Retribution Falls Goes YA

Chris Wooding's popular Tales of the Ketty Jay series is going Young Adult. With that in mind it receives a new cover to play on the cowboy theme. Sadly there is nothing to show it is also a steampunk genre novel. No flying airships or daring escapes featured on the cover. While I like its minimalism, I think the original covers are much better.

Retribution Falls will debut in the YA section the first week of 2012.

REVIEW: Incarceron (Kindle Edition) by Catherine Fisher

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
Publishing information: Kindle Edition
Publisher: Thorndike Press; 22 September 2010
ISBN 10: 1410429911
ISBN 13: 978-1410429919
ASIN: B0049MPHWQ
Series: Book one of the Incarceron series
Copy: Out of Pocket
Reviewer: Tyson

Description: "Finn is a 17-year old prisoner of Incarceron. His memories begin and end there. He knows nothing about his heritage except for vague memories that tease at his mind. The teen is determined to escape the prison fashioned centuries ago as a solution to the chaos created by man. Now Incarceron is self-sustaining and self-perpetuating—prisoners are born there and they die there. Legend claims only one man has ever escaped, Sapphique, and Finn is determined to follow in his steps. Claudia, the warden's daughter, lives sequestered in a castle surrounded by servants. But she, too, longs for escape—from a father who frightens her and from betrothal to an insipid prince. Finn and Claudia each discover a crystal key and are amazed to find that they can communicate with each other. As their trust in one another builds, each pledges to help the other. The two stories emerge, intertwine and, by the end, unwind in startling twists that will astonish."

I have heard a lot of rumblings regarding Incarceron, that it is the next big thing after Harry Potter and that it is a cross between City of Ember and Hunger Games. I wish that were the case, sadly it is not.

Incarceron focuses on two individuals Finn, a boy with no memory and said to have been born inside the living prison known as Incarceron and Claudia, a young girl who is rebelling in her father's plan for her to become queen. By chance the two of them encounter one another and with their combined efforts plan to help each other with their individual problems. Nothing new here and that is why I have a problem with other reviews stating that it is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It's just not original.

While this is a Young Adult novel/series, I don't think you have to dumb down anything so that children can understand the concepts presented in the book and it seemed like the entire book was watered down for that exact reason. When Fisher laid down her world, early on I could see where the book was going and ultimately what was going to happen to her characters. I lost interest nearly sixty pages into the book. It was unfortunate as there is a lot of great things that could have happened but failed to come to fruition.

Finn is a somewhat interesting character, he is likable. His predicament is easy to identify with from a readers prospective but it is also where he fails. His past is a mystery and yet he is told that he is special by those around him. Strikes a similar chord to a certain boy wizard. He also speaks parsaltongue or something along those lines as he can hear the living prison and has a strange bond with it. Claudia is not much better. She is perfect in any and all ways. She was breed and educated to be anything that she needs to be. She has no flaws which may work for some but even kids realize that everyone has some shortcomings. This is not to say that they were bad characters but they both have been done hundreds of times before and with all the hype surrounding this book, I was hoping for something more inventive than what I read.

There is some magic in the novel but it mainly comes from the prison itself. As it has the ability to feed those contained inside and the ability to change its form in the blink of an eye. It is an ingenious idea but never got off the ground for me. The prison is in the title of the book and I felt that it took a backseat to everything else that was happening in the novel.

While I wanted to enjoy and be able to recommend Incarceron, I find I cannot do it. It is mundane. We have been there and done it all before which is a huge disappointment. I have heard that the book is being planned to become a movie and it may be a excellent medium for this story as there is plenty of scenes that would make excellent special effects. Whether it was my mood or all the hype surrounding this title, I just did not enjoy this as much as I should have. It is average at best.

Plot 7
Characters 6
Style 6

Overall 6.5/10

REVIEW: The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches by Robert Stanek (Kindle Edition)

The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches (Signature Illustrated Edition) by Robert Stanek
Publishing Information: Kindle
Publisher: Reagent Press LLC; 16 November 2009
ISBN 10: 1575455013
ISBN 13: 978-1575455013
ASIN: B004GXB2E0
Series: Book 1 of Keeper Martin's Tales
Reviewer: Tyson

Synopsis: "Discover a magical world and be swept away in the adventure of a life time! Readers everywhere are discovering the works of Robert Stanek, and overwhelmingly they agree on one thing: the books are some of the best they've ever read. Featuring full-page illustrations from original paintings, and many additional extraordinary illustrations, this powerful fantasy novel will delight the young and the young at heart! About the BookAfter the Great War that divided the peoples, the kingdoms of men plunged into a Dark Age that lasted 500 years. To heal the lands and restore the light, the great kings decreed that magic and all that is magical, be it creature, man, or device, shall be cleansed to dust. The cleansing raged for so long that no human could recall a time without it and it is in this time that the Dark Lord Sathar returned from the dark beyond. The one hope of the peoples of Ruin Mist was Queen Mother, the elf queen of old. She saw a way out of everlasting darkness, a path that required the union of the divided peoples. And so it began."

Oh boy, where to begin? Robert Stanek has a dubious distinction of deleting negative reviews on Amazon and allegedly creating false profiles to promote and extoll the virtues of his novels. Not to mention having his lawyer contact individuals with his hotmail account. It was the main reason I took upon the task of purchasing this novel and finding out for myself whether it was a negative media campaign against him, or if he truly deserved the hate that has been put upon him. In the end, there can be no doubt that he deserves all of the negative reviews and constructive criticism directed at him.

The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches has been compared to JRR Tolkien and for good reason, they both contain magic, elves. and evil newly awakened. There are also words, sentences, paragraphs, and chapters in both books. So, I can completely understand why you would want to draw comparisons to both novels; however, once you get past those details the comparison quickly falls apart. We have three main characters: the young princess, an elf who believes duty comes before dishonor, and a young boy with magical powers. Each one of these characters have the emotional range of a sofa pillow and are as three dimensional as a sheet of paper. The book is targeted for young adults but I can not see anyone of any age finding this novel entertaining. Painting by numbers has more mystery and intrigue than what I found in this book. The characters are dreadful and most of that is due to the dialogue.

There are many passages in The Kingdoms and of the Elves of Reach that had me dumbfounded. I literally found myself shaking my head and re-reading portions of the book and then laughing out loud at some of the alliterations and illusions Stanek attempted to convey to the readers. I usually refrain from using book quotes in my reviews, but in this case I will make an exception.

“Always more reminders of the things she should or should not do—her proper place, always her proper place. She knew all about the proper things, the proper mannerisms, the proper greetings, her proper duties, her proper place. She had even been taught, though only recently, the proper things to do to invite a man’s attention. She was to begin courting. But why? “

Or this winning prose:

“But his search was in vain because he truly was alone. There was no one else with him.”

And the best for last:

"The robed figure lowered his hood to reveal childlike features riddled with lines that spoke of ages past and of hardship."

These are just a few of my favorites from a book riddled with absurd statements. It is as if he wrote the book and then went back to it with the express purpose of adding as many words that he knew from the thesaurus and placed them sporadically within the text. The book is full of awkward sentences and repetitive descriptions. It helped make it a little more tolerable to read but only from a comical standpoint.


Then there is the map located in the book. I tried to find a clean copy but I unfortunately could not so I had to use the map from another review, but it points out exactly what I had issues with. The full review from antishurtugal can be found here.

At the heart of The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches are three people questing to defeat an unspeakable evil that is returning to the world. Sure Tolkien did it, but so have many other authors, all of which did it much better than Mr. Stanek. The book, while not hard to read, suffers from a very unimaginative individual.

I really tried to read this novel with an open mind and do my best to avoid the negative reactions from other reviewers and disappointed consumers but after finishing this dreadful debacle of a book, I found myself in the exact same spot as others. I have to warn you to stay away from The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches and any other book written by Robert Stanek. His (alleged) antics on the internet are far worse than the book, but there is no reason to line his pockets any further. My recommendation is to avoid this at all costs unless death is the only other option, although death may be the better option.

Plot 3
Characters 2
Style 1

Overall 1/10*


*Negative numbers are unfortunately not an option.

REVIEW: Pegasus by Robin McKinley

Pegasus by Robin McKinley


Publisher: Penguin Group, 2010.
Format: eBook, 586 KB
ISBN 10: 0399246777
ISBN 13: 978-0399246777
ASIN: 0399246770
Copy: Purchased on-line
Reviewer: Victoria


From the publisher. . .


Because of a thousand-year-old alliance between humans and pegasi, Princess Sylviianel is ceremonially bound to Ebon, her own pegasus, on her twelfth birthday. The two species coexist peacefully, despite the language barriers separating them. Humans and pegasi both rely on specially trained Speaker magicians as the only means of real communication.

But it's different for Sylvi and Ebon. They can understand each other. They quickly grow close-so close that their bond becomes a threat to the status quo-and possibly to the future safety of their two nations.

New York Times bestselling author Robin McKinley weaves an unforgettable tale of unbreakable friendship, mythical creatures and courtly drama destined to become a classic.

As I have stated on far more than one occasion on this blog: I love Robin McKinley's work.  I have been reading her novels for almost twenty years.  Her work brings me back to my childhood.  It reminds me to suspend my disbelief once and a while and rejoice in the simple pleasures of a good story.  Forget about grittiness or realism, or strong language and maturity.  If you're looking for that, than this young adult novel is not going to be your cup of tea.  In fact, this book is probably more for the girl who enjoyed setting tea for her friends and menagerie of stuffed animals.


Oh, and beware, it ends at a complete cliffhanger.  There's still more to come.  


Pegasus is McKinley's newest novel, set in a far away land where humans share their space with monsters and the noble Pegasi.  Through the course of the story we learn that the alliance between the Pegasi and the humans is a fragile one and mainly one sided.  While the Pegasi know much about humans, humans do not know much about the Pegasi.  That is until the princess Sylvi is bonded with her pegasus, Ebon, but not everyone is as accepting.  Not everyone likes what they find out.


The story begins with the bonding of Sylvi and the young pegasus, Ebon.  The majority of Pegasus is about their growing friendship and how their lives become intertwined in more than they, or their kingdoms, ever bargained for.  This isn't a novel packed with action scenes, but a story that revolves around friendship and what it is made up of.  It is about understanding and respecting other cultures. All fabulous things for girls to read about (or those adults who're open enough to rekindle their inner child).


I do, however, have one small criticism that falls under the category of style: the narrative rambles.  It's a cute ramble.  It reminds me of a little brook tripping and trickling over and under stones, curling around rocks and plants, but it does ramble on a bit.  This novel is not the strongest of McKinley's work, stylistically.


Pegasus is a little gem of a story about friendship and courage.  While I thoroughly enjoyed it, I think a young girl between the ages of ten and fourteen would be best suited for it.  Stylistically, it is not McKinley's strongest, but the story and the message are absoloutely wonderful.


Plot: 8.5
Characters: 8
Style: 6.5


Overall Rating: 7/10

REVIEW: Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler
Paperback: 180 pages 
Publisher: Graphia Books (18 Oct 2010) 
ISBN-10: 0547341245 
ISBN-13: 978-0547341248 
Reviewer: Cara 
Copy: Bought online

From the back of the book:
Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

Travelling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home – her constant battle with hunger and the struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life and to face the horrifying effects of her awesome power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power – and the courage to fight her own inner demons? 

Hunger opens with Lisa’s attempt at overdose being interrupted by a pale delivery man announcing “Thou art the Black Rider; go thee out unto the world” and handing her a parcel containing an old-fashioned set of scales. At first she thinks this is a dream, a side effect of the few anti-depressant tablets she has already swallowed. But the scales are real, as is her new role as Famine, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and there is a large midnight black horse in the garden, patiently waiting his new rider. 

This is a book aimed squarely at teens and has at it’s core a realistic depiction of anorexia. Lisa is in denial of her condition, obsessively counting calories, prone to bouts of excessive exercise, and her life is falling apart around her.

“And you’re fat, lamented the negative voice, the Thin voice, Lisa’s best friend and worst critic, the one that whispered to her in her sleep and haunted her when she was awake.”

She has fallen out with her best friend, her relationship with her boyfriend is fragile, and her parents live largely separate lives, with her mother being absent for much of the time, and her hard-working father treating her as his ‘little princess’. The only person who seems to understand her is Tammy, who is bulimic, yet Lisa admires her control and discipline. It is into this scenario that Death awards her the job of Famine, something Lisa is not sure she wants (or is good enough) to accept. 

My favourite character in Hunger is Death. He looks like a dead rock star, is fond of playing his guitar and has a rather dry sense of humour. He encourages Lisa to take up the mantle of Famine and find her balance, though the choice he offers her is stark – death or fulfil the role assigned to her. Throughout the book he guides and enables her to accept the power she has been given. As Lisa travels the world on her steed, she learns more about herself than she wishes. Her food issues are put into perspective and she finds she can use her powers for good. Her self-belief is strengthened and her confidence grows to the point that she is able to face War in a confrontational showdown. 

Hunger is a clever book in that it uses the fantastical elements to address real issues. Her companion horsemen, Pestilence, War and Death represent aspects of Lisa’s troubled life. In her role as Famine, she is forced to address the effects of her behaviour on the people she cares about and through this she accepts her anorexia and gains the strength to acknowledge she needs help. This is a book aimed directly at the Twilight generation, who are comfortable with supernatural and mythical beings in their fiction. The portrayal of a troubled, anorexic teenager is realistic yet non-judgemental. Lisa makes her own choices and, by the end of the book, has gained sufficient confidence to make healthy decisions about how she wants her life to proceed.

Hunger is not a book for everyone. I enjoyed it but was aware throughout that it is not really a fantasy novel, despite the fantastical elements. Written in a light and humorous style, with plenty of teen-culture references, it will appeal to younger readers (13+), even those who are not fans of fantasy. A must-have for any school library, in my view.

Plot: 6
Characters: 6
Style: 7 

Rating: 6/10

The Truth About Young Adult Fiction

The Truth About Young Adult Fiction

It has always amazed me when adults dismiss a book as YA.  By dismissing a book and not bothering to give it the time of day because it is marketed toward the 12-14 age group is like only eating two of the major food groups.  There are a lot of gems out there.  Not to mention, it's only marketed to young readers.  Just because the publisher decides to put a book in the Young Adult track does not mean that the author wrote with teens in mind.

In the nineteenth century there was no classification of Young Adult, but many novels were written that were deemed acceptable for both young and old readers alike.  Some of these may even surprise you.  Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist and Great Expectations were common reading material for young readers, as well as Little Women, The Jungle Book, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Count of Monte Cristo.

The marketing classification of Young Adult did not emerge until after World War II in the late 1940s and the early 1950s, depending on where you live.  In this era J.D. Salinger presented the world with Catcher in the Rye, William Golding wrote Lord of the Flies, and Robert A. Heinlein published Tunnel in the Sky and Citizen of the Galaxy.   In 1957 the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, was founded in order to "advocate, promote and strengthen library service to [young readers]. . . and to support those who provide library service".

A little later, in 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was published.  A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle was published shortly after in 1962.  In 1963, the Canadian author Farley Mowat published Never Cry Wolf  which is still standard reading in grade nine classes around his native country - alongside the books I already mentioned by Salinger and Golding.  Oh, and do not forget George Orwell's dystopian satire, Animal Farm, and William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

In the 1970s, Stephen King writes Carrie, Judy Blume tackles menstruation in a different way with Are You There God?  It's Me, Margaret and V.C. Andrews tells her sordid tale of incest and abuse in Flowers in the Attic.

In current YA there is a trend to move towards themes such as sexuality, pregnancy, teen mother/fatherhood, rape, abuse, suicide, drugs, and alcohol.  And I'm just naming a few.

So, what am I saying here?  Just as you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, you shouldn't judge it by its marketing classification.  Young Adult fiction is full of well written, provocative reads.

- Victoria

REVIEW: I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Puffin (26 Aug 2010)
ISBN-10: 0141332476
ISBN-13: 978-0141332475
Reviewer: Cara
Copy: Bought online

From the back of the book:
In the beginning we were nine. We left when we were very young, almost too young to remember. Almost. And now . . . Three are gone. We are here to keep our race alive, which was almost entirely obliterated. We’re just trying to survive. Six are left. But we are hunted, and the hunters won’t stop until they’ve killed us all. They caught Number One in Malaysia. Number Two in England. And Number Three in Kenya. I am Number Four. I know that I am next.

There is a small announcement on the front cover of this book “soon to be a major film” which, had I noticed when I bought the book online may have dissuaded me from purchasing it. For I Am Number Four follows the tried and tested standard Hollywood teen blockbuster format. The author, Pittacus Lore, is described as “a Lorien Elder, who was entrusted with the study of the Lorien Nine”. In reality it is the pseudonym of James Frey and Jobie Hughes, James Frey being the notorious author of the memoir A Million Little Pieces.

Teen alien, John Smith, with nascent superpowers, is on the run from his planet’s enemies, the Mogadorians who have followed him and eight others to Earth. There is a protective charm which means that the nine Loriens must be killed in order… the first three have been discovered and eliminated; now it is John’s turn. Since arriving on Earth he has lived with his protector, Henri, moving around the US, keeping one step ahead of the Mogadorians. He has avoided forming relationships, always aware of the need to leave at short notice, until he reaches Paradise, Ohio. Here he meets and falls for Sarah, the pretty blonde girlfriend of the high school quarterback. He also makes friends with the class nerd, Sam. John wants to stop running from his enemies and settle down for a while.

So there is not much originality in the plot, in a lot of ways I Am Number Four is almost a Twilight for boys as there is plenty of explosions and kick-ass action to balance the romance angle. Yet, despite the clichés, it is a surprisingly entertaining read. John’s dreams of Lorien, his home planet, give us a feel for his legacy and why it is so important that he survives. The fight scenes are also well done, reminiscent of Buffy I thought. I found the relationship between John and Henri interesting as the latter developed from protector to mentor through the book. The mutual respect between the pair was clear without becoming sentimental. Sam too was an endearing character; the archetypal nerd who acted as a foil to John’s undercover alien superhero persona. Watch out for Bernie Kosar, a rather cute beagle who befriends John…

What I didn’t like was the depiction of Sarah as the love interest. Of all the characters, she was the most one-dimensional and a bit too good-to-be-true. There were few female roles and she was too sickly sweet for my taste. Not a good role model despite her having given up cheer-leading to become more of an individual – I imagine she will be wearing a lot of pink in the movie. There was also a tendency for John’s various powers to emerge just when the situation required them. This, to me, smacked of laziness on the part of the writers, a handy plot device that was misused once too often. However, I Am Number Four is aimed at a male teen readership and anything that gets this age group interested in science fiction, no matter how clichéd or simplistic, can only be a good thing. There were sufficient action sequences to hold the Wii/X-box generation attention span and social issues such as being the new kid at school and bullying were handled well.

Overall I enjoyed I Am Number Four and it kept me entertained on a sunny afternoon in the garden when I wanted something light to read that required little effort on my part. I am not the target audience, however, so the flaws were blatantly obvious to me, but these did not distract or irritate me as much as Twilight (I couldn’t finish that book!). I will be passing I Am Number Four on to my nephew, aged 12 and will be interested to see what he makes of it.

Plot: 7
Characters: 5
Style: 6

Rating 6/10