First of all thank you for reading and having the patience of doing so.  My summary is very weak but strong in the mind =)  What I remember from the book is that magic is common among females and not males, because of a prophecy that when a male can do magic, he will destroy the world/conquer the world.   Also the main character is a teenage boy who gets found out by an unknown attack on his village. He's accompanied by a female elder and a rogue who's a king from the borderlands.  I remember clearly that the rogue teaches him about swordplay and about the void to think about a fire and make it grow to remain calm.
120658
I'm trying to figure out a fantasy series I read in the early to mid 90's. It wasn't The Belgariad or Eye of the World but it is so similar that I forget its name.  A young simple boy gets caught up in in a quest. He is taught by a sorceress with a badass bodyguard. They are attacked by shadow-like creatures at an inn early on in the story. I remember something about red and white ribbons tied to peoples swords denoting which royal house they supported in one of the towns they travelled through…  Vague, I know. Help?
116482
I could use some help identifying a book I read some time in the last year or so. The book goes between two different stories:  1) A student of magic finds a book in a cave that turns out to be a person transformed into a book. The book talks to the student and they share thoughts. At some point, the student runs away, chase ensues, and at the very end of the book, he manages to travel to another plane.  2) A girl in a religious society where magic is forbidden. She is the daughter of painters. She discovers she can see magic. Falls in love with some random painter, risks performing magic to not be pregnant, does it again so she can, and is arrested and sent to some prison thing.  The common element between the stories is that magic use leaves behind a smudge of some kind that can be visible.  Any assistance is appreciated.
76767
I read the book several years ago (2005-ish?).  I don't think it was new at the time, but it is at least that old.    Here's what I remember:  There are two large empires, ruled by nearly-omnipotent wizards.  Between the two empires, the land is divided into many small countries.  There is a resistance movement against the wizards, but they know they need to take out both at exactly the same time so that the other one doesn't take over everything.  The main character (narrator?) has the ability to recall details perfectly (like photographic memory, but also for sounds, etc).  At one point, he's working with a group of traveling musicians.  He is a young-ish (late teen?) male.        There's one scene where one of the characters has faked his own death to try and attack one of the wizards.  During this scene, the main character (narrator?) is hiding in the attic, eavesdropping.  Eventually in this scene, the one person who knows he's there calls him down to share what he learned by listening.  In the big final battle, there are a bunch of lesser wizards that pretend to help the one wizard to force the other wizard into depleting himself in one giant attack.  They back out at the last minute and let the wizard they were helping get blasted.  There was some other story arch that followed a lady that was trying to work her way into the trust of one of the wizards.  She succeed, but ends up falling in love with him by the end.   Not part of the story, but in the notes from the author (preface?), he mentioned patterning the geopolitics of the world after Italy (during the Renascence or middle ages or something), where there were a bunch of smaller countries/kingdoms/lands that would align themselves with this or that larger power for short-term gain rather than uniting and throwing off all the foreign powers.
87814
I read this book about 6-8 years ago, and it was already slightly old at that point. The key parts were that the characters were all from Earth (America, if I remember correctly - one character internally monologues about remembering exactly how many steps it takes to get to a specific beach from his house, and while I don't remember the beach name, I remember thinking it was American) and woke up in a fantasy world, scattered about, and not remembering where they come from for quite a while.  Each abductee is wearing a bracelet with (what I remember as) polyhedral dice, although they aren't named that I think I inferred it from the description, and at some point they start using them as a form of magic. They find out that they were all abducted by a wizard so they go to find him. I can't remember what happens next, other than that eventually they find him and in a later book in the series (that I only saw the blurb of) they go back to his castle.  I think the book might be called "______ Keep", and am fairly certain the later book in the series is called "Return to ______ Keep".  I'd really appreciate it if someone who knew the title could tell me - it's like an unscratched itch at the moment, and I'd love to read it again!
117786
I read a fantasy novel that was implied to be part of a series around 20 years ago (was part of my high school library, not certain how old it was then).  I don't remember the title or author, or admittedly large portions of the plot (or maybe it was just a disjointed book), and would like to request help here.    These are the elements I remember:   A young teenager (in what I believe is regular old Earth) receives a list of instructions from a composer friend of his.  By going through the composer's house and taking a convoluted path through the neighborhood, that starts changing on him as he goes, he arrives in another world entirely. The path ends in a hostile garden or hedge maze that is tended/guarded by a woman in a veil. The village he ends up in seems pretty repressed.  Something about another guardian woman nearby related to the first, but not immediately hostile. Desert or a wasteland nearby that contain monstrous or demonic children. The protagonist eventually learns some ability to leave shadows or decoys behind by breaking off pieces of his emotions, or psyche.  He ends up using this to cross the local wasteland. Climbs a mountain and sees his own face as an adult in a snow vision, although he doesn't realize it until he finally returns home to Earth and sees himself in a mirror again. Someone wants a "song of power" or words of power and traps our traveler for it.  The original composer friend is somehow related to this, but what the traveler ends up writing under duress is a trap, and magically blows the villain's home up.   That's what I got.  Any ideas?
64144
I read this book probably 10 or 15 years ago. I remember it starting out with a  young woman (I think) talking to a computer and altering her appearance in a mirror. I believe she was making subtle changes that were up-to-date with what was popular for the time and I believe the book explained that other people had chosen to make less subtle changes and go full-on were-animal.   The book follows her and her father who becomes a leader of a new civilization, when the main computer is hit by terrorists or something. They fall into the dark ages and have to resort to surviving like they did in the middle ages. It was very descriptive at one point as the woman was trying to figure out how they used to handle menstrual cycles without technology. I remember there was bad guy, and I believe he was were-tiger or panther man, but he wanted the girl. He started raiding the small settlements that had arose in the aftermath, and became like a warlord wreaking havok, pillaging, and raping. The girls boyfriend fought the last battle with him and lost his arm.   I'm pretty sure the book was written in the 1950s. I remember thinking that it was strangely accurate and advanced for when it was written. I have been trying to remember this book for the last 10 years because it was open-ended and I believe it was part of a series. I remember this book being one of the best I've ever read. It could make you clench your teeth, laugh and cry all at once. Can anyone help me find it?
109756
I'm looking for a book I read in Junior High (probably) about a world where everyone was basically the same race.  One genetically pure male and female teenager of each race still exists.  They are transporting a genetically pure boy to meet his genetically pure female counterpart and accidentally introduce him to a genetically pure female of a different race.  And, of course, chaos ensues.  Any thoughts?
111100
I read a book 12 years ago.  I believe it had Ever on its name.   It was about these high schoolers that went to sleep and woke up in a world of magic or medieval. I do know that when they went to sleep that would travel back and forth. I know it's not much but if you can help thank you.
102597
I'm not even sure if this book even exists or I have dreamed it. It's about a girl, I remember she had an older brother that went somewhere (war I think) once he reached a certain age. The oldest one died, and the birthday of the the middle one was just around the corner, so he was the next one to go.  I do remember they were really poor and lived in a somewhat caste society or there is some hierarchy. One day mom sent her into the city to do some work (tailoring?) but she had also some plans there so she tried to hide from guards. When she started to get out of the city some rebels made chaos, she almost got caught.
70886
I vaguely remember a book which I would like to read again. The plot was like this.  A man lives an ordinary life but one day he starts having some memories ... or headaches, I don't remember. The main thing is that he discovers he is able to feel and communicate with electric devices around him. And as soon as he discovers it, he starts having serious problems with some organization which had trained him and used his abilities for wrong purposes. Slowly he regains more and more memories and is forced to run and hide from physical and telepathic assassins. I remember, that there was one mystical "electrical being" which acted as his invisible "guardian angel" and this being had helped him in his early childhood when he was in a hospital. This being could manifest itself to the physical world only through electrical devices.  There was a woman who also had some telepathic abilities and her telepathic presence always was accompanied by some specific scent, like some flowers or something. This woman was an assassin sent to kill the protagonist, but then she switched sides and died. But the "electrical being" saved the woman, taking her into some "electrical" level of existence.  The style of the novel was mostly light and active adventure story. Not exactly teenager book, but also no any serious philosophical value to it.
38458
I read part of the series in 2005, a young man was the protagonist, he was traveling to different worlds. I think he was telepathic and the most identifying thing I can remember was he had a flying snake or asp as a pet which possibly was his protector? He was in danger for some reason. Also there was a romantic interest female. The books were very distinct from one another. The second or third book he visited a planet that was extremely bio-diverse, where he was on top of all this vegetation and he realized how many layers of vegetation he would have to get to before he got to the ground and it was vast. I never finished it and it's been driving me nuts.
47430
This is a book I read about a decade ago. It is a science fiction type book and I got it in the young adult section of my public library. It is a standalone book, not a short story or collection of stories.  Characters The main character of the book is a youngish woman, I'm guessing younger than 30, but I can't remember her name. One of the other major characters/possible love interest is a man named Garth (I remember this name in particular because I had never heard of anyone named Garth and thought it was funny). They meet up with others along the way, somewhere around 10-20 people in total.  Plot The premise of the plot is that a bunch of people on Earth joined programs for "quitting smoking" or "quitting drugs" or "self-improvement". However, these programs were a front, and as soon as they attend their first meeting, they are told to go inside a room/device and suddenly find themselves transported to an alien planet. (One of the characters later jokes that it worked, because she hasn't smoked in weeks due to being on an alien planet with no cigarettes)  Once the main character meets up with other transported humans, they start trying to figure out what to do. They receive some sort of instructions from the aliens who put them there and they are told if they reach a certain place alive, they will be sent back to Earth.   A lot of the conflict centers around people arguing whether or not to follow the instructions they were given. The aliens themselves don't play a huge role until the end (other than giving instructions), and the book focuses more on what the people discover about themselves in the journey (which lasts weeks at least) to this mysterious end goal. I remember it as "a sci-fi sort of Pilgrim's Progress" (minus the heavily religious overtone), because all the different places/challenges they do are supposed to represent some real-life problem someone in the group was facing.  In the end, those that make it are returned to Earth with their memories wiped, but their bad habits gone.  For some reason I thought the title was "The Crystal Arches" for a long time, but I haven't had any luck finding it by that title. Possibly their end destination was a set of crystal arches or something.   I've asked this on a couple other internet sites but haven't had any luck. I didn't think to try here until I saw other questions like this.
41575
I remember this book from 15+ years ago about a normal boy who was working on his computer (replacing the motherboard maybe?) and he touched something and got zapped. When he came to he came to realize that the computer shocked itself into his head.   Cut to being the hero sometime down the line and maybe saving someone who was kidnapped? Or was kidnapped himself and had to get out of it using the computer?  I don't know why it's in my head all of the sudden but Google isn't helping me at all!
69670
I have been trying to find a book I read quite a few years ago. Well, there are 2, one being the sequel.  Now I'm sure my memory has been kind enough to mix parts of the 2 books, but I will do my best with the description.  The cover of the book had a hand print. As far as the story, a boy finds out he has some powers from some guy. I think he had a ring that allowed him to use his power. Later when training the boy, he has him learn to control his power by deflecting rocks or meteors or some rocky item. The boy ends up using too much force and shatters them, but eventually gets the hang of it. Another part close to the end, the boy has a vision, I think, of some other kid getting struck by lightning, so he figures out a way to save the kid, but gets struck by the lightning himself.  In the second book, I remember a part early on where a sign falls from a building toward some child, but the boy uses his power to save the kid; afterwards, no trace of the boy is found. A lady who witnessed it said something like it was her dead son (I'm guessing his mom from the previous book).   I'm having trouble remembering anything but that. I read them in '97 or '98, I believe. As far as the publication dates, I never checked.
22645
Some time around 1998 I read a book (which is surely older) suggested by one of my friends. Since this is the first time posting for me I'll do my best to give all the details I can recall.  The main protagonist is a white male (who I believe has cancer and/or is very old) on a boat that gets hit by a comet or meteor or some kind of astronomical event. He wakes up in the body of a young dying male in a desert and meets a telepathic cat that was bonded with the dying male.   The beginning of the book is about the protagonist learning to navigate his body, the bonds with the people his body knew and the telepathic cat. The two have to learn to trust one another. The "bond" is a two-way lifelink, if one dies so does the other.  We learn later that others on that boat suffered much the same fate shifting into new bodies in this parallel dimension including a female he had fancied or met back on the boat. Her body is also bonded to a telepathic "riding" cat. While I can't remember if anyone else on the boat also switched over, I feel like at least one other person did who was an antagonist but I can't verify it in my brain.  The protagonist is trying to find "something", but I can't remember what. I seem to recall jewels or gems and an important sword. Like, a hilt that's important and has an invisible blade? I remember certain scenes but without enough information for them to feel useful.  Such scenes as:   They end up in a huge palace with a verdant garden that they later escape from, for some reason. The protagonist gets super injured at one point and the cat struggles with him so they both survive. He keeps having flash backs to the incident on the boat. For a long while the cat hates this guy who basically has supplanted his master/friend, but it's okay since that guy dying would have killed the cat.   The only thing I can recall about the title is "The [blank] cycle(s)" and all my searching has come to naught. It was a series of books, I know that.  The cover showed the main protagonist, the female "love interest" and their cats in the sun bleached desert. I recall that the female has very short cut dark hair. The protagonist is wearing a white "turban" of some sort.
61901
I remember starting, and losing, a book in the late 80s, early 90s, that I have been trying to  remember for a while now.  It's not much to go on, I realise, but the main crux of the plot, until I left the book in a phone booth :/, was an ice age (either implied or stated, I can't recall) was starting, and a (I think implied) glacier was moving closer to the main castle or walled city of the novel.   The setting was not specifically High Fantasy, but a medieval style setting.  The interesting thing I always remember about the book was that the antagonist appeared to be the ice itself, slowly, but inexorably, getting closer.
80013
So, I began reading this series years ago and put it down, and now I've been thinking about it and want to see how it ended.   It was a basic Epic. Group needed to destroy evil somewhere off in the world. Must have read it in the early 2000s. The most I remember is based off of the characters.   There was a species of elven hybrids; they were winged, the product of a forced union by an evil magical entity. The elves hated them. Another species (I think they were terromancers), created a mountain kingdom/realm to protect them.  One of the main characters was a wizard prodigy; he'd been babied his entire life and while magically advanced, had a lot of growing up to do.   There was a general who, in order to gain advantage on the battlefield, bonded to (I think) an earth god through a shamanistic pain ceremony.   Another was an unlanded (I think) elf (his kingdom had been destroyed) he was a mercenary.  They were all fighting to get the wizard/child to the north to kill/defeat this great evil who lived in a stronghold on the other side of the world.  Thanks all! And sorry it's so vague. I've been searching the internet for most of the day. Nothing's turned up.