The Yongest Templar: Keeper of the Grail
Michael F. Spradlin
Historical fiction is such a great way to keep in touch with the past and the The youngest templar: Keeper of the Grail by Michael P. Spradlin is no exception. This is the first book in The youngest templar series and I’ll certainly be reading the second to find out what happens to young Tristan, who has been given the responsibility to keep the Holy Grail safe. Check out The youngest templar website to read more.
Graphic
Sydney Opera House
7-8th August, 2010
Amazing building, amazing artists. This would definitely be worth seeing, especially Neil Gaiman and Shaun Tan (living legends as far as I am concerned).
http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/about/program_graphic.aspx?gclid=CPbN26rfr6ICFRwubwodR2OnXQ
Also note there are some FREE workshops and panel discussions available about graphic arts, gaming and getting your stuff published.
Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief
Rick Riordan
Aside from a tendency to get expelled Percy Jackson seems to be a normal teenage boy. He has a wonderful mother, an annoying step-dad and is struggling at school. It is when Percy’s maths teacher attacks him on a class excursion that everything changes:
‘We are not fools, Percy Jackson,’ Mrs Dodds said. ‘It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain.’
I didn’t know what she was talking about.
All I could think of was that the teachers must’ve found the illegal stash of candy I’d been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they’d realized I got my essay on Tom Sayer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.
‘Well?’ she demanded.
‘Ma’am, I don’t . . . ‘
‘Your time is up,’ she hissed.
* Extract taken from pg 12
Plenty of action sequences, fun moments and teenage angst, the claim that this is the American version of Harry Potter isn’t much of a stretch. I think for me, the inclusion of Greek mythology makes this a worthwhile series. There are lots of monsters, sword fights and objects being vapourized. The author Rick Riordan revels in creating mayhem when merging ancient powers with a modern setting.
The Uninvited
Tim Wynne-Jones
This is strong Young Adult Fiction writing here. At first it took me a while to get into the style and tone the author used, but once I did I was completely sucked into the story.
Mimi is a uni student who after some heavy personal issues heads to a supposedly isolated farm house to be on her own. But she isn’t alone. Not even close.
I can imagine this as a movie but not as a cheesy horror where all the good looking cast get knocked off one by one. Instead it would be a tense psychological thriller – more Dead Calm than I Know What You Did Last Summer. I loved how Tim Wynne-Jones puts you into the mindset of the stalker so that you start to understand why he is behaving the way he is. It got to the point that where I almost didn’t want the stalker to get caught. The (sort-of) love triangle also added an interesting dynamic.
Modern but with an old school flavour, the thrills aren’t obvious but if you prefer mind games over violence (although there is still a little bit of that) then this is the book for you.
http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2010/03/lightsaber_bookends_finally_available.html
An upcoming release from the Star Wars Shop. Lightsaber bookends. Hmmm . . .
Heist Society
Ally Carter
I’m putting this up on the blog because it might be overlooked otherwise which would be a shame because Heist Society is great fun and perfect if you don’t want to think too hard.
The protagonist is teenage con artist Kat Bishop whose father is a world renowned thief. When a famous artwork is stolen from a mobster, he retaliates and blackmails Kat in order to get it back. Very reluctantly Kat returns to the family trade she had tried to walk away from.
Great characters and with a developing romance that isn’t over the top or makes you want to gag, Heist Society is a light-hearted romp. Sort of like Oceans 11 but with teenagers.
Little Brother
Cory Doctorow
This is an interesting novel. If you want to know about the internet and how it and the media can be manipulated this book gives you a pretty good idea. Our hero Marcus is very much a city boy and all the action takes place in and around the streets of San Francisco. After a terrorist attack is carried out and hundreds are killed, Marcus and his friends find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) captures and interrogates them. After surviving this ordeal Marcus decides not to let them get away with it.
The story of a teenager being caught in a ‘war on terror’ is mostly believable and throws up some interesting questions about democracy and civil rights, not to mention the clash between safety and privacy. But remember, it is fictional and set in America so some of the laws and policies won’t apply here.
I am a little hopeless when it comes to the intricacies of computer programming so I’ll admit to having skimmed through the odd paragraph because there was too much IT detail, but if you are into that stuff then it wouldn’t be an issue. You might even like the book more because of its inclusion.
Here is a short clip of the author Cory Doctrow talking with another author John Scalzi. Worth checking out – if only to see some extreme dance moves 🙂
The Way of Shadows
Brent Weeks
An impressive cover that sucked me right in. It was a good thing too. The Way of the Shadows (Book One in The Night Angel Trilogy) is a great entry into the fantasy genre. It is packed with interesting characters and lots of magic and mayhem. The setting is detailed and most importantly believable. There is a degree of political manoeuvring involved and many twisty plot developments so be warned, you will need to concentrate. The pay off is worth it though.
I appreciated the evolving conflict within the young hero Kylar. He is forced to kill in order to survive but hates himself for it. I also liked the grey areas surrounding other key characters so you switch from hating them to liking them, particularly as the story develops and schemes are revealed. In terms of characterisation I was impressed that the female leads were smart and resilient, although the fact that everyone was beautiful was a little annoying. But then again, this is a fantasy.
For those of you who might be a little wary of this fact, or maybe looking to get into the genre, The Way of the Shadows is a good transition novel. Even though in the great fantasy tradition the characters and cities have unpronounceable names, the hero is a young orphan and everyone is after magical objects in order to rule the world, it is still a book that can be appreciated by hesitant fantasy readers, especially if you like action and adventure. For example;
The moment he cracked the door, someone kicked the other side with more than mortal strength. The doors blew into him, hitting his face first, then his shoulder. It launched him back into the room.
He almost kept his feet, but as he flew back, he tripped over Elene’s unconscious body and went down hard. He slid across the stone floor until his head collided with the wall.
Barely holding onto consciousness, black spots exploding in front of his eyes, Kylar must have drawn the pair of daggers on pure instinct because his hands protested in pain as the daggers were knocked out of them.
“Boy?”
Kylar had to blink several times before he could see again. When his vision cleared, the first thing he saw was the knifepoint an inch from his eye. He followed that up the gray-clad arm and hooded body.
Woozy, Kylar wondered why he wasn’t dead. But even before Hu pulled back his hood, Kylar knew.
Momma K had betrayed them. She’d sent him to kill the wrong man.
Extract taken from pp347.
Brent Weeks is a new author whose makes well trodden ground seem fresh and relatable. If you are into fantasy then I would definitely recommend this. And even if you aren’t there is still a lot to enjoy. Besides, let’s face it, stories about assassins are cool. For older readers.
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