Category Archives: Young Adult

Fantasy, Young Adult

Rust, Angelika: Ratpaths (Istonnia I) (2013)

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Yes, I went looking for ratpaths and the history of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra. There really was no choice after reading what Ms. Rust had to say about her inspiration for the story.

Poverty is something I think about a lot. Not because I am poor, but because I have escaped it. My dad could have been Nivvo. When his father was arrested for underground work during WWII, my grandmother slowly but surely went mad with paranoia. My dad would have been six at the time his father was arrested and his little sister four. They went from getting by to being hungry a lot. But things never became as dire as they did for Nivvo and his mom (and soon after his sister).

I suppose this is one reason why I like Nivvo so much. There is no doubt in my mind that given the right/wrong people in his life, my dad could have become a Nivvo. Whether his sister would have been a Reka I do not know. Both characters are survivors and very likeable. Both love each other and do their best to take care of each other – and others in need. Again this is very much like my father and his sister.

Reka has grown up without her mother and was taken care of by a poor fire priest. At the beginning of the story, Bappo Andori had died not many months previously. At this point Reka is thirteen years old. In many places today being thirteen and poor grows you up awfully fast. With the help of Nivvo’s contractor, she gains control of the estate and keeps up the good work for the homeless.

Nivvo is a thief and a good one. The underworld’s boss, Vicco Cambrosi, wants Nivvo as part of his organization, but that would mean loss of freedom to choose assignments. Nivvo does not want this, but fears a point may be reached when he no longer has a choice.

Ratpaths is for the most part about Nivvo stealing a person, and the mess that makes of life in Istonnia and Nivvo’s life. Ratpaths also gives us a look at Nivvo’s past and gently prods us toward realizing a vital thing about him. Ratpaths was a fun and flowing story.

Definitely recommended.

Reviews:

Ratpaths available on Amazon

The Daily Mail: The secret world of Italy’s other Mafia. Jim Shelley goes underground to uncover the organisation that is scarier than La Cosa Nostra

The Seattle Times: Going underground: In Vienna, a maze of tunnels and cellars beneath the city contains variety of treasures

Wikipedia: Sicilian Mafia

Fantasy, Young Adult

Duncan, Dave: Paragon Lost (A Chronicle of the King’s Blades) (2002)

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Source: Amazon.com
Source: Harpercollinsebook.com

If you were a bodyguard, how far would you go to protect your charge? Would you allow yourself to be raped? How about teaching friendly nations how your own people fight? Could you live with watching the other side maim and kill others because you needed to get your charge to a certain place? To what extent would you be able to hide all of these abilities behind a cheerful, charming and helpful exterior? Hmmmm.

These were some of the more serious sides to the story of Paragon Lost. Perhaps it is a good thing magic made it geas-like for the Blades to use all of their abilities. Sometimes life might make it difficult to do what needs to be done in order to save the reputation of a nation or the secrets of a nation.

Once a Blade is bonded to their ward, with a sword through their heart, no less, they seem to become irresistible to their objects of interest. Beaumont would probably never have had any problems in that area. The guy is charming and intelligent – a dangerous combination. Oak resembles his chosen name. Solid, both of body and psyche. Arkell appears weak, almost invisible, but he is anything but. He is also the most learned of the trio.

All three have to make difficult choices on their way to pick up Princess Tasha with Lord Wassail. Wassail’s health is terrible. But Wassail has no higher wish than that to fulfill his monarch’s charges. The four of them have to make changes to plans, travel through extremely dangerous areas and try to leave those areas without being harmed.

There is humor, tension, despair and action in Paragon Lost. Dave Duncan takes us into his imagination and gives us a great romp. This is great entertainment, but not solely entertainment.

Definitely recommended.

Reviews:

Paragon Lost can be found at Harper Collins

Translation:

German: Die Verlorene Klinge (Des Königs Klingen #4)

Fantasy, Young Adult

Staveley, Brian: The Emperor’s Blades (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne I) (2013)

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http://conceptartworld.com/?cat=10
http://www.isaacstewart.com/cartography/

In spite of its length, I found The Emperor’s Blades an easy and quick read. Brian Staveley wrote in a manner that drove me on as a reader. My entry into this world happened due to falling for the excerpt offer. I had fun and consider this a great first novel.

Now that I’m reviewing it, I’m kind of wondering why Brian Staveley was lauded to the extent that he has been. He brings nothing new to the field of epic fantasy. His main characters are fairly stereotypical as well.

The daughter of the emperor, Adara, behaves in a manner that does not fit with her upbringing and education. Her youth (20 years old) and recently murdered father (emperor) excuses some things, but someone with the political savvy she is supposed to have, the various political arenas attended while growing up and the testament written by her father indicates a person with less stereotypical behavior.

Kaden, the oldest son, was fun. He is the heir to the throne (the boy with the golden eyes) and three years younger than his sister. He has been kept completely away from the machinations at court and all need for frippery has been beaten, toiled and starved out of him. The Shin monastery is an ascetic and violent one. All of this is to teach him the art of emptying his mind of all emotions over a length of time. The novices are taught to endure pain of almost all kinds. How they actually manage to have an overweight and out of shape novice at the monastery is a mystery to me.

Valyn (the youngest sibling) has been trained to be a team leader for 8 years. A team leader of the Kettral. Kettral is both name of the bird used for transportation and the group of killers these kids are training to be. His upbringing is no less brutal than his brother, although self-control seems to be a trait the Kettral does not train their charges in. At first I pictured these kids being trained in the manner Seals are trained. Their physical training is certainly on par with that. But the cohesion, obedience and understanding seem to be lacking. Granted, Valyn is only 15, but he has been at this for eight years already. As impressionable as kids at the time that he was sent to the Kettral, these qualities should have been like breathing to novices.

The other problem I had with the Kettral were the birds themselves. Details, I know, but I am autistic and details is what I get hung up in. Imagine how huge a bird that is supposed to carry 5 people has to be. One on top and 4 that are carried in harnesses.

Source: National Geographic
Source: National Geographic

An ostrich can carry a person. But it cannot fly. The problem with a bird flying around with people hanging off it has to do with the weight of the person, the weight of the bird and the bird’s wing span. Some things can improve the likelihood of the bird being able to carry one person – lower gravity, density of air, level of oxygen and so on. But being able to fly with people on its back and hanging in harnesses is impractical biologically and physics-wise. Not even the world’s largest bird, the Giant Teratorn (extinct), would have been able to do such a thing. I will concede to magic being a part of the Kettral’s abilities, but five (5) humans. I’m having a hard time with that.

But like I said at the beginning Mr. Staveley’s writing made the story fun in spite of the “new author” problems. Fun and uncomplicated.

Definitely recommended.

Reviews:

The Emperor’s Blades available at Amazon UK

Translations:

Fantasy, Mystery, Reading together, Young Adult

Sagara, Michelle: Cast in Secret (Chronicles of Elantra III)

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Once again, my son and I have finished reading a book together. He enjoyed the first two books of the Chronicles of Elantra, which is why we just finished the third one, Cast in Secret. My son’s conclusion about Cast in Secret was to get me to begin reading the next in line. He laughed a couple of times, giggled some and seemed touched by certain parts of the story. I had similar feelings in about the same places of the story as he did.

Kaylin’s attention deficit disorder is a good thing for us, the readers. This way Sagara has an excuse to introduce us to concepts Kaylin missed in class. Even though Kaylin knows she needs to learn certain principles about magic and ought to know more about racial relationships in Elantra, she seems to struggle with the same inability to pay attention to subjects she considers irrelevant to her job as I do. In social settings this proves a problem for her, and Lord Sanabalis is clear on her being a long way from ready to meet the Emperor (unless she wishes to be eaten). Some people need to learn from experience rather than theory (well, actually, I think that most of us only get true learning through experience). Kaylin needs this more than most people. This inability to learn any other way tends to get her into trouble.

I like Michelle Sagara writing about a person like this. With one dyslexic son, one autistic son and one autistic mother in this family, we are all stuck in that mode. My reading ability, age and gender have probably all contributed to the theoretical understanding I have of people. Face to face encounters can go really well, but like Kaylin I tend to break social rules. Admittedly, some of that disobedience comes from not seeing the importance of the rules, but there again Kaylin, I and both of my sons find common ground. Other rules are broken because we do not understand them.

Words. Such a powerful tool. And what a difficult tool it is to wield. Sagara does a great job portraying the difficulties that arise from not understanding what is being taught. Kaylin has a theoretical understanding of what the Tha’laani are, but she is petrified of them. Her terror is a common one in humanity – fear of the unknown. In this sense, all humans are autistic. But just because a race is physically able to read your secrets, does not mean that they want to. Unfortunately, we humans seem wired to think that if a person is born a certain way, then that means that they wish to wield that “power” over you. We seldom stop to think that the other person might be just as afraid of us, disgusted with us or simply does not care about who and what we are. I suppose that comes from our ego-centrism.

Thankfully, Kaylin is also the kind of person who tries her hardest to face her fears. Facing our fears is so stinking hard. But sometimes a situation arises that forces us to do so. And what do we usually discover? Well … The answer is given considering the story and the obviousness of the question. In Kaylin’s case, the Tha’laani children helped her face and overcome her fears . Children are great fear-breakers that way – if we let them be.

Definitely recommended.

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Reviews:

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Cast in Secret available at Scribd.com

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My review of:

  1. Cast in Shadow
  2. Cast in Courtlight

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Translations:

Le secret d’Elantra: T1 – Le Cycle d’Elantra

Science Fiction, Young Adult

McCaffrey, Anne & Ball, Margaret: Acorna: The Unicorn Girl (Acorna I) (1997)

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http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/cover.allsize.lovelybooks.de/acorna__einhornmaedchen_vom_anderen_stern-9783442248537_xxl.jpg
http://ladysythe.deviantart.com/art/Acorna-95222711
http://lafhaha.deviantart.com/art/Acorna-Unicorn-Girl-III-3428123
http://jenniferdungan.com/seneca/xhtml/project1/images/acorna1.jpg
http://emochick-siobhan.deviantart.com/art/Acorna-in-Color-32139587
http://morganlefay77.deviantart.com/art/Unicorn-Girl-ACEO-176886319
http://the-purple-chii.deviantart.com/art/Baby-Acorna-297703934
http://munkaybiznaz.deviantart.com/art/Gift-173995997
http://dedhampster.deviantart.com/art/Dedhampster-Acorna-2014-434445255
Cover illustration © by 1997 by John Ennis Cover design © 1997 by Saksa Art & Design
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http://fc07.deviantart.net/images/i/2003/40/2/9/Acorna_Unicorn_Girl___Time.jpg
http://th06.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2010/299/c/0/intergalactic_unicorn_girl_by_aphexangel-d31jgr6.png
http://trisk-7.deviantart.com/art/Acorna-371849501

The Acorna books are part of Anne McCaffrey‘s Federated Sentient Planets Universe stories. Acorna I and II are written in conjunction with Margaret Ball.

As you see from the art above, very few artists have tried to depict Acorna as she is described in Anne McCaffrey and Margaret Ball’s stories about the Unicorn girl/woman. Acorna’s characteristics are: a silvery mane and silvery curls on her calves, cloven hooves, two jointed fingers, and finally silvery eyes with pupils that can narrow. In The Unicorn Girl, Acorna is flat-chested.

I find myself unable to place any sort of age-group on this story. At times the writing has a very young feeling, possibly even entering the Children’s category. Then it changes and both writing and content is a little older. Perhaps that is due to the collaboration between the two authors. The first rescue of Acorna is one example of the very young style. As if by magic the young alien and her three benefactors get out scotfree of what ought to have been a difficult situation. In the labor camps the writing style is older and harsher. These changes confused me and led me to pay less attention to the story.

The plot itself is pretty good. There are aliens, escapes, human/alien interaction, corruption and goodies and baddies. As good and evil characters go, most of the ones in the story weren’t solidly into one or the other category. There are a couple of exceptions, but these are mainly minor characters.

Anne McCaffrey and Margaret Ball address an incredibly serious issue in their story – that of child slavery. Child slavery is in the real world becoming increasingly visible. At the time Acorna I was published (1997) child slavery was becoming something journalists brought into the light more often. Closing our eyes to troubles around the world is now becoming something we have to choose to do.

I liked Acorna’s adoptive fathers. There was enough silliness in them to make for humor in the story of orphan Acorna. Along with humor, there is action and conniving. I recommend Acorna I. I have to warn you that it is somewhat different to Anne McCaffrey’s other writing.

Reviews:

Acorna: The Unicorn Girl available at Scribd

Translations

Fantasy, Science Fiction, Short story/novella, Young Adult

Tuttle, Frank: The Mister Trophy (The Markhat Files) (2008)

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The Mister Tropy - Frank Tuttle

Humans are herd animals with a strong need to belong to some kind of group. Markhat is seemingly a loner, but as The Mister Trophy develops, I got more a sense of loneliness. The ending cinched my suspicion.

Markhat is a detective. He finds what is lost and returns whatever is lost to the person looking for it. The race of his clients is of no matter, as long as their currency is good. When The Misters come a-knocking Markhat is reminded of their recent war and worries about his survivability. But these trolls are honorable creatures, and any deal made is a deal that must be upheld. Whether Markhat inhabits the same kind of honor is a question Markhat finds himself needing an answer to.

The opposition this time is the half-dead. Half-deads are a sort of vampire. These post-humans are of the decaying sort in the sense that there is an odor of the grave about them. They aren’t healthy looking, but they aren’t zombie-like either. As post-humans they have strength and agility unlike regular humans. Half-deads aren’t people you want to mess with. But that is exactly what Markhat needs to do in order to fulfill his deal with the Misters.

Fortunately, being human doesn’t mean that he is without resources. From the story it does not seem that Markhat has any super-natural/para-normal powers, but he does have access to them. His latest source surprises and frightens him. Some of his preconceived ideas are torn down and Markhat reevaluates his perception of reality.

The Mister Trophy was short, action-packed and fun to read. Recommended.

Reviews:

The Mister Trophy can be found at Samhain Publishing

Adventure, Fantasy, Young Adult

Sullivan, Samuel and Justin: Darkroot (Rhyme of the Willow II) page 179

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“The Blood Demon rushed at him, pure bloodlust in her eyes. Axton held out his scarred hand and envisioned the Green Witch’s vines.

To his astonishment, emerald vines sprouted from his palm, fast as the Darkblades from the skin of a Crow. The vines wrapped around the Blood Demon’s arm, and as Axton stumbled onto his back they flung her overhead. Aniva spun and whirled through the air until she ricocheted off a wall and came toppling behind the fleeing advisors.

Axton cursed while Aniva roused more violent than ever. The Blood Demon caught sight of him and roared, her lips curled back to reveal dozens of sharp yellow teeth.”

Adventure, Fantasy, Quote, Young Adult

Jemisin, N.K.: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (location 2317)

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“It was very bad if the council had resorted to recruiting men. By tradition men were our last line of defense, their physical strength bent toward the single and most important task of protecting our homes and children.”

Adventure, Fantasy, Young Adult

Wells, Martha: The Gate of Gods (The Fall of Ile-Rien III) (2005)

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http://gkf.org.pl/ile-rien/
http://www.marthawells.com/elmap.jpg
http://gkf.org.pl/ile-rien/

Saving the world is what heroes do. Tremaine Valiere is such a heroine. With the help of her friends and resurrected father she sets out to kick the Gardier out of her world and the Syprian world.

Sometimes the people we want to save do everything in their power to be destroyed. Falling for the lure of “something for nothing” could be tempting when your world is falling apart around you. Ixion promises much, but will he deliver? Oh, yes. He delivers. What he does deliver might not be what the Ile-Rien had in mind when they took him in from the wrath of Gilead and Ileas. We do stuff like this all the time. Internet and mail scams come to mind. Pyramid schemes. Hedgefunds. Humans must have evolved to be suckers. I love that Martha Wells shows some of the processes leading up to such catastrophic decisions.

Idiots or not, heroines do what heroines have to do. Her father is even more ruthless than Tremaine. Arisilde’s shade is as eccentric as the living person was. Ander is Ander. Gilead keeps on realizing how much of his works as the god’s vessel involves sorcery. Gerard tries to be the father-figure that Nicholas is incapable of. Florian’s abilities are stretched beyond what she thought possible. Even the Gardier prisoner proves an unexpected resource.

As I see it, the story is about Tremaine and her adventures and her ability to accept the world as it is. Just as falling for schemes seems to be part of our genetic make-up so does the inability to see people and situations for what they are. People are complicated. What I am able to observe in others, I am incapable of observing in myself. Lying to myself is no less part of autism than it is part of the lives of non-autists. This is what the societies we grow up in train us to do. Conforming to expectations and popular thinking gets you accepted, but so does not conforming as long as you do it the right way. While Tremain oftene goes against the Ile-Rien thinking on women, she has been inundated with their teachings from childhood. Breaking from the lies of society and her family through independent thinking and admissions of own strengths and flaws is incredibly challenging for Tremaine. But she keeps on trying. I think Martha Wells does an excellent job showing just that in her trilogy.

Definitely recommended.

Reviews:

The Gate of Gods available at Barnes and Noble, Powell’s, Mysterious Galaxy, Books-a-Million, Book Depository.com, Amazon, Amazon UK, IndieBound.

French edition: Amazon.fr

Audio: Tantor Audio

Unofficial Polish translation: Upadek Ile-Rien III: Wrota Bogów

Adventure, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Wells, Martha: The Ships of Air (The Fall of Ile-Rien II) (2004)

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http://amandine.labarre.free.fr/vaisseauxduciel.jpg

Martha Wells brings back the three worlds caught up in the invasion of Ile-Rien.

For some reason there are readers out there who have decided that The Fall of the Ile-Rien is a fantasy work. The first story, The Wizard Hunters, has plenty of elements of fantasy in it, so that would be a natural conclusion to draw about that. That is until you get to the parallel world and strange technologies that turn up. In The Ships of Air the science fiction element is even stronger. My annoyance comes from the way women authors are so casually relegated categories that simply do not fit.

There, rant over.

Tremaine is a great main character. In spite of Ander’s misogynism, she manages to get people to follow her. Perhaps this is due to her quick thinking, diplomacy and ability to cut through objections when need be. Her childhood training by her father and uncle is clearly an asset in the treacherous landscapes of worlds and people that she finds herself in.

Ander, on the other hand, still needs to have his testicles removed. He never quite seems to grasp just how different the Syprian society is to the one of Ile-Rien and the power women have in Sypria. He really needs to be a bit more careful about what he says around Tremaine. The men surrounding her would probably just nod approvingly if Tremaine got her scissors out.

We get to meet representatives of the Gardier community. The “top dog” there seems to be a soldier of some sort. The Gardier are an interesting people. All of them seem to be terrified of the evil Ile-Rien and dismissive of the animal-like Syprians. Their beliefs about their own superiority  mirrors much of what we see in the real world on a regular basis. Hell, 6 million Jews got killed for being “animals”.

Fear is a powerful tool to get your citizenship in line. We see the US using this tool all the time these days, and it seems to be working. Even here in Norway the government has started using the same type of fear-propaganda. The Gardier leader’s socialisation shows in the way she interacts with the Syprians and the Ile-Rien. Just because she is a Gardier leader does not mean that she sees other Gardiaer’s as equal to herself. Oh, no. Nor do the people in either Ile-Rien or Sypria. That is how the world works. It seems humans have this need to belong to a “we” group that feels far superior to the “them” group where the rest of the world is lumped.

I really enjoy the questions raised in this trilogy and the action I get to enjoy. Sadly, I have to admit to enjoying well-written fight scenes. Yes, that probably makes me a violent creature, but there you are. Martha Wells knows how to make her worlds of the possible and impossible come alive for this reader.

Definitely recommended.

Reviews:

The Ships of Air available at Barnes and Noble, Powell’s, Mysterious Galaxy, Books-a-Million, Book Depository.com, Amazon, Amazon UK, Amazon.ca, IndieBound, Tantor Audio, French: Polish: Łowcy czarnoksiężników

My review of The Wizard Hunters

I know I got my shovel, where’s yours?

N.K. Jeminims GoH speech

Science Fiction’s invisible authors

Fantasy, Young Adult

Klasky, Mindy L.: The Glasswrights’ Apprentice (Glasswrights I) (2000)

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http://vandersteltstudio.com/other.htm

“Mind your caste”, Rani is told several times both by people who wish her well and those who do not. But what is your caste when you family is killed along with most of the guild you were apprenticed to and you, yourself, are wanted for a murder you did not commit? Add to that being thirteen.

Being a thirteen year old girl in a medieval society was different to being a thirteen year old girl in a lot of countries today. One’s place in society was ensured from birth and one did not step outside of that area. Rani’s place is more fluid due to the circumstances of her life. Needing to hide enables her to cross caste-lines that she might not otherwise.  Some of those lines include what the different castes think of as “good” and “bad”. It turns out that if you are a member of the Soldier caste your idea of what may or may not be done can be quite different to what the Touched caste thinks (not to mention the Brotherhood).

So! How does a girl know what to do? She doesn’t. To begin with her choices have to do with her brother. Later on her focus changes. Knowledge is part of that change. But there is also the matter of Rani having grown up in a religious and political system that encourages certain types of behavior.

Mindy L. Klasky‘s writing style was fascinating. It was as if the words snaked in and out of themselves. To me the intended audience seems to be Young Adults. There is violence, death, mystery, adventure and family choices. I liked it.

Reviews:

The Glasswright’s Apprentice available at Audible, Barnes & Noble

German: Die Lehrjahre der Glasmalerin

Central American class structures

Feudal system Middle Ages Europe

Indian caste system

Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Wells, Martha: The Cloud Roads (The Raksura I) (2011)

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http://www.mattstewartartblog.blogspot.no/2010/10/cloud-roads.html
Artist: Matthew Stewart
Artist: Jessica Peffer
Artist: Ivie Moon
http://www.deviantart.com/#/art/The-Fell-320466701?hf=1

Moon is an orphan. A 35-year-old orphan, but nevertheless. Orphans are one type of people this world has in abundance. How strange it is that we are so eager to bring children of our own genes into this world while so many live in horrendous circumstances. We humans aren’t very logical.

Finding your place in the world when you look and act different to the majority seems impossible for a child to do. Like most homeless orphans, Moon goes through some pretty traumatic experiences. Sometimes he thinks he has found his place. Then it turns out the people he lived with were only looking for cheap labor. When such labor was finished, he was tossed out. What would that do to a person? In my case, I would most likely die due to some of my autistic traits. Moon, survives any way he can.

We meet him right after the last group of people he was living with chains him up as bait for a predator. Shapeshifters that might be taken for the group of people called Fell aren’t very popular in Three Worlds.

Since this is fiction, Moon is saved just in the nick of time. When Moon discovers that the person who just saved him is like him he is stunned, angry, suspicious and afraid. Here he thought he was either a monster or all alone in the world. Then he is not. What would that do to a person?

What happens now is that Moon ends up in a society where people are like him. Except they aren’t. After all, Moon has seen a life they could not dream of. Yet again he does not fit into the mold set apart for him. But I think Wells has portrayed him perfectly. Of course, he isn’t thankful for the role these new people want him to play. Why should he be. They weren’t there when he was abused and battered. Instead, they were all learning how to fit into their society and to adhere to the rules created for each class of person. Someone who has had to make on his own isn’t going to be able to play such games. In this inability I recognize myself. But such an inability is bound to create conflict.

Add to that the Fell and Wells has created a world fraught with danger, adventure and plenty of action. Definitely recommended.

Reviews:

The Cloud Roads available at Barnes and Noble, Chapters Indigo, Amazon US, Powell’s, Mysterious Galaxy, The Tattered Cover, Books-a-Million, Book Depository.com, Waterstones UK, Book Depository.uk, Amazon UK, Whitcoulls NZ,  IndieBound, Abe Books. Baen Webscription, Audible.com, Audible UK, iTunes

Thriller, Young Adult

Stewart, Michael F.: Assured Destruction (2013)

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Assured Destruction - Michael F. Stewart
Cover illustration by Don Dimanlig: Loved this cover

I believe the title Assured Destruction could be used to describe several factors in this story about Janus and her current life. One, of course, is the firm Assured Destruction. It seems the employees there are having trouble destroying what ought to be destroyed. It is interesting to see how people trust the honesty of others to such a great extent. I’m guessing the level of reliability in the real world is pretty much as described in Assured Destruction.

Jan’s mother is on the road to assured destruction. We all die and could die at any time. But the path MS takes a person on is one of systematic destruction of one part after the other until the body is completely destroyed. Having to deal with her mother’s illness could take Jan on her own road to assured destruction as her Shadow-Net begins to affect real life people.

Finally, we have the Shadow-Net and its assured destruction. Shadow-Net and the personalities it comprises has made up the people Jan considers her close friends. These imaginary friends have helped her through a terrible phase in her life where more and more responsibility has been dumped on her. Her imaginary friends help Jan interpret the world around her.

Like the rest of us Jan sees the people around her through faulty eyes. Turns out people aren’t what she thinks they are, and as that realization hits her harder and harder, Jan gets the opportunity to change her perspective. And she does. That is the cool thing about Jan. She manages to turn around the way she sees others, to somehow overcome her prejudices and move on to changes in her relationships.

Assured Destruction is a great action/thriller/mystery. I find Stewart’s writing fun and engaging. His characters are loveable. I am going to read the rest of this series. Definitely recommended.

Reviews:

Assured Destruction available at Amazon US

Adventure, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Wells, Martha: The Wizard Hunters (The Fall of Ile-Rien I) (2003)

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Łowcy czarnoksiężników (Polish title); translated by Sylwia Twardo
http://amandine.labarre.free.fr/chasseurssorciers.jpg
http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/64/08/74/6408745e4ac6e10f0e7a01c019741cda.jpg

A female protagonist looking to die in what seems to be an accidental manner is a relief to meet. Wanting to die is something I experience on a regular basis so I find it nice to know that there are people in literature who feel the same way. Her death-wish is why Tremaine joins the clean-up crews after bombings and why she joins Gerard when he asks her to bring her uncle’s sphere along. Tremaine Valiarde is a woman with an unusual life up to now and it is about to enter the realm of the unexpected. She has two qualities that I really like. One is her ability to make difficult decisions quickly without needing to question her choices. The other is her ability to integrate others in her life as a matter of course. Actually, there are three qualities I really appreciate. The third is Tremaine’s ability to remain fairly clear-/ and level-headed in a crisis. When she, Florian and Gerard end up on an island in the middle of the ocean those qualities will become essential to survival.

Ilias and Giliead see it as their mission in life to hunt wizards. Their experience with wizards thus far in life has been that all wizards are  insane. In Sypria being a sorcerer, wizard or even the victim of one gets you either shunned or killed. Ilias and Giliead are about to get their views challenged.

Prejudice is an interesting quality. All of our fear-attitudes are. There must be people out there who do not struggle with prejudices, but I have not met any of them yet. We get to see different types of prejudices in the people from Ile-Rien and the people from Sypria, but at heart all of their prejudices are the same. This is where Tremaine’s ability to integrate others into her life becomes especially important.

Meetings between two fairly different cultures are bound to be troublesome. But the need to fight a common enemy enables people to overcome some of the fear and cooperate. Gardier provides the role of a common enemy through their invasions of both Ile-Rien and Sypria. When survival depends upon the parties cooperating logic states that they cooperate. But reality both here in the real world and in the world of The Wizard Hunters shows that people aren’t always logical.

The Wizard Hunters is my first meeting with Martha Wells. I have had a lot of first meetings with authors over the years and not all have been as successful as this one. Definitely recommended.

P.s.: Ander needs to have his testicles cut off.

Reviews:

The Wizard Hunters available at Barnes and Noble, Edge Books, Powell’s, Mysterious Galaxy, Books-a-Million, Amazon, Amazon UK, Tantor Audio, iTunes

French: Amazon.fr
German: Trade Paperback

Science Fiction, Young Adult

Bertauski, Tony: The Legend of Socket Greeny (Socket Greeny III) (2010)

4 Comments

I bawled. Yes, I bawled at the conclusion of the Socket Greeny saga. I even sent the author a text stating that he had made me bawl.

Everything is a lie.

Socket, Chute and Streeter are young for the kind of lives they live. Socket has to take on more responsibilities in being a symbol for the Paladin Nation. But being seen as a super-hero isn’t that big of a deal for a teenager who would rather be with his friends. Unfortunately, being seen as a super-hero is a label Socket isn’t getting away from any time soon.

Socket’s super-hero status came from being able to distinguish reality from lies. Except, what do you do when you discover that the things you thought you knew about yourself are wrong? Everything you have been told is a lie. How do you then keep yourself transcended? With age I have discovered that most things we are told about the world and ourselves are false to one degree or another. For Socket this discovery comes abruptly and at a time when he thought life was finally looking up.

Yet, Socket keeps on going. Then serious trouble comes his way. Where does the line between human and artificial intelligence go? Could an AI become truly human? Bertauski asks this question, and it is one that researchers and laypeople have asked themselves a great many times. I find myself not really caring. Perhaps that is because autists have been and still are considered as less than human. Not that I believe for a second that autists would be more welcoming of AI’s than allistics. Not at all. But I wonder if I might?

Poor Socket Greeny. He is in for “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” and the pain that goes with that. Socket is also in for a whole lot of action and difficult choices. Not only the lies told to him by others will have to be faced but also the lies told to him by himself. Personally, I find those the most difficult ones to deal with. Somehow, being honest with myself is much more painful than being honest with others. But that honesty offers growth. Growth that aids Socket Greeny as he fights for survival against the terrifying creatures he encounters.

Definitely recommended. This is a serial, which means you will need to read the previous ones to understand The Legend of Socket Greeny.

Reviews:

The Legend of Socket Greeny available on Amazon US and Audible

My review of:

  1. The Discovery of Socket Greeny
  2. The Training of Socket Greeny