Entice is the third book in a series about Pixies. If you haven’t read the first two books and think that you would like to, you may want to skip this review and read Need and Captivate first. There’s no way to review this book without giving away crucial plot twists from the last two books.

I will be honest:  I enjoyed Entice. Despite a few issues that I had with it, I would be lying if I said that I didn’t devour it. The premise of this book picks up where the other two left off. Nick is dead, taken to Valhalla by the warrior Freya to fight in the last battle for Odin. Zara has been pixie kissed, becoming queen to the pixie king, Astley, who has promised to help her travel to Valhalla to get Nick back. Zara is led on numerous false leads while trying to find the way to Valhalla, and the entire time she has Astley at her side, helping her despite his obvious desire that she accept her role as his queen and forget Nick.

You are definitely going to find yourself on a side by the end of the book. You’ll find yourself either “Team Nick” or “Team Astley,” if I may be so bold as to reference popular culture. The highlight of this book is actually watching Astley unfold as a character and wondering if he will win Zara in the end.

The negatives of the book? I think it’s selfish how badly Zara feels the need to go after Nick. The author does an okay job of showing that Zara is being selfish, but I feel like a lot of the book is a stretch. People keep dying, and she keeps insisting on going to Valhalla to get Nick, when most people would mourn his passing but accept that he’s died. Throughout the entire book, the town is overrun with pixies who seem to be kidnapping and killing people every single day. The townspeople think they have a serial killer, and everyone is under curfew. The pixies even get so bold as to show up to the school dance and try to take kids right out of the gym?! This is all happening throughout the book, but Zara and her team don’t do anything about it! They get into a few fights, but they don’t seem to be actively trying to stop the pixies permanently. They just seem to focus all of their energies on saving Nick, and this endeavor keeps getting people killed. I think that it was the wrong direction to take by the author. I think that the storyline about Valhalla is very interesting, and saving Nick is also interesting, but it could have been executed differently.

Instead, we just have a selfish young girl who just has to get her boyfriend back, no matter what the cost. Astley is definitely the saving grace to this story. The author was smart to make the book primarily focus on him and his developing relationship with Zara. It makes the reader forget that the main character is kind of annoying, because we spend so much time really enjoying Astley. At least, I did.

Go “Team Astley!”

The other things that disappointed me? Well, the first book, Need, was a lot darker, in my opinion. It highlights a girl who is haunted by the sudden loss of her father and is living in a new town where she seems to be hunted by pixies. This girl also has memorized every phobia in existence and names them when she gets nervous, like a weirdo. In Entice, Zara is no longer the same girl and seems to have developed into a character that kind of annoys me. Like I said, she ignores running the bad pixies out of town in order to save Nick, which is selfish, as he’s dead and in the mean time other people could die (and they do).

I have a tendency to sound very critical, and when you read as much as I do, I guess I can be. But I did enjoy this book. If you enjoyed the first two books, I’d say give it a read. I definitely will be reading the next book, if only to discover if she ends up with Astley or Nick. Oh, and it’d be nice to know what happens to the pixies invading the town!

Micah will freely admit that she’s a compulsive liar, but that may be the one honest thing she’ll ever tell you. Over the years she’s duped her classmates, her teachers, and even her parents, and she’s always managed to stay one step ahead of her lies. That is, until her boyfriend dies under brutal circumstances and her dishonesty begins to catch up with her. But is it possible to tell the truth when lying comes as naturally as breathing?

I’ve seen reviews on Liar from the perspectives of librarians and YA readers, and the praise in those circles has been high. Rightly so, too, I might add. Except I mainly write mystery and crime fiction reviews, admittedly casting as wide a net as possible, so that will be my perspective here, because I think it applies.

The crime genre has a nice history of various pathic narrators: Sociopathic, psychopathic, etc. Usually the true natures of these narrators are hidden in plain sight waiting for the astute reader to follow Ariadne’s thread to the Minotaur in the center of the maze that is the intended narrative truth. The realization that the narrator was lying, or more specifically, obfuscating, would come later, and the appreciation for design of the puzzle box would come later after a re-read.

What sets Liar apart is that you know right from the outset that the narrator is lying to you. This isn’t even something that the reader discovers, the narrator just flat out tells you. It is a really different experience knowing that you are being lied to rather then realizing later you are dealing with an unreliable narrator. Even though you are put on guard and aware that a deception is going to take place, Larbalestier flourishes under this severe scrutiny. She leads you along expertly by the hand, and even though you are watching where you step, you still fall into some of her pre-set traps.

So why is this crime fiction? Or at least flirting pretty heavily with crime fiction? Because I think that Justine Larbalestier is a crime fiction fan, and I also think that she knew what she was doing: writing a psycho noir. There, I said it. And I’m not taking it back, either. Justine Larbalestier wrote a psycho noir. She wrote The Killer Inside Me except with teenagers and furry (or not). She wrote a psycho noir told with verve and maybe a touch of the fantastic. This is Jim Thompson for the high school set.

I will say this very clearly (but oddly evasively): astute readers will pick up on one of the prime central twists. Specifically the one that kicks off the second section. Very astute readers, not afraid to take the leap, will nail it, and slightly less astute readers will be close. But the interesting thing about this is the way that all of this is handled. By the time I was closing out the first section, I was so confident of the “truth” that the book was becoming a bit of a chore to read. I mean, after all, why finish the book if I know what’s going to happen, right? Larbalestier takes an interesting approach here by directly admitting that which was lingering in the reader’s mind, and at that point you’re really on your toes, because the question then becomes where is the book really going to go if she just admitted what I thought would be the final reveal only halfway through the book? Now I really got to keep reading.

And I think that last sentence really sums up the book:  “got to keep reading.” Larbalestier turns in a master’s class of first-person POV narration and really kicks out the jams here. I often find myself bored or indifferent with a lot of first-person POV stories, but this one does it just right.

Bottom line is that Larbalestier wrote a great book that kicks a lot of tukhus and will appeal to readers of all sorts of fiction. Grab it now, you won’t be disappointed.

Like most fairy tale princes, Crown Prince Gregor is a sight for any weary girl’s eyes, particularly one in a not-so-veiled Cinderella role.  Lucinda, reduced to rags from riches by the mysterious deaths of her noble parents during her childhood, is no exception.  Her step-aunt uses her as a servant in return for her room and board, while her spineless uncle looks on.  When his death gives her aunt an excuse to turn her out, Lucinda is poised to seek out a mysterious stranger who ultimately behaves as a fairy godmother might in a Perrault rendition.  The local priest insists that Beryl, the stranger in question, is a terrible witch, but Lucinda is not so sure about the ‘terrible’ part.  Desperation and curiosity lead her to Beryl’s door, which to her amazement, is that of her childhood home.  This development is one of several coincidences that make Lucinda’s return to a life of privilege and happiness possible.

Beryl comes from a mysterious world, an exile who longs for her home much as Lucinda does for hers.  She needs Lucinda but is willing to help her without a promise of reciprocation; after all, Lucinda is but an immature teenage girl, and Beryl an experienced adult from a magical universe that is left, for the most part, unexplained.  When Beryl sends Lucinda, transformed by dress and art, off to a royal ball in a clear parallel to the seventeenth-century story, she remains behind to struggle alone with the evil that threatens them both.

This battle, understandably undescribed because of Lucinda’s first person narration, would be particularly fantastic, but is reduced to a few pale sentences that Beryl uses to inform her protégé of the event.  Beryl uses her magic to show Lucinda her own world and to help Lucinda travel back through happy memories; why, then, could she not use it to display the hostile engagement the author buries behind the simple declaration “we fought”?  Conflict between good and evil is the very heart of fantasy, and readers want to see the details of such contests.

While predictable, this debut title offers a fresh perspective on the traditional fairy tale with a strong female protagonist who, in spite of her circumstances, does have some control over her fate.  When presented with options that may make her life easier at the expense of others, she is able, albeit with all-too-human hesitation, to look beyond her own situation and consider how her decisions will reflect her values and priorities.  It is a quick and easy read with plenty of lush physical description and a bit of comic relief that offers a simple escape for young adult readers.

Does your robot disobey you? Make repetitive stabbing motions? Does it have glowing red eyes?

If so, then it and its fellow machines could be on the path to outright rebellion against you, and the human race. Activate your escape plan: head for the country, don’t forget your supplies and your copy of How To Survive A Robot Uprising, by Daniel H. Wilson.

The first thing you notice about the book is its stylish design (by illustrator Richard Horne). That, combined with the intriguing title, makes it very pickupable.

I knew that I just had to buy it from reading the table of contents, an extensive list of chapters with names like:

• How to survive a car chase with an unmanned ground vehicle
• How to escape from a smart house
• How to fool a thermal imaging target tracker
• How to treat a laser wound
• How to establish a hidden base in robot territory

What makes this book so great is that the author, Daniel H. Wilson, has a PhD in robotics, and has consulted extensively with other experts in writing the guide.

If you wanted to find someone who knows more about robot attacks, you’d have to speak to Doctor Who. Or an actual robot (and after reading this book, I’m wary of getting too close to one).

The author presents a wealth of information in a series of bite-sized chapters, and he makes it a delight with his references to popular culture and a hilarious sense of humour reminiscent of Douglas Adams.

I’d recommend HTSARU for anyone who wants to know about the current state of robotics, as well as predicted developments. The device of linking descriptions of robot abilities to discussions of how to thwart them works particularly well.

The overarching defensive message of the book is that robots have a clear advantage in some areas, like reaction speed, and chess playing, but that humans can make use of their adaptability and native cunning to win through.

Reading this book would help any prospective resistance fighter to pick their battles wisely and to use their strengths and robot weaknesses.

Science fiction authors will find this an especially useful volume if they want to add realism to their depictions of robots (even in non-hostile circumstances).

Wilson’s intentions aren’t to spread uncritical robophobia. He reminds us at the end that most roboticists are working to make our lives better – except for the evil roboticists, who are sowing the seeds of apocalypse.

Hmm …

Get your hands on a copy of How To Survive a Robot Attack. It’s an excellent addition to your collection of popular science books, and is also available as an audio book.

View/Post Comments

Buy it now at Amazon!

The story begins with the battle at the end of the first book. Lathenia, leader of the Order, is watching the defeat of Mardukes and her soldiers. She vows revenge on the Guard and gives one of her loyal soldiers the task of finding the name of the one who defeated her love, Mardukes.

The story then moves on 12 months, were it catches up with Ethan, Isobel and her brother Matt during a training session. During this session Isobel discovers her new gift, seeing visions of the future, when she predicts a strange storm to erupt on the mountain above them.

12 months has seen Lathenia winning more wars in the past, and the Guard loosing soldiers. These looses mean the present is changed and the Guard’s fear there is a spy among them. During Isobel’s first mission with Akarian, the Order attack and take him prisoner. Determined to rescue him from the Underworld Isobel defies the Guard’s Leader and risks her life to gain access to the Underworld and rescue Akarian.

Personal Thoughts –

The first person writing style in this series is a little difficult to follow, especially as the POV changes quite often, with these changes comes some confusing. I found if I hadn’t realised which characters name headed a chapter I became confused at to whom was telling the story. I find Akarian as become my favourite character so it was interesting find out about his past and his origins.

During Akarian’s imprisonment, in the Underworld, the description of his torture and ill treatment felt unrealistic. His reactions to his injuries were brushed over and I felt this may be due to the story being written for young adult. There are violent elements to the story, which are not graphically detailed; however in an effort to stay within boundaries for very YA this does make these parts of the story a bit lame. Personally writing the story for the teens age range would of added an element of realism that I feel is required.

The romantic interest between Isobel and Akarian lends purpose to the plot and how the story unfolds. In the first book Akarian discovers he is Isobel’s soul-mate, of which she is unaware. Her strong feelings drive her into dangerous situations and I found these scenes the most interesting. There is also a nice sense of tension due to the distrust among the Guard, regarding a spy in their mist. The spy remains undiscovered so that leaves a loose thread to follow into the next book.

I liked the imagination of the Underworld with its strange creatures. The main characters faced the biggest and most exciting situations whilst lost in the Underworld, in their attempts to rescue Akarian.

View/Post Comments

Buy it now at Amazon!

This is the first book in a YA series by Marianne Curley. The story begins with Ethan dreaming of the death of his sister, a sinister death that has haunted him into his teens. At 16 years old, he lives with his parents in a small town, hiding his special talents from his friends and family. Since his sister’s murder he has trained to harness his gifts and become a Guardian of Time. Now his tutor Arkarian, believes Ethan is ready to take on his own apprentice, Isobel. Unfortunately Isobel is sister to Matt, once Ethan’s friend but through a disagreement over a girl are hardly able to tolerate each other.

The storyline follow Isobel’s initiation into the world of the Guardians, and how she learns how various skills to help her cope with future trips into the past. Ethan’s gifts are of illusion, were as Isobel’s gift is of healing. The pair quickly embark on their first mission, through time, to undo changes to the past by members of the Order. The Order wants chaos to rule and through changing important parts of history the Leader of the Order wants to rule the world in the future.
During their first joint mission an old adversary of Ethan’s targets Isobel and drags her and her brother Matt into the Time War. Ethan has to battle his fears of the dark man, who murder his sister, in order to save Isobel and his once friend Matt.

Personal Thoughts – The Named is a cross genre story, blending fantasy and sci-fi into the plot and I felt the author does this very well. It’s an interesting idea to have two groups battling to manipulate the past, to either keep the present as it should be or in the case of the Order, change the present or future to their gain.
I found Ethan to be the strongest and most interesting of all the characters in this book. Probably this is due to us finding out the price his family paid to be a part of the Guardian’s and I found the scenes were he faces his old adversary and learns the truth about his family and the Guardian’s brought the most tension to the story
Most of the characters of the Guardian’s are interesting and have special abilities, this brought in the magical, fantastical elements to the story and I felt they use these abilities inventively, without loosing any believability.
All the main characters are well written and developed, with the relationship of Ethan and Isobel driving the plot. However I did find it slightly annoying that each chapter was either named Ethan or Isobel and then the POV changed, as the story proceeded from their stance. This didn’t lend towards smooth reading and spoiled the enjoyment of the overall story.

Despite this annoyance the story is interesting and did pull me in enough to want to know what happens next.

View/Post Comments

Buy it now at Amazon!

In my opinion, simply stated, with no reservation what so ever, the best novel published in 2004. The best Fantasy novel? Well, yes, but also, the best fictional novel, bar none. Susanna Clarke’s debut novel, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, is so impressive that it immediately bypasses comparisons to the bulk of contemporary fantasy mired in mediocrity and should be included in discussions pertaining to other recent efforts in fantasy that have rightfully elicited conversations and accolades of modern classics like of China Mieville’s Perdido Street Station and Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. Gaiman himself says of the novel:

“Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last 70 years.” Neil Gaiman

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell was released last year amidst incredible pre-release hype generally unusual in fantasy at that level. This “hype” was generated behind the novel by reports of it being the next Harry Potter, a notion that for some reason still perpetuated even after publication. Besides the irrelevant and obvious similarities, both Rowling and Clarke are English, they are published by the same publisher, and both have London as a setting in their works, I simply see absolutely no validity to the comparisons from a thematic sense, nor in scope, nor in terms of their writing, nor are the novels even targeting the same audience. This is no intentional slight to Rowling, or her work, which I also admire, but merely the truth. I must admit, generally when a novel get this type of acclaim pre-releases I have been disappointed, the most recent prior such example I can point out would be the novel Eragon, which approaches levels of unoriginality and atrocious prose that would make one lose all faith in pre-release reviews. I purchased Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell with very little expectations; save to be disappointed… I could not have been more wrong.

Susanna Clarke chooses the dawn of the 19th century England as her setting for the novel, during a time where magic has all but disappeared, and centers on the efforts of at the time perhaps the greatest living magician left Mr. Norrell and his efforts to restore English magic, and bring it back to the forefront of society. He later meets the younger Jonathan Strange and takes him on as an apprentice and they act in unison in bringing back the prosperity of magic. Clarke’s description and use of magic is absolutely breathtaking and imaginative, its workings and origins well documented throughout the novel in a series of detailed, informative footnotes, that accomplish both that and relaying numerous anecdotes revealing a sprawling back history. The land of Faire, which co-exists with London proper, is depicted as a location sense of wonder, but the same wonderfully detailed and imaginative yet still remaining mysterious and magical, the domain of the Jon Uskglass the all powerful magician-king who makes one of the most awe inspiring entrances in recent memory. Clarke’s depiction of magic and its use is one of the strongest such examples I have ever read in fantasy.

Magic is not the only element Clarke succeeds in depicting in the novel. Clarke’s recreation of the Regency era of England is exemplary. Not only does she not neglect the occurrences of the time such as the Napoleonic War, but her depiction of the architecture, the fashion of the time, and social nuances transports readers back into time. Her prose, enhances the experience, carefully researched, but not overdone, as to turn the novels feel into a historical recant, but finds a fine balance weaving the story of Mr. Norrell and Jonathan Strange and in doing so rewriting a fabulous history that includes yet another delightful element that absolutely enhances the novel and that is Clarke’s smart choices in appearances of historical figures such as Lord Byron (which is rather ingenious as Strange is decidedly a Byronic character, and even in the footnotes Clarke plays on this saying Byron wrote a poem about Strange, later in life), who befriends Strange in Venice, The Duke of Wellington whom Strange aids at Waterloo, and King George whose spats of insanity are chronicled and mischievously explained, and she doesn’t merely use Byron or Wellington as cameos as some authors tend to, but boldly gives them scenes of merit.

Other characters that make up one of the most unique and gratifying casts include the likes of Childermass, Norrell’s mysterious, tarot reading assistant, Steven a butler who is befriended by a creature of faire “The man with the thistled down hair” serves as our window into the social structure, and the conversations between the two offer some of the most notable sequences of the novel. There is also Vinculus, a street magician whose role in the novel as it progresses is incredibly satisfying and unpredictable. There are a myriad more but the one I found most engaging, is the most ambiguous, and that is the Raven King, the aforementioned John Uskglass. Uskglass, exists in the novel at same time both as myth and absolute reality and is a topic of the conflict in views of Norrell and Strange. Norrell in effect, and simply stated is a conservative, and Strange a liberal in their views of magic. Norrell fears and denounces the Raven King, wishing for his impact to be forgotten, Strange believes this foolhardy and limited in thinking. This is only one of examples of the contrasts between the characters that make for an engaging read. Norrell is old, cautious, and can be described as anti-social, alone, Norrell is young, comely, ambitious, and married. This causes for a splitting of partnership and the birth of two different thoughts of magic.

Negatives? Well some will say that the novel is a bit arduous in the beginning. An observation I can agree with on some levels, however I think it necessary. Clarke shows us a country with no magic, and I think uses portions of the novel to aptly describe a setting, before the introduction of magic back into society, in terms of the perceptions of magic relevant to the society at the time. Also, the beginning portion of the novel does not take place in London but in Yorkshire, and Clarke takes the time to differentiate the two distinctly different settings, and actually spends time depicting Norrell’s transition to moving to London. Also any qualms with the pacing of the beginning of the novel are put away after reading the novel, which is gifted with one of the most vivid, and inspiring conclusions I have read in a novel, putting Norrell and Strange’s debate of Uskglass in ultimate perspective. I also don’t recommend this novel to those that are exclusive fans of hack and slash fantasy novels this is simply not your element. In saying this I am not saying the novel is devoid of action, but it is not central in the novel. The action scenes that are included are ones of original spells both terrible and magnificent, particularly well used by Strange aiding Wellington. This novels strength is the superior depiction of setting, remarkably apt prose, and what I think is a landmark representation of magic and its use. Honestly most negatives I hear about this novel are of the worst variety, and that is of the type one find when something achieves a standard so high that people just desire to find something negative about it, just to feel at ease about their own personal favorites. I have heard people saying disparaging remarks about this novel saying it did not live up to the Harry Potter comparisons, which is ridiculous. Harry Potter is an excellent series, that can be and is enjoyed by many adults (particularly the last installments), however it is still a juvenile series. Clarke’s novel is decidedly not targeted at juveniles, and honestly aspires to be more than a child’s reading fodder.

This is one of the best Fantasy novels I have ever read, which is impressive, as although there are more novels in setting planned by Clarke, it certainly is a stand-alone novel. Call it want you want, a modern masterpiece in speculative fiction, The Time magazine Fiction Book of the Year, a work of genius, all of them are apt. This is what today’s fantasy should be, and is, at the highest level.

View/Post Comments

Buy it now at Amazon!