No one appreciates Percy Jackson!!! Well, they do, but not in the right way. The author is so clever, weaving smiles and witty humor perfectly with the deep, dark, tangled-web bits, and oh, the emotions!!!

- Narnia: Hooooooo boy do I have some Narnia Opinions. The whole overt-religious-symbolism thing put aside, because you can have a good book wiht religious symbolism, and the racism in THe Horse and his Boy put aside, because, well, ikes, even so, I cannot forgive what was done to Susan. Cannot forgive. The Magician's Nephew was always my favorite, for all its flaws, because I'm way too attached to alternate universes. 

- Harry Potter: I mean, it basically defined me as a person?? It's so ingrained in me, and my perceptions of what fiction does and what it means and how it works, that I can't really offer a great deal of objective critical thought on it. I love Harry, though; that's all I can say. People say that he's boring, or whiny, or a flat character, but I love him so much. He undergoes so much growth and he is so heroic in such a human way and I love him. Especially in Order of the Phoenix Mmmmyep. 

- Percy Jackson: was a lot of fun, with memorable characters and un-memorable but engaging adventures! Riordan is kind of a sellout these days (is he...ever gonna get bored of this?) but the first series was great and the first half of the latter one was, too; the second half of the latter one was... also good, in many places, and the Nico and Reyna POV sections in the final book were great, but also you could tell he was writing it to adhere to his pumping-out-a-book-a-year thing, because dang was that an anticlimax

- Lord of the Rings: oooh, I adore it. I haven't read it for a while, but I think it's so much more impressive when you realize that every single medieval fantasy story - Eragon, Ranger's Apprentice, that Huntsman movie that just came out - was defined and put into existence by the world that Tolkien created. He basically defined a genre, for better or for worse, and I respect him for that that tremendously. Plus - I just really enjoy it - this fleshing-out of a traditional hero's journey where the heroes are left truly, irrevocably marked by what's happened. I haven't read the book for quite a while, but Sam and Frodo's final ascent up the mountain has never failed to bring me to tears when I watch the movie, and also Legolas and Gimli are a delight. And excessive description doesn't really bother the girl with the Hugo obsession, haha. 

- Fablehaven - was great! Kendra's romance subplots got on my nerves sometimes (have you ever considered....going after people who are not dragons or unicorns and aren't exponentially older than you), but not enough to detract from her as a character, and she and Seth were great as a pair, especially in the latter three books. I don't tend to reread the first one because I always feel way too bad for Seth (the number one thing I really can't bear happening in literature is bad things happening to young boys that remind me of my younger brother :/) but the latter three have adventures that are very creative, and don't blur together quite as much as in Percy Jackson. PJO's characters are a bit more engrossing, but dang does Keys to the Demon Prison deal with the whole "defeat of a seemingly undefeatable foe" so much better than The Blood of Olympus. 

The captcha (I used to call it Spandragon when I was eleven) says awbh, which definitely speaks to the fact that I'm supposed to be studying for my APWH exam. Yikes.  

I didn't know you did BAB too! Here's my opinions.

HP: I think the first book combined odd and cool in a strange way. And I will never like the book for one reason: FILLER. TEXT.

Narnia: not all of the books were well connected. But it was nice!

PJ: I love it. Almost completely flawless.

Lotr: never read. But I have tried.

Fablehaven:  They didn't kill off enough people. I was barely sad about SPOILER ALERT  Coulter dying END SPOILER Seth was fun, funny, and overall my kind of guy. But why can't Kendra have a normal love life?

~Eli <3 

I absolutely agree with you about Percy Jackson. Rick broke all the stereotypes! For one, the relationships. The son of Poseidon and the daughter of Athena, dating; Poseidon and Athena don't like each other! Leo and Calypso; Calypso lives on this island that can't be found by anybody. Tyson and Ella; Tyson is a cyclops, and Ella is a harpy. Nothing more to be said. I love it!

Okay, don't get mad at but I'm going into a full scale rant.

1. Narnia.

I will admit The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader (TVOTDT) does get pretty darn weird at a couple of points, but that does not make me love Narnia any less. Narnia is beautifully written with a glorious and easy to see Christ story. 

And I honestly don't think that introducing Lucy's fears was weird, I think it was needed. Every human is weak, and I think that authors need to do a better job of showing that in realisticish fiction. 

And Narnia is not better just because it's Christian, although I will admit that does make it more ... I dunno ... more beautiful to certain people?

2. Harry Potter: Yes, the first book was a little bit flat, but you don't notice it when you first read the book. However, I also think that the second book was slightly more flat than it was. I in fact, DETEST the second book for that. The fourth book I think was the most well done, (Coco and I have only read 1-4) because it was well-rounded with action and slow times, and building up to the powerful climax.

3. Percy Jackson: *sighs* I like this series, but ...  being a Christian, reading this a lot wories me. The writing style is great, but I thought the first two books were rather flat, and I kinda wonder if Riordan actually knew where he was going with his series at that point. I really enjoyed HoO, though!

4. Lord Of The Rings: Ohmifreakin'Gandalf, I love these books!! The world-building that went into it, the dedication, it's all so ... amazing. I wish that my writing would turn out as well as this. But then again, the book which I'm working on is still in it's first draft, which is always the worst.

5. Fablehaven: Um, I haven't read this series. But I have read The Candy Shop War books and The Five Kingdoms!

Okay! Here we go!

Narnia:

I don't actually have much to say on this. I've read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe multiple times and I love every bit of it, but the rest of them? A number of years ago I tried reading them, but I got stuck on The Horse and His Boy. I can't remember much of it. I listened to the audio of Voyage of the Dawn Treader and I really liked it, though.

And about the whole Christian thing. One, I'm agnostic. I don't usually pay attention to religious meanings, but I'm perfectly fine with it if others approve of their religion being implied. What I don't like is when someone judges a book soley on the fact that it is religious/anti-religious/doesn't imply any sort of religious meaning at all. I'd much rather for people to pay attention to character development, plot development, and worldbuilding.

Harry Potter:
Everyone knows my feelings about Harry Potter. Recently I've gotten into many arguments with multiple people spilling out stupid reasons that it sucks, and that I defend logically (but they simply ignore the truth). But I can say, without a doubt, Harry Potter is amazing. Most of the character development is excellent, what worldbuilding that is applicable is done well, and the plot is so well thought out and detailed you have to praise it.

I'm not giving secure reasons at this moment. Challenge me and I'll give you a few.

Percy Jackson:
To be honest, I have to disagree with you in terms of stereotypes. Most of the characters in both HoO and PJO are very stereotypical, witty characters. In some, there's some development I admire (i.e. Nico) but Percy? He's a very classic witty, selfless hero. And to be honest I find his powers a bit OP. The way Riordan uses them is good, but in another author's hands he could be really, really powerful. He can control all water in the realms of Poseidon, can talk to sea creatures and horses, can breathe underwater, create air bubbles, and the water can even heal him. Not to mention the super epic sword. So you have to appreciate the way Riordan can make it so Percy doesn't seem OP to his readers.

Also, you have to admit Riordan might be turning out one book too many. I haven't read Trials of Apollo yet (though not for lack of trying), but that's a lot of novels he's turned out. Trials, Kane Chronicles, both Percy Jackson series PLUS the two books of extra stuff, and Magnus Chase. I have a theory he's just afraid of fan rage if he stops writing books. Or maybe he just gets a lot of ideas. Who knows?

But I really am focusing on the negatives. I do like Percy Jackson. I think the worldbuiling is good (and, plus, NYC all the way) and the plot is great.

Lord of the Rings:
DISCLAIMER: I am not finished. I've just gotten through The Two Towers (forgive me, but parts were impossibly slow) and I'm almost done with the first book in Return of the King.

But, I think I know enough to say a bit.

Let's start with the good things. That worldbuilding! Did you know Tolkien actually built everything simply out of languages he created? I mean, the languages alone are impressive, but then he designed all of Middle-Earth and its history and its species... I mean, wow. It's nothing to scoff at.

Secondly, the plot! Fantastic. The fact that you could layer a whole trilogy (or series if you count The Hobbit) on the subject of a cursed (or enchanted, if you want to put it that way) ring is also mightly impressive. And all the subplots, the very well-thought-out battles and strategies... marvelous.

But I'm sorry, I've also noticed a few things. Remember my three top judgments? To be honest, some of the character development is iffy. Most of the hobbits are good and round, but... Gandalf. Of course I have to mention Gandalf. He's smart, he's calm, he's cool, he's a supergenius wizard with magical powers and apparently very little to lose! I mean, he virtually escaped death (IF HE DIES, DO NOT TELL ME, YOU UNDERSTAND?) and came back perfectly healthy, and he's trusted by pretty much everyone who doesn't work for Mordor. In short, Gandalf is so... Gandalf.

There's one more thing I want to touch on. When I first started reading LotR, I was pretty annoyed with how unrealistic and polished the speech was. But that's not something I'm complaining about, because I told my dad about it and he told me that's how most fiction books were written in that era. So I swept that aside. But another thing I don't really like is the detail. Not the descriptions-- the descriptions are amazing and vivid and should be applauded. I'm talking more about how he follows the characters everywhere. It's not simply "They traveled through the forest, encountering some minor troubles but coming out unscathed." It's every single step of the way and exactly how these "minor troubles" played out. Some may like it. It may be more realistic (and could definitely be used for good character development), but it also makes the book really hard to get through. I drop off a lot of books halfway through for a number of reasons, that being one of them, and it was only the fact that I really, really, really need to read LotR that kept me going through The Two Towers. Return of the King is a bit easier because there's a lot more action.

Whoo, that was an essay.

Fablehaven:

Not applicable

HARRY POTTER IS THE BEST!

I don't really like Lord of the Rings that much. Too much walking and roaming and hiking and running and more walking.........

I used to love Narnia, but EVERYTHING AFTER THE GOLDEN AGE OF KING PETER IS HORRIBLE!!!! AND I HATE SUSAN!!!!

I've never read or seen Percy Jackson and don't know anything about it besides that it's about demi gods. 

I also never heard of Fablehaven. 

Narnia: It's pretty good, I didn't finish it though- GIGANTIC SPOILER HERE,IF YOU PLAN ON READING NARNIA DON'T READ, I REPEAT DON'T READ, YOU KNOW WHAT, I'M GONNA PUT IT IN BACKWARDS retfa Retep dna Nasus t'ndluoc og kcab ot Ainran, I was kind of disappointed.

HP: REALLY, REALLY GOOD!!! I didn't really like HP as a character, although I don't think he was that flat of a character. I thought all the other characters were really good, and I wish they were talked about more. I think there are better book series, though.

PJO: Read all of it, but not all of HoO. Good- really realistic and funny. All the characters are VERY well done. HP and this are on the same level for me.

LotR: I tried to read The Hobbit, and couldn't get into to it. My Dad and brother are obssesed with it.

Fablehaven: REALLY GOOD!!! I like Kendra.

Please note that if all of these ratings sound similar it's because I read them all at basically the same time.