Faerie Wars

I enjoyed this book. I liked Henry who is a very ordinary 14-yr old boy - no heroics or achieving great feats from this kid. He is a nice but ordinary boy who has stumbled into an adventure and plods along like a sidekick. You may think that sounds like the book will be boring but it isn't because the others around Henry are the active or heroic ones. Henry as (one of?) the main character just allows us to see the story from the point of view of an ordinary person. *shrug* I found it a refreshingly different style.The other characters who star in the book are great! I like paranoid Mr Fogarty, the old man who has hired Henry to do odd jobs aroud his place and rambles on about the CIA, UFOs and fairies. Pyrgus is a Fae prince who fancies himself the pauper and dresses like his subjects to blend in and get into mischief. His sister Blue is quite happily a princess but also pulls the pauper act when it suits her - and it suits her whenever she's being nosy...which is often.I also liked the world building and the way that things from our world and the Fae realm interacting are explained...like why Fae sightings are often associated with certain plants and 'the truth' behind why certain odd things happen in our world. (Can't give better details - they'd be spoilers!)I see from the reviews that there is a lot of controversy about whether this book is appropriate for young readers. It seems Henry's mother's lesbian relationship is the main sticking point. While I will admit that, at least in book 1, that storyline is extraneous, I can see how it might be useful or relevant in a future book. The lesbianism isn't even lightly graphic - it's just mentioned and then Henry, his sister and his school friend (in different conversations) discuss it a bit and try with their young minds to figure it out - can a woman who is married to a man also like women? Is a lesbian affair a phase females go through? Is it still cheating? The questions and issues they struggle with I think would resonate with kids and adults too. I will warn that as the child of divorced parents, I found Henry's experience quite realistic and familiar and it might be like a trigger for some kids but other than that, I don't see the issue with it at all.Maybe because I can't believe that in a book with extremely graphic details about dark magic rituals and a book whose cover may be made from babies' skin, a lesbian affair lightly hinted at is the issue some parents are having! I don't have young teen kids but I wouldn't buy this book for my godchildren who are that age group. However kids 15 or up depending on what they've been exposed to might be okay...though I did still find myself skimming over the magic rituals which were a bit dark for me. I've read of people who think the PG magic in Harry Potter was 'promoting witchcraft' - their heads might explode if they read this book. BUT even those bits aren't large parts of the book and the rest of it is certainly worth reading if you can stomach the cons.

Faeries and Demons and Kittens... Oh My!!My husband is NOT a reader, so it amuses me on those rare occasions when he calls me during the day insisting that I look up a book. More importantly? To date, he has yet to let me down.His latest find was "Faerie Wars" which again... (congrats to him) is a winner, and a very promising start to the "Faerie War Chronicles." It has solid character development, a fluid plot, and several twists, sure to keep even skeptical readers engrossed and seeking the final "answer."The book was well written, and (sucessfully) from several variaying perspectives, each eventually emerging into one main plot line.First you have Henry...average boy, average life, mundane existence...that is of course until he tries to rescue a butterfly from a cats mouth. Turns out the butterfly was less insect and more little boy with wings who... has a thing for potato chips.Second you have Pyrgus...the "Not quiet a butterfly" who SURPRISE! is actually the crown prince of the Faerie realm. He should practically be a member of PETA, and tends to jump before looking over the edge, but that of course is what makes a story good.There are the evil cat killers...Brimstone and Chalkhill, There's Blue...Pyrgus's hot younger sister whole is a better spy than the royal guard, there's Fogerty, the crotchety ex-bank robber who think aliens are taking over the world, and last but certainly not least...there is the Purple Emperor himself, who well...has a very unfortunate moment with an "Analog World" weapon."Faerie Wars" is a plethora of the unexpected. There is a pissed off demon with a whistle in his head, a lesbian mommy, a Princess who should learn to close the door, flamboyant leaders of a glue empire, and 1 very clumsy assassination plot.It was...Narnia meets Harry Potter meets Lord of The Rings, and I LIKED it."Herbie Brennan" set us up for a world of endless possibilities and to be perfectly honest...I can't wait.Happy reading my fellow Analogers and remember...if you insist on having a journal cataloging all of your evil plans...give everyone fake names.

I am a bit surprised to be writing this review, since so many readers love it. I found it without charm and the characters less than engaging. I never felt like I had entered another world, as I'm supposed to when the reader enters the faerie world. A lot of the magical elements, creatures, etc. aren't explained and therefore hard to visualize. The only scenes that I could really felt transported to through the writing were the demon world ones.A few of the characters were intriguing, but none are fleshed out enough. I esp. felt the lack with Henry, one of the two main characters. Other than the fact that he's insecure (which comes across quite well), I just never felt like I knew him.The end chapters seem rushed and the "war" anti-climactic. The traitor is very easy to guess early on.Like a lot of reviewers, I felt the mother's affair and the problems at home didn't belong in this story. The didn't add anything and it was tedious to read. I understand the author was trying to add background for Henry but it's pointless background and there's too many pages of it. His mother is cold and emotionally absent; the father is just a stick-figure character. The sister is a brat who seems to have no interesting characteristics at all.It's as though the writer decided to write a fantasy book but his heart wasn't in it.

I was nearly put off by the word 'wars' in the title. (I'm not keen on war books). Then again, the fact that it was a book for children might indicate it would be too tame. In reality I found it a 'stonking' good read about a human boy called Henry who finds a fairy in the garden. It turns out to be a fairy crown prince of similar age as Henry called Pyrgus. He has come to this world through a portal. In fact he is in exile for his own safety as there is intrigue and war brewing in his own world. The story really gathers pace and feels very realistic. There is a lot of violence and a few dark characters and demons, but I know that most kids love that sort of stuff. (Similar to the dark characters in Philip Pullman's Dark Materials). I found it un-putdownable and read it in one weekend. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

I bought this as it was a daily offer and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's really well written and is easy enough to read and remember the plot even with a busy life going on in the background. The story has twists and turns to keep you interested too. Can't wait to get the next one!

awesome

No corners were bent

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book - who knew fairies could be 'bad' as well as good. It also included a bit of syfy which was an added bonus for me.