Owl

Get children this book., Mar 26 2004

This book is truly terrific. I love most of Margaret Mahy's books dearly, including this one, and this is the only one I've read that is clearly "Children's" and not "YA". Of wonderful magical Children's books such as the Green Knowe series, Grimbold's Other World, E. Nesbit's works, and The Ordinary Princess, this is one of the few set in a fairly recent time and ordinary (seemingly) family. It is not diminished as great kids' fantasy by a setting far less dated and remote than, say, that of the Dark is Rising series, or Alan Garner's books. After reading many of these works and growing up a bit, a young person could go on to read Aliens in the Family, The Changeover, and The Tricksters,… Read more

excellent tale-telling, Mar 9 2004

I didn't realize this was the second in a series when I bought it. No matter, it explains itself well. I really enjoyed it, especially in that the plot is sufficiently complex and only got more so as the book went on, and that all the characterization is sound and attractive. I will definitely be buying the rest of the trilogy and likely anything else the author comes up with. It is a clearly seen World, with no distressing over-similarities to any other fantasy realms I'm familiar with. The magic is neither cheesy nor impossible to understand. I don't see any real flaws in this book, and recommend it to lovers of Morgan Llywelyn, Andre Norton, Robin McKinley and Cecilia Dart-Thornton.

I was never the same afterward., Nov 25 2003

I read this as a child, and it was one of three books that affected me the most out of all my excessive reading. (One of the others was Diane Duane's Deep Wizardry). It changed me with its beauty and poignancy.