review: The Newflesh trilogy (books)

These books got passed around so quick between my friends and I. Seriously, it seems like almost everyone read these within the span of a few months. The sad part was that we never really talked about them and that I haven't thought about these books since I finished them. And that's a shame because they were good and cool.

Mira Grant is the pen name of Seanan McGuire who is known for her science fiction books, and The Newsflesh trilogy is no exception  and in fact won her a Hugo Award and has been nominated for a total of five Hugo awards.

These books take place in a post-zombie apocalypse America - decades after the initial infection has spread. It happened with the creation of a cure for cancer and a cure for the common cold. Some fanatics release both virus and tit quickly spread to all mammalian life. Alone, these two viruses are beneficial, but together they can cause their host to "amplify" and convert any mammal over 40 lbs into a zombie.

Life in America has change drastically. Humanity has kinda won. People are still here. They live in closed safe zones controlled by frequent blood tests. Meat is really no longer an option and houses are concrete brick, since windows are a safety risk. Alaska is lost to the zombies and its reclaiming is a political cluster. News has changed too. Papers are non-existent, people preferring to get their news via online, in particular, blogs.

Georgia is our heroine. She and her brother, Shaun, are the adopted children of Stacy and Michael who were present at the Rising (of Zombies.... duh). They gained fame fighting for the outlawing of pets near 40 lbs after Stacy had to shoot her young son due to his amplification after being bitten by a neighbor's pet. Georgia, like many of her generation, is named after the godfather of zombie - George A. Romero. She, along with her brother and closest friends Steve and Georgette (aka Buffy), are newies - professional bloggers. Their lives change when their crew get accepted to join the a politician on his campaign for President. Needless to say, this makes things get even more complicated.

There's zombies, betrayal, politics, medical craziness, love - what's not to like? I wish that this series was read by more people who would then talk about it. I found it memorable and amazing but due to the lack of chatter I've knocked off half a star. I give the Newsflesh Trilogy 4.5 out of 5 starts.

review: Ready Player One (book)

Although this book is a little outside my usual reading genre, it's well within my interests. I ended up reading this at the same time as a few friends although we were not in sync with our completion times.

Ready Player One is set in 2044 where the consumption of fossil fuels (and the fall out there of) has thrown the world into chaos and violence. People have retreated to online virtual realities for work, school and entertainment. The creator of this online virtual reality system, James Halliday, died and left the virtual keys to the kingdom scattered in easter eggs (hidden cache for all you non-nerds out there). Now the kicker is that all the clues are in 1980's inspired scenes requiring huge depths of obscure, nerd knowledge.

Our here is Wade Watts, a technologically savvy if naive boy and a total nerd and devotee of James Halliday. Needless to say, he already in the process of searching for the keys. Stumbling around, trying to understand the clues he bumbles into the first one and wins! Thus the race begins to find the keys and gain control of the net and stop Sorrento and his mercenary minions from getting all the keys.

Ready Player One is a great read for a lot of ages. It is a story about overcoming adversity, growing up and figuring out what is important. I give Erest Cline's Ready Player One 4 out of 5 stars!

review: His Majesty's Dragon (book)

Hello all! Sorry for the long absence. Graduate school is keeping me on my toes. And when I'm not working, doing homework or at one of my internships, I'm reading... or watching movies.... or drowning myself in apple cider with cinnamon whiskey *shivers* keeps me toasty.

So here I am, once again playing catch up with my reviews. This is another recommendation from Excuse the Quality and boy, does he know the kind of books I like (even though I keep failing spectacularly to recommend him books.... and tv.... and music). Even though he recommended it to me many times, the main reason I picked up this book was due to one of my favorite authors, Jim Butcher, talking her up as one of his favorite and under-the-radar authors. And I must say, I should have listened to EtQ  earlier.

Naomi Novik is the author of the Temeraire series which is a re-imagining of the Napoleonic Wars. The biggest difference between these books and history? DRAGONS! How can this not be AWESOME!? The main character is William Laurence, mostly referred to as Laurence, who is captain in His Majesty's Royal Navy. They are at war with France and when Laurence defeats and captures a French ship in battle, they raid the hold only to find a dragon egg.

Unfortunately the egg is close to hatching and so there's no way that Laurence and his crew are going to get it to the Dragon Riders in time. The dragon is likely going to have to bond with one of the sailors. Awesome, right? Nope - apparently, the dragon corps and their partnered dragons are not well regarded at all. And surprise - the dragon decides on Laurence who promptly dubs him Temeraire (which according to about.com means reckless).

His Majesty's Dragon is the first book in the Temeraire series. There are nine books in total. I've read the first four so far and it's been an fantastic ride. Going all over the UK to China and back a-dragonback with Laurence and Temeraire. If you love heartwarming fantasy, historical fiction, dragons, battles and intrigue - this is a great series for you. I give Naomi Novik's His Majesty's Dragon 5 out of 5 stars and the Temeraire series 4.5 out of 5 stars. d

review: The Hunger Games (books)

So I've already talked about Hunger Games the movie  - this is the book the movie was based on. And although this book (and movie) were classified as a young adult (or PG-13) there are many adult themes and it is intensely violent. So if you've got young ones and aren't sure if this is the book for them, here's my rule: if you can't enter the games (age 12) you can't read about them either. Although a lot of parent obviously ignored this warning for the movie (stupid crying children). I will also trying to be more plot/character heavy on this review, rather than film/acting/musically focused.

This is my second read through of this trilogy by Suzanne Collins. It consists of: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. All three are written in first person point of view which is, upon the second reading, actually quite refreshing. Instead of feeling like someone is a telling you a story, Collins uses the first person which makes you feel more like you're there despite the out-of-this-world situation.

The Hunger Games takes place in the distant but not unbelievable post-apocalyptic future in what was once the United States. Now called Panem, and ruled by the high-tech and fashion obsessed and bored populace of the Capitol, is comprised as twelve districts (well, once thirteen, but the thirteenth rebelled and was quickly put down), each one responsible for different goods/services (coal, agriculture, tech, etc). Each year to remember the day of the uprising, the Capitol requires two tributes from each district, one male and one female. These tributes chosen in "The Reaping", are forced to compete in a battle to the death in "The Hunger Games".

Katniss Everdeen is a 16 year-old girl from district twelve. She lives with her mother and younger sister - her father died in the coal mining accident when she was eleven. She is well....  stubborn, quiet, rebellious but all without drawing attention to herself (or so she believes). She spends her time taking care of her sister, mother (who spiraled into a deep depression after her husband's death) and hunting with her best friend Gale (male - not female). Anyways, due to some horrible luck, her little sister Prim gets chosen as tribute and instead of letting her go to her death, Katniss volunteers as tribute. The other tribute is Peeta Mellark, the baker's son. They are whisked away to the Capitol where they are beautified and judged as they prepare for the 74th annual Hunger Games.

In the Capitol the tributes are subjected to the whims of the populace and their odd fashions. The games and its contestants are constantly scrutinized and judge both by the populace, game masters, and politicians. These perverted games are Collins' way of reflecting her disgust of reality television and intense scrutiny of the media.Collins' said she was inspired by the Japanese movie Battle Royale, footage from the Iraq invasion and a reality tv show she saw while flipping channels. The use of media through the movie is twisted - from needing sponsors for the games, televised interviews of the champions and the publicly mandated viewing of the intense violence of the games.

One of the things I really liked about this movie was Katniss' insistence on finding herself and doing what feels or is right for her. And although she allows herself to be swayed on a few issues - she does not adamantly deny or refuse them. More focus on establishing self. Doing what's best for herself, figuring out what she wants and who she wants. She doesn't want to be pushed or pulled by people (slight problem seeing as how the Capitol runs their lives). Whether this be how she trains, who she falls for, or how she wins - Katniss wants to do it on her own terms.

In comparison to movie there's a lot more development of Katniss' feelings for Peeta. the movie makes it kinda seem like she's just playing a long but in the book there are real moments where she feels connected to him and where she even starts having feelings about him right back. There's more time spent with Prim and her mother and more history there (which is nice sense the absence of this background was one of my pet peeves in the movie).

In the movie there also only one or two moments of joy or laughter. The book offers many more examples, adding levity and charm to what could have been such a dour book. Many of these moments are with Peeta (granted she is with him for the majority of the book....) where they tease and joke with each other even in the face of the looming games. These moments made Katniss feel more real and highlighted her youth which could be lost at moments in the movie.

I did really like this book - in fact it's my favorite out of the trilogy. I give The Hunger Games (the book) 4 out of 5 stars! How did you think it compared to the movie?

review: The Fall & Eternal Night (The Strain Trilogy vol. 2 &3) (books)

  

So this is a combined review because I read these two in such quick succession. I'll try not to give away many spoilers however - seeing as it is the last 2/3 of a trilogy and it was awesome... well, I'll try. No guarantees thou. 

A refresher - these books are volumes 2 and 3 of The Strain trilogy by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. It is a modern day vampire/horror story. 

Let's start with vol 2 - The Fall (as I deem this the most logical course). This is my favorite out of the three. There's less of a OMG-are-those-vampires? and more of a OMG-vampires-how-do-we-kill-them? attitude. The characters are also really well developed at this stage so you can easily see which ones you'll like and which ones you won't by the time the series ends. 

And although there's a lot of character and plot development, my FAVORITE PART OF THIS ENTIRE SERIES is the mythology that was developed. As mentioned in the end of vol 1. The Strain there is a book of great importance to both the humans and Ancient vampires call The Lumen (literally: the light) in which there's a detailed history of the creation of the vampire species and possibly a key to how they can be defeated. Much of the book is spent trying to achieve The Lumen either through duplicity, alliances or strength of arms. The mythology within The Lumen is what makes this story amazing... arg! I really want to share all of this with you but I don't want to give you spoilers! GO READ IT and then we can talk about it!

Another thing I like about The Fall is the non-traditional hero arc for almost all the characters. Well, on some accounts it's very traditional - mainly in the death department (I'll let you discover who and how for yourself.) But the journey of self-discovery that has to be made is a little different from most other characters in fiction primarily due to the huge role religion ends up playing through the last two books. It's not a preachy book but more of a spiritual and physical importance in the series.

Anyways, book 2 The Fall ends excellently, with the Master (and evil) pulling ahead of Eph (and good). Book 3, The Night Eternal, begins 2 years after the events of The Fall. Eph is rather estranged from his companions through his self medication (*SPOILERS* to blunt the absence of his son who gets kidnapped by the Master at the end of book 2 *END SPOILERS*) and alcoholism. Fet and Nora have grown closer but have yet to really move any closer physically due to Fet and Nora's guilt over "betraying" Eph for each other. 

I really can't tell you much about The Night Eternal without giving away major spoilers.... so I guess the second half of this review is kinda bust. I will say that I go back and forth between liking and really disliking the ending. On one hand I understand why they did it, on the other I think it's a total cop-out. 

I give Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan's The Strain Trilogy (on the whole) 4 out of 5 stars for an excellent interpretation of vampires. Now - go read it so I can talk to you about it!

review: The Strain (book)

This is another recommendation by Excuse the Quality and once again a good recommendation. I really enjoyed almost all of this book, really just becoming uninterested for about 50 pages about 3/4 of the way through.

The coolest part about this (for me anyways) was that the author is Guillermo del Toro (well, coauthoring... with Chuck Hogan). He is best known as a movie director for amazing movies like Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy, and the upcoming Hobbit movies (yes - that's right, movies... plural. oh, HP what have you done? First, four Twilight movies... now two Hobbits.... what next? At least the industry's taste has improved). [EDIT - apparently he dropped out of the hobbit movies and Peter Jackson is back on the scene, sorry folks - END EDIT] And now he's getting into books. The only real worry I had was whether or not this would read like a movie script. However, del Toro actually has quite a lot of experience writing as he has also written numerous screenplays including ones for the three movies listed above.

del Toro is considered to be one of the best in the fantasy/horror genre and boy does The Strain count. I really liked how this book was thought of. It really mixed the best of the classic one evil vampire with the zombie/vampire virus plot line. I felt that some of it was a little cliche but at least it was well done. The Strain is the first in the The Strain Trilogy; the second is The Fall and third is The Night Eternal. We start out following the landing of a 777 (it's funny cuz it's God's number) plane where all of a sudden after landing all the communication and power cuts out leaving the plane a shiny, mass of dark metal on the runway.

Eventually the cops decide to break into the plane and what they find prompts them to call the CDC. Dr. Ephraim "Eph" Goodweather is the man leading the team. He's a divorced dad with lots of issues - namely a very busy job which gets him into a lot of hot water with his ex-wife. Eph represents the "viral" side of the story. On the "classical" we have Professor Abraham Setrakian. He's a Romanian Jew and Holocaust survivor. His grandmother used to tell him tales of her childhood neighboring village where creepy thing would happen and children would go missing. So when the same thing started happening at the Treblinka concentration camp, he was aware of the signs. He is an expert in vampirism and has a major grudge against the beasties. He's this series Van Hellsing.

I won't give away the plot just be aware that although some of it is rather cliche there are definitely some really excellent twists in the plot. And of course, a cliffhanger to get you interested in books 2 and 3. I give The Strain 4 out of 5 stars and Excuse the Quality agrees with me. You can read his review here! For me, onto book 2 The Fall!

review: American Vampire (graphic novel)

Now most of you may know my stance on recently released vampire books, namely The Twilight Saga which is EVIL, but Excuse the Quality recommended American Vampire and his recommendations are usually pretty spot on. However the biggest draw was Stephen King's involvement with this series.  Not only is he a co-author for the first volume but he also wrote an awesome forward called Suck on This. His forward  glorifies the return of vampires as "cold blooded killers" and denounces the wimpy "dewy-eyed" vamp.

With Stephen King, the master of horror, endorsing this I had no fear that this series would turn out to be some about whiny bimbo with no goals who lets abusive men make all her decisions (that's my opinion of the Twilight Saga for all of you who didn't catch on there).  Scott Synder (author) and Rafael Albuquerque (artist) are the co-creators for the series.

We follow Pearl Jones, an aspiring actress from the 1920's, and Skinner Sweet, a murder and thief from the Wild West era. Sweet is the first "American" vampire. He is turned by one of the species of the European vamps accidentally by having some blood dropped into his eye. Fearing Sweets' revenge (because all it takes is one drop to turn you), the European vamps have him locked up in a coffin under 60ft of water. Too bad for them, Sweet escapes to wreak havoc on those who confined him. Unlike the European vamps with their classical weaknesses, Sweet can walk in the sun and is actually fueled by it and traditional methods of disposal do not work on him (sunlight, wood, or silver). Instead he's most weak during moonless nights. And if you want to kill him, it's best to use gold, otherwise he's basically immortal.

Thus he's still around in the 1920's to meet Pearl Jones. Now Pearl is in Hollywood trying to become an actress. And when some bigwigs invite her to a very swanky soiree she accepts (despite Sweet's warning) thinking that she might be a better part. Unfortunately, she gets eaten but Sweet finds her and, as I said, all it take is one drop - now we have two American Vampires. And the shenanigans begin!

With excellent plot and art, American Vampire should be in every 13 year old's (and everyone else's) bedroom. I give American Vampire 5 out of 5 stars. But don't just take my word for it - check out Excuse the Quality's review.

review: John Dies At the End (book)

This book has been recommended to me numerous times... all of them by the same person actually. And I have to say, it was a trip. I don't think I've ever read a more... crazy book. It's literally like a giant acid trip... But the acid happens to be this even more crazy drug called Soy Sauce - no joke. This drug lets them see the world behind our world. Or parallel. Or demons....

The story opens with our protagonist, Dave, talking to a reporter in the wee hours of the morning in a Mexican restaurant in "Undisclosed" - a mid-western town. Dave begins the arduous process of telling the reporter his story.

It all starts at a party. Dave is approach by a Jamaican who makes a bet with Dave that if he can guess what his dream was about last night then Dave has to buy him a beer. Dave refuses to take the bet but the Rasta just steam rolls over him telling him exactly how his dream went last night. Perturbed Dave walks off. Well, he actually goes chasing after a dog he sees. Later his friend John says that he's going to drinks with a bunch of friend and the Rasta, Dave declines to go with them.

In the middle of the night Dave gets a call from John who is tripping out of his mind. Dave rushes over there only to find John is even worse off then any of his previous trips. Dave decides to take John to the hospital but somehow they get sidetracked and decide to take the dog home. From here they find out that everyone who went to the party is either missing or gruesomely dead.

Although I was initially very keen to read this book, I found that the more I pushed through it the more difficult it become. It was very compelling through the first "chapter" of the book I found myself getting a little, err - disgusting if only for the extremely graphic macabre and grotesque imagery. Sometimes it was very funny and other times I found it unsettling and disturbing.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I think it had great bones, but I found that it just didn't agree with me. However, my friend might vehemently disagree with me. You can read his review here. I give John Dies at the End 2.5 stars out of 5. Sorry Jesse!

review: Memory, Sorrow and Thorn Trilogy (books)

if anyone can claim being the "tolkien" of the modern age - George R. R. Martin has nothing on Tad Williams. Not only was he first, but he's not nearly as dark as Martin and Tolkien's genre was not so black. Williams is just as prolific as Tolkien without being stupidly prolific with songs, poems, and awkward ending wars.

I first tried to read this series in 8th grade as a dare from my friends to read the thickest book we could find in our school library. i completely failed my first attempt.

the second however, was successful. but it was years in between the attempts - mainly because the first hundred or so pages are deadly dull. i know, not a ringing endorsement. BUT if you can solider past 100 or so pages of our main character "mooning" about, and the back story evolving usually involving the main character being somewhere he shouldn't be and over hearing things he doesn't understand, the story gets awesome.

There are technically four books to this trilogy.... i know... not quite what you're expecting but trust me it makes sense. Like HP movie #7 being split into 2 parts, book three of Memory, Sorrow and Thorn is also split into 2 parts (but only for the paperback): part 1 - Siege, part 2 - Storm. So, ideally 3 books but technically 4.

The story begins with the sickening and death of the King of Osten Ard who gained his throne by slaying a dragon to unite the lands (not as... cliche as it sounds but can't really tell you anything as it is plot.... sorry!) With his death the united kingdoms start to argue among themselves, especially with two sons to possibly succeed him.

the story revolves around Simon, your basic a kitchen boy. because he is spacey and "moons" around, he gets apprenticed to Dr. Morgenes your basic druid/wizard who is a member of a secret society protecting a prophecy that will ensure the world's survival should darkness once again threaten it. see where i'm going here? anyways - will a power vacuum things become dicey and long story short, Simon ends up escaping from the castle with some of Dr. Morgenes secrets with him.

Through the series you can expect variations of dwarves, elves, magic, portals into lost realms, politics, a kingdom in flight, evil and sword fights. I give Tad Williams "Memory, Sorrow & Thorn" 3.5 out of 5 stars.

review: In the Woods (book)

sorry for the wait folks. having a social life, a full time job and being sick does not an updated blog make. sorry.... but i've got a lot of stuff to review so hopefully i'll get back on track with one update or more a week!

and now we return you to your regularly scheduled blog:

In the Woods by Tana Woods

this book was really good. in fact it's one of the few i actually bought that is not science fiction, fantasy, political satire or historical fiction.... wow, i need to branch out. however it is a crime drama. and not some crappy one like Jim Patterson. in this book there's a lot of psychological drama lots of psychological drama in this one: from major freak outs for Det. Rob Ryan, bouts of memory loss, and straight up sociopathic behavior.

The story takes place central Dublin, Ireland and one of Dublin's rural suburbs. Detectives from Dublin's murder squad are sent to investigate the death of a young girl who was killed on an archeological site right outside the suburb. the murder generates a lot of press due to the girl's age, skill in ballet, the horrific details of her murder and due to the previous deaths in this sleepy suburb. Over 20 years ago, the town felt the shadow of death pass by on a hot summer evening where three children went to play in the woods and only one emerged but without his memory. Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox are two detectives sent to investigate. and lo and behold Det. Ryan is that same boy who emerged from the woods over 20 years ago.

Det. Rob Ryan is the protagonist and narrator throughout the whole book, focusing only on what he can see and know. and he warns you that this book doesn't portray him in the best light which is sad but true. Cassie is the brains out of the two (she almost completed her degree in psychology... although that means she's probably as learned as i am.... and she's a detective.... now, i'm uncomfortable) while Det. Rob Ryan often just stands there and is menacing which in itself can be useful. the two have a great dynamic often sounding like teenage siblings rather than partners on Dublin's murder squad.

Is there a connection between the recent death and the deaths over 20 years ago? who killed them? will they be able to prove it? and will rob and cassie hook up?! *sigh*

so if you're down for an intelligent thriller with lots of twists and an ending with many levels you might enjoy Tana French's In the Woods. i'm only giving it 3.5 out of 5 stars because i really enjoyed the book up until the very end. it left me unsatisfied but that's only becuase it didn't end the way i hoped. however the ending was good.

review: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane (book)

so for those of you who don't know - I worked at Border's books last year and one of the perks of working there was that we were given free rein over the ARCs (advanced reading copies) which meant we had access to the books thus receiving a sneak peak. this allowed us to be able to explain the books extremely well to the customers. we were never required to read them but usually the books were interesting enough that i would often pick one up and read it over break that way if i didn't like it i could put it down and pick another one or take the book home and finish it over a week or so. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is one of the books i loved!

it is a work of historical fiction that takes place during the Salem witch trials but also is set in modern times. how does it accomplish this? by oscillating between the two. The main character is Connie Goodwin, a Harvard grad student who is actually writing her doctoral dissertation on the Salem Witch trials and witchcraft.

she had planned to spend her summer doing research but when her flaky mother drops the sale of her mother's abandoned home near Salem, Connie can’t refuse. while preparing it for sale, she uncovers a very old Bible and within it, an ancient key and a piece of parchment with the name "Deliverance Dane" written on it. Spurred on by her discovery, Connie searches to find out more about this woman, her fate, and a rare find only hinted about: a "physick" book - which pages hold a hidden, dangerous knowledge.

we follow Connie through the summer as she deals with an over zealous and perhaps crazed professor, a new love interest, and struggles to find herself and her connection to Deliverance's dark past.

this novel gives the reader: mystery, love, magic, sticking it to one's mother, and affirmation of self. i give The Physick Book of Deliverance Dance 4.5 out of 5 stars. minus half a star for some cliche.

review: The Dresden Files (books)

Currently this is my favorite book series. It is a long running science fiction series by Jim Butcher who has been on the New York Times Best Sellers list numerous times for this series as well as his other series The Codex Alera.

The story revolves around Harry Dresden, the only person listed under 'Wizard' in the yellow pages - and no, he doesn't do parties, love potions, or seances. Think of him as a "professional wizard" or wizard detective. Each book is usually a different case or linking cases however, beginning in the later books there becomes an overarching plot. In fact, Jim Butcher has announced that there will be twenty regular books in this series and then will cap it off with a massive trilogy! So if you're looking for the long haul (like me) this is the series for you.

The books tackle all sorts of magical creatures and problems including but not limited to: demons, angels, ghosts, evil wizards, gods, fairies, werewolves, and vampires. Each creature has their own twists on how they're portrayed which can differ significantly from their classical portrayals. Continuing on this line the series offers a refreshing spin on the classic wizard. Harry isn't your anti-hero or even your reluctant hero - in fact, he admits he's a sucker for a lady in need which often comes back to bite him in the ass. The series is set in modern day Chicago so you really won't find Harry running around in robes instead he wears a leather duster and jeans which gives him the lone Sheriff or cowboy appearance that he loves and hates.

Humor is a huge part of the reason why I love this series. Butcher will often take classic elements and make them incredibly witty and hilarious. For example in one of the books flying purple monkey demons are attacking Harry using... well, the same projectile missiles that they use in real life - poo. However, in Harry's case, they happen to be flinging flaming poo that explodes on contact much like liquid napalm. fun!

As for characters there's Harry, Karen Murphy, and Bob that are in almost every book. Harry's very stand-offish and doesn't much like to be intimidated or bossed around but when he is his humor really comes out. Ah, sarcasm. it truly makes the world go round. Harry also owns a skull... named Bob, who just happens to house a spirit of intellect who, despite not having a body or even a corporeal form, loves porn. Karen Murphy is the other main character in this series. She is a Lieutenant in the Special Investigations unit of the Chicago police department. She's a tiny, blue eyed blond haired ball of tightly restrained fury despite the fact that she looks harmless. She is described as "tiny but fierce". very true.

These books are witty, complex, and will keep your turning pages. The plot is interesting and the characters are well done and thoughtfully detailed. I give this series 5 out of 5 stars for length, humor, over-arching plot and zombies.