fantasy

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Just Finished…The First by Sara Zaske

   What a great and unexpected book!

I’d read – I think – that The First was a dystopian and so I’d left it in my Kindle dwindling having had a good dose of dystopia recently. And then I began reading it (after pressing the wrong button on my Kindle) and mistakenly thought I was reading a book about vampires and at around 15% in was wondering how the hell the people with power over nature were going to have anything to do with vampires…what can I say – I don’t always pay attention!

So – back to the book. There are dystopian elements to The First, but it would only be a dystopian book if you are one of the First People – if you’re a human, like me, then the environmental indiciators in the book are a nice nod in the direction of dystopia, but it’s not the end of the world, but a little journey down that path0. The environmental message is handled really well in the book, so it isn’t overbearing, but there are lots of good pieces of information to get you thinking.

The characters, dialogue and writing are great – very engaging, perfect pitch for a YA (I would also suggest this as being suitable for MG audience as it is clean, quirky and fun on the whole). The character voices feel authentically teenaged and the pitch, pace and action are all perfectly balanced with the motivations of the individuals. For me it felt a little like a fantasy cross-over in parts – the powers of the First People and their approach to life certainly had those elements, but it worked very well in the contemporary setting. I also liked the family/military references, which are outside the main plot, but I felt were very ‘real’ to life for anyone who has been in those situations.

Overall Thoughts: 4* – I think this was a great read. It is a nice length and paced so well to keep you reading – I got through it in four days, which is quick for me as I don’t always get too much time to read. I think the story was also very original and quality of writing was good. I would recommend this to anyone looking for an adventure story with interesting characters.

Thanks very much to Sara for releasing this free at Amazon on Earth Day, as that’s where I got my copy.

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Guest Post…Why I Write for Boys

Mikko Azul, author of Askari (Book 1 – Child of Muralia Trilogy) joins us today with a guest post why she writes for boys…

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Boys: The Forgotten Heroes of Young Adult Literature

Since the publication of Twilight and the subsequent exponential explosion of the Paranormal Romance genre in the YA marketplace, heroes of the epic fantasy have nearly become extinct. Rare are the newly-published tales of conquest by a young hero over his personal, metaphorical or, heaven forbid, actual demons. Despite the recent success of such movies as The Lord of the Rings and their encouragement of real-life heroes to find kinship between the pages of the original books, boys and young men are still largely ignored in the YA marketplace. Why is this?

After speaking to over 50 literary agents and a handful of YA publishers, I got an answer…one that disturbed me greatly. In their esteemed opinions, boys over the age of 13 don’t read books. Really? Why not? The demographic data shown to me by the agents indicates that boys at or over the age of 13 are into sports, girls and…you guessed it…video games. I think there are a couple really good reasons for this. First, there really aren’t a whole lot of great books being published right now that will appeal to boys of that age. With the exception of a handful of really great titles in the Middle Grade level including Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series, Michael Scott’s Nicholas Flamel series and Jenny Nemmo’s Charlie Bone series, there are few that portray strong male leads that our young boys and men can aspire to or identify with. Even so, these are all written for younger boys at the middle grade level. How do we capture the interest and excitement of teenage boys? I’m not convinced that teenage boys aren’t reading…they’re just getting their books in the specific genre sections instead of age level sections of the book stores. Go to any Barnes and Noble or, better yet, Powell’s World of Books and see how many teens and men are roaming between the sci-fi/fantasy aisles.

I can see the attraction to video games. Boys and men are, and will always be, warriors at heart. Where else can they possess amazing physical prowess with magical abilities and opportunities to wield extreme weapons? Where else can they triumph over adversity or overcome incredible odds? Video games totally rock! But, they’re so expensive that they aren’t accessible to everyone who would want them. The athletes who excel in the courts and on the fields at the Junior and High School level are excellent role models, but the recognition is limited to the talented few. Perhaps another venue for the rest of our kids who aren’t superstar athletes and who don’t have access to the expensive newest video game craze would be a return to the escapism of the written word. One that would appeal to our culture’s forgotten heroes…boys. The trick is how to get boys to sit still long enough to make their way through 300+ pages of text!

Personally, I have four boys; one with ADD, one with ADHD and two with the natural attention spans of gnats. Writing in such a way to keep my boys interested and engaged has always been a challenge. My oldest son gave me the key: keep it moving. He had a good point. Stan Lee of Marvel Comics gave me the best advice for writing for boys, “Take your guy, your main character, and get him into trouble…just keep getting him into trouble. Everything follows from there.” So, after writing a book that should appeal to boys, how do I convince them to read it?

I’ve found one way: a teacher at our local junior high school read my book Askari and was so excited about finding a book that she was certain would appeal to her struggling readers that she wrote a grant and ordered copies for each kid at the junior high school. We are working together on a curriculum that incorporates the elements that they need to pass their proficiency exams using a story that (we hope) will keep them interested and entertained. Perhaps if we can get our foot in the door by starting with a captive audience, we can remind publishers and book sellers that our young male heroes are still out there and reading the stories that are worthy of their valuable attention.

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About the Author: I’m a reader and writer of fantasy adventure novels. My first work, which still doesn’t have a satisfactory title, won the San Francisco Writer’s Conference indie publishing competition. So…they’re generously paying to have this first novel published! Writers tend to work in a vaccuum…no input, little useful support and oftentimes marginalized. Winning this competition was a huge boost of confidence for me!

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Website: www.mikkoazul.com

Look out for Askari – Book 1 in the Child of Muralia series

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Just Finished…Alice Parker’s Metamorphosis

Reviewed by Mel C-J – originally posted at http://melcj.wordpress.com 

Thanks to author Nicola Palmer for providing me a copy of Alice Parker’s Metamorphosis this week. I’ve really enjoyed reading this fun, fantasy story about feisty thirteen-year-old Alice.

This is a really well-written book, perfect for the target ‘middle grade’ audience of 7+, with strong, defined characters who are both funny and believable. The relationships in the story feel genuine, especially between Alice, her brother and best friend. I really enjoyed the early scene-setting at Alice’s school – certainly brought back some memories 🙂 – and once you get the big reveal about Alice’s recent issues, the story transitions to an action-mystery.

Nicola Palmer is a great writer for children and this is a good debut. Alice Parker’s story is well-constructed with interesting twists and turns, great description and enjoyable characters. Overall, I’m sure this will appeal to a range of readers. Rating: 4*

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Thirteen-year-old Alice Parker knows something isn’t right. Aches and pains have started, she hardly sleeps and her craving for fruit is out of control. Suddenly she is top of the class in every subject. Feeling at odds with the world and being bullied by the ‘coven’ at school, Alice can’t take much more. Only when she collapses and experiences a life-changing transformation does she learn why she is different. But with this new identity comes responsibility and Alice isn’t convinced she can rise to the challenge. She just wants to be normal! The fact is she’s anything but.

Forgotten tales of a magical society are catapulted into the daily life of strong, memorable female characters who readers will grow to love. An intriguing blend of realism, suspense and fantasy, a must-read for girls of 7+.

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Guest Review…Aladdin’s Samovar

Mikko Azul, author of Askari (Book 1 – Child of Muralia Trilogy) joins us today with a guest review for Aladdin’s Samovar by Lauren Sweet – let’s take a look at what she thought…

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Aladdin’s Samovar, by Lauren Sweet, was one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. Lauren Sweet takes paranormal romance to a whole new level in this triumphant debut novel! She masterfully combines the elements of paranormal romance with the impossibly fast-paced action/mystery/thriller elements. There are so many plot surprises and hilarious characters that it was truly heartbreaking to come to the end of the story. I’m anxiously awaiting the sequel!

Amber is a down-to-earth, hard-working girl who has to balance her flower-power mother’s paranoia of authority against the mischievous evil genie’s antics to entice Amber to make wishes for it to grant in whatever twisted way it sees fit. A simple wish to meet her absent father turns into a fast-paced race for sensitive data with the local Mob. Mousy Amber becomes Super Hero Amber as she figures out who is lying (everyone) and who she can trust (nobody) before getting herself killed, or worse, falling for the handsome genie.

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About the Author: I’m a reader and writer of fantasy adventure novels. My first work, which still doesn’t have a satisfactory title, won the San Francisco Writer’s Conference indie publishing competition. So…they’re generously paying to have this first novel published! Writers tend to work in a vaccuum…no input, little useful support and oftentimes marginalized. Winning this competition was a huge boost of confidence for me!

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Website: www.mikkoazul.com

Look out for Askari – Book 1 in the Child of Muralia series