The Second Siege

The Second Siege by Henry Neff.

Hardcover: 496 pages
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers;(September 23, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0375838961

From Booklist

It’s Max McDaniels’ second year at Rowan Academy, a contemporary American boarding school where students are trained to fight against supernatural foes. He and his sorcerer roommate, David, along with several others, human and non, are embroiled in a quest to stop the demon Astaroth from finding the Book of Thoth, which holds the key to all creation. As governments fall to Astaroth, Max and David travel across Europe and beyond in search of the book’s location. Proud, emotional Max and frail, calculating David suffer realistic setbacks and humbling experiences that change them, while Astaroth is delightful in his sly, polite wickedness. Neff’s writing is infused with history and myth, and a sense of adventure: add well-rounded characters, and this makes for a captivating read. New readers should start with the first book, The Hound of Rowan (2007) as this one doesn’t look back, but the dark conclusion and its potential consequences will ensure an eager readership for the third. Although Neff will not escape Harry Potter comparisons, in this volume he moves into his own distinctive voice.

This series (which has 4 books out so far) is really quite a good read!  If you have young adults at your home that read Harry Potter or something similar, then I would say for sure they would enjoy these books.

The author is quite good in letting you really get to know your characters and that to me is the strongest point in a book! (storyline comes second !)  Very well written books, excellent story for the characters involved, and the books even have some illustrations along the way. 

So I highly recommend this for young adults and for adults that need a break from their normal books!  I found I was captured very early into the first book and remained interested during the entire two books that I have read so far.

I think the Amazon review gives a very good synopsis of the story, so I won’t give away any more.  But I will say I like certain Ogres and witches now! lol..