The Guardians of Dreamdark: Windwitch

What a wonderfully complex story, set in a world of faeries, imps and devils, where the human world is something that is a parallel, but separate place.  The heroine of the story is Magpie, a young faerie and the granddaughter of the West Wind; importantly she is the only devil-hunter of her time.  The faerie world has been calm for many years, but suddenly dark forces seem to be reappearing and peace is under threat.  Magpie is a wonderfully individual character, who is determined to keep the world safe, with the help of her friendly Crows (called a Murder!), who are full of attitude and humour.  Whilst they are used to the idea of devils, they are all suddenly confronted with the concept that an even greater evil is re-appearing from the depth of history.

Laini Taylor is definitely making a name for herself with her fantasy series and is very popular.  This story is aimed at a slightly younger audience than her “Daughter of Smoke and Bone” series, but there is no talking down to the audience and the author has created a magical world which the reader can become immersed in. The cast of characters are so natural that we really start to believe in them, even though they might be cigar smoking crows, or imps and faeries. This duology was actually the first of her series, being published in the USA in 2007, but this is the first time that they have been published in the UK, so her many fans will be delighted to add these books to their collections.  These books will also bring many new fans to this author and they will be delighted that they have more of her work to consume.  This will be a welcome addition to the secondary school library, as it is full of magic, adventure, friendship and humour.