Previous SFF Author: John Wyndham
Fantasy Literature for Young Adults (over the age of 12).
The Power is the third and final book in The Secret Circle trilogy by L J Smith. In this story, the Circle are shattered by Faye’s revelations at a time when they need to be at their strongest. Black John is back, and Cassie is horrified when it is revealed why she feels such a strong connection with him. He has returned to claim the Master Tools and become the leader of the coven of twelve that he had such a hand in creating — which means that one member of the Circle must die…
May 10th, 2010. Amanda Rutter (guest)´s rating: 3 | L.J. Smith | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
Nailer, a teenager, is one of many people who live in shantytowns along the US Gulf Coast, trying to eke out a dangerous living by working on disassembling crews, taking apart abandoned — and now obsolete — oil tankers. The work is dangerous, and taking risks is almost a necessity, because if the young workers don’t make quota, there are always other starving kids ready to take their jobs. Once the children get too big to crawl down the narrow ship ducts in search of copper wiring and other recyclable metals,
May 5th, 2010. Stefan Raets´s rating: 3.5 | Paolo Bacigalupi | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Morpheus Road: The Light by D.J. MacHale
Morpheus Road: The Light by D.J. MacHale is the first book in a projected YA horror trilogy, focused on young Marshall Seaver, who is being haunted by his own artistic creation, a creepily menacing character he calls Gravedigger.
The story is a fast-paced read, though it gets off to a somewhat slow start as we’re introduced to the main character and his best friend Cooper. The two have one of those awkwardly painful adolescent friendships where one has leapt full-heartedly into the young adult world (Cooper) and the other is still staying safe on the outer edges of childhood (Marshall).
May 5th, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | D.J. MacHale | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher, is a tightly-plotted, intelligent YA novel that hits the upper mid-level of recent YA sci-fi/fantasy, falling a few steps below Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games or Kristin Cashore’s Fire (admittedly a high standard) but several steps above recent offerings like Caragh O’Brien’s Birthmarked or James Dashner’s The Maze Runner.
May 5th, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Catherine Fisher | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
In an opening letter concerning Caragh O’Brien’s new book Birthmarked, her editor says that she could describe the book as a “Hollywood-style pitch (The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Hunger Games)” but chooses to avoid the lazy and instead describes how the main character, in the book’s first chapter, must deliver a baby solo (not hers) and then, against the wishes of the mother, take it away and deliver it (literally this time) to a group called The Enclave.
April 30th, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Caragh O'Brien | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken
Ten years. A long time to go without rain, but the citizens in Sydelle’s small country town are used to it by now. Until one ordinary day when Wayland North wanders into the sleepy community and brings rain with him.
Sydelle is drawn to the self-proclaimed wizard and when her town is raided the night after North’s arrival, she soon finds herself the wizard’s unwilling “assistant” and suddenly on the adventure of a lifetime. Even though Sydelle longed to leave her village, she questions why North,
April 30th, 2010. Guest´s rating: 3 | Alexandra Bracken | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Fever Crumb is a prequel of sorts to Philip Reeve’s fantastic HUNGRY CITY CHRONICLES, which started with Mortal Engines. I say “of sorts” in that it’s set in the prehistory of the HUNGRY CITY CHRONICLES world, but far back enough in time that Fever Crumb doesn’t act as a direct lead-in to the larger series: instead of giving us more of the same characters, it sets up the major concepts and incipient events of the series.
April 29th, 2010. Bill Capossere and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3.5 | Philip Reeve | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
In Terrier Tamora Pierce tells the story of Rebekah “Beka” Cooper, an ancestor of George Cooper who was the City’s Rogue in the time of Alanna (a setting and characters familiar to readers of her other novels). Beka is starting her first year as a trainee Dog, known as a Puppy (these are nicknames for the Provost’s Guard — the force that keeps peace in the city of Corus). She is assigned to the Dog team of Tunstall and Goodwin, two of the best Dogs in the Evening Watch — and two who have never before taken a Puppy.
April 28th, 2010. Amanda Rutter (guest)´s rating: 4.5 | Tamora Pierce | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Weathermonger by Peter Dickinson
Set in a vague idea of the future (or rather as the future may have looked to a writer in 1969) The Weathermonger opens with Geoffrey and Sally, two siblings left adrift on a rock in the sea by their community. Confused by a knock on the head, Geoffrey is informed by Sally that their uncle has been killed after being found working on a motorboat, and that the two of them have been left to be drowned when the tide comes in.
April 25th, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Peter Dickinson | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
It could have been maudlin. It’s not.
It could have been preachy. It’s not.
What Before I Fall is, is awesome.
The protagonist, Samantha “Sam” Kingston, will alienate a lot of readers at first. She and her friends Lindsay, Elody, and Ally make up the ruling clique at their high school. Steeped in privilege, fawned over by other students and teachers alike, they torment classmates who are lower on the social ladder. Sam is uneasy about some of the bullying behavior,
April 23rd, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | Lauren Oliver | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Previous SFF Author: John Wyndham
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.