Justine Larbalestier

Comments

1. jenny davidson Says:

   Garth Nix’s Sabriel trilogy, for sure. These are some of my favorite books ever, I have read them again & again with great delight!

   Margaret Mahy’s “The Changeover.”

   Diana Wynne Jones, “Fire and Hemlock” and “Howl’s Moving Castle” seem to me perhaps the closest fit with the style-age group for Justine’s books but those Chrestomanci books are of course absolutely delightful, you cannot go wrong…

   Terry Pratchett’s YA trilogy about Tiffany Aching beginning with “The Wee Free Men.”

   Lots more that I can’t think of right now…

   And of course there are some older books that cannot be missed. For instance, Justine, has your fan read Susan Cooper’s “The Dark is Rising” books? Those are absolutely essential. And another book that doesn’t have magic but is very “glowy” is Dodie Smith’s “I Capture the Castle.”

   March 24th, 2007 at 11:52 am

2. Dawn Says:

   I’d have to agree with the first comment about Garth Nix’s Sabriel triology. That’s WAYY good stuff. I don’t really know what else to recommend in the way of books that deal with magic. Herbie Brennan’s Faerie Wars was a really good book, and though I haven’t read the other two of that series yet, I’d say they are probably good. Herbie is good like that. Also, Holly Black’s Tithe and Valiant are AMAZING…and Ironside comes out SO SOON!!! Plus, one can never go wrong with any of Scott’s books. Seriously.

   Anyway…as a sidenote: I looked at three different bookstores last night for Magic’s Child. I came home with The Last Days, Devilish, and The Truth About Forever…but no Magic’s Child. This made me incredibly sad, and I’m sorry to have failed you, Justine!

   March 24th, 2007 at 1:07 pm

3. claire Says:

   justine, the point is that there aren’t any books like yours.

   but i second the “dark is rising” recommendation. essential. wizards, king arthur, and a bunch of kids saving the world.

   “a wizard of earthsea” of course. education of a young wizard, waaay before harry potter.

   “… and this is laura” is one i enjoyed as a kid which seems to have disappeared into the mists of time. but very cool. an ordinary, “talentless” girl fakes a paranormal gift, only to have weird things start happening to her.

   “stormwitch” is a recent one, very very good. won the carl brandon society award. a young witch dealing with racism and hurricanes.

   “zahrah the windseeker”, in a secondary world, a girl discovers her unusual powers in the jungle.

   “midnight robber” isn’t exactly ya, but it is a coming of age story of a girl in a secondary world. SF, very very good, one of my favorite books.

   March 24th, 2007 at 4:50 pm

4. Elodie Says:

   I must bookmark this page! Good book recommendations!
   I would make some of my own, but like the person above me said–there is nothing like yours, honestly. I could suggest books I have loved, but that’s not the same thing!
   My personal recommendation is…just go to your local library, borrow as many books as you can carry, and read them. You’ll find one you adore eventually, and on the way there, you’ll read a ton that you’ll like, even if not as much. Yay books!

   March 24th, 2007 at 6:42 pm

5. Elodie Says:

   (please don’t kill me, I want to be notified of follow up comments and like an idiot forgot to click the check on my last post. There needs to be a “no post but email me comments” function!)

   March 24th, 2007 at 6:42 pm

6. 6. Justine Says:

   Thanks everyone! And I instantly see why I cannot play this game. Anyone saying my books are like Margaret Mahey’s Changeover which is one of my favourite books of all time—well, it just reduces me to quivering jelly. Being compared to Garth Nix and Diana Wynne Jones is just too flattering for words!

   You’re all making me blush crazy amounts!

   But I can recommend two books that just came out (well, one of them is about to come out)—Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones and Holly Black’s Ironside. I’m not saying they’re like my books. I’m just saying that they’re really wonderful books that you all should read.

   March 24th, 2007 at 9:13 pm

7. Rebecca Says:

   city of bones is out? aargh! i looked for it today, but i thought i must have gotten the release date wrong b/c it was not there. but apparently, they just didn’t have it. *gripe moan whine complain*

   March 24th, 2007 at 9:44 pm

8. jenny davidson Says:

   yes, and i loved holly black’s “tithe” and “valiant” also, that’s sort of your demographic, isn’t it?!?

   justine’s books are great in countless ways, but what really draws me in is the alluring combination of character and voice, those are always the two essentials for me & that’s what makes them such delightful reads (the “glowy” effect, to use a better term!). there’s quite a bit of classic non-ya fiction that would be good reading in this regard also: rebecca west’s “the fountain overflows” might not be great for younger readers, but excellent for mid-teenage years; and then lighter reading like mary stewart or dick francis with those appealing main characters, even if they are all the same as each other in the end!

   March 24th, 2007 at 9:45 pm

9. kris Says:

   i’d like to add the first two novels in an planned trilogy by steve augarde – ‘the various’ and ‘celadine’. mystery, magic, little people, high drama – what more could you need!

   March 25th, 2007 at 1:09 am

10. Penni Says:

    well…I hope justine won’t mind me mentioning my own trilogy: Undine, Breathe and Drift (Drift is out in April in OZ). There are a few similarities – mainly similar aged protagonists having to deal with magic – I’ve seen our books compared before a couple of times, though we do approach it from very different angles and have quite different prose styles. I thought the magic was similar though, though Justine has a lot more rules! (good ones)

    Kate Constable’s Tremaris trilogy for strong female-centric, plot-driven fantasy with an Australian flavour (first one is Singer of all Songs).

    Judith Clarke. I love her work. She sometimes sidesteps into the supernatural.

    I also agree about Garth Nix.

    Coraline by Neil Gaiman. I just read that and loved it so much I’m writing my thesis about it.

    I’ve got Celandine to read next.

    March 25th, 2007 at 3:49 am

11. 11. Justine Says:

    Thanks everyone for so many fabbie suggestions. I sent the fan this link.

    March 25th, 2007 at 12:04 pm

12. Chris S. Says:

    On the not-like-your-books-except-in-that-I enjoyed-them-hugely side of things, the ‘Gen’ books by Megan Whalen Turner: The Thief; The Queen Of Attolia; The King Of Attolia. Utterly fabulous reading.

    March 25th, 2007 at 2:52 pm

13. lili Says:

    more good girl fantasy that is not-like-justine’s-books-but-would-appeal-to-fans:

    Elizabeth Knox’s Rainbow Opera duet (starting with Dreamhunter)

    Isobelle Carmody’s Obernewtyn series (there’ll be another one out this year, but it will not be the last…)

    The Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce.

    (and I second Penni’s words about her trilogy (drift just arrived on my desk), and Kate Constable’s)

    March 25th, 2007 at 8:35 pm

14. calliope Says:

    uglies trilogy. they are the best things ever and you will not be able to wait for the next one. i threatened to throttle my friend if she didn’t bring them for me (luckily, she did. i wasn’t joking).

    March 28th, 2007 at 9:13 pm

15. janet Says:

    Weighing in late, I would recommend Suzy Charnas’s “Sorcery Hall” trilogy. My favorite is the middle book, the Silver Glove.

    March 29th, 2007 at 2:30 pm

16. Tap Says:

    John C. Wright’s Orphans of Chaos. Not exactly YA, but Amelia is a little like a geometry and physics version of Reason: she has no trouble visualizing general relativity and other difficult concepts that drive her classmates (or perhaps we should say “fellow prisoners”) nuts.

    May 19th, 2007 at 9:56 pm

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