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Find a book based on the main character's class:
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Book Summaries and Questions
Overview
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Summaries and Questions || Sample
handouts and flyers
Titles
Dragons of Autumn Twilight by
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance Chronicles)
Summary
Old friends gather at an inn to discuss the changing events
in the world when they are thrown into a quest because of a blue crystal
staff that leads to lost hidden lands, gods, and dragons.
Discussion Questions
- Do you and your friends have different "roles"? For example,
is one of you the leader, another the smart one, etc.
- What can the different characters, Raistlin, Caramon, Laurana, Tasslehoff,
etc. do? What's unique about each of them?
- With so many characters, was it difficult to follow? What made it
easier to follow the story? What made it difficult?
- Which of the characters was your favorite? Which ones do you think
would win in a fight.
- By the end of the story, the human slaves are freed, the goddess
Mishakal has returned, the dragon queen is known to be trying to return
to Krynn. So why is the title Dragons of Autumn Twilight? Is it just
clever?
TOP
Homeland by R.A. Salvatore
(Dark Elf Trilogy)
Summary
A Dark Elf with violet eyes is born to the evil House
Do'Urden of Menzoberranzan, and his name is Drizzt (don't ask, as far
as I can tell it's pronounced as a single syllable). Everyone around
him is evil, and he learns to become a swordsman unparalleled. How will
we survive?
Discussion Questions
- There are key differences, both physical and mental, between Drizzt
and the Dark Elves around him. What are they?
- What do you think of the rules in the Dark Elf society? Matriarchal,
devout (to the spider queen of course), thriving on combat, enslavement,
revenge. Could such a place exist?
- After everything that happens to Drizzt, he loses his father. Did
it surprise you? What happened in the story that almost made it necessary
or obvious that this would happen?
- My favorite part about Salvatore's writing is always the battle
sequences. Did those interest you at all? Why or why not?
TOP
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
(Dark Tower series)
Summary
The world has moved on and the gunslinger follows the
man in black. Along the way he flashes back to events in his past and
meets the boy named Jake, whom he must decide whether or not to sacrifice
if he is to continue in quest for the Tower.
Discussion Questions
- Roland's test of manhood is violent and dangerous. It's basically
a fight between him and his teacher. What do you think about this
method of testing? Would it be effective?
- Why does the book start in the middle of the quest? How does Stephen
King make it easier for us to get into the story?
- Another version of The Dark Tower is a comic book that starts at
the very beginning of the quest. Which way would you prefer, reading
it like The Gunslinger or reading at the start of his questing?
- Do they ever tell what the tower is? What do you think it could
be?
- The key moment of the story is Jake's sacrifice, or rather, Roland's
sacrifice of Jake. Why? What does this tell you about Roland?
TOP
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Summary
Richard Mayhew has a horrible life that is managed by
his girlfriend when he finds Door. He hides her from her pursuers and
gets sucked into the world of London Below as they try to find her family's
killers.
Discussion Questions
- Do we like Richard Mayhew at the beginning of the story? He's awkward,
bossed around by both his girlfriend and his boss.
- How does his character change by the end of the story? How does
that relate to his actions?
- Lots of great places in the novel. The Floating Market, Night's
Bridge, and Earl's Court. What's unusual or strange about these places?
- Many places are named after actual places in London, specifically,
Underground stations. What advantages does this have for a writer
or for a reader? Do you think it works?
TOP
A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer
Summary
Poor Nhamo. Not only is she trying to live without her
mother, but she's also promised in marriage through a manipulated sequence
of events that has her running to try to find her father's family in
Zimbabwe.
Discussion Questions
- How would you characterize Nhamo? Do you see any similarities or
differences to yourself? How does she change over time?
- What did you think of the realism of the book. What did you like
learning about the religious/cultural aspects of Nhamo's story?
- Arranged marriages. What would be the problems with arranged marriages
and having multiple wives? What would be the advantages?
- Which of the challenges Nhamo faced going across the country would
have bothered you or given you difficulty? Which ones can you safely
say you would be able to meet and survive?
TOP
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le
Guin
Summary
The most powerful sorceror of Earthsea was Ged, called
Sparrowhawk, and his story begins on the island of Gont. From there,
Ogion the silent names him and teaches him, eventually brining him to
Roke, the island school for mages. There, Ged is not only spectacularly
powerful, but also foolish, and he must escape the protection of Roke
to flee, and eventually hunt, an evil that he inadvertently releases.
Discussion Questions
- Truename/usename, what did you think of this method of magic? Why
would we need a truename?
- Why do you suppose Le Guin made Earthsea a series of islands rather
than just one large continent? What does that add to the story, particularly
the end when Ged hunts the shadow?
- Why does EVERY book about magician's feature a teacher, or school?
Why do authors feel as if it's necessary to include them?
- What did you think about the idea of balance that Ogion teaches
Ged? Just because you CAN do something, does that mean you should
do it?
TOP
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