Well, Michael started writing vampire tales a few years back as short stories in anthologies and that seemed to get the ball rolling, so to speak. Since that time he has come up with a very fun series that centers on one of my favorite writers, Jane Austen. Although I must admit Michael’s take on it is very different. That is because in his latest set of novels, Jane Bites Back and Jane Goes Batty our very own Jane Austen has been turned, as in turned into a vampire. Who turned her, and why she is now living in a small New England town running a bookstore is only half the story, but it’s a good start.

Of course, there is so much more to this author than just award winning books for teenagers or fun tales of vampire romance authors. For one thing, I have discovered he is a not very secret Dr. Who fan. Well, at least I have to assume that anyone who can talk at such great length about the ins and outs of various clown episodes of Dr. Who has to have more than a passing knowledge of the show. And then there is Lillie, the sweetest little inspiration for a three-legged doggie from hell you could ever hope to have. You can check into all of this and more on his Facebook page.

So, Michael is a dog lover, Sci-Fi fan and all around writer of some of the wittiest dialogue you will ever read coming out of anyone’s mouth, let alone a several hundred year-old vampire. I know you are all going to enjoy Michael Thomas Ford’s fine Jane Austen series that we will be featuring here this month. And next week, I will introduce you to the first two in the series, so stay tuned!

Heven should have been the happiest girl in school. She was smart, popular and had scads of friends. Of course, that was her life before. Her life before whatever had happened that left her with a hideous scar across her face and her life in ruins. That was the life she had before that dreadful and somehow unremembered night, when everything changed. Now all she wants to do is somehow get through the day with her hoodie pulled up to hide her face, her golden hair that she once proudly showed off now a curtain pulled around her face to hide behind.

Masquerade is a wonderful first novel, pulled from an amazing little story called Before that seems to be quite well known around the web. I saw several people mention it and there are quite a few book review members on Amazon who have read it. In fact, although you might want to check out Before (it is free on Amazon as a kindle download) prior to reading Masquerade, you don’t need it to understand and appreciate the story. It is a gently fable, of love and hate, good and evil and has an ending you won’t quite be expecting.

The story begins with Heven’s presentation of life now – after the event that was to change her life. We follow her day, get introduced to her friends, and see her torment about the scars. But the story takes an abrupt turn when we begin to be introduced to different points of view. That begins after she meets Sam, the new guy in town. Not only is Sam the new guy that is unbelievably hot, but he seems to only have eyes for her. He perseveres in becoming her new friend, and she begins to wonder if he could be more.

From there the story introduces us to some shadowy characters, beings of evil that seem intent on returning to finish what they began when they left her scarred. As the plot unfolds, Sam is there to protect her and give her the strength he knows she holds inside. But who he really is, and what that means for Heven is the real story here. And one that you will need to read and find out for yourself. As with so many YA books, there is a moral here, but it doesn’t overwhelm the story. It just makes Masquerade a more meaningful book, and one well worth the journey.

Title: Between Season

This is a ghost story like nothing I have ever read before. It begins within a few paragraphs of the first page with Patrick’s death. We watch him watch it, and we almost immediately feel how likable and absolutely ordinary this kid was. And really, that simple ingredient is the key to the whole story. Because this is not some scary ghost story of things that go bump in the night, though I guess to an outsider that is exactly what Patrick is. But to the reader he is a real honest-to-goodness 19 year old kid who has the bad misfortune to die by accident at that young an age.

But the real story, of course, is what happens after. Because that is what we witness as time unfolds in fits and starts and we watch Patrick watch the world go by. Here it becomes an almost bitter sweet tale as we see him go through discoveries about what it means to be a ghost, to have your life end and everyone else’s goes on. It goes on without you. There is sadness in this one scene, where his parents leave because his mother can’t stand to be in the house where he died any longer. So they pack up the house and move out, leaving him behind. And he is heart-broken, as is the reader as you watch him collapse in the pain of being left behind.

Did I mention that Between Season is no ordinary ghost story? So what happens when after all that waiting and longing to belong, someone moves into “your house” that is just goofy and maybe by some definitions “broken” enough for you to fall in love with her? How do you ever reach out to someone, when you are dead? Because just to make this a bit more tragic, and yet lovely, this ghost story is a tender love story too. I am not going to go into details. So much of what happens to Patrick, our 19 year old ghost with the tender heart and Sara who needed to love again should be discovered slowly and savored. But trust me, this is one that will do the same to you as it did to me. I closed the book at the end going, “Oh wow!” and sat and savored the wonderful feeling it gave me. Enjoy.

Her second series, about a white trash zombie named Angel is also set in the deep south and in fact has a bit of fun with the stereotype of the white trash kid as only someone from the south could do. The first book, My Life As A White Trash Zombie came out in July and she has several more planned in the series. Since Angel is a bit of a loser who pretty much finds out that life as a zombie sure beats her former life, it has more than a bit of dark humor in it as well. If you like your zombies a bit on the unconventional side, a departure from the George Romero zombie, then you need to be sure to check her out!

But my favorite is still the Demon series, a cop procedural series with a kick; because Homicide Detective Kara Gillian isn’t just your ordinary cop, she can summon demons, and can even control them. Well, most of the time. And that can come in handy when your beat is a town in Louisiana where demons suddenly seem to come out of the woodwork. Diana Rowland’s background as a former cop and her old job at a morgue seem to stand her in good stead with this series. It will be interesting to see where she goes in the latest of the series, when Kara’s pact with a demon lord leave her few options as she fights on to save those she loves, and her own skin. Hmmm – just another day at the office I see.

Since Diana is our author of the month we’ll be taking a closer look at the Demon Series and highlighting it for you right here. The books in the series: Mark of the Demon, Blood of the Demon, Secrets of the Demon and the latest one Sins of the Demon will all be reviewed and available this month for you our readers to enjoy. And as an added bonus, I will be taking a look at her new series, White Trash Zombie to showcase its first book and hopefully get a preview of the second book, which Diana should be finishing up just about the same time we are hoping to be previewing it!

Check in again soon as I sit down with our favorite southern demon writer to see where she plans to go with both Kara and Angel and get a little peek at her latest trip to the San Diego ComiCon this past summer (one of my favorite old stamping grounds) to talk about writing, demons and things that go bump in the night, way down south . . .

Well, okay the guide is not really all that small, though nifty is a great word for it. I did have a hard time reading all that fine print although it was much better once I blew it up on the site. It has a couple of great categories like “Where does Magic come from?” and “Is there good and evil?” for each of the universes created in many of the top fantasy books such as Harry Potter or George R.R. Martin’s latest.

One category that really made me think was where it asked if the existence of magic was kept secret from the non-magic world or not, which when you think about it can be a real dividing line between the kinds of worlds you can create in a top fantasy novel. It covers forty-nine different universes or best fantasy book series, depending on how you want to look at it. You can read more about the folks who did the research on it, and see the guide yourself by going to the blastr site and checking it out here.

Terry Pratchett’s DiscWorld series is one of the true masters of the fantasy world. In this latest novel in the series, we once again are treated to the wit and irreverence of a master storyteller. Nothing is sacred in his books: not sports or religion and not politics or science. In a world that is remarkably both just like ours and completely different at the same time, we once again join Lady Sybil and her hard-working husband Sam Vimes, this time on holiday.

But even when they manage to leave the city of Ankh-Morpork, the commander of the City Watch can’t seem to leave crime behind. Sure enough, no sooner are they settled into a round of balls, teas and more than a body is found and Sam must be involved. Even without his beloved bacon sandwiches (blame the wife for that one) he is on the trail, through hill and dale and plenty of very mucky meadows to catch the murderer.

You will laugh out loud until your sides hurt on this one. As with so many of his books, Terry Pratchett knows how to make adventure into fun and Snuff is no exception.

Of course, The Lord of the Rings is the given Father of Them All, because as many know Tolkien pretty much established the genre with the creation of his historic and ground-breaking fantasy book series. But there are certainly many other books that you could say are the roots to this tree of knowledge. I am sure that there are as many opinions on what books would make a top ten list of greatest fantasy books of all time as there are books in the genre. But since I am writing this blog, I am going to give you my list of the top ten fantasy books that I feel gave definition to the genre. Of course, they would all make wonderful Christmas presents, to say the least. How about a stack of five to a young reader just discovering fantasy? Wouldn’t that be amazing?

One-

Title: The Mists of Avalon
Author: Marion Zimmer Bradley

One of the definitive takes on the Legend of King Arthur; I would recommend the book for any young ladies as its woman-centric tale is a great take on the legend. It is high court drama with plenty of court intrigue and romance, with just enough smarts to make you sit up and notice. She sets up the emerging tug-of-war between Christianity and the old Pagan world with great believability and since her research is pretty exhaustive you will find yourself deeply engrossed in a whole different world before you know it.

Two-

Title: The Sword of Shannara
Author: Terry Brook

This is the essential sword-and-sorcery adventure tales. There is a reason it was the first fantasy book to make it to the New York Times bestseller list, Brook tells the tale with such wit and fun that you find yourself staying up just a little longer to see where it all goes. It is high adventure for a group of young beings (humans, elves and dwarves) and though it has been criticized for its obvious dependence on Lord of the Rings, it is done so well that anyone who loves a good adventure would have a hard time faulting it for using a formula that works so well. And the fun part is, if you love this book there are plenty more adventures to follow.

Three-

Title: The Neverending Story
Author: Michael Ende

When a young student hides in an attic to escape his fellow student tormentors, he stumbles across a book. When he opens it he discovers a magical kingdom, one that is disappearing because no one ever reads about it anymore. Soon the young man is a hero in a story, and we follow along on an adventure of a lifetime as we enter this world with him, and find a way to once again save the day, and the kingdom. A magical story that is never old, it is a great gift for a young reader.

Four-

Title: Something Wicked This Way Comes
Author: Ray Bradbury

It is a story that will haunt you from one of the masters of storytelling. In a small-town carnival is a ride that can either reverse or accelerate aging. When two young kids find out and decide to check this out for themselves, they are soon struggling to help each other simply survive. It is a bit horror, a bit fantasy with a big piece of macabre mystery in the middle. A dark tale, but one that has the right fantasy elements to make it seem both familiar and eerily strange at the same time. The goth teen on your list will appreciate it and maybe even thank you.

Five-

Title: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
Author: Susanna Clarke

Alternate worlds are a staple of fantasy and this is a wonderful one. The story takes place in a Victorian England where magic exists, but is just another regimented element of life. It is the way that Clarke uses language in this book that makes it transport you to her own realm. There is a bit of Dickens and some of Austen in the feel of the storytelling, but the relationships of the characters and most of all of the writer addressing you with some very tongue-in-cheek footnotes that will have you turning each page more quickly. An engaging world filled with unexpected surprises.

Six-

Title: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Author: L. Frank Baum

It is a story that has become a part of our culture, and yet many who have seen the film or the play have not read the original book. Originally written by Baum as a bedtime story for his kids, it has come to be the favorite bedtime story of all, with its lost little girl, magical kingdom and three kindly helpers. The book goes on from here, to thirteen more stories of the further adventures of all the creatures great and not so great in the book. If you have little ones, you might consider starting our own tradition and reading them a little from this and the subsequent books as a bedtime story. There is so much here to recognize as the story has become part of us, that they will love to visit it again and again.

Seven-

Title: The Last Unicorn
Author: Peter S. Beagle

This is a lyrical tale of the final unicorn left, and its quest to find others of its kind. It feels and reads almost more like poetry than a novel, and is wonderful read aloud. The story may sound simple, but it has a charm to it and a very deep set of questions at its core that the movie, if you saw it, simply never bothered to ask. Beagle has a musical quality to all of his work, and this one is one of his best.

Eight-

Title: Gormenghast
Author: Mervyn Peake

Set in Medieval times, those whose lives are bound by Gormenghast castle live under the thumb of its young ruler, Titus Groan. He abhors the rituals that they follow and thus the divide is set up from the start. A dark story, gothic in scope, the language is heady for some but I found this one of the most unforgettable books ever. I can still after ten years remember being completely blown away at the end of the book as the themes of madness versus genius war and yet below it all is a humour that will startle you at times. Unforgettable and compelling.

Nine-

Title: The Princess Bride
Author: William Goldman

Some may find this an odd choice, but truly this is a book that has a little of something for any person no matter what you are looking for. A tale that has so much fun with the genre of fantasy that you almost forget that the adventure is just a tale. And the framing device is one that sets it apart and makes it the stand out novel that it is. Plenty of giants, pirates and lots of princes and heroes for everyone. A great gift for someone you know who hasn’t yet ventured into the world of fantasy. This one will take them there in style.

Ten-

Title: The Hobbit
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

Of course no list of this sort would be complete without this book. It is the one that started it all, the beginning of the great quest that was to be The Lord of the Rings. It is such a simple story really, of a group of trolls that need the help of a hobbit to get back their treasure. But the quiet telling of the life of this particular hobbit, and how he reluctantly comes to have his adventure is charmingly told. A more concise story than the sprawling LOTR makes it a great one for gift-giving to introduce them to the charms of hobbits on adventures.

And so, that is my short list of great fantasy books. Any of these would make a great gift, or pick them as a group to introduce someone special to the joys of fantasy. Of course, there are so many I have left out. But they will just have to wait for another day.