Within a corrupted society where children battle to the death in the annual Hunger Games for entertainment, lives a bold young woman named Katniss Everdeen. Katinis loves her little sister more than life itself. So when her sister PrimRose Everdeen is drawn for the Hunger Games, Katniss does the unheard of and volunteers and tribute in place of her sister. Katniss volunteered without hesitation so when she is sent to the capital along with the other selected person for her district Peeta Mellark she is prepared to fight. She knows that she is going to be sent right into the games and that she has to win it and come out alive to look after her sister. Along the way with the help of her bow and arrow she becomes one of the most unlikely candidates to perform so well in the games, her underdog ness strikes the outside world in hope and in rebellion. This book is by far one of the best that I have ever read, it is so riveting and engaging and has not only action
but romance. I have read every book in the series and I loved every page of it. I would recommend this book to anyone. It is by far one of my top ten favorite books.
Within the dystopian of Wormwood lives Vega Jane, a strong and very independent woman. When Vega was young, she saw her mother leave the village. No one had ever left Wormwood. Why would anyone leave there wasn’t anything outside of the town? However, Vega knew that the leaders of Wormwood were lying to her. The elders/leaders told her that her mother was dead and that no one survives leaving Wormwood. Vega knew she had to figure out the truth, she was at the end of her wits. She was tired of the constant scrutiny she was under for being a girl, she didn’t have a voice and she wasn’t respected by the men in Wormwood. Vega was really set into action when her friend Quentin Hermes goes missing but leaves clues behind to find her. Determined to uncover the truth to her towns dark past, she follows the clues left behind leading her closer to the truth. This book, while it was not my favorite, had a cool plot and was easy to follow.
The Fifth Wave by Ricky Yancey is an awesome and thrilling book, that dives into a world in which aliens exist. The human race at the brink of extinction must learn to fight and hide in order to survive the invasion. A young teenager Cassie, has lost her mother and father and now must find a safe place to live and return to her younger brother. But when Cassie finds herself in the midst of a battle with a “silencer”, what they call the aliens, she fears she might not make it. Then a strange and mysterious man from a nearby farm saves Chloe after she was shot by the “silencer” and nurses her back to health. In order to find a way to protect her younger brother and stop the silencer’s invasion Cassie must trust this suspicious farm boy, who looks almost identical to the silencer that shot her. This book has not only has a lot of action and intrigue but has a sweet turn of events within it. It kept me glued to each page and I could not put it down. I would definitely recommend this book, it's one of my favorites!
It’s odd for me to read the third book in a series and be confronted with
problems that I usually see by the fourth book. So far, I’ve been on board
with the whole Shadow series as it focuses on an interesting character in the
form of Bean. For two books, I’ve read about Bean’s survival, made all
the more thrilling by the antagonist Achilles. Of course, during Ender’s
Shadow and Shadow of the Hegemon , the series picked up plenty of side
stories and sub-plots. This is what ruined Shadow Puppets for me: the focus
wasn’t on Bean and Achilles, but rather on advancing the story of all these
sub-plots.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Shadow Puppets has a lot of interesting events.
It’s just that it was so entertaining to read about Achilles in the
previous books, and he’s relegated to a bookending motif for this book. We
don’t get to see him directly interact with others, instead of having the
main characters always wondering how he’ll react to their attempts to trap
him. This kind of “telling” instead of “showing” really rubbed me the
wrong way and made the climax of this story (let alone the first three books)
feel quite anticlimactic.
I do appreciate some of what Card does with these well-rounded characters,
and I want to see what happens next with a world in such turmoil and
turnover. And yet, with how unfocused this book was, I don’t know if I want
to get my hopes up for the next books in this series. After all, the central
conflict of the previous two books is now behind Bean, which makes me wonder
what could replace such a heart-pounding game of cat-and-mouse. There are
plot threads to follow into the next book, but I could probably predict what
happens just based on the foreshadowing contained in this book.
An unfocused and slightly anticlimactic conclusion to one of the best
antagonists, I give Shadow Puppets 3.0 stars out of 5.
I’ll admit that reading The Fifth Season had a bit of a learning curve for
the Broken Earth series. Not only did I have to learn about the vastly
powerful magic system based on rocks (and other rock forms), but I had to get
used to a second-person point of view (POV). Jumping between timelines with
similar characters who had different names was a bit confusing, but I was
able to figure it out by the end. Fast forward to the sequel, The Obelisk
Gate, and most of my qualms with the first book were smoothed over or solved
outright.
One of the things I enjoyed about The Obelisk Gate was the increase in the
scale of the magic system. Including the moon in these calculations makes
perfect sense considering the nature of the orogeny magic. I also appreciated
how the story seemed to focus on a single POV, which made for a more intimate
experience as we followed only one or two individuals instead of four. Now
that I was used to the second-person writing style and the character it
described, it didn’t bother me as much as when I read The Fifth Season.
While The Fifth Season set up the world-building for this trilogy, The
Obelisk Gate’s only weakness is that it finally set up the climactic plot
for the third book. Sure, there was plenty of character development and
intriguing twists in the plot in The Obelisk Gate, but they all seemed to be
hinting at something much more significant that wouldn’t take place in this
book. I do appreciate an excellent three-act structure, so this slight
weakness can be seen as merely an artifact of the second book in a trilogy.
In fact, because it was more focused, I liked this book more than its
predecessor. After all, it’s a strong concept with solid execution.
A focusing and foreshadowing of the Broken Earth series, I give The Obelisk
Gate 4.5 stars out of 5.
Jerry Aubin finishes the Ship Series in spectacular fashion. In Resurgence, Aubin ties up the series beautifully and answers all of the questions that have kept readers fascinated from the very beginning. Zax must finally face what he started and defeat the true enemy of the ship, Alpha. Resurgence will keep you on your toes with its whirlwind plot that will captivate you from the start. Like all of its predecessors, Resurgence does not disappoint with its plot twists and adventures. I highly recommend this book for any middle or high school aged reader.
"The Towering Sky" by Katherine McGee tells the story of five teenagers in 2119. Living in a futuristic Manhattan tower in which your floor displays your power, a mystery/romance story is bred. This book was perfectly okay. The writing wasn't half bad, and the characters ,well half-baked, were not unrealistic or arrogant. However, as reading this book, the third and final of a series, without reading the first two, was extremely confusing. At first I had not realized that this book was part of a trilogy, and thought the writing was purposefully confusing. Though I don't know if this book would make more sense after reading the first two, the pacing was quite fast, though the plot moved slow, which created a strange vibe while reading. In general, I would not recommend this book. However, if you have read the first two and liked them, go ahead and give it a go.
Fahrenheit 451 follows the story of a fireman, Guy Montag, who lives in a dystopian society. His job as a fireman is to locate all books around the city and burn them. Books are banned from any individual and is considered to be an inferior type of entertainment in comparison television, which are more supported by the public. As Montag continues to burn more books throughout his job over time, he deals with a variety of external factors that changes his brainwashed and disillusioned perspective to considering books and their significance to society. Being a firemen in this dystopian society, Montag must deal with a plethora of barriers that are blocking his way before he can truly understand the importance of books and to keep them.
Fahrenheit 451 is an intriguing book that takes a different approach in a dystopian society. Instead of implementing a militaristic and governmental style, Bradbury uses firemen which encapsulates a unique and captivating plot line. Fahrenheit 451 demonstrates a story that everyone can enjoy, especially for those who enjoy reading dystopian novels. Bradbury effectively relates character development of Montag to the series of events that occurs. This coherent relationship that virtually happens side-by-side further produces a sense of immersion for the reader.
Personally, I enjoyed Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 novel. It is considered to be one of his best, and most iconic books that he has written to date. I highly recommend any average reader to consider reading Fahrenheit 451. The book is not too long, but it will still produce an immense amount of quality and satisfaction in the end.
The Ship Series continues to be phenomenal in Rendezvous. Rendezvous not only continues the thrilling adventures of Zax after twelve years after being Culled, but also continues to develop the story of Adan and his creation of his massive spaceship to save humanity. Aubin adds a whole new level to the depth of the Ship Series with his exploration of the Ship's history while still staying true to the original story. Full of plot twists, Rendezvous will leave you fascinated and reaching for the next book in the series. I highly recommend this book for any middle or high school aged reader.
Maximum Ride is probably one of the most interesting and exciting books I have ever read. The novel starts with a group of children living in a house on their own, the one who watches out for the younger children is sixteen year old, Maximum Ride (Max). The children are not like other normal kids though; they can all fly. When the kids were younger they were all kidnapped by scientists and were experimented on. While they were experimented on they were given genetically attached wings. The children all escaped with the strength they all had together but now the scientists want them back. They can fly and they are stronger than most humans and they each have
individual powers unique to only them and they are not easy to find. The scientist also created what Max and the other children call “Erasers”, which are genetically mutated humans half wolf, half human with the sole purpose of finding the missing flying children. The novel follows Max and the children on their journey to freedom. I honestly think that there is something for everyone to enjoy in this book: romance, science fiction, action and adventure. I love this book and would highly recommend reading it.
Jerry Aubin continues The Ship Series with another phenomenal sci-fi novel. Homeward has the same energy and intensity as its two predecessors and continues Zax's thrilling adventures. In Homeward, life becomes much more complicated for Zax and he is once again faced with difficult moral challenges. Full of fascinating new twists and turns, Homeward will keep you on your feet. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it for any middle or high school aged reader.
Aubin's continuation of the ship series is just as brilliant as the first. Now that Zax has revealed his discovery of an unknown spacecraft from Earth, everything has changed. The ship has erupted into full-blown revolution and Zax is once again faced with a moral dilemma. Revolution is another thrilling sci-fi adventure that is just as action-packed as Landfall. I could not put this book down and was completely enthralled by Aubin's futuristic society. I highly recommend this book for any middle or high school aged reader.
I loved this book. Jerry Aubin has written a sci-fi masterpiece that is the perfect combination of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game and Star Trek. Landfall follows the life of Zax, a fifteen-year-old cadet on a ship with the last human survivors 5,000 years in the future. Landfall is full of non-stop action and is an absolute page-turner. I couldn't put this book down and neither will you. I highly recommend this book for any middle or high school aged reader who loves a wonderful sci-fi adventure.
this book is a really good read. i would not recommend this book for readers under 10. it is not really scary but does include the FBI.
***THIS BOOK WAS RECEIVED FROM THE PUBLISHER***
There seem to be a few cardinal sins most writers are cautioned to avoid at all costs. Two of these sins are exposition dumps and “show, don’t tell.” While the entire book doesn’t necessarily fall into these pitfalls, Lightless spends a big chunk of its 300 pages in telling the reader about all the exposition to the story that’s currently playing out. Instead of reading an interrogation, I would have much rather seen the events that led to the current state of the solar system. On top of all this, I failed to care about any of the characters or their plights because this method of storytelling was so impersonal.
I’ll admit that I almost gave up reading this book right before it became interesting again. The ending does a pretty good job of re-invigorating the plot, but it might be a case of too little too late. Furthermore, not only were there plenty of weird logical leaps, accents that were told to the reader but not shown in dialect, and actions that didn’t make much sense, but there was almost too much coincidence in the appearance of certain characters. The fact that I thought it would have been a more interesting story if the System interrogator was the terrorist all along, coming to tie up loose ends, says something about the standard nature of the plot.
In the end, this book suffers from being the first of an intended trilogy, as well as being this author’s first work. The amount of exposition crammed into this book is merely a setup to something that’s likely more interesting to read, not that I’ll continue with this trilogy. Additionally, there were quite a few times where the awkward wording of a sentence or the repetition of a particular word pulled me out of the narrative. Finally, I felt it took way too long for the computer specialist to figure out what the problem was. The clues were evident almost from the start, but she only “got smart” about it when the plot demanded it.
An interesting climax that required an expositional slog to get to, I give Lightless 2.0 stars out of 5.
It’s almost fitting how the follow-on book in the spin-off series to Ender’s Game takes the same tactic as Speaker for the Dead and transforms itself into a completely different genre. While Speaker for the Dead and its sequels still maintained a level of science fiction for the Ender saga, Shadow of the Hegemon pivots into a political thriller with almost no hints of sci-fi to be seen. The strength of the characters helped make this transition relatively smooth, but it still highlights how these child-aged individuals hardly have any child-like qualities.
While the Shadow saga certainly needed to start out focusing on Bean, I did appreciate how Shadow of the Hegemon developed many of the supporting characters. For the first time in both series, I felt like the reader was able to know Petra and Peter while also seeing what Achilles was capable of accomplishing. The results of bringing back children war heroes to Earth had a logical feel to its progression, even if I didn’t really care much about southeastern Asian politics to really engage with the politics of the plot. That’s not to say the whole “cat and mouse” between Achilles and Bean wasn’t interesting; it just wasn’t what had brought me to this series in the first place.
Of course, having read the Ender saga first, I can already see the early ripples of how this side-series will start to wrap up. Now that Ender is less of a presence in the Shadow series, other characters finally have a chance to show what they can do. While I’ll reserve my predictions might change with what actually happens, I get the sense that Peter’s tenure as Hegemon changes the world just as Bean changes into some super-intelligent giant. I will admit that some of Orson Scott Card’s predictions from 2000 still seem plausible today, given the political climate, it’s clear that the author did his research before playing with the ever-important sci-fi “what if” scenario.
A political pivot from a well-known sci-fi series, I give Shadow of the Hegemon 4.0 stars out of 5.
After a NASA crew member is left behind on planet Mars, he has a huge to-do list. First, come in contact with NASA to prove he is alive, don't starve, don't die, then make it home alive. I'm not a huge fan of any science fiction type book, however, this was indeed an exception. I loved the perspectives the author chose to include, and the humor he shot into his characters gives the story personality. I suggest this book to an eighth grade audience; there is some inappropriate language and all of the science attributes are complex to understand. I strongly suggest to you this book if you want to be left on the edge of your seat with every new chapter, right up until the end.
Michael Grant has written a thrilling conclusion to his Gone series. Light is the perfect ending to a phenomenal series. Over the past five books, Sam, Astrid, Edilio, and all the others have survived every obstacle the FAYZ has thrown at them. However, will they be able to survive a final epic battle with the Gaiaphage itself? With suspense around every corner, Light brings the same energy and intensity found in all of the other Gone books. I thoroughly enjoyed Light and highly recommend it to any high school aged reader.
Michael Grant continues the Gone series with another spectacular novel. The kids of Perdido Beach have survived many obstacles thrown at them by the FAYZ, but now they must face their biggest fear yet: complete darkness. Will these kids be able to survive when they can't see what's coming for them? Fear is another hit by Grant. With twists and turns around every corner, Fear is a suspense thriller you won't be able to put down.
It’s been a while since I read this far into a series, and I can start to see why I like trilogies and stand-alone books. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think this series had evolved into a courtroom drama instead of a historical fantasy. At this point, the whole premise of this series seems to have veered off course and has lost its focus to tackle unrelated issues that were somewhat prominent at the time. Or, at least it’s merely acting as a chance to name drop historical figures and take the side of history against well-known issues that haven’t aged well over time. If anything, Heartfire could have easily been the fourth book in the series, since Alvin Journeyman added nothing to the story. Even so, Heartfire didn’t feel as strong as earlier books in the series. It almost seems like there’s more of a focus on world-building. There is less focus on actually progressing the story—like the path toward the Crystal City. Certain plot elements were almost entirely forgotten as well, even if there was a whole legal battle in the last book to re-hash how Alvin came into possession of a sentient golden plow (which itself is still unclear why it’s important).
By now, I’m merely reading the series on autopilot just to see if there is any conclusion to the alternate history presented here. I still think there are clever takes on historical figures, but by now, they seem added in as a heavy winking nod to the reader, most of whom will already know the referenced individual. Perhaps the lack of overall character growth in this book is what made it such a so-so read for me. Sure, there were baby steps toward some redemption arc, but in the end, nothing ended up changing the drive of the overarching story.
Another weak link in the Alvin Journeyman series, I give Heartfire 3.0 stars out of 5.