Top 10 Young-Adult fantasy books

Guy Gavriel Kay's tale of a curse that wipes a country's name from memory. Only those born before the curse can remember Tigana as it was. The sorcerers of the two invading armies are integral to the plot and the themes of love and revenge run strong.

In the middle of the night a family is murdered in their beds, but the job isn't complete, the youngest child, a small baby, escapes the fate of his family and toddles off in the direction of the local graveyard. After creeping through the gaps in the railings the young child is then adopted by the ghostly inhabitants of the graveyard, at the pleading request of his mother's spirit. The child is then raised by Mr and Mrs Owens, a ghostly couple, along side a not-quite-dead-not-quite-alive guardian by the name of Silas.

The Spook's Apprentice spent 7 weeks in the Best-seller charts and sold over 35,000 copies in the first few months. The Spooks series is published in 24 countries: UK, USA, France, Germany. Hungary, Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal, Brazil, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, The Netherlands, Greece, Israel, Thailand, Turkey and Indonesia. Life Sales World Wide across all titles are over 1 million copies!

The Wardstone Chronicles reviews:

• The Spook’s Tale
• The Spook’s Stories: Witches
• The Spook’s Apprentice
• The Spook’s Curse
• The Spook’s Secret
• The Spook’s Battle
• The Spook’s Mistake
• The Spook’s Sacrifice
• The Spook’s Nightmare

The Prophecy Keepers is the first in a series of five fantasy books written for young adults by highly promising new author Melaine Bryant. The story covers five months in the life of Lisandra Ackart; five months that see her embark on a journey of discovery and magical adventure that will delight and thrill readers in equal measure. The opening chapters of The Prophecy Keepers are excellent: the scene is set; the characters introduced and the story begins to unfold with admirable patience.

Halli loves to hear stories from the days when the valley was a wild and dangerous place, besieged by the bloodthirsty Trows. He likes to imagine the night the legendary heroes joined together and fought till dawn to defeat the ancient foe.

The triumphant conclusion to the tale of the Farseers, in which kingdoms must stand or fall on the beat of a dragon's wings, or a Fool's heart

The Tawny Man reviews:

• Fool’s Errand
• The Golden Fool
• Fool’s Fate

Author Jonathan Stroud delivers such a potent and unforgettable mix of magic, history and intrigue with The Amulet of Samarkand, the first part of his compelling Bartimaeus Trilogy, that it is difficult not to want to read the next novel immediately. Undoubtedly the shortest 480 pages you'll ever read, The Amulet of Samarkand is a superb novel of revenge and adventure with the most original central character for years. Bartimaeus is a wisecracking Djinni (pronounced "Jinnee" we're reliably informed) unlike no other. Summoned from some otherworldly place to do the bidding of a pipsqueak trainee magician called Nathanial, he sets about his given task reluctantly but with aplomb. Nathanial is after revenge and that makes him dangerous. Previously humiliated by a powerful magician called Simon Lovelace in front of his impotent master, Nathanial has spent every waking hour for years cramming knowledge of the highest magic into his head so that he can exact his own special kind of vengeance. Bartimaeus is charged to steal a precious and powerful object--the Amulet of Samarkand--from Lovelace's residence, which the Djinni achieves but not without angering a few old mates on the same astral plane and having to spend the night annoyingly disguised as a bird. Bartimaeus, despite being bound to Nathaniel, discovers the boy's real name--a tool he can use to his own advantage. But he is constantly outwitted. Then an overriding danger becomes apparent that threatens the whole fabric of society and they must work together to combat it. Stroud's fantasy world is familiar, yet fascinatingly different. It's almost Victorian London, yet Magicians hold overall power and inhabit parliament. The writing is captivating, the story intelligent and mesmerising. It's difficult to imagine a more scintillating collection of characters and situations. Unmissable.

The Bartimaeus Trilogy reviews:

• The Amulet of Samarkand

Chris Riddell's dramatic line drawings are the perfect complement to Paul Stewart's striking words in Beyond the Deepwoods, the first book of The Edge Chronicles. Twig, on the verge of manhood at the age of 13, is told that the Woodtrolls who brought him up are not his real parents and that he must venture forth into the Deepwoods, keeping only to the path, to discover the truth about himself. Armed with just a few magical gifts from his adopted mother, Spelda, Twig steps off the path and tumbles into a terrifying other world where nothing and no-one can be trusted. From the mountainous Banderbear who becomes Twig's best friend, to the murderous Wig-wigs and the hideous all-female tribe of the Termagant Frogs, Beyond the Deepwoods sows the seeds of magic and adventure in the imagination, and lets them grow in the most exotic corners of the reader's mind.

The Edge Chronicles reviews:

• The Immortals
• The Lost Barkscrolls
• The Curse of the Gloamglozer
• Beyond the Deepwoods
• Stormchaser
• Midnight over Sanctaphrax

Young pioneer, Micah, enters Wrymeweald full of hope to return home having made his fortune. But this is a land where wyrmes, fabulous dragon-like beasts, roam wild and reign supreme. In Wyrmeweald man is both hunter and hunted - and seventeen-year-old Micah may never return alive, let alone a hero...After a near-brush with death on the edge of a canyon, Micah soon finds a chance to prove his worth when he meets with Eli, a veteran tracker of Wrymeweald. They choose to defend a rare whitewyrme egg and its precious hatchling before it falls into the hands of a band of evil Kith. But the fledgling wyrme has its own guardian in the shape of the beautiful, brave and dangerous Thrace. Thrace, a Kin and a highly-skilled wyrme rider-assassin; and Micah, a would-be Kith, should never mix - but the magnetism between them is strong. Together they join forces on a mission to rescue the hatchling and seek vengeance for loved-ones lost at the hand of Kith bandits. Meanwhile the glorious whitewyrme colony of Wyrmeweald looks on as its land is encroached by gold-diggers and ravaged by bounty hunters. Is Exodus the only option? And if so, when - and where - will they flee too?

Wyrmeweald reviews:

• Wyrmeweald: Returner’s Wealth

The great modern classic and prelude to The Lord of the Rings. Also known as There and back again, this tale was written for Tolkien's own children and has become one of the most loved children's fantasy's books of all time.