Something from the Nightside by Simon R. Green
I am a sucker for horror novels. A young patron recently recommended the Nightside series to me. I am glad I took his advice. John Taylor is a would-be private detective who specializes in finding things. He hasn’t had a job in forever and needs money. So when a woman comes in asking for his help finding her daughter he can’t say no. The trouble begins when the woman claims that her daughter ran away to a mysterious place called the Nightside. John Taylor is familiar with the Nightside as he was born and raised there. And he doesn’t really care to go back.
The Nightside is a hidden realm at the heart of London. It has been there since the beginning of time and will continue on after London is gone. It is a place where monsters walk, and the bizarre and the insane are everyday occurrences. Horses talk in the Nightside, and faceless men with syringes for fingers roam the streets and will try to kill you. There are harpies, time travelers, and a diner perpetually stuck in the 60s. It’s a place of odds and ends, both horrifying and sublime.
Something from the Nightside is the first book in the series and at times it suffers from that introductory-ness that the first books have at times. But the uniqueness of the Nightside really captivates and I am excited to read the next one. I would recommend this book for anyone in 9th grade and up. Horror lovers will definitely like it. Those interested in the Dresden Files will find a good read alike in the Nightside series.
July 24th, 2008
Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing With Fire by Derek Landy
If one more person’s head gets squashed like a grape this book would be even that much better. I really cannot explain how much I enjoyed this Playing With Fire. I like this one a lot better than the first one. It has more of everything, more action, more villains, more magic, more gore, and more humor. In this case more is definitely the merrier.
Skulduggery and Valkyrie find themselves facing off against Baron Vengeous, an acolyte of the Faceless Ones, and is all set to let loose the Grotesquery on the world. The Grotesquery is a Frankenstein’s monster-like creation, except it is made up of many different magical creatures, all of which are extremely lethal. And if the Grotesquery is resurrected then it will call out to the Faceless Ones who will then return and destroy the world.
Like I mentioned before the adrenaline is jacked up a few notches for this sequel. Fans of magic and horror will love this book. It is a pretty intense book, with a high body count and a good amount of gore. I really can’t wait for the third book. This is now my favorite series by far. This book is appropriate for anyone in sixth grade and up, if they don’t mind the blood and guts.
July 18th, 2008
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
Wow. I really enjoyed this book. Like, it’s-my-new-favorite-thing enjoyed this book. If you liked the action in Harry Potter but wanted more of it with more wit, then this is the book for you.
The novel follows a young woman named Stephanie. Her uncle, a famous horror writer, just died and the family gathers to listen to his will. There she meets Skulduggery Pleasant for the first time. He is a mysterious man, most likely because he is hidden from head to toe behind a long coat, gloves, scarf, sunglasses, wig, and a hat. Stephanie is immediately drawn to him because she is not like the rest of her family. They are only interested in what they will get from her Uncle’s will. No one really cares about his death, or how he died. They just really want his stuff. To Stephanie’s surprise she is the one who receives the majority of his estate. She even gets her Uncle’s house, which Stephanie and her mother soon set out to explore. Once they get there their car breaks down. After some pleading with her mom, Stephanie is left alone at the house while her mother rides with the tow truck to the mechanic. Stephanie putters around the house, reading her Uncle’s unfinished novel, until she starts getting harassing phone calls. The voice on the line wants a key. Stephanie hangs up. And that is about when the man on the phone bursts through the window and attacks her. And then the door explodes, revealing Skulduggery Pleasant. In the melee Skulduggery’s attire comes loose and Stephanie realizes that Skulduggery is actually a living, walking skeleton. Afraid for her life, stuck between a skeleton and an attacker, Stephanie sets out on an adventure to find out why her uncle died… That is if she survives.
Did I mention I loved this book? It has tons of action and is actually really funny. Skulduggery has that dry James Bond understated humor down pat. The novel also combines fantasy and horror extremely well. It also references the monsters and the tone of H.P. Lovecraft. Between the magic, the humor, and the creeps, it is a perfect combination. Highly recommended. It’s appropriate for 6th grade on up, although it is a bit more intense then Harry Potter.
I’d like to note that I read the book by listening to the audiobook. It is a wonderful adaptation that rivals the quality of the Harry Potter audiobooks. It is an excellent read and an excellent listen. Enjoy!
And it’s sequel is already out! Hooray for me! 
July 9th, 2008
Marked by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
This is the first book in the House of Night series which chronicles the adventures of Zoey Redbird as she attends the boarding school for fledging vampires. As the novel opens Zoey is just a young teenage girl. She goes to school, dates the school quarterback, and gossips with her friends. There is a deeper side to her though. Her home life is far from perfect, with a demeaning and controlling step-father. Her one place she can be herself is with her grandmother, who owns a lavender farm and is part Native American. Zoey’s Cherokee heritage plays a big part in the novel and helps her overcome obstacles later on in the book.
Life changes for Zoey when she becomes marked as a fledging vampire. This happens one day after school and instantaneously a quarter moon tattoo appears on her forehead. This has happened before at school and always with ridicule for those who have been marked. But what is worse is that she knows that her step-father, who is extremely conservative, will totally freak out. She eventually makes it to her grandmother’s farm, all while getting increasingly sick. Those who have been marked become allergic to sunlight and will eventually die unless they make lifestyle changes. Zoey doesn’t find her grandmother on the farm, and ends up collapsing on a cliff. In her exhaustion she receives a vision of the vampire goddess, Nyx, who claims Zoey as one of her own and blesses her, and implies great things for Zoey’s future.
Fortunately for Zoey her grandmother finds her and delivers her to the House of Night. Most of the novel is spent introducing Zoey (and us the readers) to a new and different world. She quickly makes friends and gets used to going to classes at night. One major difference between vampire school and regular school is that at any moment a person’s body could reject the vampire mark, which causes them to die. And on top of this she has become enemy number one for the most popular girl in school, Aphrodite, a high priestess in training and leader of the Dark Daughters, an after school club for the most elite fledging vampires. Zoey has to rely on her heritage, her friends, and her faith in order to succeed.
I liked a lot of this book, but I disliked a lot of it too. Overall I thought it was pretty ingenious and a good mash-up of vampires and school drama. On the other hand it was very obvious that this is the first book in a series, as it is fairly light on plot (until the last 60 pages or so), and relies a lot on introducing readers to the life of a young vampire. This novel also wears its YA-ness in its sleeve. Some of the supporting characters intentionally use big words, only to have other characters define them for Zoey and the reader. (Honestly, Zoey is so worldly it surprises me that she has a rather limited vocabulary.) I do like the fact that it isn’t afraid to broach the subjects of sex and drugs, but again it goes out of its way to make sure that readers know that Zoey doesn’t do those sorts of things and in fact frowns upon them. I don’t mind the lesson in morality per se, but rather I dislike the ham handedness of it. The book at times seems to be trying to hard to be relevant to teens, instead of just telling a good story. That being said, this series is quite popular. I would recommend this book for younger girls (eighth grade and up) who have an open mind and are not put off with the frank discussions of sex, drugs, and the occasional swear word and with one caveat: Marked is great when it’s telling its story, but falls flat when it over reaches for relevance.
June 12th, 2008
I am going to admit off the bat that I love David Wellington’s Monster series. Originally, these books were published as online serials. You can find the links off his homepage here. If that wasn’t cool enough, the books are actually really good. Like incredibly good. Like read them now good. But be warned, these novels aren’t for the faint of heart. The VBG level (violence, blood, gore) is at an all time high. So if that’s not your bag and you gross out easily then you should probably find something else on the shelf. But for those who do read these books you will find lots pf action, plenty of survival adventure, and really good character development. These books are recommended for anyone who loves zombies, and are appropriate for ages 14 and up.
Monster Nation is the second book published but first in the story’s chronology. The story revolves around a young woman in California who was bitten by a deranged man, and subsequently collapses at an oxygen bar. She has no memory of her name or her life. She quickly discovers though that she isn’t actually alive, but she isn’t actually dead. And she isn’t the only corpse to become reanimated. But she is, as far as she knows, the only zombie who can still think. She sets off to find out why people are coming back from the dead, but more importantly to discover who she was before she died.
Monster Island is the first book published in the series but actually happens to be the second in the story’s chronology. Dekalb works for the UN in Somalia when the zombie apocalypse goes down. He seeks refuge with a warlord and promises her that he can recover the AIDS medication she needs from the UN building in Manhattan in exchange for protecting his daughter. He is attached to a platoon of the warlord’s fiercest fighters, but they soon realize that while getting to Manhattan is fairly easy, getting across the island and it’s ravenous zombie horde might be next to impossible. Dekalb and crew also encounter the zombie named Gary, who can think, heal himself at will, and control other zombies. Dekalb’s journey to the UN building just got harder.
Monster Planet is the last in the series so far. In the previous two installments we have encountered zombies that who continue to think like humans after dying and being resurrected. These zombies are known liches (rhymes with ditches). Liches are super zombies who retain their personalities and gain magical abilities. Monster Planet features the lich king, who wants to conquer the whole world, and enslave both humans and zombies. It’s up to Dekalb’s daughter, now a young woman, to save the world.
Wellington does a great job at combining the old with the new in his Monster series. The action sequences are great. The humans are just the right amount of desperate, the zombies are just the right amount of hungry and the liches are just too cool for school. Again, it’s highly recommended!
May 31st, 2008
The Babysitter by R.L. Stine
5 stars
The Babysitter by R.L. Stine This book is way better than any of the Goosebumps series that R.L.
Stine wrote. It is about a girl name Jenny has recently taken a babysitting job for the mysterious Hagens. There are some weird babysitter attacked going on in her town, but the chances are slim of the attacker targeting her right? Well, that what she thinks until she meets the shadowy next-door neighbor, and the phone calls start. I think this is the book for people who like suspense and mystery. It is very hard to predict the future in this book, so you never know what’s around the next corner.
May 7th, 2008
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