Archive for the ‘fantasy’ Category

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This Wednesday I am waiting on Insatiable by Meg Cabot. What can I say? It’s Meg Cabot, whom I adore, and it’s a vampire book! I can’t wait to read this, as I’m sure it will be amazingly adorable and hilarious.

Insatiable
Release date: June 8, 2010

Summary (from Meg Cabot’s Website):

A modern sequel to Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Sick of hearing about vampires? So is Meena Harper.

But her boss is making her write about them anyway, even though Meena doesn’t believe in them.

Not that Meena isn’t familiar with the supernatural. See, Meena Harper knows how you’re going to die (not that you’re going to believe her. No one ever does).

But not even Meena’s precognition can prepare her for what happens when she meets — then makes the mistake of falling in love with — Lucien Antonescu, a modern-day prince with a bit of a dark side…a dark side a lot of people, like an ancient society of vampire-hunters, would prefer to see him dead for.

The problem is, Lucien’s already dead. Maybe that’s why he’s the first guy Meena’s ever met that she could see herself having a future with. See, while Meena’s always been able to see everyone else’s future, she’s never been able look into her own.

And while Lucien seems like everything Meena has ever dreamed of in a boyfriend, he might turn out to be more like a nightmare.

Now might be a good time for Meena to start learning to predict her own future…

If she even has one.

After escaping from Evernight Academy, the vampire boarding school where they met, Bianca and Lucas seek refuge with Black Cross, an elite group of vampire hunters. Bianca must hide her supernatural heritage or risk certain death at their hands. But when Black Cross captures her friend–the vampire Balthazar–all her secrets threaten to come out.

Soon, Bianca and Lucas have orchestrated Balthazar’s escape and are on the run, pursued not only by Black Cross, but by the powerful leaders of Evernight. Yet no matter how far they run, Bianca can’t escape her destiny.

Bianca has always believed their love could survive anything–but can it survive what’s to come?

Synposis from claudiagray.com, release date March 9, 2010

Hourglass is the best yet in Claudia Gray’s Evernight series. In Stargazer, we left Bianca and Lucas with Black Cross, under lockdown, and on the alert for an attack by Mrs. Bethany and her growing clan of vampires. In Hourglass, Bianca and Lucas are still stuck with Black Cross, with time slowing running out as they hope to plan their escape. As time moves forward, Bianca’s situation becomes more desperate as her need for blood grows stronger and others grow suspicious about her past. After escaping from Black Cross, Bianca and Lucas go into hiding, looking forward to finally having their “happy-ever-after”–but it couldn’t be that easy, right? A host of old friends and enemies return, and complications make their situation even more dire as the two star-crossed lovers fight for their lives and fight to remain together.

Hourglass is intensely fast-paced and extremely suspenseful. Bianca and Lucas continue to grow as characters, and Lucas shows a great deal of depth and emotion in this novel. I couldn’t put this down once I picked it up! The whole book makes you feel as if you are racing towards an awesome, yet terrifying conclusion. But yet, there is one more novel in this series (Afterlife), and I am not looking forward to waiting for that!

Hourglass is a much more adult novel, darker than the previous two in the series. Fans of the series will love the things we continue to discover about all of our favorite characters, yet they’ll be shocked by the betrayals, unexpected discoveries, and the quick conclusion.

ARC received from the author–thank you!

For More: Check out Claudia Gray’s web site!

The 2009 Cybils (Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers Literary Awards) have been announced!

A few of my favorites!

• Middle-Grade Fiction: Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson. I haven’t read this book yet, but am looking forward to it. Anderson is one of my favorite authors, plus, I will be seeing her speak at the Virginia Hamilton Conference in April!
• Fantasy and Science Fiction (YA): Fire by Kristin Cashore. Love, love, love this book! Can’t wait for the 3rd book in this series, Bitterblue.

Today Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is in theaters! I hope everyone will check out this movie and read the books if you haven’t yet. This is a great series with a lot of heart and a wonderful cast of characters. Check out my review of the first book in the series here! And watch the movie trailer below.

This semester I am taking a course entitled “Library Services for Young Adults.” Pretty much my dream class, you know? I’m very excited about it! In this class, I’ll be reading about 20 YA titles and writing about them. I thought I’d share my thoughts here as I read, in order to share these books with you, my awesome audience, and also help preserve my initial thoughts.

The first book I finished is The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughren. I hadn’t heard of this book or author before selecting it for my class. The White Darkness was the 2008 Printz award winner, but the book was actually published several years ago. This is the type of book I haven’t read in quite some time–a mixture of adventure, realism, with a younger protagonist, and a lot of symbolism reaching out and grabbing the reader. The story reminds me of The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig with the extreme situations the characters are placed in, as well as the general flow and telling of the story. I also feel as if this book will remain as The Endless Steppe has: timeless and intriguing to generations today and in the future.

Now on to the plot: The story follows 14-year-old Sym, a young girl that lives in England with her mother and good friend of the family, Uncle Victor. Immediately, you are also introduced to another major player in Sym’s life, Titus Oates, someone that many would call her “imaginary friend.” Titus has been with Sym ever since her father died–but who is he? Titus was an explorer, a member of the British Navy, in the early 1900s, that helped to front an expedition to the South Pole. Unfortunately, he never made it to his destination, and he and his team died in Antarctica. Sym has had an obsession with Antarctica (“The Ice”) ever since she was young, an addiction fostered by her uncle and his own passion for that continent. As you can probably tell, Sym hasn’t had the easiest time of it growing up: she’s extremely shy, suffers from hearing loss, and also suffered a lack of love from her own father, who eventually died of a debilitating disease of the mind. She has few friends and rarely comes out of her shell of protection she’s built around her self.

In The White Darkness, Sym and Uncle Victor travel to Antarctica on her dream trip–all she’s ever wanted to do, all she’s ever planned for, all her world encompasses. While there, the real reason behind the trip enfolds, along with a great deal of deceit, suspense, adventure, danger, madness, fantasy, and a whole lot of ice and snow. Sym finds herself in the middle of the great ice continent with her uncle and several companions and begins to finally test the truths she’s always believed in. The ultimate goal: survival, but once your whole world has fallen and collapsed beneath you, what point is there to keep moving on? Sym finds herself, through the help of Titus, to be stronger and more resilient than she ever could have believed, and at the end of the book, she has a much brighter future in front of her.

This is a book that many audiences would enjoy, which is why I imagine it was selected for the Printz award. It is great for younger readers–despite a slight smattering of foul language, the book is clean and enticing for younger readers that enjoy adventure and suspense. Older readers will also enjoy the book, as they will be able to understand the underlying symbolism of “the white darkness” and the other beautifully haunting allegories McCaughren has staged throughout.

For More: Check out McCaughren’s personal web site!

I read about this intriguing livejournal post on the YALSA blog and had to share my own thoughts. I’ve heard this point of view before: Edward as the creepy, stalking, possibly emotionally (even physically) abusive “boyfriend” (can you call him a boyfriend if he’s dead?). I’ve read all of the Twilight books numerous times. I was into the books before they became popular. I’m not a fan of the movies, but I’ve seen both of them now.

What do I think? You can’t argue with the points made by the author of that post. Edward clearly exhibits some behaviors of an abusive person. C’mon, he’s so creepy. He does stalk Bella. He watches her sleep. He threatened and tried to commit suicide because he couldn’t live without her! Honestly, I had some of these thoughts before reading this, but didn’t realize how horrible, how awful this relationship between Edward and Bella really may be.

From the point of view of a fan–the reader gets lost in the book. It’s not amazing writing, it’s not even an always believable story, but there is something about it that sucks (ha) you in. Edward and Bella’s relationship is compelling to the type of person (young female) that gets drawn to this story. If you leave the story and take it for what it is on a superficial level, a novel, maybe you don’t see the fact that there is something seriously wrong in the way he treats Bella. Or maybe you do and you ignore it because sometimes he says great things or does something right. Or maybe you’re lonely and you can’t see beyond your own emotions.

Whatever the reason, I didn’t see this so clearly, and I’m glad for this post. I agree with many commenters on the YALSA blog. Education is always important. Equal access should be made to the Twilight books and to materials on abusive relationships. Communication is also important. Friends and families should discuss the content of these types of books–and recognize it for what it is: a story. And in your real life, if you know an Edward, it is not OK to be bossed around, abused–emotionally, verbally, or physically, or treated as a second-class citizen.

This is a very interesting topic and I hope it will be continued to be discussed across the blogosphere. I am very interested to hear others’ thoughts.

I’ve finally finished Fire by Kristin Cashore. I purchased the book several weeks ago when it came out–couldn’t wait to get my hands on it! I never reviewed Graceling here, but it has become one of my favorite books. Probably of all time! See, I’m a big fan of Tamora Pierce and her world of Tortall, filled with magic, knights, romance, and great stories and characters. Graceling, and now Fire, reminded me vividly of Pierce’s worlds, in a new and different way.

In Fire, Cashore takes us to the Dells, a strange country inhabited by creatures called monsters–they look like normal animals, but are every color of the rainbow, and have the power to control your mind with their beauty. Fire is a person, a young woman, that is the last living human monster, born of a human monster father, and a normal human mother. She is breathtakingly beautiful, with hair every color of orange, red, and pink (which is where her name comes from). Her mind is strong, and she has the mental power so hear others thoughts and control them, if their mind is not closed to her.

Fire’s story is complex and would be hard to describe in much detail here, so I’ll give you the basics. The Dells has had civil crisis for many years now, all the way back to when Fire’s father, Castrel, was alive, in power, and close confidante of the king. Castrel used his monster powers for evil with everyone, especially the king–but not with Fire. Through a series of events, the king died, and as did Castrel, and the king’s sons, Nash and Brigan were put into power.

This is where Fire’s story really begins, in her own lands outside the main cities of the Dells. She lives near her friend from childhood, Archer, and the man that really raised her, his father,, Lord Brocker. Every day, her life and safety is in jeopardy because of her heritage. Monsters can’t help but try to attack her when they see her beauty. So, she must hide her hair, and learn to protect herself. After being injured by an outsider to the area, Fire accompanies Archer and his men to visit the queen (the dead king’s wife) while he hopes to obtain more men to help protect their lands. While there, Fire encounters the new king, Nash, and his brother Brigan. This meeting of the brothers and Fire leads to the great adventure she has in this book: her journey across the Dells to the city, and her attempts to help lay down the upcoming war using her mental powers.

What is so great about Fire? First, the plot. The plot is interestingly complex and extremely suspenseful. It has all the greatness of an adventure novel, with a full-blown fantasy world tied in. Cashore creates a novel that can stand up to many of the great fantasy novels of our time, while also keeping the story engaging for readers that enjoy romance and books for young adults. The characters, despite their otherworldliness, are amazingly relatable. Also, the characters are well-written, with personality, faults, and greatness. You can’t help but love her characters and this strange world she’s put them in.

You don’t need to have read Graceling to read Fire. The stories are completely separate, but in a way their stories overlap and in the way Cashore writes and describes the Dells and the characters, you know it is one part of the puzzle. Graceling is another part, and I do recommend a read of it, before or after Fire (Graceling actually comes after Fire, chronologically).

Get this book and read it now, and you won’t be sorry you did! I especially recommend this book for fans of Tamora Pierce, Christopher Paolini, Garth Nix, and Shannon Hale’s Books of Bayern. I know you’ll love this one!

For More: Visit Kristin Cashore’s blog!

One of my favorite authors that I began reading in the past year is Shannon Hale. I started with Princess Academy, then read her book for adults, Austenland, and then moved on to the Books of Bayern, which began with The Goose Girl. I’m a big fan of all her work that I have read thus far. She has a way of visualizing little known tales and making them feel like new classics in their own right.

Book of a Thousand Days is the story of Dashti, a mucker maid, and her mistress Lady Saren, daughter of the leader of one of the areas of some ancient land that seems similar to ancient China/Mongolia. Saren is imprisoned in a tower with Dashti for years because she refused to marry a man chosen by her father. Dasthi keeps a journal telling the tale of their existence in the tower, while also hoping that Saren’s chosen, a khan leader of another district, comes to their rescue.

Book of a Thousand Days is much more than a fairy tale–it is a tale of growth and coming into your own. Dasthi begins as a shy, timid young woman, bending to her mistress’ will and serving her faithfully. Through the trial and tribulations of their confinement, and their adventures after they finally escape, she blossoms into a strong, confident young woman that cherishes the ones she loves and fights to keep them safe.

Any lover of lyrical, beautiful tales with a strong heroine, adventure, and romance, will enjoy Book of a Thousand Days. I also recommend the Books of Bayern series by Shannon Hale which share a very similar style of storytelling.

SUPER EXCITED NEWS!

One of my favorite books, Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr, is becoming a movie! See here and here for more information. Best news? It will be adapted by Caroline Thompson, who wrote Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas. I am anticipating that they are going to get this book right and make it as awesome as it deserves. Go here to read more about Marr’s thoughts on the whole thing.

Wicked Lovely is a paranormal romance novel starring Ash, a normal high school girl that can see faeries. It was followed up with Ink Exchange and Fragile Eternity (which I wrote about here) with the 4th book, Radiant Shadows to be published next year.

I also read that they are making Aprilynne Pike’s Wings into a movie, starring Miley Cyrus. I haven’t read this one yet, but it is on my list!

I will keep you posted on any more film news on this and other awesome teen novels!

I’ve recently begun the Septimus Heap novels by Angie Sage–what looks like a great series for middle-grade and younger teens (or really, anyone of any age that loves fantasy as I do)!

The midwife declares Septimus Heap dead on the night of his birth, and then later that night his father, Silas, discovers a baby girl abandoned outside the town. The Heaps take in the baby girl and raise her as their own, over the years discovering more and more about her true identity. Throughout the course of the first book, Magyk, the reader wonders, what really happened to Septimus? What will happen to Jenna, the abandoned child? After years of living with the Heaps, Jenna is put in danger and Silas, along with a motley crue of other cast members (the “head” wizard of the land, Marcia, Nicko Heap, and more) must do all that they can to save her, while also attempting to restore order to a land that has been diminishing under the rule of the cruel head Custodian and the evil wizard DomDaniel.

I’d recommend this series for those who love fantasy with magic, wizards, stories of family ties, adventure, and suspense. I will be sure to post often as I continue throughout this series!