Details
Publisher Orchard
Published Sep 2011
Format paperback, pp 448
Rating ****

Summary
The sixth and penultimate title in this bestselling fantasy sequence that started with The Fire Within, followed by Icefire, Fire Star, Fire Eternal and Dark Fire.

Chris d’Lacey’s wonderful storytelling takes us on a journey with familiar characters – in an unfamiliar place. Evil Aunts, intriguing firebirds and a dangerous universe await in another action-packed, compelling story.

Review
Fire World could almost stand on its own in the Last Dragon Chronicles world. We’re thrust into an alternate reality where humans can ‘imagineer’ objects, plants and animals from their thoughts. David, who we discovered did not seem to have come from anywhere on Earth in the last book, is a child with potent abilities, which means he is a risk to the Higher, a formless entity that rules Co:pern:ica. He is sent away to a librarium while counsellor Strømberg (sharing the same name and curiosity as the scientist who send David to Antarctica in book three) along with his father, Harlan, try to discover what it behind David’s nightmares.

One of the most engaging elements of the alternate reality is the correlation between the characters from the world of Co:pern:ica and those from Earth. D’Lacey starts by preserving a few names (David, Strømberg, Liz) so we can immediately identify we’re still in the world of the Last Dragon Chronicles. He then introduces textual differences, such as the spelling of ‘minit’ and Co:pern:ica, so we know we’re in a different world. Then he makes it slightly harder to guess which Co:pern:ican characters are alter-egos (for lack of a better word) of those on Earth. He also keeps a few surprises right until the end (or perhaps I’m just not observant enough).

Harlan is a very interesting character. He is David’s father on Co:pern:ica (where Elizabeth Pennykettle’s alter-ego, Liz, is his mother). On Earth, David seems to have no parents – though Liz acts as a surrogate mother to him – and Lucy has no father. Enter Harlan, devoted husband and scientist whose research is the catalyst for great changes in their world. All of the characters have had such important roles to play in the Dragon Chronicles so far, it’s almost fitting that a new (but still just as important) character gets to shine.

Fire World deals with very high concepts, but if there’s ever the risk of being overwhelmed by the complexity of time, vortexes (or is it vortii?) and alternate realities, D’Lacey is quick to show that it’s okay. The characters don’t understand everything fully, and sometimes they just frown and pretent – small quips that make them just as human as anyone, even though they aren’t from the world we know.

Cover and summary source: http://www.hachettechildrens.co.uk.

Tags: Chris d'Lacey, Fantasy, Fire World, Four Star Review, Last Dragon Chronicles, Orchard, Science Fiction
Filed under: Fantasy, Science Fiction

Details
Publisher Scholastic
Published 2009
Format paperback, pp 320
Rating ****

Summary
Her name is Fever.

A handwritten label on a tiny wrist.
Thousands of years from now, a baby is abandoned in the ruins of London. Rescued by some eccentric Engineers, Fever Crumb grows up unaware that she is the keeper of an explosive secret. Are the mysterious powers she possesses the key that will save London from a new and terrible enemy?

Review
It must be difficult to write a character with no emotion. Fever has been trained to suppress irrationality, a part of human nature, but Reeve succeeds in making her believable. Fever’s constant rational assertions and conflicts when things become difficult to rationalise make her a human character with which you can identify.

Fever Crumb deals with racism and how easy it is to cast a race as either good or bad. Both Scriven, with their script-like markings, and unmarked people suffer because of each other. Fever, who was born with two different coloured eyes, gets stuck in the middle of the remaining fear-fuelled racism as soon as she steps out of the safe confines of the Order of Engineers. You could easily cast these races as good or bad, but Reeve shows us what happened to characters on both sides with the help of multiple characters’ flash-backs. Reeve shows both sides to the story and you understand the characters and their actions.

Having read the Mortal Engines series it was touching to discover the reasons behind certain characters’ actions. It could almost be read as the first in the series, but it is far more satisfying to discover events that directly affect characters that eluded me previously.

Reeve works in very amusing references to current-day London as a mysterious ancient version of the London of the book. Such examples as Cheesers Crice being a curse based on an old Cockney god and Hari Potter an old-world prophet are both amusing and thought provoking; will we become Chinese whispers of a history?

Cover source: www.books.google.co.uk.

Tags: Children's Books, Fantasy, Fever Crumb, Four Star Review, Mortal Engines, Philip Reeve, Science Fiction
Filed under: Fantasy, Science Fiction

Details
Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published 3 April 2012
Format paperback, pp. 524
Rating **** 

Summary*
Escaping from the brutality of an arranged marriage, seventeen-year-old Ismae finds sanctuary at the convent of St. Mortain. Here she learns that the God of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts – and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must be willing to take the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany where she finds herself woefully underprepared – for how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

Review
To diverge slightly away from reviewing, I don’t know if that’s her real name, but it is awesome and very fitting of the genre. Grave Mercy drips with authenticity, and I don’t doubt she has carefully researched Brittany’s history. I know almost nothing about 15th century Europe, but it does not matter because the atmosphere and setting evoke a sense of reality. If you forget the supernatural element this could be a thrilling tale of real events. This title has a sense of the Philippa Gregory about it, but with added fantastical zest.

Ismae and Duval’s initially strained relationship reeks of sexual tension. He (very begrudgingly) plants her in Brittany’s court, constantly reminding her how little he wants her there. She (with a long-stemmed bitterness towards men) dashes aside the feelings pawing at her in favour of a powerful determination to serve her saint.

Grave Mercy not only addresses the innate conflict between men and women, but also faith. Ismae’s faith is tested both in her saint and her masters and LaFevers demonstrates her struggle aptly, though sometimes I felt she came to conclusions too quickly. But overall, it’s a thrilling adventure of retribution, deception and love.

*Summary taken from advance reading copy; apologies if different on published book.

Tags: Fantasy, Four Star Review, Grave Mercy, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Philippa Gregory, Rights People, Robin LaFevers, Romance, Science Fiction
Filed under: Fantasy, Science Fiction

Details
Publisher HarperCollins
Published 2012
Format paperback, 256 pp
Rating ****

Summary

Vee Bell hates having narcolepsy.
But collapsing at school is nowhere near as bad as the truth – when Vee passes out she slides into other people’s heads and ends up seeing through their eyes. Then Vee find herself in the head of a killer, standing over the body of a cheerleader.

Now another cheerleader is dead, and everyone is a suspect. Struggling to understand her terrifying and unwanted ‘gift’, Vee is tangled in a web of
secrets,
lies and
danger…

Review
Slide is the kind of story you wish you’d written yourself. The idea of entering someone else’s mind is not a new one, but the angle Hathaway gives to Vee’s ‘gift’ is original. She is forced to take a back seat in other people’s lives unable to control where, when or who she slides into. Her sense of helplessness is only amplified when she is the only person who knows a girl’s ‘suicide’ is actually murder but has no way to prove it without putting the blame on herself. It’s this kind of uncontrollable situation that makes Vee likeable. Her resolution to uncover the truth never wavers, which is a great trait to aspire to, though this perhaps makes her less believable as a character.

Hathaway definitely knows how to spin a plot. Her red herrings are convincing, love triangles slightly deviate from the norm and insights into unseen eyes are tantalising. I must admit, the culprit was on my suspect list, though I never in a million years could have guessed their motive or connection with the victims.

Great concept, great book, just not as great as some, so this gets a solid four stars.

Tags: Four Star Review, HarperCollins, Jill Hathaway, Life Drama, Rights People, Science Fiction, Slide
Filed under: Life Drama, Science Fiction

Details
Publisher Bloomsbury
Published Jan 2012
Format paperback, 272 pp
Rating *****

Summary
A lot can happen in eleven minutes. Decker can run two miles easily in eleven minutes. I once wrote an English essay in ten.  No lie.  And God knows Carson Levine can talk a girl out of her clothes in half that time.

Eleven minutes might as well be eternity underwater.  It only takes three minutes without air for loss of consciousness. Permanent brain damage begins at four minutes.  And then when the oxygen runs out full cardiac arrest occurs. Death is possible at five minutes. Probable at seven. Definite at ten.

Decker pulled me out at eleven.

Review
Delaney Maxwell drowns in the first few pages of Fracture. This is no spoiler. This is the beginning of her story. In the few moments before she falls through the ice we discover the connection she has with her best friend Decker and how they are coming to a turning point in their relationship. At its heart Fracture is a story about relationships and growing up. A girl meets the new guy in town and mixed feelings and jealousy follow in their wake. Except in this story, they can sense death.

The characters are very absorbing and you can tell that even Delaney does not know what she wants. Troy Varga seems the perfect companion and the only person who understands what Delaney is going through. He is carefully measured to be both enticingly and frighteningly mysterious, but never becomes definitively either one. As with teenage friendships, one boy replaces another. But when Delaney and Troy’s encounters become increasingly sinister, who does she have left?

As with the most absorbing and satisfying of stories, Fracture makes you want to shout at the characters, but in a good way. You get so absorbed in their conflicts you can’t bear to watch them make mistakes. All stories ask you to invest your emotions, but only the really good ones make you give freely, just like falling in love.

Until the very last moment in this book I had decided it was going to get four stars. It was compelling and pulled at my heartstrings, but it hadn’t satisfied the extent of my emotions. There was something missing. Then came the heart pounding ending where smug guesses about what happens next are shattered and you get a real conclusion. Fracture does not pander to PG needs and parts nearly made me cry (and probably would have if I wasn’t standing on a train in rush hour), but it does give you hope.

Tags: Bloomsbury, Drama, Five Star Review, Fracture, Growing Up, Highly Recommended, Megan Miranda, Rights People, Science Fiction
Filed under: Highly Recommended, Life Drama, Science Fiction

Details
Publisher Harper Teen
Published 2006
Format paperback, pp. 286
Rating ***

Summary
Everyone has something to hide – especially high school juniors Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna.

Spencer covets her sister’s boyfriend. Aria’s fantasizing about her English teacher. Emliy’s crushing on the new girl at school. And Hannah uses some ugly tricks to stay beautiful.

But they’ve all kept and even bigger secret since their friend Alison vanished.

How do I know? Because I know everything about the bad girls they were and the naughty girls they are now. And guess what? I’m telling.

-A

Review

Pretty Little Liars, adapted into an ABC Family show, reads like the kind of ridiculous stereotypical high school show you would find on American TV, but with a hint of thriller and decent writing. You follow the lives of preppy Spencer, jock Emily, queen bee Hannah, and alternative-but-still-cool Aria. Three years ago they found popularity through beautiful but vindictive (I would say that other ‘b’ word, but this is a PG website, so you’ll just have to guess) Alison, but when she mysteriously disappears they grow apart.

Despite the fact Pretty Little Liars has been turned into a typical American TV show (and I say that with the utmost respect being a fan of Gossip Girl, 90210 and the like, but it’s no BBC drama), the book is deliciously tantalising. The girls are pervaded by texts and emails from a mysterious A, about things they thought only Alison knew. But she’s been gone for three years, right? They cross paths through the book but remain in their isolated new lives. More than once I felt like shouting at them to talk to each other about these messages, but of course that would spoil the game.

Sara Shepard knows her audience, but does not pander to them. She writes with a well developed style; this is not trashy chick lit. It reads as a thriller, but with a few references to designer labels.

Tags: Alloy Entertainment, Drama, HarperCollins, HarperTeen, Pretty Little Liars, Sara Shepard
Filed under: Life Drama

Details
Publisher David Fickling Books (ebook published by RHCB Digital)
Published 2012
Format ebook
Rating ****

Summary
Captain Newton and his men keep watch over Port Fayt, where humans live in peace alongside trolls, elves and fairies. They’ve always kept the town safe from pirates and smugglers. But now Fayt is under threat from a much more powerful enemy – the League of the Light, who have sworn to destroy all non-humans. And to make matters worse, a dangerous witch has just arrived in town…

Half-goblin boy Joseph Grubb works in his uncle’s tavern, the Legless Mermaid, and has only ever heard stories of the Demon’s Watch. But when he runs away from his uncle and finds himself deep in a criminal underworld, Grubb might be the one person who could help the watchmen save Port Fayt.

Review
This debut novel from Conrad Mason reaches into the perspective of several characters, but primarily follows the story of Grubb, an orphan half-goblin raised by his racist uncle who escapes into an increasingly perilous world. I often have reservations about this technique, but I enjoyed the multidimensional quality and insights into characters’ motives. It’s like you’re being given a private viewing behind the scenes of the story. Mason never gives too much away and you engage with each character’s history as you gradually piece their intertwining storylines together.

The story sometimes reads as a thriller or mystery. Mason succeeds in the art of drip feeding information and leaving you wanting more. As soon as you discover the truth, every passing detail or seemingly unimportant fact slots together in a satisfying discovery.

One of my favourite things about this book is the humour. Some children’s authors try too hard to inject humour into their stories and it falls flat. Not here. Mason’s style is subtle and driven by the characters. Almost every character’s inner thoughts got a laugh. Quips like “He’s a podgy old soak, with a crazy left eye and not much use for baths,” are the kind of phrases that make children’s books universally enjoyable. But the thing that makes The Demon’s Watch a good book, rather than an average one, is the delicate balance between light heartedness and serious suspense. Mason is definitely one to watch.

A review of The Demon’s Watch can’t go without a mention of the ominous League of the Light. Though not an individual character, the League is so well developed it becomes its own entity. The faceless organisation looms over the relative peace of Port Fayt. Mason feeds rumours and passing statements about the League into the story, keeping it ever present in your mind. I eagerly anticipate the next instalment where I hope to discover more about this mysterious organisation.

Tags: Conrad Mason, David Fickling Books, Demon's Watch, Fantasy, Four Star Review, Random House
Filed under: Fantasy

Details
Publisher Orchard
Published 2007
Format Hardback, 429 pp
Rating ****

Summary
Five years have passed since David Rain, now a cult author, disappeared mysteriously in the Arctic.

Life in Wayward Crescent has settled to relative normality. But as the weather grows wild and the ice caps melt, all eyes turn north, where bears and the souls of the Innuit dead are combining to produce a spectacular solution…

…a solution with its focus on David’s child, Alexa – if the agents of evil don’t reach her first.

Review
The Fire Eternal is set five years after Fire Star where David Rain, the central character of the books so far loses his life trying to save Lucy from the witch Gwilanna. The plot is split in two, taking us from Wayward Crescent where the residents still heal from their loss to the arctic ice cap where familiar faces return for a polar journey. D’Lacey regularly switches between the simultaneous storylines so you are never left wondering what is happening on the other side(s).

D’Lacey returns to familiar locations in The Fire Eternal, creating these places again with ease. I felt the arctic was particularly well described, especially when I felt a shiver at the chill winds and visualised the wide icy expanses as soon as I opened the book to an arctic chapter.

As with many other great books, and similarly to Vampirates, I found the ending a little inconclusive. Clearly the storyline I was expecting to be resolved has longer to live, so when the climax came I was expecting something more. The scale of unresolved events in the arctic overshadowed what would have been an ending as equally nail biting in Wayward Crescent had the novel been on a smaller scale. But I guess that’s what gets you gunning for the next book.

The characters’ evolution was enticing because of the five year gap between books. Lucy appears to have lost all her excited innocence and turned into a moody teenager. I found myself disliking what was one of my favourite characters until I discovered her sullenness is only caused by her determined hope that David is not dead being shot down at every mention (plus a bit of just plain moodiness – she is a teenager after all!). Zanna, who was hazy and undefined, becomes a relatable character, a single mother trying to deal with the loss of her love, bring up a child, and survive in a house with both friends and enemies. Even without the epic plot I would enjoy this book for the character dynamics.

Tags: Chris d'Lacey, Fantasy, Four Star Review, The Fire Eternal, Vampirates
Filed under: Fantasy

Details
Publisher Scholastic
Published 2010
Format Paperback, 455 pp
Rating *****

Summary
“If we burn you burn with us”

Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But she’s still not safe. A revolution is unfolding, and everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans – everyone except Katniss.

And yet she must play the most vital part in the final battle. Katniss must become their Mockingjay – the symbol of rebellion – no matter what the personal cost.

Review
The conclusion of The Hunger Games trilogy is a war novel that reflects a much less glamorised version of war than movies and books often represent. Collins imbues the narrative with a real sense of danger throughout Mockingjay and spares no detail of the gory deaths Katniss witnesses.

Katniss is forced to change in this book. She is forced to lead and choose and lose. She is a strong female lead, but as her leadership increases the emotional turmoil that made her such an interesting character in the first two books diminished. She has an iron fisted determination to destroy, which makes her difficult to like. This almost gave the book four stars instead of five, until a colleague pointed out that you’re not really supposed to like her. Make of that what you will.

Despite the lacking emotional connection, the last chapters made me weep. I am not one to shy away from shedding a tear over a fictional predicament (though I am glad I was reading these chapters in bed, not public). I loved the characters despite the short time in which I read the books. So perhaps Katniss’s disconnection is a tool used by Collins to demonstrate the disaster that has become her life. This is essentially a tragedy.

Tags: Five Star Review, Highly Recommended, Mockingjay, Scholastic, Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games
Filed under: Highly Recommended, Science Fiction

On Tuesday I had the good fortune to visit the London Book Fair and sit in on the meetings of the lovely Rachel from Rights People. Rights meetings used to be mysterious exchanges behind closed doors. I won’t spoil the mystery for those of you still standing outside the door, but many a plot, publisher, and coffee later (I couldn’t think of another p to finish the alliteration) I welcomed our lunch.

We met with colleagues from Working Partners who brought us a Pret lunch. If you visit the fair in future, I would advise the same –coffees, cookies and water (apologies again) are not cheap. We went for a wander and met with the lovely Sara from new start up Hot Key Books. One of the most bubbly and vibrant people I have met, she told us about launching their new list and the Young Writers Prize in partnership with The Guardian. If you haven’t already, take a look at the lovely covers for their launch list.

Left to right: Elizabeth Galloway, Sara O'Connor, Conrad Mason

During our wander I took a few photos of my favourite stands from the show.

I really love the logo for Buster Books

Not a stand, but I thought this was too cute not to share

Usborne wins the prize of best stand with their castle

All in all, I enjoyed my behind the scenes look at the London Book Fair.

Tags: Hot Key Books, London Book Fair
Filed under: Book Fair