Recently I was at an event in the Museum of Literature Ireland hosted by author Dave Rudden, so naturally I picked up a copy of his middle grade series, the Knights of the Borrowed Dark. The son of a friend of mine loved the first book in the trilogy so much he lent me his […]
Author: Valinora Troy
Children's Fantasy Writer
Book Review: The Last Fallen Star
Riley Oh is super-excited that her sister Hattie is about to turn thirteen which means she will be fully initiated into the Gom clan, a Korean gifted clan of healing witches. Hattie will therefore be able to work her magic unsupervised as a fully fledged witch. Although Riley is only a month away from her […]
Book Review: Raggedy-Chan & Nine-Tail Fox
Raggedy-Chan, book 1 in the Chinese Heritage Tale series, is a charming, delightful, heart-warming, and imaginative story. Aunt Gracie wants to make sure her half-Chinese, half-American niece Emma knows her Chinese heritage, so she tells the story of Raggedy Chan, a Chinese Princess who travels to American to save her homeland of Kunlun. The story […]
Book Review: A Storm of Sisters
I really enjoyed A Pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison which I read in the summer, so when I saw another in the series, I happily bought it. I didn’t realise it was book 4, but it’s a standalone adventure so it didn’t matter that I had missed books 2 and 3. This time, Betty, […]
Happy Book Birthday – to The Lucky Diamond
3rd November 2021 saw the launch of The Lucky Diamond, my first middle grade children’s fantasy. It’s been a wonderful, exciting, stressful, and busy year! My dream of seeing my book on the shelf in bookshops was realised when The Lucky Diamond was stocked by the two largest bookstore chains in Ireland plus independent stores. […]
Book Review: Amari and the Great Game
“Being good is a choice, and it’s one you have to keep making.” So Maria Van Helsing tells Amari, and this theme is threaded throughout the book as Amari, surrounded by enemies, old and new, must choose between right and wrong, being selfless or self-interested, or showing forgiveness and mercy to those she has reason […]
Book Review: A Pinch of Magic
Quick Aside: I have added a new page to my website to display my books. If you’d like to check it out, please go here or access via the menu. I’d appreciate any feedback and/or suggestions. Thank you so much! Betty, her elder sister Fliss and younger sister Charlie live on the isle of Crowstone, […]
Book Review: The Verdigris Pawn
Beau, heir to the Manor and next in line to control the country, is kept practically a prisoner by his father who is convinced that Beau, like his mother, is a charmer and the cause of all the ills befalling the country. The only person who cares for Beau is his friend Fledge, the stable […]
Book Review: The Healing Star
Fourth-grader Julia (which I think puts her at nine or ten years of age) and her grandmother, Grammu, are really close, cosmic-twin close, sharing, among other things, a love of stars. When Grammu gets the disappearing illness, Julia is determined not to lose her. Fortunately, there is a star predicted to fall the following night, […]
Book Review: The Unadoptables
Milou, Sem, Egbert, Fenna and Lotta are the five oldest children in an orphanage in Amsterdam at the end of the nineteenth century. Declared ‘the unadoptables’ by evil Matron Gassbeek, when the matron takes drastic action to rid herself of them, the five friends seize an opportunity to escape the grim orphanage. Led by Milou, […]
Valinora Troy 