The Night of the Solstice

The fact that this book is out of print is a crime. This is the first book L.J. Smith ever wrote and the best -- you get the benefit of her amazing writing style and wonderful plots without the required romance. (I know some people like the romance, but the lack of it adds to the suspense.) Four children are called upon to free a trapped sorceress and help stop a mad sorcerer from taking over earth. The sorcerer lives in another world which can only be entered through mirrors in the sorceress's home. Guided by the sorceress's familiar, a fox, they make several terrifying ventures into the other world while trying to deal with problems in their own world. The characterization in this book is the best that L.J. Smith has ever done, and the pace never lets up.

This book along with its sequel Heart of Valor are, in my opinion, one of the best L.J. Smith has written. It has the element of sorcery, fantasy and adventure that's just great. I loved all the characters, Janie and Elwyn being my favorites. When you read it, the world L.J. Smith describes comes alive almost and it feels you really Are Alys at times. My favorite scene is when Charles is in Elwyn's wood because she is just SUCH a nicompoop. Anyways, READ IT! i wish they would print it again with Heart Of Valor because i'm sure it would do very well. I wish L.J. Smith would write a sequel to Heart Of Valor however (also a great book) because... it feels like it needs one.

Solstice is the first LJS book I ever read, and since then, so to speak, I've never turned back! LJS has style and plot in Solstice, and the clever humour will have you hooked!

I love L.J. Smith and i can't wait for her new book strange fate to come out. i think that they need to make all of her books available to get though. Keep writing about the night world.

L. J. Smith is known mostly as the writer of several excellent series of "teen horror/romance" novels, beginning with the Vampire Diaries and continuing through the Night World series. But fans who haven't read THE NIGHT OF THE SOLSTICE are missing Smith at the top of her form. This may be her single best novel, and it's also one of the best young-adult fantasy yarns of its kind, bar none. Smith starts with a familiar premise: kids discover spooky old house with magic in the woodwork. But this is the 1990s, and so our heroes and heroines have to cope with worried parents and the local police before the games are over. What's really impressive are the confrontation scenes--no one, but no one, writes a better mix of sharp dialogue and magical pyrotechnics than Smith in high gear. This is not just in the league of Diane Duane and Patricia Wrede, it's up there with E. Nesbit, Edward Eager, and Susan Cooper at the very top of the genre. It's hard to believe that Smith's publishers have let this book and its sequel go out of print. Don't let that stop you, though; find and read THE NIGHT OF THE SOLSTICE. You won't regret it.