science fiction

Silver book trailer

/ zackids / Leave a comment

Who will turn silver next?

When a boy is bitten by a strange silver beetle, he becomes the first victim of a mysterious infection. But this is no ordinary virus. It turns flesh into metal, and pupils into machines.

As the virus spreads and more terrifying, blood-thirsty machines appear, a small group manage to barricade themselves inside the school. Can they keep the machines at bay long enough for help to arrive? Is help even coming?

Meanwhile the virus is spreading and its victims are changing… evolving… becoming stronger… The world as our heroes know it is turning silver. Will any of them survive?

Silver is the latest book from Chris Wooding.  I read about this book a few months ago on Vincent Ripley’s wonderful blog mrripleysenchantedbooks.blogspot.co.uk.  It sounds awesome (and perfect for Michael Grant fans) so I can’t wait to read it.

Silver by Chris Wooding is available now in NZ from Scholastic NZ.

The Originals by Cat Patrick

/ zackids / 4 Comments

Cat Patrick’s books are nothing but original.  The best way I would describe her books are teen romance with a science fiction twist.  Forgotten is about a girl whose short-term memory is erased each night and she can only “remember” events from her future.  She falls in love and has to write notes at night to remind her about her boyfriend in the morning.  Revived is about a girl who was one of the first subjects in a covert programme that tests a drug called Revive. She has died and been Revived five times, but in order to live a normal life and have relationships, she has to escape from the programme.  Cat’s latest book, The Originals, is equally as original and gripping.

OriginalsTo the outside world, Elizabeth Best is a model student. She’s a cheerleader, gets straight As and holds down an after-school job. But what the outside world doesn’t know is that Elizabeth Best is actually three girls. Lizzie, Betsey and Ella are no ordinary triplets. Born as part of an illegal cloning program, the girls were forced into hiding when the program was uncovered. To avoid being taken away, the girls have lived as one girl ever since. Living a third of a life can suck. Imagine having to consult your sisters before choosing your clothes, or hairstyle, or boyfriend. So when Lizzie is forbidden from seeing Sean, the amazing guy from her English class, she and her sisters decide they’ve had enough. But for a chance at a full life, they’ll have to risk everything they know.

The Originals is a genre-bending novel that draws you into the lives of three very different girls who share one life.  Romance, science fiction, mystery, suspense, secrets and lies are all mashed-up in this very cool story.  One of the things I like the most about Cat Patrick’s books is that she keeps surprising me.  Just when you think she couldn’t possibly top her previous book, she does.  I love the way that Cat weaves science fiction into her stories and it’s this element that really draws me to her stories.

Cat’s characters are always memorable and this is certainly the case with the Best girls.  The story is narrated by Lizzie so you get to know her the most and get inside her head, but Cat really fleshes out the characters of Betsey and Ella too.  Through Lizzie you get a sense of how frustrating, confusing, and unfair it is to live a third of your life.  You are stuck taking the same subjects (even if you’re no good at them), if you’ve got the first or second part of the day you can never go out at night, and if two of you like two different guys you all have to decide which one you’ll date.

I’m not a huge teen romance reader but one thing I really like about Cat’s books is that the love interest isn’t some super hot guy that drips testosterone.  Sean in The Originals, much like Luke in Forgotten and Matt in Revived, is an average guy who is intelligent, talented and caring.   As a teenage guy reading this book I would have found Sean alot easier to live up to than many other males in teen fiction.

If you haven’t discovered Cat Patrick you don’t know what you’re missing.  Read The Originals and you’ll be hooked.

YA Sci-fi Giveaway

/ zackids / Leave a comment

Like many of you, I can’t go walk past a bookshop without going inside to have a look.  Often I emerge minutes (or hours) later with books that I don’t have the money for or time to read, but I now have new worlds to explore and friends to make. While walking past a chain bookstore this morning I noticed their sale table had some awesome books on it for a fraction of their normal cost so I grabbed some to give away here on the blog.

YA prize

I have 2 sets to give away of:

  • Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness
  • This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel
  • Flip by Martyn Bedford

All you have to do to get in the draw is enter your name and email address in the form below.  Competition closes Friday 10 May (NZ only).

Thanks to everyone who entered.  The winners are Lynley and Annie.

The 5th Wave book trailer

/ zackids / Leave a comment

There has certainly been a lot of hype around The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey.  The teasers haven’t mentioned very much about what the story is about but it sounds intriguing.

The 5th Wave is due out in May from Penguin Books NZ.

Light by Michael Grant

/ zackids / 1 Comment

CAUTION: May contain spoilers

I need to get this out of the way now: OMG! This book is AMAZING! Michael Grant, you are brilliant and I bow at your feet!  OK…calming down now.

Ever since Michael Grant launched his Gone series I have been wondering how the series would end.  With each book, the situation in the FAYZ (Fallout Alley Youth Zone) has got progressively worse.  When you trap a bunch of kids inside a dome (some with super powers), with no adults, limited food, disease, and no idea if or when they’ll ever get out, you know it isn’t going to end well.  After the previous book, Fear, I have to say I had no idea how the series was going to end.  One of the things I love about Michael Grant is that he certainly keeps you on your toes and isn’t afraid to shock you.  He certainly does this in the final book in the Gone series, Light.

All eyes are on Perdido Beach. The barrier wall is now as clear as glass and life in the FAYZ is visible for the entire outside world to see. Life inside the dome remains a constant battle and the Darkness, away from watchful eyes, grows and grows . . . The society that Sam and Astrid have struggled so hard to build is about to be shattered for good. It’s the end of the FAYZ. But who will survive to see the light of day?

Light is everything I hoped it would be and much, much more.  It is a truly EPIC conclusion to the series and the way in which Michael wrapped the series up left me totally satisfied.  I won’t go in to any details because I’d hate to spoil the ending, which fans have been waiting years for.  Michael had me on the edge of my seat and it was nerve-wracking from beginning to end.  I read it over a couple of days and found that I could think of little else but the story.  As soon as I put it down I wanted to know what was happening to the characters.  By the time I’d read the final page, I felt like I was a survivor of the FAYZ who had to adjust to normal life again.  You’ve been with these characters through the whole experience so you really feel like one of them.

Everything that I love about Michael Grant’s books is here in Light.  There is plenty of violence and gore (including some cannibalism), the action is non-stop, the suspense makes you tear out your hair and chew your fingernails, and there are the characters you love (and those you hate) fighting against incredible odds.  There is also plenty of death and destruction, and not all of the main characters survive the ordeal.  I found myself saying ‘Oh no Michael, not them!’ several times during the story.

Out of all the things I love about this series, it’s the characters that have made me keep reading.  Michael has created so many great characters in this series and they get a lot thrown at them.  From the very first book, I’ve wondered who would make it through to the end, and I’m pleased to say that Michael totally surprised me.  It has been really interesting to see how the characters react to different situations, and seeing their true nature shine through.  None of the characters have made it through unscathed and I’ve loved watching their development throughout the series.

Thank you Michael Grant for creating this incredible series and these memorable characters that I’ll never forget.  I absolutely found it worthwhile and I had so much fun getting lost in your crazy world.

Even though this series has ended, we still have much more of Michael Grant to look forward to, with his BZRK series, The Magnificent 12 series (for younger readers), and hopefully more of Eve and Adam (with his incredibly talented wife, Katherine Applegate).

5 out of 5 stars

Win a copy of Light

I have a copy of Light to give away to one lucky Gone fan.  All you have to do is enter your name and email address in the form below and tell me who is your favourite Gone series character.  Competition closes Wednesday 10 April (NZ and Australia only).

Go back

Your message has been sent

Win When We Wake signed by Karen Healey

/ zackids / 1 Comment

Last Friday we were lucky enough to host Karen Healey in Christchurch as part of NZ Book Month.  Karen talked about her latest book, When We Wake, and the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ stories that inspired her.  Karen is a great speaker, as well as an amazing writer, so it was a thoroughly entertaining hour.  You can read my review of When We Wake here on the blog.

I have a copy of When We Wake, signed by Karen Healey, to give away.  To get into the draw just enter your name and email address in the form below.  Competition closes Monday 8 April (NZ and Australia only).

Thanks to everyone who entered. The winner is Rachel Crewe.

When We Wake by Karen Healey

/ zackids / 1 Comment

What do you think the world would be like if you fell asleep right now and woke up in 100 years time?  Would the world be incredibly technologically advanced or would it be ravaged by an apocalyptic event?  Would people be more tolerant of differences in race, ethnicity and sexuality? Karen Healey shows us her version of a future in earth in her latest book, When We Wake, about the first person to be cryonically frozen and successfully revived.

Sixteen-year-old Tegan is just like every other girl living in 2027 – she’s happiest when playing the guitar, she’s falling in love for the first time, and she’s joining her friends to protest the wrongs of the world: environmental collapse, social discrimination, and political injustice. But on what should have been the best day of Tegan’s life, she dies – and wakes up a hundred years in the future, locked in a government facility with no idea what happened.

Tegan is the first person to be cryonically frozen and successfully revived, which makes her an instant celebrity – though all she wants is to rebuild some semblance of a normal life … including spending as much time as possible with musically gifted Abdi, even if he does seem to hate the sight of her. But the future isn’t all she hoped it would be, and when appalling secrets come to light, Tegan must make a choice: Does she keep her head down and survive, or fight for a better future?

When We Wake has everything a great science fiction story should have – mystery, action, actual science, a future world, cool technology, and a main character who you route for right from the start.  Karen keeps you guessing and her writing is fast-paced so you want to keep reading so you can find out how it ends.

It’s a sign of a great character when you connect with them as soon as they start talking.  Karen hooked me in from the first paragraph and I wanted to know everything about Teegan and the insane situation that she finds herself in.  You empathise with her because you know how strange and difficult it would be to adapt to a different world. The more you find out about her and the sort of person she is, the more I liked her.  She’s the sort of person who won’t be pushed around and told what to do.  Even though she’s told by the army and various religious groups that her life doesn’t belong to her she does everything to prove them wrong.  She’s not concerned about making a spectacle, even when she’s being broadcast to millions of people around the world.  Other people try to force their morals and ethics on to Teegan, but she has her own strong opinions and no one is going to change those.

One of the things that really stood out for me in When We Wake was the way that Karen brought the future society’s moral and ethical views into the story.  Many science fiction stories (especially for teens) don’t delve into these aspects of future worlds so it made Karen’s feel fresh and different.  Through Teegan you see how the future society’s views of religion, ethnicity, and sexuality have changed, and how, even with massive climate change, people still aren’t looking after the planet.  Like today’s society, many of the people in charge of this future earth have questionable morals and ethics, and it’s these that shape the story.

5 out of 5 stars

When We Wake book trailer

/ zackids / Leave a comment

When We Wake is the fantastic new YA futuristic thriller from New Zealand author, Karen Healey. Cryogenics, questionable morals and ethics, government secrets, and a kick-ass character are only some of the things that make When We Wake stand out.

When We Wake by Karen Healey is available now at libraries and bookshops from Allen and Unwin.

2012 Cybils Book Awards Finalists

/ zackids / Leave a comment

I mentioned a couple of months ago about how I had been selected as a round 2 judge for the Young Adult Science Fiction/Fantasy Category of the Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards, or the Cybils.  The finalists have been announced today and now my work begins.  Here are the finalists in my category:

The only one I’ve already read (and totally love!) is Every Day by David Levithan, so I’m really looking forward to losing myself in the new worlds of these books over the next month.  The winner of each category will be announced on 14 February.

You can find out about the finalists in each category on the Cybils website, cybils.com.  I was pleased to see some of my other favourite books of 2012 as finalists, including The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (Fantasy and Science Fiction – Middle Grade/Elementary) and Wonder by R.J. Palacio (Middle Grade Fiction).

Have you read any of the YA Fantasy and Science Fiction finalists? What are your favourite finalists?

The Rosie Black Chronicles: Dark Star by Lara Morgan

/ zackids / Leave a comment

First there was Genesis, then Equinox, and now there is the dramatic conclusion to The Rosie Black Chronicles, Dark Star.  Lara Morgan grabbed me right from the start of Genesis and I’ve been dying to find out how Rosie’s story will end.  Will she be able to bring down Helios and save her world?

To protect Pip and fulfil her deal with Sulawayo, Rosie Black has joined Helios. But trouble is brewing within the ranks of the powerful organisation a rebellion is rising. Who is part of the rebellion? Who is trying to take full control of Helios? How does the mysterious Dark Star fit into these plans? The stakes are high for Rosie. The survival of Pip and the world as she knows it depends on her. Can Rosie find the truth and save those she loves before it is too late?

Dark Star is an action-packed, tense, sci-fi thriller and the perfect end to this fantastic trilogy.  Our favourite characters return to help Rosie bring down Helios, and Lara also introduces us to some new characters who have their part to play.  There are plenty of twists and turns in the story as, like Rosie, you’re never sure who to trust (is that person part of the rebellion or is it all an act?).  From the moment you enter the Enclave with Rosie you’re on edge, and as Rosie discovers more information about Helios and her situation gets more desperate you start to turn the pages faster.

One of the things I like the most about the series is that the romance between the characters doesn’t get in the way of the story.  There has always been a thing between Pip and Rosie, and in Equinox (the last book) a relationship developed between Dalton and Rosie, but their relationships don’t take over the story (like many YA series).  In the world that they live in there isn’t really time to stop and stare longingly into each others’ eyes, but their relationships still affect their decisions.  The bonds between them mean that they are willing to sacrifice their own safety (and their life) to help each other escape.  You just hope that they will all make it through and be able to have their romantic moments after they’ve saved the world.

I also love the technology that Lara has created in her future world.  There are medical patches that heal wounds, AI taxi cabs, pulse guns, a portal to transport people onto other planets, and many other fantastic inventions.  A lot of her technology is more advanced versions of what we have today so it’s not hard to imagine a world like Rosie’s.

Lara ended the story perfectly, tying up the loose ends, but also leaving it open so that you can wonder about what might happen next.  If you haven’t read The Rosie Black Chronicles get them from your library or bookshop now.

4 out of 5 stars

Thanks to Walker Books Australia I have a set of The Rosie Black Chronicles, signed by Lara Morgan, to give away.  You can enter here.