witches

• Amber Spyglass, The by Philip Pullman (2000)

  [5/10]

  "In this final volume of the triolgy, Pullman seems to have lost some control over his story. When you get to the end of The Amber Spyglass, you can sort of see where he was trying to take you, but he certainly didn't take a direct route. The story also becomes less about the characters we have followed for three books and more about the metaphysical events surrounding them."

• Black Cauldron, The by Lloyd Alexander (1965)

  [4/10]

  "In The Black Cauldron, Alexander tries to show that real men don't seek honor in war; rather, they demonstrate their honor through their character and actions."

• Chronicles of Narnia, The: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe directed by Andrew Adamson (2005)

  [8/10]

  "On the whole, Adamson has faithfully captured the essence of Lewis's book and given a movie audience the adventure story it expects."

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling (2007)

  [7/10]

  "Rowling has created an interesting universe and a story that surely will never go out of print. I certainly will probably read the entire series several more times in my lifetime, in spite of the numerous problems that a more careful writer would have addressed."

• Practical Demon-Keeping: A Comedy of Horrors by Christopher Moore (1992)

  [5/10]

  "Christopher Moore's Practical Demon Keeping reads like a movie treatment. You get just enough detail about the characters to understand what they would wear and give them sufficient motivation to make their actions believable, but you never get enough depth about any single character to really make an attachment -- or even really care much about what happens."

• Seeker, The: The Dark Is Rising directed by David L. Cunningham (2007)

  [6/10]

  "The Seeker has it fun and scary moments, but the threat of evil -- in spite of its well demonstrated power -- feels hollow, and the teenage protagonist too easily defeats in five days a force that has had thousands of years to prepare."

• Subtle Knife, The by Philip Pullman (1997)

  [6/10]

  "For the middle book in a trilogy, Pullman manages to keep the plot and pacing in The Subtle Knife quite engaging, and he ends the book just about as suddenly and tragically as in The Golden Compass."

  Average score: 5.86