Each study guide includes essays, an in-depth chapter-by-chapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quiz. Study guides are available in PDF format.
Published in 1995, Assassin's Apprentice is an epic fantasy novel written by Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden under the pen name Robin Hobb. The sequels include Royal Assassin (1996) and Assassin's Quest (1997) which make up The Farseer Trilogy.
The...
Ellen Kushner's debut, Swordspoint, was originally published in 1987. It tells the story of a swordsman-for hire named Richard St Vier, who one day kills two men at a party thrown by an important lord. At the behest of the people around the town...
Published in 1986 by Arbor House, The Darkest Road is a fantasy novel written by Canadian author Guy Gavriel Kay. The novel is the culmination of the Fionavar Tapestry trilogy that follows the five young heroes in their fight with dark forces. It...
The Wandering Fire is a fantasy novel written by Canadian writer Guy Gavriel Kay. It was published in 1986 as the second book in The Fionavar Tapestry trilogy following The Summer Tree (1984). It was followed by the final book The Darkest Road...
The Summer Tree is an epic fantasy novel written by Canadian writer Guy Gavriel Kay. It was published in 1984 by McClelland & Stewart. As part of The Fionavar Tapestry, it is the first book in the trilogy about the fictional realm of Fionavar....
Canadian author Guy Gavriel Kay's Lord of Emperors was published in 2000 and received incredibly positive reviews when it was released. In their review of the novel, Kirkus Review called the novel "essential reading for all Kay fans." The novel,...
It would be fair to say that Guy Gavriel Kay is one of the most prolific authors of fantasy. Sailing to Sarantium, Kay's seventh novel, was published in 1998. It is set against the backdrop of a looming conflict between the Eastern Roman Empire...
It would be fair to say that author Fritz Leiber is best-known for his adventures in the world of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Swords in the Mist, Leiber's third novel in series published in 1968 by Ace Books, once again follows the aforementioned...
Fritz Leiber is one of the most prolific fantasy authors of the 20th century. His collection of short stories entitled Swords Against Death, which was published in 1970 by Ace Books, is one of the author's best-known and most interesting novels....
Originally published in 1970, Swords and Deviltry is a collection of tales by Fritz Lieber featuring his most famous characters, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Lieber is the author who actually coined the term “sword and sorcery” for the fantasy...
Set in 1942 and published in 2017, Supriya Kelkar's novel Ahimsa received overwhelmingly positive reviews upon release. In their review of the novel, Kirkus Reviews wrote that "This 2015 New Visions Award winner offers a complex narrative and...
Malorie is a post-apocalyptic novel written by American writer Josh Malerman. It was published in July 2021 by Del Rey Books. It is the sequel to Malerman’s debut novel Bird Box which was published in 2014.
In the first installment, an unknown and...
Although Escape from Hat, which was published in 2011, was written for a middle school audience, the graphic novel has gained a cult following from people of all ages. The novel tells the whimsical but dark story of dueling "lucky" rabbit (named...
True Spirit is an autobiography published by Jessica Watson in 2010.
In October 2009, Australian teenager Jessica Watson set out to circumnavigate the globe - one of the youngest people to ever try (and ultimately, the youngest person to succeed)....
The Shrinking of Treehorn is a children’s book written by American writer Florence Parry Heide. It was first published in 1971 with illustrations made by Edward Gorey. The book was followed by two sequels, Treehorn's Treasure in 1981 and ...
The Wonder by Emma Donoghue is a psychological thriller novel set in the late 1800s and originally published in 2016. The novel details a story of an alleged mysterious Irish girl called Anna O’Donnell. Some residents believe that Anna is sacred...
Acclaimed author Jennifer E. Smith has written countless novels throughout her nearly two-decade career, many of which have been adapted into film and television. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, her third novel, was published...
Published in 2007 to incredibly positive reviews from critics and audiences alike, author Louis Bayard's novel The Pale Blue Eye is set sometime in the 1830s at West Point Academy. On one cold and windy October day, a young cadet's body is found...
The Magician's Elephant is the thirteenth novel in the bibliography of prolific and acclaimed children's author Kate Dicamillo. Released in 2009, DiCamillo's novel follows a young, orphaned boy named Peter Augustus Duchene. Peter is a troubled...
The Good Nurse is a novel by Charles Graeber, published in 2013.
Experts have concluded that Charles Cullen, the subject of Charles Graeber's exposé The Good Nurse, likely killed over 400 people, making him the most prolific - yet least-known -...
A dystopian, post-apocalyptic graphic novel, Simon Stålenhag's The Electric State tells the story of a teenage girl and her robot as they embark on a journey across the United States. Traveling west, the duo come across the ruins of massive...
Offering to the Storm is the final novel in Dolores Redondo's "Batzan" trilogy, published in 2014. Like each of the previous novels in the trilogy, Offering to the Storm follows inspector Amaia Salazar, who is tasked one day with investigating the...
Jenna Evans Welch's Love and Gelato tells the story of an unforgettable summer in Italy. It follows a girl called Lina who goes to Italy at the behest of her dying mother, who implores her to visit the country to finally meet and get to know her...
Rumaan Alam's novel Leave the World Behind was published in 2020 and follows a couple (Amanda and Clay) who are on a vacation in a remote cabin in Long Island, New York. Naturally, they are expected to be alone on their vacation, but their...
