Monday, April 29, 2013

Teaser Tuesday - Hunger, by Michael Grant

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their To Be Read (TBR) Lists if they like your teasers!

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"Hunger" is the second book in a series of Teen Fiction novels written by Michael Grant, centered around the idea that in a single moment everyone over the age of fifteen disappears.  In this scene, Astrid examines photos of a mutated worm.

The Tease:
"Astrid cliked ahead, but then she froze.  She backed up.  She zoomed in tight.
A worm was turned toward the camera, twisted around so that its toothy mouth was aimed at the camera.  Nothing unusual except that the next worm she panned over to was doing the same thing...And the next worm.  She found nineteen separate images of worms.  All were turned toward the camera.  Pointing in the direction of the attack.
Aiming their devil grins at Sam."
 -Hunger, by Michael Grant

What's your Tease?

Friday, April 26, 2013

Book Review - The Kingdom of Gods, by N. K. Jemisin

The Inheritance Trilogy, by N. K. Jemisin
1. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (My Review)    12/13/2012    * * * *
2. The Broken Kingdoms                  (My Review)     12/31/2012    * * * *
3. The Kingdom of Gods                                            01/26/2013    * * * *

From Goodreads:
The incredible conclusion to the Inheritance Trilogy, from one of fantasy's most acclaimed stars.

For two thousand years the Arameri family has ruled the world by enslaving the very gods that created mortalkind. Now the gods are free, and the Arameri's ruthless grip is slipping. Yet they are all that stands between peace and world-spanning, unending war.

Shahar, last scion of the family, must choose her loyalties. She yearns to trust Sieh, the godling she loves. Yet her duty as Arameri heir is to uphold the family's interests, even if that means using and destroying everyone she cares for.

As long-suppressed rage and terrible new magics consume the world, the Maelstrom -- which even gods fear -- is summoned forth. Shahar and Sieh: mortal and god, lovers and enemies. Can they stand together against the chaos that threatens?

My Thoughts:
The Kingdom of Gods is the third (and final?) novel in the Inheritance Trilogy, and Jemisin definitely ramps up the action for the conclusion.  While the first two novels were more tightly focused on a specific event and time, The Kingdom of Gods is a bit more sprawling, spanning multiple years and story lines, some of the going back to the beginning of time.  We learn much more about the history of the world first introduced in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, and even some additional information about the gods themselves.  But the main focus of the story does revolve around one of the godlings who the reader of the first two novels in the series is already familiar with - Sieh.

Sieh becomes interested in the two current heirs of the Arameri family, Shahar and Dekarta, and forms a bond with them that sets off an unexpected chain of events.  The three of them struggle with their various issues, as their world seems to crumble around them, and before long they realize that not only is their world and way of life at risk, but that an unknown entity may be trying to destroy the entire universe by wiping it out of existence.

As I mentioned above, the first two novels were fairly tightly focused, which worked well in terms of plot and pacing.  Unfortunately, The Kingdom of Gods, being much more widely focused, tends to sprawl a bit and feels messy and disorganized.  The narrative is more difficult to follow at times, and some of the characters behave in ways that don't quite feel true, or realistic, and to me this made the pacing feel off at several key points in the story.  Some of the plot points felt weak as well, with events happening off the page and characters behaving oddly.

However, none of this deterred me from reading the story, or from thoroughly enjoying it.  It's probably not the best book in the series - I personally think that honor belongs to The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - but it finishes the over-all story of the world in a mostly satisfying way, and neatly completes the grand story arc begun with the first book in the series. 

In spite of these few missteps, there is much to love about The Kingdom of Gods, including Sieh's personally journey and revelations, and his relationships with Shahar and her brother.  This is where Jemisin really excels anyway, with the chemistry between her various characters and how they relate to each other.

I gave The Kingdom of Gods four stars, the same as The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and The Broken Kingdoms, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and highly recommend it, with the caveat that if you try to read them out of order, you do so at your own risk.

Have you read The Kingdom of Gods, or either of the first two novels in the Inheritance Trilogy?  What did you think?  Leave me a comment and let me know - I'd love to hear your thoughts!!

Monday, April 22, 2013

Teaser Tuesday - Gone, by Michael Grant

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their To Be Read (TBR) Lists if they like your teasers!

----------

"Gone" is the first book in a series of Teen Fiction books written by Michael Grant, centered around the idea that in a single moment everyone over the age of fifteen disappears.  In this scene, Sam faces the moment that might result in his own disappearance.

The Tease:
"The face of their mother wavered.  The tender flesh seemed to break apart in jig-saw-puzzle pieces.  The gently smiling, pleading mouth melted, collapsed inward.  In its place a mouth ringed with needle-sharp teeth.  Eyes filled with green fire.
"I'll have you yet," the monster raged with sudden violence."
 -Gone, by Michael Grant

What's your Tease?

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Teaser Tuesday - Gone, by Michael Grant

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their To Be Read (TBR) Lists if they like your teasers!

----------

"Gone" is the first book in a series of Teen Fiction books written by Michael Grant, centered around the idea that in a single moment everyone over the age of fourteen disappears.  In this scene, Quinn tries to get Sam to understand what he sees as the new reality.

The Tease:
"You try and act all superior, Sam, all righteous, but you haven't even figured it out yet.  Worst that happened to us back then was we get in trouble, get suspended, get an 'F' or whatever.  Screw up now and it's a baseball bat up alongside your head.  There were always bullies, but the adults were still in charge.  Now?
Now the bullies rule."
 -Gone, by Michael Grant

What's your Tease?

Friday, April 12, 2013

Book Review - The Broken Kingdoms, by N. K. Jemisin

The Inheritance Trilogy, by N. K. Jemisin
1. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (My Review)    12/13/2012    * * * *
2. The Broken Kingdoms                                           12/31/2012    * * * *
3. The Kingdom of Gods                                            01/26/2013    * * * *

From Goodreads:
In the city of Shadow, beneath the World Tree, alleyways shimmer with magic and godlings live hidden among mortalkind. Oree Shoth, a blind artist, takes in a homeless man who glows like a living sun to her strange sight. This act of kindness engulfs Oree in a nightmarish conspiracy. Someone, somehow, is murdering godlings, leaving their desecrated bodies all over the city.

Oree's peculiar guest is at the heart of it, his presence putting her in mortal danger -- but is it him the killers want, or Oree? And is the earthly power of the Arameri king their ultimate goal, or have they set their sights on the Lord of Night himself?
 
My Thoughts:

*** Possible Spoilers for Book 1 in the series, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms.  You've been warned! ***


The Broken Kingdoms continues the saga begun in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - sort of.

Ten years have passed, and the world of the Kingdoms has changed in many ways.  The palace of Sky now sits high amid the branches of the World Tree, and the city below has been shattered and divided by the Tree's roots and renamed Shadow.  The gods have been freed from their slavery, and many of the godlings who had previously avoided the Kingdoms have come to live among the humans in the city of Shadow.  The world is a vastly different place for the ruling Arameri family.

But for the common folk, things aren't just different, they're also more difficult.  Surviving from day to day is still a struggle, but the multitudes of godlings inhabiting the city, and the various religious factions warring in the streets, make survival much more complicated.

Oree finds out just how complicated it can become when she accidentally becomes involved in a murder mystery - who is killing the immortal godlings, and how?  Oree tries to survive the power struggle that results from the void left by the missing and dead godlings, while also attempting to survive the riddle of who can kill someone who cannot be killed.  And the truth is beyond anything she could have imagined.

N. K. Jemisin masterfully weaves a delicious story that keeps you at the edge of your seat, with never a dull moment.  The shift of focus from the ruling class to the common citizen allows the reader to view a completely new aspect of the Kingdoms, and nicely fills out the overall story and mythology of the world.  The Broken Kingdoms is a much more tightly focused story, dealing more with the problems of individual people rather than the issues of the gods.

I highly recommend The Broken Kingdoms - it's a great novel and a great story.  I think that it could probably be read alone, but to fully enjoy the story I would recommend starting with The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms before reading The Broken Kingdoms.

Have you read either The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms or The Broken Kingdoms?  What did YOU  think?  Leave a comment below!

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Teaser Tuesday - Gone, by Michael Grant

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their To Be Read (TBR) Lists if they like your teasers!

----------

"Gone" is the first book in a new series of Teen Fiction books written by Michael Grant, centered around the idea that in a single moment everyone over the age of fourteen disappears.  I've just started reading "Gone," so my Tease today is the opening sentences of Chapter One.  I'm already hooked...

The Tease:
"One minute the teacher was talking about the Civil War.  And the next minute he was gone.
There.
Gone.
No "poof."  No flash of light.  No explosion."
 -Gone, by Michael Grant

What's your Tease?

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Movie News - Poster Reveal - World War Z, Poster the Next

So not even a full day after I posted yesterdays Movie Poster Reveal, I notice that there's a NEW poster for World War Z that, as far as I can tell, was just released today.

Please to enjoy the NEW World War Z Movie Poster, starring Brad Pitt himself:


Pretty good, yeah?  I'm liking the look - what do you think?

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Movie News - Poster Reveal - World War Z

So I noticed the black and white version of this a week or so ago, then forgot about it, and then today found this new color version.


Gorgeously creepy, horrifying, and surreal -  I love it!  I'm very much looking forward to seeing the movie in June - hopefully I'll have time to read the book the movie is based on before then.

What about you? What do you think of the new poster, and will you be seeing the movie?

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Teaser Tuesday - Notorious Nineteen, by Janet Evanovich

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their To Be Read (TBR) Lists if they like your teasers!

----------

So now that I've finally finished A Memory of Light, this week we get a tease from a new book, for the first time in quite awhile.  So, the Stephanie Plum mysteries are up to number nineteen, eh?  Let's see what Stephanie is up to!  Hmmm...Looks like she's having a conversation with Ranger...

The Tease:
""I have good news and bad news," Ranger said.  "What do you want to hear first?"
"The good news."
"Actually I lied about the good news.  It's all bad.""
 -Notorious Nineteen, by Janet Evanovich

What's your Tease?