Almost two years ago we reviewed Across the Universe by Beth Revis.  You may recall that book: we discussed the misleading and unappealing (to boys) cover.  Well, the publishers must have listened, because over the various printings and editions of it and its two sequels, we went from this:



To this:


To these:


All I can say is thank you.  These are much better, and much more unisex.


Anyway.

From Across the Universe, where Amy wakes up from a cryogenic sleep too early only to find that life aboard the Godspeed has changed to a bizarre society nothing like expected, to A Million Suns where she and Elder discover that the Godspeed may already be orbiting their destination (and has been for decades or even centuries), we finally arrive at Shades of Earth and the possible conclusion of the journey and the series.

Having been forced at the end of the previous book to evacuate and land despite warnings that the planet iss swarming with monsters, our crew successfully lands the shuttle and wakes the remaining cryogenically frozen crew members.  Facing this strange turn of events, Amy's militarily-minded father and the scientists don't trust the shipborn Godspeed residents and immediately clash.  This tension is only made worse by a mysterious force murdering folks.  Is it aliens?  It must be aliens.

Reading this series is reading a genuine classic sci-fi story.  One can find more than a few social critiques in this, the same way the the stories of old did.  Despite initial impressions (and those old covers) there is no more romance in here than there is in any other sci-fi series.  I only wish that it hadn't been written in first-person present tense.  Even with that in mind, I still recommend it.  I quite enjoyed it.  Just make sure to get the ones with the newest covers.

One day in the near future, plans for a dimensional transporter are released for free on the internet, something so easy and so cheap that children can build it.  When you flip the switch, you move over to another Earth, almost exactly the same as ours except people never evolved leaving it in its unadulterated state.  Flip it again and you go to the next one, on and on.  You can go in two directions, sort of like the number line with positive and negative numbers.  This instantly solves most of Earth's resource problems and overcrowding issues.  There are some minor inconveniences: you can't bring iron in metallic form, and you get pretty nauseous for a while after "stepping". But other than that, the worlds are there for the taking.

There is one man who can do this without a device, totally on his own, and he is famous for having stepped farther than anyone else, thousands of Earths away.  When he gets back to the "real" Earth, his is commissioned by a Tibetan mechanic reincarnated into a supercomputer to go on the longest expedition yet.

They find more than they expect.  There are others out there moving towards our Earth, and they are running from something...

The Long Earth has a classic science fiction feel: this is a story of exploration.  There is no action set pieces, no major violent incidents with lasers and giant spaceships.  (There are in fact no spaceships, though there is a resourceful super-robot.)  This is the first part of a two-part story, and it shows.  It feels like the authors are leading up to something that never quite arrives, but a planned follow up should satisfy those points.  As a reader familiar with Terry Pratchett's work, I can tell which bits are his, but this is nothing like his usual work.  I can't speak to Stephen Baxter's contribution, though this may lead me to read some of his stuff.

Mark of Athena is due out in just a couple of weeks.  I'm not going to talk about that, though.  It's just a handy lead-in for me to mention this week's book, one good for guys that might have aged a bit beyond the Rick Riordan series.

For those who love Greek gods in the modern world, the Rick Riordan series are great.  The idea of the Pantheon rampaging across familiar places makes the myths that much cooler.  I mean, how many of us really have any experience in Greece, particular the ancient kind?

The Age of Zeus has the Pantheon returning to the world after being away for a couple thousand years.  Through their might, the world has fallen into peace policed by the familiar ancient beasts and gods.  Of course, they still have their ancient urges: the monster rampage and the gods demand tribute, erupting into their famous rage when they aren't satisfied.

Enter a rich arms dealer who seeks to return the Earth to human rule and a small group of people who have lost everything to the gods.  Together, they form a new team of Titans, based on the original god-killers.  And they, unlike all the resistance movements that came before them, find a way to hurt the Olympians.

As familiar as the Greek myths are, and even though The Age of Zeus is very familiar with these myths, this is an action book first and foremost.  If anything, this feels like a pulp novel or a cheesy sci-fi miniseries.  The Titans are on a mission to destroy the Olympians, and that's all this book is about.

This is fine for teens, but for younger kids, it's a no go: there's some language and mild sexual content, though it's relatively mild.

James Lovegrove has written a couple of other books along the same lines, The Age of Ra (Egypt) and The Age of Odin (Norse).

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.

A year ago I discovered Mike A. Lancaster's wonderful gem Human.4. I've booktalked this book countless times at the library and always managed to sell it, all thanks to a killer plot that effortlessly draw readers in (it also helps that the book looks short and not intimidating at all, with a killer cover). Coming in November in North America is the sequel The Future We Left Behind (1.4 is a better title) and it's one of the most satisfying sequels I've read.

Everyone reveres Peter's dad, a notable scientist who has successfully engineered artificial life and saved the honeybees from extinction, which in turn saved the plants and saved the humans.  So when Alpha challenges his work in class, Peter is impressed. And curious. Who is this girl?

Turns out she is a Strakerite. Peter has been taught by his dad all his life that Strakertites are "superstitious primitives", who believe in the story one Kyle Straker has recorded on tapes detailing the upgrade of humans by aliens. Because people with power and status like Peter's dad have been so outspoken against the non-scientific beliefs of the Strakerites, they're ignored and relegated to the fringes of society.

Now Alpha, a Strakerite, is asking Peter for help. It's difficult for Peter not to be skeptical, but when Alpha shows him a picture of a committee that has conducted scientific research into Kyle Straker, Peter is shocked to recognize a man in the photo: his father. What is he doing there?

The Future We Left Behind  is a refreshing sequel because it incorporates and recalls the first book in an ingenious way. The sequel features an entire new set of characters but still advances the story of the first book.  Readers will eagerly peel back the layers of mystery surrounding Peter's family, and while reading Human.4 is like watching an episode of Twilight Zone, this second book has the same degree of intrigue and mystery, but feels more personal and has room for more readers' investment in the characters. I have to admit though the book can be hard to sink your teeth into right away, unlike the first book (well, that's what high expectations will do to you).  At the same time, if you've read and liked the first book, you'll probably keep reading, and you won't regret it.

Do visit the author's website and blog, and thank you Egmont USA for providing this advanced copy via NetGalley.

How about a topical post?

Did you know that humans put another rover on Mars? One specifically designed to look for evidence that life exists or existed on Mars?  Or that it was also intended to pave the way for a potential visit by humans to the Red Planet?

There has been a lot written about that planet.  Here's just a tiny selection of Mars and  space related stuff.

Fiction:

Kim Stanley Robinson' s Mars Trilogy (Red Mars, Blue Mars and Green Mars) is an interconnected series of short stories about the settlement and development of a Martian colony.  It's a major cornerstone in science fiction and winner of numerous awards, though I will admit I was a bit bored by it.

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein is even more legendary.  Valentine Michael Smith, an orphaned child of the first human visitors to Mars, is adopted by Martians and raised in their culture.  When he returns to Earth as a young adult, he struggles to adapt to Earth and human culture.  This isn't a young adult novel, as Heinlein doesn't shy away from controversy regarding human sexuality and other mature topics.  Still, it a major piece in Heinlein greater body of work.

Edited to add: Also set on Mars is Black Hole Sun, which we've previously reviewed.

Non-Fiction:

Packing for Mars by Mary Roach looks at all the preparations that are required even before we consider sending a human to Mars.  Like Roach's previous works, this isn't a hard-science examination; while it does have all the science in there somewhere, it's just as much about the people as the tech.  And to get a sense of the tone?  She watches a live video feed of herself pooping in a training exercise on how to use space toilets.

Solar System: A Visual Exploration of All the Planets, Moons and Other Heavenly Bodies That Orbit our Sun by Marcus Chown.  Like the previously recommended The Elements, Solar System is a beautiful book with fantastic photos and descriptions of the subject matter.  While it obviously covers more than Mars, it certain is a big motivator to look at the universe around us.

Video Game:

I can't resist.  While the game isn't a masterpiece, it is interesting: Red Faction: Guerilla is the story of a near-future mining colony on Mars that is in the midst of a miner's revolt.  You play as a recently joined revolutionary set out to demolish the infrastructure of the ruling corporate ownership.  Big draw? You can destroy pretty much everything with a sledgehammer.  Everything.

Mia, Antoine and Midori are the envy of the world. They are the three lucky teenagers who have been randomly chosen to go on a trip to the moon  to commemorate the first landing.  As everyone tunes in to watch the takeoff, we find Oleg Himmelfarb in front of the TV at his nursing home, trying to remember something as the footage of the moon plays. No one is supposed to go back to the moon, he thinks. What is it they find on the moon again?

First off, 172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad is not the best written book. Perhaps something is lost in translation from the Norwegian original. Nevertheless, this science fiction still has its merits and good entertainment value. Here's our joint review (contains spoiler):

Steven: It took way too long to get into the real story. The first 150, maybe even 200 pages, were just setting up who these characters were, but this background info, except maybe in the case of Mia, was not mentioned ever again in the rest of the book.  This book seriously violates the principle of Chekhov's Gun and it makes for a frustrating reading experience. None of the background info helps us care more about the characters because their backstories are irrelevant to the rest of the plot.
Like the bit about Antoine's girlfriend. The chapter from her point of view in which she feels that something bad has happened to him is quite pointless, since readers already knew about it.

Virginia: That is definitely my biggest complaint about this book too. Fortunately, for those who stick with the book, it does get better and progressively more intense. Once they were on the moon and mysterious and horrible things started to happen, we have a story. You kinda knew that there's no hope for these guys, and I'm glad they stick with that throughout, rather than taking the easy way out.  I like the ending. Feels right to me and it fits.


Steven: The book could have ended a couple of pages earlier, though.  Things are spelled out to us that may have been better left to the imagination.  I already know that a threat exists: it was explained to us more than once already.

Virginia:  Maybe it's priming for a sequel...  Well, like we said, despite its flaws and plot holes, the book is still worth recommending. One thing I know we both really like is that this book is one of the rare cases where even though we have a female protagonist, it's not about a girl, and so there's no girly-ness to it at all. 


Steven: The book also really reminded me of a Japanese horror Manga.  I haven't read many, but the ones I have read felt much like this: hopeless and bleak.  Come to think of it, it seems most Nordic entertainment that we get over here is like that.  Maybe this isn't unusual.  You tell me, Virginia.  You read Nordic authors.


Virginia: Yah, probably pretty grim, even for crime fiction. The main guys are generally more flawed, and  at least for the ones I've read, you don't really feel the triumph of solving a crime and a job well done at the end. Can't get enough of them though. 


Despite its flaws, we'll still recommend this sci-fi/horror to readers who enjoy Alien, Event Horizon, Solaris, or the more depressing Philip K. Dick works.

If the emotions you feel in response to what you see, hear, feel and taste are caused by connections in your brain -- what would happen if someone was able to get inside and change those connections?  Say, connect the areas in the brain responsible for discomfort to chocolate? Or associate memories of your mother with the area responsible for fear? Or connect pleasure with the images of violence?

In the world in which Sadie and Noah live, two groups are secretly fighting for the control of minds on the micro scale, in the brains of world leaders. On one side is a group led by the Armstrong twins, brilliant but power-hungry brothers that were born joined at the head, with three eyes and three legs. They claim their goal is the re-wire the brains of as many humans as possible to bring about world peace (which involves killing off any opposing forces). Their group operates under the disguise of the Armstrong Fancy Gifts Corporation (AFGC), which has stores all over the world. On the other side is BZRK, a secret organization that tries to ensure fredom of thought by stopping the Armstrong twins.

Technology has allowed for the creation of biots and nanobots -- living microscopic beings made from spider, cobra, jellyfish and human DNA. These biots/nanobots are not robots, but are a detached part of the person whose DNA is included in the biot. The person not only controls his/her biots but also sees, hears, and feels whatever happens to them. (And yes, you can create multiple biots for one person.) These biots are small enough to climb into ears and ears, then burrow to the brain where they can re-wire whatever they want. Unfortunately any damage to the biots are also felt by the "owner" as equivalent pain (e.g. if your biot's leg is ripped off, you feel like your leg is being ripped off). If all the biots are destroyed, the person usually goes insane.

Operating multiple biots that are busy re-wiring someone's brain or fighting off other biots while still going about daily life is not an easy task. Those who are able to do this are usually super gamers or crazy.

Noah is recruited by BZRK after his brother, a previous BZRKer, goes insane. He joins the fight in hopes of escaping his depressed parents and revenging his brother. 

Sadie is familiar with the technology -- her father was the one who came up with it -- and is drawn into the conflict when her father and brother are killed by AFGC.

AFGC is about to infiltrate the brains of the US and Chinese presidents and the Prime Minsters of Britain, Japan and India. Attempts to stop them is suicidal -- but it looks like Sadie and Noah don't have much choice but to join the fight.

It took me a little while to get into this book (probably due to the fact I was reading it sporadically), but once I did, I found it it pretty intriguing and exciting. The beginning is a bit choppy, as Grant tells the story through the perspectives of several different characters (I also find his writing style fragmented at times), but as the story developed, I found the movement smoother and faster.
The whole thing with little nanobots crawling in people's brains had the right amount of creepiness and grossness and I'm sure will appeal to many guy readers. Scientific details are minimal kept simple, so it makes for an easy sci-fi read.

Michael Grant is the author of the Gone and Magnificent 12 series. He also co-authors the well-know kids' series, Animorphs. Visit his website to watch trailers of some of his books.

Ever wonder what the life of a Redshirt is like?  You know, the guys from Star Trek who go on the away missions and get killed by whatever mysterious threat is creeping about the planet.  Andrew Dahl and a few other new crew mates are assigned to the Intrepid, the flagship of the Galactic Navy.  The quickly find that the existing crew members are terrified of going out on away missions since someone of low rank always dies, usually of something stupid and pointless, like ice sharks and land worms.  More, the Captain, Science Officer and a couple of others seem to get into really strange and unlikely scenarios on a weekly basis, often surviving debilitating injuries and diseases only to recover and do it all again, like clockwork.

One word of warning: this book is not a at all what you expect.  Like I Am Not a Serial Killer, there is a bit of a twist that could potentially kill any interest in the book if you aren't prepared for it.  This book is deeply philosophical and quite amusing at the same time, but isn't what I expected.  In fact, it reminded me something of Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder.  What the heck, I'll *spoilers* it: It's a TV show.  This is a work of meta fiction, and the characters in the book discover that they are being controlled by the writers of a science fiction series that's a bad knock-off of Star Trek.  It gets even deeper than that, but I'll save at least some surprises for later.  Suffice it to say, they need to find a way to get to the writers to prevent any further deaths.

The book is capped off with three codas, sections that take the premise a little more seriously and are the most philosophical part of the book.  Looking for a fun romp, skip these, but otherwise they make for a surprisingly thoughtful story.

Point being, Redshirts is a fascinating read, and, like the aforementioned Sophie's World, is great for guys with a taste for philosophy.  It's a bit unsettling for aspiring writers, though, since it calls into question the power and control you have over your characters, but it's pretty neat.  Onoe other note: language and some sexual discussion.

I've never been super keen on short stories.  I don't have any particular reason for this to be so, but the medium never clicked with me.  And yet I like science fiction, and classic science fiction was often born of short stories, often published in digest magazines that collected and serialized works.  Lots of famous sci-fi authors had their debut this way, Philip K. Dick being one of the more notable. 

Dick is probably most well known for Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? which became 1982's Blade Runner, but there have also been a few films over the years that have been drawn from his short stories, including Minority Report, Paycheck, Screamers, The Adjustment Bureau and Total Recall (1990 version with Ahnold and the upcoming Colin Farrell verison). These stories have been collected many times in various permutations under various titles, with reprints often following the release of yet another movie version.

His work is quite varied.  His early career starts of as pretty straight forward action/sci-fi with twisting plots that often revolve around messing with technology, sort of mad-scientist kind of stuff (just look at the movies I listed aobve), but gradually gets more cerebral and philosophical later in his career.  The short stories are a great entry into his body of work for that reason, and that it's easy to skip the boring ones to move on the more exciting plots.  Not all of it is gold, but with dozens of stories, there's usually something for everyone (or at least every type of sci-fi fan).  As usual, I wouldn't

There are many collections, but I recommend: 

We Can Remember It for You Wholesale
Second Variety
The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford
Minority Report

These are a good start, and doesn't even cover his long form fiction which I'm not so quick to recommend.  Maybe I'll get into that some other day.

If you were to give a boy a book about space travel and a trip to the moon, I'm guessing that a novel written in 1865 wouldn't be the first one you'd come up with.  From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne is the book you may have forgotten, about a gun club trying to build the biggest gun ever, one big enough to shoot the moon!

Seriously.  As in, they are actually trying to get a projectile to the moon.  With a giant gun.

Shortly after the American Civil War, a gun club decides that it would be interesting to see if a cannon could be built that would shoot a projectile to the moon.  Barbicane, the president of the gun club, makes a series of bets with his nemesis that make the construction of the cannon a matter of pride. things get tense, and with money and honour on the line, the consider a radical idea: riding in the projectile and going to the moon themselves.

Mr. Verne goes to great lengths to describe the process of building such a ridiculous thing, from picking the best location and materials to the feasibility of a human traveling in the projectile and surviving, but the book is fairly light, even with all the engineering talk.  The characters are broadly drawn and the situations are reasonably amusing.  Despite all that, the moon landing that seems like a distant memory now (or, my generation and younger, outside of our lifetimes entirely) was over a hundred years away when this book was written, but the proposals and predictions on how to get there are remarkable accurate.  Verne guessed the location, the cost and even the approximate weight of the venture, and even though his solutions to getting to the moon aren't exactly feasible, a lot of it turned out true.

Many of Jules Verne's books are still quite readable, even after 150 years, but it really all depends on the translation (newsflash! He was French).  These are good for all ages, but I think younger teen boys might appreciate these most.  I might have been 12 when I first read it.

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.

Does your head pound when you see a shelf full of paranormal fiction? Do your eyes glaze over every time you read a synopsis about high schoolers finding out they're vampires?  Do you feel nauseated when you read reviews of books about love triangles between humans, werewolves and angels? Perhaps you are suffering from "paranormal fatigue".

Publishers' Weekly published an article titled, "YA comes of Age" back in September 2011 discussing current and possible future trends in young adult fiction publishing. They noted the continuing boom in YA literature which is possibly tied to the success of the Twilight series, but also an "industry wide case of paranormal fatigue". Apparently some editors are getting tired of the hundreds of manuscripts about vampires, angels, zombies and faeries. The article points out that some paranormal is continuing to sell, but the new trend is dystopian fiction, writers hoping for the same success of the Hunger Games Trilogy. An interview with the president of the American Library Association's YALSA about publishing trends in 2012 expresses similar thoughts that vampires are "fading" but also suggests that steampunk, in addition to dystopian fiction, might be on the rise.

I am definitely seeing more and more dystopian fiction, and though I personally prefer it over the paranormal theme, I can see the plots becoming stale unless authors come up with some unique settings and original characters that develop well throughout the story. That said, excellent writing can often save a formula plotline for me.

As for steampunk, I think it's still overshadowed by paranormal and dystopian themes. Will it be the next big thing? Some comments on the Publisher's Weekly article wondered if historical fiction or more traditional sci-fi would become popular. I think steampunk is more likely -- it probably would have more popular appeal. It has elements of fantasy (which readers seem to love these days) and potential to be pretty creative in the way technology is included. I think fiction written in true classic sci-fi and historical fiction styles will remain on the sidelines -- unless authors start cutting down the length and complexity of their plots (which, in that case, it would no longer be of the true classic styles!). But whatever the next big trend, I sure hope we can get away from endless descriptions of the protagonists' bemoaning forbidden love, unnecessary details of each character's wardrobe, and book covers that look like shampoo advertisements.

I haven't read a whole lot of novels involving time travel -- I've usually found the whole idea of time travel both fascinating and confusing. It's not easy for me to understand gamma rays, quantum foam and theories of relativity. Fortunately, even though the Tomorrow Code refers to such concepts, scientific details are at a minimum and I can easily follow the storyline (and not get bored).

When Tane and Rebecca get the crazy idea of analyzing gamma ray bursts for possible messages sent from the future, they discover that there are indeed patterns in the data -- suggesting that they might be right about the ability to send messages through time. When they finally decode the patterns, they realize that they have lottery numbers, and yes, win 6 million dollars. But the message consists of more than lottery secrets. If they've decoded it correctly, the message has instructions to buy a submarine and stop an experiment on viruses, followed by an SOS. All of it sounds pretty outrageous and they wonder if they should actually do what the message says... until they realize the message has been signed TR -- Tane and Rebecca. If they have sent themselves a message from the future, maybe there's an important course of events they need to change -- a chance to prevent a dangerous situation they will find themselves in later on.

The book was a bit slow in the beginning and the action really doesn't come until the last part of the book. There was a good twist in the plot at the end, but I am not sure the book will hold the attention of someone looking for something that is exciting all the way through. The idea of people sending messages from the future in an attempt to prevent world disaster that humans themselves have created isn't particularly original -- I could pretty much predict what was going to happen (except for the twist at the end which probably saved the book for me). The idea of antibodies attacking humans and the theme of human environmental destruction reminded me of books I previously reviewed on this blog: Catherine Jinx's Living Hell (except that Living Hell was action packed the whole way through and had many more gory details on people being ingested by macrophages)  and David Klass' Firestorm.

All in all, I'd still recommend this novel to those looking for an easy, straight forward sci-fi read. It's interesting enough -- and vampire free.

First book of the C.H.A.O.S. series
Colt McAlister has spent a day with real life aliens. Not that he remembers it. CHAOS (Central Headquarters Against the Occult and Supernatural) made sure of that when they invited Colt to a facility posing as a regular military academy to test his abilities and potential. Colt may have lived his whole life in ignorance and bliss, but when his parents were killed in a car accident, he got a tip from a stranger: Your parents were murdered. Your mom was about to expose the omnipotent Trident Industries' mind control scheme and so they had to get rid of her.  And from that point on, Colt's normal life is turned upside down, when he discovers more than he ever wants to know about a secret organization and his grandpa's secret past.

I want to like this book, and when I read the first six chapters, I did kind of like it. A little thrown off because you were hit with the story without much explanation, but kids training to be secret agents battling extraterrestrials? Nothing super original, but it can be fun. The story then took a turn once the first CHAOS scene is over, and Colt and the readers both have to go through a lot of secrecy from all the other characters, and impatience started to seep in.  There was too much conspiracy talk and the escaping from evil guys scenes got a bit repetitive. Some of the alien creatures and the high-tech weapons and vehicles were pretty cool, and there were some interesting story threads, but not enough to hold my attention. Danielle and Oz, the other two major characters in the book, are much more personable than Colt, which doesn't help either. Invasion did receive positive reviews, and a sequel is coming out in January 2012, so this may be a good one to include in your teen collection for your sci-fi readers.

Samuel Johnson just wants to take more advantage of the whole Halloween business by trick or treating a few days earlier than everyone else. He never would have thought he would witness the opening of the Gates of Hell at his neighbour's house at 666 Crowley Avenue.

The Abernathys, aka the neighbours, just want to have a fun evening by pretending to contact the dead. They never intend to summon the one and only Great Malevolence himself.

Of course, it can't be that easy to open a portal between us and the Underworld, but a group of scientists in Switzerland have made a particle accelerator in the hopes of recreating the Big Bang, and just at the right time, something "escapes" from it and creates an opportunity. Thanks!



Samuel tries to tell his mom about what he saw at the Abernathys, but of course she doesn't believe him.  When will adults ever learn? Now demons, monsters, unpleasant things in general, are taking over the human world, trying to pave the way for the Great One, but humans are not going down without a fight.

John Connolly is most famous for his Charlie Parker detective series. This standalone novel is in the adult section of my library, but the whole time I'm reading it I feel like this can be an older kids'/teen book, and it looks like it's been re-released as such just a few months ago. The Gates is a lot of fun to read, complete with cheeky footnotes and over-the-top characterizations. The demons' naivety, like Nurd's first experience in a Porsche and encounter with the police, is rather amusing. Other reviews have pointed out the humour in this is quite similar to Hitchhiker's Guide or Christopher Moore or Neil Gaiman, and I think those are all fair comparisons. As my co-worker, who recommended this book to me, pointed out, you need to be able to accept and like strange and twisted things to enjoy this book.

Anyone out there read his crime novels? What do you think of them? Leave us a comment.

End of the world stories are very common, whether they are planetary natural disasters, human-created problems, or technological meltodowns.  Some are better than others, of course, but it is a rich field of literature.  I've reviewed a few already for this blog, including Life As We Knew It, which I though was a very realistic approach to disaster, and Death Cure, which was a terrible conclusion to the end of the world.  It's very common in science fiction, and a driving force in action.  Think in terms of movies: the action of  Armageddon, and the more intellectual Deep Impact.

Eric Walters' End of Days fits squarely into this mold, though it leans closer to the Deep Impact side of things.  It takes a two-pronged approach, one that feels like a typical adult sci-fi, and another featuring a teenager who leads a pack of youth in a rundown city.

A prominent astronomer discovers that an distant asteroid is en route to Earth, and will likely cross our orbit right when we are at the same point several years hence, destroying much of Earth's life much in the same way the dinosaurs were wiped out..  A secret cabal promptly kidnaps him and several other scientists to help plan a means of preventing disaster, all without letting the public know of any danger.  Meanwhile, an eccentric billionaire is coming up with his own plans, just in case the scientists fail.  He plans to build an underground compound to protect a handpicked group of people to weather out the decades that the surface would be inhospitable.  For this, he needs young people, including a seemingly ordinary teen from New York.


If the threat of Death From Above wasn't enough, religious extremists are welcoming the disaster as judgement from God and will stop at nothing to prevent the scientists from succeeding.

End of Days works, and having read it immediately after Death Cure, I liked it so much more.  Dealing with the end of the world in both books, I was so much more satisfied with Eric Walters' approach, especially when the issue of trusting others to know what they are doing comes up.  There are no ghosts in the machine for him, and no major plot holes come immediately to mind.

It is a teen book by a YA author, but it doesn't feel like one.  There is no overwrought emoting or angst, and the presence of a teenaged character has no impact on the storytelling.  There is a perfectly good reason that they need a kid his age: he will live longer than old people, so could perform his role until the world can get back to (relative) normal, so it doesn't feel like a teen was included to appeal to teen readers.  In other words, a perfect book for someone who doesn't like teen books.

With the recent passing of Steve Jobs, there has been much about what he helped do to create the modern world.  Much of the focus is on his more recent achievements, such as helping conceive the iPod, iPhone, and iPad, but his influence starts much farther back, in the early days of microcomputing with the Apple I.  His influence reminded me of previous visionaries.  To whit, Arthur C. Clarke, Stanley Kubrick and  2001: A Space Odyssey.

Published in 1968 as a companion work to the film of the same name, it was ahead of its time in many of the predictions it made.  While not particularly accurate on a large scale (no bases on the moon, no tourist travel to space stations, etc.), computers were represented relatively accurately in their abilities.  Sure, there are no superintelligent computers out to kill us, but they do play a mean game of chess.

The story itself is about the evolution of man from its apelike origins to space exploration, all due to a big black monolith that just sort of sits there, in Africa, then the moon, and finally orbiting Jupiter (or Saturn, depending on which version you are reading).  And then some weird stuff that no one understands.

Black Hole Sun, Won't You Come, And Wash Away the Rain? Black Hole Sun... (can't get the song out of my mind the whole time I'm reading this book) 
Durango's family used to have it all. His father was key to the colonization of Mars, but then the government was overthrown, his father captured and thrown into prison, and in preventing his teenage son from killing himself like all his followers, Durango is relegated to a dalit, a mercenary for hire. Despised and ridiculed by every group and class on the planet, Durango takes on odd jobs with Vienne, his second-in-command, whom he's not supposed to have any feelings for, as the Tenets prescribed, and Durango and Vienne are both sticklers for rules. This conflict of interest isn't lost on Mimi, the artificial intelligence implanted in Durango's brain, and she takes every opportunity to tease Durango about it. Who says an AI doesn't know what sarcasm is?  When Mimi isn't making fun of Durango though, she is his most useful ally. Having Mimi is life-saving on so many occasions, however, when Durango agreed to help a group of miners defend against the Draeu, a ruthless cannibalistic race, he has no idea what he has signed himself up for, and will definitely need more than an AI to stay alive.

This book reads like a video game. I can see it being the plot of a great first person action/shooter game. Sometimes I'm baffled by the choices in booklists for gamers, because many only have the slight setting resemblance, and none of the thrills and chills. This book definitely belongs to a list for that audience though. Right from the opening scene, where the Draeu hunts down the miners and demands their children as sacrifices, you know you're in it for a wild ride. The action doesn't let up at all, and every time you think you can take a breather, something else happens and plunges you and our hero right back into it. The Draeu are some scary creatures, and the mysteries surrounding them and the miners are well crafted. I love the final epic showdown and it's a fine ending to a fine book.
I visited Gill's website and was thrilled to find out that there's going to be a next book, coming in March next year.  (Another nice thing about this book is that there's no cliffhanger ending).  However, ::sigh::, look at the covers!  The designer doing the new covers is the one who did the Mortal Instruments books. Why?  Well, I know why, 'cause that's how most teen books look like now, but more good-looking teen models?  We don't need that.  Disappointing.
» Read Gill's interview in School Library Journal.