Julie is in the desert taking photographs when she witnesses an explosion in the sky. Soon it begins to rain small silver spheres. They land and stick to her and her truck. Frightened she quickly drives home where she finds a larger piece of the mysterious silver in the back of her pickup. When she touches it the metal jumps and attaches to her shoulder. Soon all the silver spheres on the car and her body are drawn to the larger piece of metal. Soon her shoulders and chest are covered with what looks like metal, but is flexible like her own skin.
But she wasn’t the only person to be near the explosion. A deranged vagrant, who believes he is the biblical Cain (cursed to walk the Earth forever) also had some of the metal collect on his body; near his hand. Cain realizes that the metal has abilities, like shooting lightening out of his hand. Cain goes on a quest to collect more of the metal in order to bring about the end of the world.
But where did the metal come from? A secret laboratory created it as a super=powered suit for the military. The scientists caused the explosion in order to test the how the suit would behave. The test subject who wore the suit was sacrificed on purpose. They know people were in the vicinity of the explosion, and they want their suit back.
Now Julie is being stalked by government agents and a super-powered mad man. Her only friend is a stranger, a park ranger, who believes his scientist girlfriend was the test subject for the suit. He wants to expose her murder while Julie just wants to be normal again. But when people start dying Julie can never go back. Now she has to save the world, and if she fails the world will end.
Echo is a really fun take on superhero comics that focuses more on characters and plot then wall to wall action. If you like previous work by Terry Moore, like creator-owned comics, or just need something different you can’t go wrong with Echo. It’s highly recommended and appropriate for ages 14 and up.
Hazel has terminal cancer, except the terminal part has been put on hiatus due to an experimental drug. Now her body and her cancer have created a status quo where Hazel is continuously sick but won’t die immediately. Her cancer is in her lungs so she carries an oxygen tank with her and wears that plastic tubing that goes up her nose. Not being able to fully breathe she must stop every so often when walking to catch her breath. Also, her lungs collect fluid which sometimes needs to be drained. Her biggest goal in life is to somehow minimize the grief that she will leave her family once she dies.
But one day she meets Augustus at a cancer support group. He has lost a leg to his cancer and is in remission. He only attended to support his friend Isaac who is about to lose another eye to cancer and so will soon be blind.
Augustus and Hazel hit it off and begin a whirlwind romance, or as much as one that two products of cancer can manage. Hazel quickly gets Augustus hooked on her favorite novel, An Imperial Affliction,which is the lone novel written by an aloof author who has secluded himself away from the public. In between consoling Isaac after losing her vision, Augustus and Hazel jump from one life affirming and romantic moment to the next until it culminates into fulfilling Hazel’s dream of meeting the author of An Imperial Affliction.
And this is where reality sets in for the couple. The things with which you have the highest expectations for often let you down and life never turns out the way you hope. Life still has a few curve balls for Hazel. And this is where life really begins to start for Augustus and Hazel; on that downward slope after a peak, leading to an inevitable end.
The Fault in Our Stars is a beautiful book about life, death, cancer, grief, and romance. The only fault in the book is that sometimes Augustus and Hazel suffer from Green’s hyperrealistic narrative style. Everything is infused with emotion and the teens are both extremely intelligent and incredibly witty. Dialog between the two characters is a joy to read yet falls within that uncanny valley where the characters become unrealistic because they strive to be too realistic. Despite this nitpicking this is an extremely enjoyable book. I highly recommended it for all readers ages 14 and up.
The Light Fantastic continues the adventures of Rincewind and Twoflowers that began in The Color of Magic. This time Discworld is threatened by a new red star that is growing larger everyday.
Readers may recall that Discworld is a flat world held aloft on the backs of 4 elephants who are themselves standing on a giant space voyaging turtle. This turtle seems to be heading for a disaster involving a collision with the aforementioned star. If the star consumes the turtle all of Discworld would be destroyed.
But the magical book known as the Octavo has other plans. Somewhere in Rincewind’s mind is the eighth ancient spell. It is up to Rincewind and Twoflower to bumble there way across Discworld (again) and this time everyone’s life depends on their ability to not do what people expect them to.
Recommended for anyone who loves a good laugh or enjoys fantasy. Appropriate for ages 14 and up.
Carmen Dula is back in books two and three in this excellent introduction to science fiction adventure.
In the first book, Marsbound, Carmen was a young teen whose family was a part of the colonization effort on Mars. Soon she meets a race of Martians only to discover that the Martians were placed on Mars by an ancient and powerful alien race. The Martians are used as an advanced warning system for developing civilizations, in this case humanity.
In Starbound Carmen and a small crew are sent on an interstellar voyage at near light speed to meet with the ancient race. The meeting however does not go well. And now Earth must face drastic consequences the ancient aliens’ tests.
In Earthbound Carmen’s adventures continue on the planet she used to call home. Earth has been decimated by the aliens and left a pre-19th century state where no electricity or advanced technology works. Now humanity is faced with it’s own worst enemy, themselves, as people fight and kill over scarce resources. The whole while the ancient aliens are watching how humanity behaves and judging if humans have the privilege to exist.
The Carmen Dula books are highly engaging, short, and most of all fun sci-fi series. I recommend the series to anyone who loves sci-fi or those who are new to the genre. The series is marketed at adults ( although has some YA appeal), so there are references to physical intimacy, and mild language. Therefore it is generally appropriate for ages 16 and up.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is becoming very popular with teens and 20-somethings. Men especially like the show and are known as Bronies. Here is a video where teens get to comment on this emerging cultural phenomenon.
Teen Services
Echo: The Complete Edition by Terry Moore
The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett
StarBound and Earthbound by Joe Haldeman