Rating: 
Summary: No Harry Potter
Review: I thought this book was boring. Although the writing was welldone, there was no real imagination and nothing to capture thereader's attention. END
Rating: 
Summary: A rough draft?
Review: I'm thoroughly confounded by all the five-star reviews for this book. I usually love Jane Yolen, but I found this book very nearly unreadable. It felt like a rough draft for a book, but certainly not like a finished work. The repeated conceit of the teachers being unable to remember Thornmallow's name was utterly weak and pointless. The book is unimaginatievly repetitive and deeply derivative.
Rating:
Summary: An Inconsequential Book
Review: It's an unremarkable but readable tale of a student wizard's first days at school. There are other wizard in training books out there (you may have even read one in a popular series, ahem) but the best is still A Wizard of Earthsea--buy that first, then return for this book if you must. It's not awful, it's mostly harmless, but it isn't her best work.Note: 3 stars, for me, is a pretty good review, 4 is for extremely distinguished works, and 5 only for those I consider classics. Most of what is published is, unfortunately, a 2 or less.
Rating:
Summary: An Inconsequential Book
Review: It's an unremarkable but readable tale of a student wizard's first days at school. There are other wizard in training books out there (you may have even read one in a popular series, ahem) but the best is still A Wizard of Earthsea--buy that first, then return for this book if you must. It's not awful, it's mostly harmless, but it isn't her best work. Note: 3 stars, for me, is a pretty good review, 4 is for extremely distinguished works, and 5 only for those I consider classics. Most of what is published is, unfortunately, a 2 or less.
Rating: 
Summary: Intresting. A good tale of wizardry.
Review: Jane Yolen does very good with this book, a introdution of a school where spelling means creating cats out of thin air and where the grounds grow according to the mood. This is a good book for young readers, especially those that like fantasy and wizardry. I thought that this was a indepth tale of wizardry and accomplishment and that it was very well written.
Rating: 
Summary: Before there was Harry Potter, there was Thornmallow!
Review: Jane Yolen has written many charming and evocative tales of wonder over the years and now with all the well-deserved fuss over J.K. Rowling and her Harry Potters, fans young and old of the genre will love Yolen's 1991 effort, WIZARD'S HALL. In many ways similar to the Potters, this short, very quick read with Yolen's usual well-defined and entirely likeable characters and fast-paced,not overly complex plot, and typical wit and humor are as ever, right on target. Thornmallow, his friends, and enemies are all cut from the same rich fabric as the other grand mages of literature from Merlin to ubiquitous Potter. A great break between or after the Rowling books, without disappointment. Aimed at preteens (but as usual with Yolen, with some more advanced vocabulary thrown in --- the reading teacher in me just has to love an author to actually tries to expand vocabulary while endlessly entertaining her audience), this should not be overlooked by older mavens of humourous fantasy. (There's also some ethics education going on here, but Yolen is never pedantic, so, sh! don't tell anybody!)
Rating: 
Summary: Promising, but flawed
Review: Jane Yolen is a talented writer. (Read the Pit Dragon Trilogy if you don't believe me.) She is at her best when writing about magical things. That means that Wizard's Hall is - a promising, but flawed book. For one thing, it is too short. There is very little that is expanded on. I would have liked to have heard more about Thornmallow's adjustment to school, his classes, his school friends, his - well, anything. It seems like she just was assigned to write a book with a specific number of pages and came up with a menacing wizard and beast to fill up the pages instead of more "ordinary" things. This isn't bad, it just gives the book a flat aura. The characters are strictly two-dimensional, with the exception of Thornmallow. Now, what makes this book redeemable is the small details, such as the soup that tastes brown, and the beast itself. These show hints of Yolen's usual talent. Unfortunately, they are just that, hints. I recommend this book to fantasy fans, but try to get it used, it's not worth the whole price.
Rating:
Summary: A book to read while waiting for the next Harry Potter?
Review: Like many others, I've been looking for something to read while I wait for the next installment in the Harry Potter series. "Wizard's Hall" came highly recommended, but I must admit I was horribly disappointed. I'm VERY glad I only borrowed it from the library, instead of buying it. While I rather appreciated the poetic writing style, the book itself was downright BORING. I was over halfway through the book before anything remotely exciting started to happen. The story doesn't seem to flow very well, and I found the descriptions of the characters and places quite shallow and choppy. Not a horribe book, but certainly not worth the time spent reading it. Try Diana Duane's "So You Want to be a Wizard" for a good wizarding book or "Little White Horse" by Elizabeth Goudge for a slower-paced story with a wonderfully poetic writing style.
Rating:
Summary: A good book for non-adult readers
Review: Ms. Yolen created a magical story that was easy to follow. However, I do not think that the characters or stories are developed enough to satisfy adult readers. Of course, that explains why this book falls into the category of Children's books. The Harry Potter craze has resulted in the collision of the worlds of children's books and adult books, and as an adult, I don't know where to turn! (Actually, Edward Eager and Madeleine L'Engle are pretty good.) Wizard's Hall kept me busy for an evening, but I did not take anything away with me when I had finished reading.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Story, But...
Review: My daughter and I read "Wizard's Hall" together. She likes Harry Potter a lot and I must admit that I find the Potter books entertaining, too. But we had already read all the Harry Potter books available to date and were looking for something to fill the void. "Wizard's Hall" is about a boy named Henry who becomes the 113th student at a training school for young wizards. He isn't a very promising student. His curses don't work quite right, and his spell chanting is off a tone. But his mother had taught him to keep trying and that lesson serves him well. He also discovers that the school is threatened by a fierce monster, and it turns out that it is up to him to save it. Some reviewers here have said that "Wizard's Hall" is better than the Harry Potter stories. Sorry, but not so. This is a good story and it is well written, but neither the story line nor the characterers are anywhere near as well developed as those in the Potter series. My daughter's comment was that she liked this book, but it was short. This isn't meant as a criticism. "Wizard's Hall" is a clever and interesting story and stands very well on its own. We recommend it. Just don't expect another Harry Potter, because it simply doesn't have that kind of depth. Four stars.
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