Gaius, an ordinary sheep herder living in the countryside, has always longed to be a soldier in the Roman army. He gets his chance when he attracts the attention of a passing proconsul, who turns out to be Caesar himself. At Caesar's invitation, Gaius joins the Roman army, eager to fight exciting battles, avenge his father and find his fortune. Sure enough, his legion is soon engaged in all sorts of bloody battles, with Gaius and his friends often finding themselves fighting for their lives. But the battles are not Gaius' only concern. He's barely stepped into camp when he runs into Lanius, another soldier who immediately takes a disliking to Gaius. When he discovers a sword protruding from his bed after Lanius sneaks into his tent, he can't help but suspect Lanius' intentions are more sinister than he first thought.

I personally like to read historical fiction once in a while -- though the only other title I've read with a setting in Ancient Rome is the Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff back in university. I do remember enjoying the action and plot in the book, so I was interested in trying this series by Adam Nichols.

The first book of the series, War in Gaul, has a bit of a slow start and I found myself anxiously waiting for some serious action in the battlefield. There's a fair bit of conversation and description of the various characters and warring nations and it's not until near the middle of the book that you see the first large scale battle -- and Gaius ends up watching it, rather than actively participating. The book is written in old 'Roman speak', which helps to establish the era and culture, but has the potential to make things more tedious to read. That said, things steadily pick up after that, and Gaius has some exciting encounters with enemies trying to hack him up with various weaponry. The scenes are quite descriptive at times as well, and give a glimpse of the horrible, chaotic massacre the battles really were. There are plenty of historical, geographical and religious references in the story that are explained by footnotes at the end of each chapter. It was good to have these at this location instead of within the text, because I'm sure so many details would really bog down the plot.

I found the second book, The Golden Eagle, to be more interesting, mainly because the plot moved faster -- but I am still waiting for events and characters to come together to build and reach a real climax. Lanius is definitely a mysterious character that I hope will continue to add intrigue and an extra layer of complexity to the story.

I think this series will appeal to teens who are looking for historical fiction that gives a real sense of the era in which it takes place. And once they hit the bits with swords hacking and spears flying, they might want to read the entire series.

Check out the Legionary Chronicles on Adam Nichols' amazon page. 

Will and His father have a strange pastime -- they like to dig. All their lives they have dreamed of uncovering something spectacular and of great archeological significance-- and perhaps even become famous in the process. But Will realizes that their seemingly harmless pastime may be more dangerous than they think when his father suddenly goes mysteriously missing. Will thinks something suspicious is going on -- especially with all the strange pale-faced men in dark coats walking around his neighbourhood. So Will and his friend, Chester, begin where his father is most likely to have gone: underground. It is then that they find a hidden underworld governed by the Styx, a murderous subterranean race who want to extend their rule to the world above. Unfortunately Will and Chester are captured before they can return home. 

The book is slow to start (which might lose some readers), but once Will finds the underground world, the pace picks up and there are plenty of chase scenes, fights and tense moments. I found the tone quite dark and serious, which made things suspenseful and more scary. Gordon does a good job of creating the underworld and the bad guys. I've always felt the antagonist(s) of a story play a large part in making the plot exciting. If they're not evil enough, why would you care if the characters got away or not? In this case, the Styx were terrible enough to keep me rooting for Will...

I wouldn't recommend this to readers looking for immediate action since it takes so long for the excitement to start, but those who don't mind sticking around longer will probably get hooked on the series, as it really does have a good plot and ends with a bit of a cliffhanger. And while it's categorized as children's fiction, the dark storyline would probably make it suitable for young teens too.

This is the first in the series of six books (five have been published so far). Visit the Tunnels website for info on the sequels, plus special documents (e.g. Will's journal) and deleted scenes.

John Cleaver series #1
People think it is the family mortuary business that makes John immune to the sight of a dead body, no matter how rotten or mutilated, but John knows better. He is not just desensitized. He is fascinated. Why? Because John has all the predispositions to being a sociopath. His study of serial killers has helped establish some rules for himself so he won't live up to his "potential", but when a serial killer strikes his small town, the gruesome murders fuel his obsession as he tries to outwit him. Can John hold himself back and not turn into a serial killer himself?
If only the book has stayed this way... but right when you get into the story, it takes a major plot twist. One of those make-or-break turns for many readers, and for me, it's sadly the latter and I just couldn't get over it to enjoy the novel anymore. Don't want to include any spoilers here, but the story changes genre basically. An otherwise fine cat-and-mouse game is tainted. Still, this thriller can be recommended for Dexter fans and it's got good booktalking potential.

It should be obvious that I won't actually set out the plot of this book in too much detail.  If there is anyone out there who hasn't read it, I'd be shocked.  This book is required reading in pretty much every English-speaking school in the world, and probably in other languages as well.

So why should I even mention it?

Well, think about it like this:  Let's say you, as an adult, absolutely love reading, and wish you could promote every excellent book you read to 13-to 16-year-old boys.  You tell them that there is a particularly interesting book out there that involves a plane crash, a deserted island with mysterious beasts, a bunch of youngish boys and no adult supervision.  And best of all, it's violent and has been banned in many places at one point or another.  (There is also that gross pig's head on the cover which helps.)

Sounds pretty cool...  then you tell them to analyze it chapter by chapter to investigate the meaning of pretty much everything that happens.

I tell you, that's pretty much the worst thing you can do, and will make the kids never trust another adult again when they recommend a book.  Reading is now a chore, no matter how good the book might be.

So here is why I mention this classic: so that you give it to them before it is assigned in class.  I know, I know.  It's violent.  It's got language.  It's difficult. It has concepts we might not want kids to read just yet.  I say too late to worry about that.  I've already recommended Battle Royale, and we all know how popular The Hunger Games books are.  These things are plenty of the above as well.  Here is one that, should a reluctant parent hesitate to give those other books a try, would certainly not mind their kid taking a classic.

Like Good Behavior, this is a story about a criminal, though in this case it is fiction (sort of: it looks like non-fiction but it's not). Author Jerry Langton is a normally a journalist specializing in biker gangs. He has seen the worst the Hells Angels, Bandidos and other gangs have had to offer. In Biker, Langton has fictionalized life in a biker gang, but he stresses one thing: the characters are made up, but the details are real. This is what like is really like for the hardcore members of the worst gangs. Drugs, alcohol, violence and murder and other terrible crimes are all a part of the life.

One might ask if this kind of thing is appropriate for teens. After all, this book pulls no punches. It's pretty extreme, and it is all the more frightening because it is pretty close to reality. The language is (very) harsh and the details are unpleasant to say the least, but any kid who has watched TV or movies has seen it all before anyway. This is very much a cautionary tale, if you need justification.

The writing isn't particularly good, but it's a fairly easy read. Langton is a journalist, not a novelist, but something about the style lends itself to the material. To me, though, it feels more 'true' than it would with fancy language and turns of phrase.

This isn't for everyone. Fantasy readers probably won't want to touch it, but more hesitant readers might go for it based on the premise and the fact that the cover is pretty clear about the contents of the book.

First of all, the cover sucks!  It does not reflect the plot of the story (other than the fact that there are five main characters). It looks kinda cheap.
The book starts with a pretty violent cinematic escape: "Subject Seven" had broken out from his cell in the lab and he pretty much killed everyone along the way.  As the alpha of the group, he then tried to contact and "wake up" four other teens who were just like him: assassins asleep in the bodies of teenagers.  These four teenagers had been waking up in strange places, sometimes covered with blood, and had been trying to figure out what's going on when Subject Seven contacted them. Not only did Subject Seven have to evade and outwit his creators, he also had to figure out how to take over "the Other", which is basically the "normal" teenager whose body housed Subject Seven.
The beginning few chapters were quite confusing, and even when you realize what's going on and the fog clears up, you're still not quite sure where the writer is going with this. The suspense is definitely there, and the whole alter ego thing adds another layer and was more interesting than just the usual teens created by science experiments trying to get revenge storyline. I kept reading because I wanted to find out if the assassin alter egos are going to eventually win out or not, but since they are kinda unlikeable, it's hard to pick which side I  sympathize more with.  There is also no resolution to all of this, so I'm assuming there's going to be a sequel.  The book has its moments of brilliance, but not quite enough to wholeheartedly recommend it. It has some fairly violent scenes so probably more appropriate for older or less sensitive teens.