguing plotlines and (while I know it sounds cliched) if I had hours I'd be completely immersed in this series. It's great to see her characters develop and grow, and, after 5 books, it will be sad to see the series get completely wrapped up in the next book. Great read!

The Skull of the World - Kate Forsyth

Halo By Alexandra Adornetto

HALO: The first time I picked up this book was at the second hand store. I had stopped there to pick up something to read on my way home from work. Little did I know what I had in my hand was going to be one of those fun, easy books that has you hooked from the first page.
It starts with three angels (Ivy, Bethany and Gabriel) sent from heaven on a mission: to protect the quiet little town called Venus Cove, from dark forces.
It takes time for them to adjust to the normal routine things of daily human life, but before long they are blending into community life.
But as with any good book it doesn't stay quiet and easy-going for long.
Recommended for anyone who likes Twilight but with a more prominent Good Vs Evil theme to it.

Sam/ Cronulla

Halo By Alexandra Adornetto

The Cursed Towers by Kate Forsyth

This is the third book in the witches of Eileanan series and like the fist two it doesn't disappoint. It continues the quest of Isabeau, Iseult, Meghan, Lachlan and their army of followers as they seek to regain power of the land after being dispossessed and forced into exile along with other 'magical' creatures. In this book, Iseult and Lachlan, now Righ and Banrigh, must assert their rule and put down the rebellions of the various enemy armies across the land. Isabeau flees to the Skull of the World with the daughter of Maya the Ensorcellor and learns about the family she never knew. Meanwhile, Maya and Margrit of Arran plot to bring down Lachlan and his new rule.

Now if you haven't read the books, everything I've just written will make absolutely no sense. So the only solution now is to start reading the books. Then you can come back to this blog post and say 'Ah, now I know what she's talking about.'

I was never a reader of fantasy until I stumbled across this series. Forsyth, an Australian author does a great job of creating an entire new land complete with it's own history, politics, magic and mythical creatures. The writing is detailed and at times complicated but this is the essence of fantasy and it has the ability to draw the reader in so that you can escape from the real world for a while. I think what interests me the most are the characters of Isabeau and Iseult - twins born into the world when witches were in hiding. They are now only just discovering their own power and sense of belonging as 19 year olds.

I also love the action scenes - especially when they use magic, though I recommend reading these books with a strong stomach as they can be quite graphic at times.

My biggest criticism of The Cursed Towers is that it seems to be a little drawn out with no major plot twists. I'm hoping that this is just the third book and not a reflection on the rest of the series. Overall, however, I'd highly recommend it to anyone thinking of trying out a fantasy book.

The Cursed Towers by Kate Forsyth