Artemis Fowl

This is a series written by Eoin Colfer and it is superbly fantastic. Yes, this is classified as a children's book series, but so is Harry Potter.

Artemis is a criminal mastermind, with a bodyguard named Butler. He's about to make enemies with the fairies and he's only twelve years old.

You must read this, it is clever and funny and so heart warming.

There is a movie in the works, yes !

Black Butler

Yes, this is a manga primarily, but you trust me to never steer you wrong and I give you my word, this is the good stuff.  I dig through everything and I only give you the gems, cross my heart promise.

And for you people who start judging the moment you hear the word manga, have you ever read a good one before? If your answer is no, try this one out.

And if you're still going to fuss, there is an anime with two or three seasons out, but that has a complete plot divergence from the manga. Why not do both? If you can.

Love the story here, this kid rises up from the deepest pits of human suffering and not only survives but also thrives. Ciel Phantomhive is a rich kid, got it all, happy loving family, toy company as inheritance waiting for him to grow up, pet dog and a smile full of innocence. ( Check out flashback mode in Circus ) He's also got a fiance, but I'm not sure if that's good or bad. Elizabeth is one special snowflake, really unique. Unladylike? Never. ( You will understand if you read it, or watch it. )

Tragedy strikes, parents gruesomely murdered, house set on fire, kid kidnapped to be sold as sex slave. At the auction, Ciel summons a demon and signs a contract. One soul, for a lifetime spent chasing his revenge. Ciel names the demon Sebastian, after his dead pet dog. And Ciel continues to taunt the demon as he chases the truth behind his past.

The manga is full of delicious moments of comedy and tragedy and sometimes, both.

Perfect read for a rainy day with coffee and chocolate biscuits.  Luxury reading.

One point, there is a movie, but don't watch it, they made Ciel a girl. Why? Oh my God, why? How could you mess something so easy to get right? Just follow the script, how hard is that?

Twelve Nights

O.k, warning - this is a heart breaker.

But oooh, what a manga, lovely artwork, colors pop, characters are so beautiful and the plot is just delicious.

Read it, now.

Story starts with a slaughter, Queen slain, rightful heir escapes with bodyguard, begins life in hiding.
Time skip forwards and new heir meets a girl and a boy, and befriends them, in his own psychopathic style. Red hair means mad man, nice.

The boy spends his time dressing up as the no. 1 geisha named Nabi and selling paintings under the pseudonym of expensive artist Hong Wol and acting as rebel leader, Crimson Moon. He also happens to be the lost heir. Shh.

The girl mistakes the new heir for the old heir. She met the old heir in this forbidden to commoners garden and shared a meaningful memory and a lullaby, she overhears the new heir singing it and thinks " There you are, I've been waiting all this time for you to show up. "

Unfortunately, the new heir is deeply in love, totally obsessed with Nabi.

Legend of the Sun Knight

Written by Yu Wo, author of 1/2 Prince and Kill No More, both also excellent works.

Originally began as light novel series, but now manga and anime exist. Correction, anime in my dreams, please come into reality soon.

I love this lady's writing. Gorgeous words and style and plot, wow.

Alternate Universe, gods exist and they bestow their followers powers through worship and spells.

In the Church of the Sun god, is the Sun knight and he is one grumpy, surly, beautiful blond, with a temper. Unfortunately his job requires him to smile all day ( with all teeth shining ), look beautiful all the time, and speak in flowery prose. Oh and it requires him to be a virgin/celibate, because everybody knows that the Sun Knight is devoted to his god. Ouch, you can't pay me enough to take that job.

The Sun knight also has to fight the powers of darkness and wield spells of light, so why is he so good at spells of darkness? And really lousy at sword fighting?

This is a comedy but it does have serious moments and the main character, for all that he seems unlikable, is actually a beloved leader and a really good guy. See for yourself, read the books.

When the cicadas cry

Originally meant to be plot line for a game, this is now a set of light novels, with a lot of manga, some movies and many seasons of anime. The story is that good and unholy addictive.

SPOILERS - Story centers around a mysterious village where people die / are murdered / disappear without a trace. This happens within a time loop, with the inhabitants slowly becoming aware with each iteration and changing their actions to suit. Add to that, a strange disease that drives people slowly mad. Very violent and bloody, but true to life, desperation and madness will create chaos.

Imagine the guilt of remembering the last life time you killed your best friend while talking to that best friend and pretending nothing was wrong and your best friend remembers it and decides to kill you first before you can repeat your actions.

Happy ending, when they learn to trust each other and work together to break the curse.

Durarara !!

Odd naming convention aside, ( Author created Baccano! ) this is one good story.
This began life as a light novel series, now there is a manga and two seasons of anime.

Story is about an ordinary boy who moves to the big city where strange things happen and he gets hopelessly entangled with powerful forces beyond his control. The headless rider, the mad scientist, many dead bodies, two super humans who despise each other and play cat and mouse with supernatural skills at parkour and thrown vending machines and knives, creepy clever gang leaders... the list goes on.

Check it out. Ryogo Narita can spin a story.

The melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

More famous in the anime versions, it began life as a light novel series and also includes a movie and many manga.

Adored the light novels. To any readers unfamiliar with the term, a light novel is a short novel with a few manga drawings for major scenes and character intros.

Story is about a girl who experiences a major epiphany at a young age and starts seeking the abnormal, weird and unusual to make herself extraordinary. In the search for aliens, time travelers and psychic powers, the girl undergoes intense change herself and transforms herself into a god.

She has no idea about her powers and she creates what she desires, a world where all her dreams are real. Of course, she has to be supervised or she might destroy the world in a fit of boredom. So, the alien, the time traveler and the esper join forces to look after her with one human boy who knows their true identity while keeping Haruhi Suzumiya in the dark about everything. Recipe for mayhem, chaos and destruction. Leave it to Kyon to look after a god.

Temeraire Series

Let's start with dragons, shall we?
Most book series, even with dragons in them, don't personalize them.

Dragons are greedy monsters with frightening descriptions : flame and fury, death and destruction, bringers of chaos and doom.

But Temeraire is different and cleverly seductive, dragging you into the story and gripping tight. The plot is realistic and the pain is from life itself. The only magic is the existence of dragons.

Or you can call it evolution where the Dinosaurs changed to adapt to disaster.

Lawrence is a naval captain, happily minding his own business. England is at war with France and they have just captured a French ship. All is well and promotions are in order when they find a dragon's egg on board the war prize, about to hatch. Someone has to captain the beast and that means leaving the Navy and civilized society behind. Guess who gets lucky/unlucky?