Showing posts with label escape. Show all posts

Blog Tour: SYLO by D. J. MacHale

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Virginia

Thank you for stopping by our blog for the SYLO tour.

The first one to die was Marty. He was playing football and dropped dead in the middle of the game. The second one was Mr. Nelson. He was competing in the sailboat race, lost control and crashed. Before the third tragedy happens, the US military branch SYLO moves in and the residents of Pemberwick Island watches the president declares their home a quarantine zone on TV. They have found a deadly virus.

But is it really a virus? Tucker is not so sure. He saw things that just didn't add up. Strange explosion over the sea. Weird planes that make musical noises. A shifty guy offering him a red crystal-like drug that gives you super strengths. And when Tucker witnesses Captain Granger, the leader of SYLO, gunning down and killing a resident, he knows this can't be about a virus.

This is the first book in the new SYLO trilogy by Pendragon author D. J. MacHale. It has all the much sought after elements for a book that will appeal to boys: action, mystery, best pal, action, fighter planes, explosions, action, conspiracy, action, missiles, narrow escape, action, betrayal. Oh did I mention action? Readers will breeze through the book also because of its easy going writing. The characters are a little inconsistent in their behaviour sometimes, but likable. My only quibble is that it suffers from the "first book syndrome". Too many things are held in suspense for the next book, and I'm sure the characters will agree with me that we need at least a few answers to make this a satisfying read. Much like Steven's complaint about the James Dashner books, too much "I'll tell you later".

SYLO will be published on July 2. Thank you again to Razorbill for arranging this blog tour and providing us with an advanced copy.

Preteen Read: The Unwanteds Book II: Island of Silence

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Virginia

Lisa McMann, author of the popular teen series The Wake Trilogy, moved into the kidlit world with her Unwanteds series. The first book, which came out in August 2011, introduced us to a town called Quill where creativity is forbidden and anyone showing signs of it will be named an "unwanted" and sent to die at the Death Farm. Alex, one of the Unwanteds, thought he's going to die at the age of 13, unlike his twin brother Aaron, who is going to attend a prestigious university to be trained to be a government official. Instead, Alex discovered the secret world of Artime, right next door to Quill but cloaked by magic, where residents embrace their creative powers, train them up and transform them into combat skills. At the end of the first book, with the archvillain defeated and the Quill government overthrown, there's no need to hide Artime anymore.

The second book begins with Alex struggling with his new responsibilities and believing in himself, being singled out as a possible successor to his mentor Marcus, the creator of Artime. Meanwhile, his twin Aaron, who has lost all power because of the co-existence of Quill and Artime, is plotting his revenge against his brother and all of Artime by inciting all the disgruntled Quill residents. And in the midst of the brewing conflict are a boy and a girl, who came to Artime unconscious on a sinking raft, each of them wearing "a thick band made of metal thorns that weave(s) in and out of the skin around their necks". Where did these mysterious visitors come from?

Even though the promo quote on the cover says this book is "Hunger Games meets Harry Potter", the magical part is more prevalent throughout the two books. Awesome covers and generous spacing between lines will appeal to readers who like fantasy but don't want to feel overwhelmed, and once the story is set into motion, it is non-stop action and chaos and you can't read fast enough to find out what is going to happen next and who can be trusted. It does take some time for things to get started, but I think the characters are likable enough that you wouldn't mind getting to know them a bit more. Eagerly waiting for the third book.

The Infernals by John Connolly

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Virginia

Last we heard from Samuel Johnson, he's foiled Mrs. Abernathy's plan to open the portal for the Great Malevolence and his demon army to invade the world. Now Samuel, with all that craziness behind him, is trying to psych himself up and ask a girl out, though he can't see quite well so instead, he's asking a letterbox if she wants to go on a date.
Samuel may have gone back to his normal life, but he's not forgotten. Oh no. Far from it. Down in the Infernals, Mrs. Abernathy, who has lost all her clout with her fellow demons, is stewing and plotting revenge. She is going to drag Samuel down to her territory this time. But have no fear, Samuel has his loyal dachshund Boswell, and a new cast of helpers: two cops, an ice-cream man and a traveling troupe of elves (who are really dwarfs).
Just like The Gates, The Infernals will delight readers who are looking for funny, adventure, wit, and some great friendships. The characters are just priceless, and Terry Pratchett fans will be glad to see the same quality footnotes from Connolly. This continues to be a great series for teens who are looking for something smarter than the usual fare.

Tunnels by Roderick Gordon

Posted on September 12, 2012 by mel

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.

The Elder Scolls novels by Greg Keyes

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Steven

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim came out in November, but I didn't get it until Christmas. Since then, I've played around 87 hours (as of this morning; the only game I've played longer is Pokemon) and still have a long way to go before I can feel like I finished it. It's an all-absorbing Tolkieneqsue world, with elves, humans and various other races trying to live together in a medieval world of castles, forts, magic and long lost treasures. Tamriel, a perfect world for a fantasy novel.

So with all this on my mind, I picked up The Elder Scrolls: Lord of Souls. At first I didn't realize that it was the second of two, so it was a little odd jumping into the middle of the story, but it still worked. Because the first book set up all the characters already, it pretty much went right into the action, but since this is how the games work, too, it didn't bother me that much.

A weird floating city called Umbriel from the Gods' land of Oblivion has crossed over to Tamriel and is drifting towards the Imperial City with no known purpose. Umbriel is populated by what appear to be normal people, but are tied to the city somehow and are unable to leave without turning to dust. Wherever the city passes above, dead bodies from to country below are reanimated and form a massive army that hacks its way forward, following the city's path.

The plot follows several pairs of characters, including the crown prince of Tamriel and his bodyguard, an Imperial agent and his friend, and two Tamriel citizens trapped aboard the floating city, as they try to stop Umbriel from destroying their home and world they love.

The story isn't at all related to the events of any of the games. Only the locations, mythos and races are rooted in the game world. It helps to have played them to get a good grounding; I'm not sure if it would be quite as successful as a standalone story as Bioshock or Fable. (Both of which have new games coming out this year. Perfect time for a tie-in.)

Classic of the Day: The Chrysalids by John Wyndham

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Steven

I probably don't need to tell you the plot of The Chrysalids, but I'll give a quick overview of it. David Strorm is born and raised in a village where people with minor abnormalities are considered crimes against nature. He discovers a friend of his has six toes, and is thus if discovered would be banished or killed. As the story progresses, we find that this is likely the remnants of our society after what the locals call the 'Tribulation". Of course, it turns out David, too, has an abnormality: he, along with a few others, are psychic. The story goes as expected from here. People find out, a chase ensues, and our heroes pursue freedom, ultimately escaping to a more enlightened society.

This was the first book assigned to me in Grade 10 English class, and was the first book I read in school that I actually enjoyed. I decided to revisit the book last year to see if it held up, and fortunately it did. The story was engaging, and the rebuilding of a collapsed society is always a fascinating story to tell, particularly when they don't explain how is collapsed in the first place. Backstory is overrated (seriously, I mean that. There is something to be said for leaving details to the imagination). As gamer, the post-apocalyptic world is a familiar one, so that's a plus, and as a Canadian, the setting in remote Labrador is also pretty exciting.

I will say that the writing does seem dated; the language used is a bit formal and certainly full of britishisms. The edition I read used the classic Courier font printed small and close together (this stuff matters!), so that doesn't help the book. But the right sell (Mutants! Post-apocalyptia!) should get it in their hands.

Like I said for Lord of the Flies, I know this is often assigned reading. Get it to them before it gets that far. Nothing kills the enjoyment of a book more than being forced to write reviews and reports and studies on each and every line.

Alien Invasion and Other Inconveniences by Brian Yansky

Posted on November 2, 2011 by mel

Jesse is sitting in History class one day when everyone suddenly slumps over on their desks. He hears a strange voice in his head: "I am Lord Vertenomous and I claim this planet in the name of the Republic of Sanginia. You have been conquered by the greatest beings in the known universe. It took ten seconds."

At first Jesse thinks he's gone crazy -- but realizes the invasion is real when he is unsuccessful in waking any of his classmates and runs outside to discover that everyone else has fallen into the same strange sleep. He is captured by the aliens and informed that he has been saved because he is "superior product" who can hear the aliens' telepathic messages. Jesse and several hundred other humans others who are also capable of "hearing" are rounded up and made to be slaves to the Republic. The aliens use mind power to inflict pain, read thoughts and kill. Their control seems so complete everyone appears to have succumbed to fear and obedience. But as time goes on, Jesses realizes that his telepathic abilities are not limited to hearing the aliens – he finds himself seeing glimpses of other people’s memories, entering people’s dreams, communicating with others without speaking and even blocking the aliens’ access to his mind. When he notices the aliens are shocked and nervous about his new found abilities, he realizes that there might be a way to fight back after all. Jesse and some of his new friends come up with an escape plan to find human rebels rumoured to be in Mexico.

From the title of this book, I was expecting a funny read – and I did find myself laughing at some of the conversations and comments made by Jesse – but most of the time, the mood was more on the serious side. At times it felt grim, with the characters coming to grips with the fact that their families and friends were dead and that they might be living under the rule of the aliens forever. I liked how the book alternated between the first person narration by Jesse and letters and a personal log written by the alien Lord Vertenomous. The plot of the alien invasion, capture and escape to find other rebels was quite predictable, but having to put the two perspectives together to try to figure out what was going to happen made the story more interesting. While this isn’t a non-stop thriller, the book jumps into the alien invasion right away and there was enough suspense to keep me reading. I’d recommend this to anyone looking for a short, straightforward sci-fi novel.

Beyonders: A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull

Posted on September 27, 2011 by mel

It's not often these days that I come across a fantasy novel that I would stay up past my bedtime to read. I was happy to discover that Beyonders is one of these books.

Jason is just a regular high middle school kid who loves baseball and animals. While volunteering at the zoo one day, he hears strange music coming from the hippo and falls into its mouth... and into the world of Lyrian. In his attempt to find his way back to his world, he stumbles on a creepy book bound in skin (complete with a blinking human eye) and learns about a magical word that will defeat the evil magician currently ruling Lyrian. He is suddenly being hunted down by soldiers, giant boarhounds, and other scary creatures and embarks on a quest to find all the syllables of the magical word before he is disposed of. Along the way he is joined by Rachel, another girl from his world who has also been mysteriously transported to Lyrian, and Farin, a creature who can detach his limbs at will. To find the syllables, they must battle man eating crabs, get across a quicksand lake, survive a treacherous swamp full of poisonous snakes and bugs, all the while trying to evade the evil magician's minions.

I was a bit wary at first since the idea of falling into a hippo's mouth seemed a bit far-fetched, but as a read on, I found that the plot moved well and that the magical world was definitely intriguing enough to keep me interested. The characters are complex enough that you're not always sure whether they are good or bad, and there's a great twist at the end. ( I don't want to reveal too much or I'll spoil it for those of you who might read this book!) While this is often classified under children's fantasy, I would recommend it to teens looking for a fast paced, easy to read fantasy.

Brandon Mull is also the author of the Fablehaven series (which I am now planning to read as well). This is the first in the Beyonders series, and I can't wait to read the sequel...

Variant by Robison Wells

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Virginia

If you can attend a school where there are no adults, where your fellow students are the teachers, the admin staff, the cafeteria workers, and some days you get to play paintball all day, and some days you study random topics like land surveying, and on top of all that, there is no such thing as tests or grades, would you jump at the chance?
Sounds good, doesn't it? After being moved from one foster family to another, Benson Fisher thought he's finally got himself out of that depressing neverending cycle when his scholarship application for Maxwell Academy got accepted. In less than an hour at his new school though, Benson would give anything to be back in a foster home, because Maxwell Academy was only desirable if you could overlook a few things: there were cameras everywhere watching your every move, there were a ton of rules to follow, students who broke the rules and were sent to detention never came back. Stuff like that...
Oh, and once you were in, you could never leave the school again.
Benson was outraged at this prison-like treatment, and he couldn't figure out why the rest of the students didn't seem to be in any hurry to escape. Rather, after some arguing and fighting, the kids have reached a truce and organized themselves into three big gangs to govern themselves. Fine, they might be content to go to class and decorate for school dance and do all the "normal" high school stuff, but Benson was going to get away.

Books that have hit it big always has a slur of wannabes following in its footsteps, and they don't always measure up, but I think Variant is a worthy readalike suggestion for readers of Maze Runner. It was an intriguing read from beginning to end, especially the dynamics among the kids. It's scary when you realize that whoever that put these kids and lock them up in the school may not be the kids' biggest enemy. The kids themselves are going to be. Then when Benson discovered the secret of one of his classmates, time's running out and everything got scarier and scarier (you'll never think about woodland creatures like deer and bunny rabbits the same again). And the cliffhanger ending... man, when's the next book coming out?
So pretty much nothing to complain about, except the cover! There's got to be something more exciting than that.
To be published in October 2011. Thank you to HarperCollins for providing an advanced e-galley at netGalley.

The Compound and The Gardener by S. A. Bodeen

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Virginia

Bodeen's books are natural and lend themselves so easily to booktalks. If you work in a school or library, you're probably constantly looking out for books with that great premise or hook to lure potential readers in. In the summer at our library, we get more kids / teens / parents asking for recommendations, and for the guys, my first go to book is The Maze Runner, but when that's out, and it often is (yay!), The Compound and The Gardener are fine choices too.

It's been six years since Eli and his family took refuge in the compound. Luckily his dad had the foresight to build an underground shelter before the nuclear attack. Eli lived with his parents and his two sisters, and he missed his twin brother Eddy and his grandma, who didn’t make it on time. Eli could still hear the sound of the compound door closing on them.

Being cooped up six years in one place will drive anyone crazy, even if your billionaire dad has created an almost exact replica of your old mansion. Lately things had gone for the worse. They discovered that their food supplies had been contaminated and it didn't look like it’s going to last them another nine years before they could safely go back outside. It’s odd that his father would make such an amateur mistake. His father, who'd thought of everything…

One day Eli was messing around with Eddy's laptop, which he only discovered recently when he finally had the courage to enter his brother's room. He was sitting outside his father's office wanting to ask him about his Math homework, and suddenly Eli got an internet connection. Could there be survivors like him outside? Eli quickly signed into chat to see if anyone is online, and then he saw it: Eddy's name on chat. Shaking, he started to type, "Eddy?" and almost immediately, he got a response in caps: "WHO ARE YOU? HOW DID YOU GET MY BROTHER'S LOGIN?" "IS THIS SOME SICK JOKE?" Before he could ask any more, he heard his father's voice: “What are you doing out here, Eli?”

Mason's mom seemed to have an irrational anger towardsTrodyn, one of the world's leading company in global warming research, and had forbidden him to apply for a summer internship there, but what did Mason find in her drawer one day? An old Trodyn employee batch! She's worked there before? Why didn't she say so? That was the last straw. Mason had had enough with all the family secrets. He's old enough now and deserved answers, like where was his father all these years, so he marched right up to the nursing home where his mom worked to confront her.

His mom didn't take care of old people like he had always imagined, but young teens just like him, except that they suffered major brain injuries in various accidents and basically just sat there, neither talk nor move, and stared out all day. While he's waiting for his mom to come back to explain this all, Mason took out a DVD of the only video he had of his dad and put it in the player to calm himself down. You couldn't even see his face, just his hands holding a copy of the Runaway Bunny, but it was enough to relax Mason.

"If you become a mountain climber," said the little bunny,
"I'll be a crocus in a hidden garden."...

"Where am I?" Mason turned and saw one of patients staring wide awake at him.

"If you become a crocus in a hidden garden," said his mother,
"I will be a gardener. And I will find you."

Mason stopped the DVD and walked over, but that was it. The girl had gone back to being totally unresponsive. Maybe he had dreamt it all, so he restarted the DVD, but when it got to the same line about the crocus, again the girl spoke, "Where am I?" As soon as the next line was uttered though, she was gone again.

Why did his father's reading wake her up?

Both of these books are thrilling pageturners. The crazy and scary premises in both of the books will draw readers in right away, and then along the way, you'll be sitting on the edge of your seat waiting to see what's going to happen next. The books are about the difficult choices you've to make in life, and it's frightening to see what people believe to be good intention and what they would do because of it. Can't wait for the author to write another novel...

» Visit the author's website and blog

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans

Posted on July 10, 2011 by Virginia

I have to admit I'm often suspicious of a YA novel written by a bestselling adult author. It seems to be the "in" thing to do these days and the result is sometimes mediocre at best. And taking a quick look at Richard Paul Evans' bibliography leaves me to wonder how he's going to pull off a subject matter quite different from what's in his adult books, but I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed this first book in the series.

Much like Percy Jackson, trouble seems to follow Michael Vey. He's not on his principal's "good" list, and he's a magnet for bullies. Michael tries to stay calm and keep a low profile, because if he doesn't, bad things happen. Well, not to him, but to others, because Michael zaps people with electricity from his hand every time he loses his cool. It's a power his mom has wanted to keep secret, and Michael certainly tries his best to do so, but when he fights back one day against the school bullies, he catches the eye of a couple people. One being Taylor the hot cheerleader, who has more things in common with Michael than he ever would have imagined, but then there is the man who wears sunglasses at night. Just in case the interest is not mutual, he decides to kidnap Michael's mother to get his full attention.

The plot moves along and the mystery unfolds nicely, as Michael discovers the origin of his power and why all these people are after him and Taylor. The guys are very likeable in this book, especially Michael's powerless but loyal best friend Ostin, and the villain is just plenty crazy and scary. Great resourceful kids but not too invincible, and the ending wraps up the action in this book but also provides a good set up for the next one, without being an annoying cliffhanger type. Riordan fans will enjoy this one, and I think it can work for the upper elementary school crowd too.

» Visit the official website

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for providing an eGalley for this novel.

Subject Seven by James A. Moore

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Virginia

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.

Boys Do Read