Tag Archive | death

Faerie Ring, by Kiki Hamilton (book review) – royalty, orphans, human and fae, a treaty in danger

Jun11

book cover of The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton published by Tor Teen“Long live the Queen!”
we hear during this Diamond Jubilee season for Elizabeth II.

Fascination with royalty is nothing new. Queen Victoria called Buckingham Palace home well over a century ago, celebrating her Diamond Jubilee in 1897.

Who’s to say that Prince Leopold didn’t borrow a particular ring from his mother’s strongbox to show his royal brother Arthur? Or that certain well-dressed ladies at the masquerade ball at the Palace were not exactly who they seemed… or even as human as they appeared to be?

Commoners and royalty, the calm Seelie Court of Faerie opposed by the Unseelie Court determined to take back the world from humans… all bound up in the truce of The Faerie Ring. This first book in the series by Kiki Hamilton is an exciting read. Now, to wait for the October 2012 publication of book two, The Torn Wing !
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Book info: The Faerie Ring / Kiki Hamilton. Tor Teen, 2011. [author’s website]    [publisher site]    [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My Book Talk:  Not many orphans find themselves accidentally inside Buckingham Palace; only Tiki could accidentally find a gold ring as she escaped. The strange words of its inscription remind her of a childhood rhyme, but carry a violent oath about a treaty broken. Perhaps that’s why the London slum shadows now fill with winged beings trying to steal the ring back…

Tiki only picks pockets to keep her small family of other orphans alive in 1871’s brutal winter cold, hidden in an abandoned shop near Charing Cross Station. After her father and mother died of the fever, Tiki went to live with her aunt and uncle, whose leering grabs sent the young teen fleeing.

Fellow thief Rieker warns her of danger – from the Queen’s agents and from the winged ones she’s spotted. For the ring that Tiki found is more valuable than mere gold – it’s the treaty between Faerie and the mortal world. If it is out of Queen Victoria’s possession, then the separation between the two realms can be crossed over. As disasters begin to rock the human world and the Queen falls ill, reward posters about the gold ring appear. Tiki is too clever to directly return it and starts to formulate a plan that could get the orphans off the streets.

Why can’t anyone else see the faeries but Tiki and Rieker?
Why does the ring’s inscription sound so familiar?
Will Prince Leopold discover her secret before she can return the ring without endangering the orphan children she has sworn to protect?
And who exactly is Rieker anyway?

This thrilling debut novel takes readers from the coal-smoky backstreets of Victorian London to the palatial halls of royalty as warring factions of Faerie take advantage of the ring’s absence to enter England for good and for evil.  (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation, by Tim Hamilton (book review) – the classic as graphic novel

Jun7

book cover of Ray Bradburys Fahrenheit 451 Authorized Adaptation graphic novel by Tim Hamilton published by Hill and WangWe’ve lost another great master of the written word, of creating stories in our heads through words on a page, with the death of author Ray Bradbury at age 91.

Among Bradbury’s most noted works is Fahrenheit 451  (which he says as “four-five-one” not “four fifty-one”).  It is our great good fortune as readers that he agreed to its adaptation as a graphic novel in 2009 and fully participated with artist Tim Hamilton in selecting which exact passages from the 1953 book were used in this authorized adaptation.

Yes, all the word bubbles and captions in this graphic novel are Bradbury’s own, complemented perfectly by Hamilton’s incandescent illustrations.

Get your hands on this great trade paperback book today at your local library or independent bookstore  and keep on reading widely – Ray would like that.
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Book info: Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation / Tim Hamilton and Ray Bradbury, illustrated by Tim Hamilton; with introduction by Ray Bradbury.  Hill and Wang, 2009. [Tim Hamilton’s website]   [Ray Bradbury’s website]    [publisher site]     [video: Ray Bradbury on his books as graphic novels]

My Book Talk:  The future sees unified thought as productive, original opinion as unpatriotic, books as divisive. The firemen burn hoarded books to keep useless emotions and original thinking from hurting society in this time of war.

Guy Montag has been a fireman for ten years. As a wandering teen in their neighborhood asks questions about happiness and why everyone drives fast to avoid seeing the flowers, Montag wonders if anyone has real conversations anymore or just watches their television walls all day and all night.

The memory of an old woman who chose to be burned along with her books haunts him now – what is in books that made her stay with them? Montag feels compelled to find out, seeking the answers in contraband books, sliding further and further from unified thought.

This intense graphic novel adaptation of the classic includes an introduction by Ray Bradbury himself, tracing the original book’s development and asking readers which one book they would choose to memorize and protect from destruction.  (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

English overlords, Welsh rebels, dark times -The Wicked and the Just, by J. Anderson Coats (book review)

Jun6
book cover of The Wicked and the Just by J Anderson Coats published by HarcourtIn a conquered land, starvation fells the youngest and oldest,
memories and hunger gnaw at those who can still work,
who suffer under heavy taxes, hating their English overlords.

The Welsh nobles and working folk have been thrown out of their town, forced into damp stone huts, forbidden to gather in groups or carry weapons,  and the spark of rebellion still burns.

Caernarvon Castle in the late 13th century is a mighty stone structure overlooking the river and town, garrisoned by the King of England’s soldiers for the past decade.

Torn away from the land where she was born, where people speak good English, not this “tongue-pull” sing-song Welsh, a young lady is aware of only what she wants to see in her new home, oblivious to the dangerous currents of local politics that may pull her under forever.

Jillian Anderson Coats’ debut novel illuminates a small slice of history through two unforgettable voices, as Cecily and Gwenhwyfar wish their paths had never crossed, but must carry their own burdens through to the end. You’ll find this May 2012 release now at your local library or independent bookstore.
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Book info: The Wicked and the Just / J. Anderson Coats. Harcourt, 2012. [author’s website]   [publisher site]  [book overview video] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My Recommendation:   Cecily isn’t happy about moving from the family estates to Wales. Nor are the Welsh happy to have their homes taken over by Englishmen sent by the King to subdue them. So many tensions and such oppression… a tinderbox just waiting for a spark of rebellion.

If only her uncle hadn’t returned from the Crusades, then Cecily would have inherited Edgeley Hall from her father, ever staying near the grave of her loving mother. But as the younger brother, her father has no land now and jumps at the chance to rise in the King’s service. As a burgess in Caernarvon, he’ll be free from forced military service and heavy taxes imposed on the conquered Welsh. Better yet, Cecily will become lady of the house and perhaps find a suitable husband someday among its English nobles.

Gwenhwyfar is Cecily’s age, working dawn to night for the Edgeleys to earn enough to keep her younger brother and crippled mother alive. Agonizing as Gruffydd falls in with men who whisper plans of rebellion, the Welsh girl despises Cecily’s snooty manners as much as she longs to take the crusts that the English girl casts aside.

How bitter to be a servant in the house which truly belongs to Daffydd, a Welsh nobleman reduced to hauling quarrystones, to see that brat Cecily sewing in the parlour where she should be as Daffydd’s wife, to know that Welsh children are dying daily from starvation as the English burgesses hoard grain in the King’s castle above Caernarvon city…

Ten years is a long time to be conquered and spat upon, long enough to make bitter plans for revenge, desperate enough to rebel despite overwhelming odds – 1293 may be the worst of times to be English in Wales.

Told from two very different points of view, The Wicked and the Just  takes readers to a little-noted historical era as the age-old struggle for power roars through town and castle.
(One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Arise, by Tara Hudson (fiction) – spirits prowling New Orleans

Jun4
Book cover of Arise by Tara Hudson published by Harper Teen

It’s getting worse for the young couple,
Joshua looks like a loner at school because he’d rather talk to her, and no one else can see mostly-dead Amelia.

And when they kiss, Amelia vanishes spontaneously, reappearing elsewhere with no control over her location.

A trip out of town for the holidays doesn’t sound half-bad, even if they might encounter Joshua’s grandmother Ruth who’s a Seer dedicated to eliminating all ghosts like Amelia.

Happy Book Birthday tomorrow (June 5th, 2012) to Arise!  You’ll enjoy this spooky adventure even more if you read Hereafter  first to learn how Amelia and Joshua met (my no-spoiler recommendation here), so grab it at your local library or independent bookstore, then head for the French Quarter with Arise.
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Book info: Arise (Hereafter series, 2) / Tara Hudson. Harper Teen, 2012. [author’s website] [publisher site] [book trailer]  

My Recommendation:Amelia longs to kiss Joshua, but the spirit-girl just poofs away when she touches the human boy, rematerializing somewhere else. Perhaps his Seer relatives in New Orleans have an answer to their dilemma, or perhaps the couple is walking into a sinister trap.Getting away from the evil beings clustered near the High Bridge should be holiday enough, but it’s a long, awkward trip from Oklahoma to the Crescent City. Josh’s sister Jillian can sense Amelia in the car, and their parents get them lost more than once. Dozing off, Amelia is brought into the spirit world, seeing her father at last! He’d died shortly after she did, but she hadn’t been able to locate his spirit until now – and he brings her a chilling warning about rising rivers.

Entering the Mayhew family’s ancestral home is like walking into a supernatural force field, as all the relatives gathered there for Christmas are Seers attuned to the spirit world. The teen cousins can see Amelia’s ghost-form and include the newcomers in their mysterious winter-break plans.

Amelia encounters ghosts wandering around the French Quarter tourist areas who warn her of dark demons gathering nearby, all invisible to the living. Gabrielle is another thing entirely, a spirit-girl they meet at a Voodoo shop, one ghost who’s found a way to stay with the living and might be able to help Amelia do the same. For every time that Amelia vanishes and reappears, yet another piece of her ghostly form is lost…

Is it coincidence that the dark forces are rising just when the Seers of the Mayhew clan are all in one place?

Can Gaby’s midnight ceremony in the graveyard anchor Amelia in the world of the living?

Or should she stick with her plan to save Joshua and his family from the deepest evils by disappearing from his life forever?

This sequel to Hereafter  travels from countryside to city, from known dangers to unforeseen perils, from the hope of being together for a lifetime to the agony of potentially being apart forever – ghosts and Seers alike have little time to discover their allies and enemies.  (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Fated, by Alyson Noel (book review) – spirit worlds, souls unbound, evil or good

May22

book cover of Fated Soul Seeker book 1 by Alyson Noel published by St Martins GriffinShe sees him in her dreams,
those visions that sent her over the edge of sanity,
leading her to an adobe house in the desert,
to the grandmother she’s never known,
to the small town where she sees him, in the flesh.
Bound together by love or for evil?

Happy book birthday to Fated, hitting bookstore shelves today (May 22, 2012) in the USA – lucky UK readers have been devouring this first book in the Soul Seeker series for some time, and raving about it, too.

You may start to see its book trailer on TV or explore the Soul Seekers website or like its Facebook page, but you have to read the book for yourself to discover what Daine finds out about herself, her spirit animal guide, and twin brothers Cade and Dace.  Noel also has released a short story in which Ever from her popular The Immortals series meets Daire.
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Book info: Fated (Soul Seekers, book 1) / Alyson Noel. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2012. [author’s website]   [publisher site]   [UK book trailer]  [US book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My Book Talk:  Time’s flow restarts, and the glowing people observe Daine from shadowed nooks, as she traverses the Moroccan marketplace on the way to her 16th birthday dinner. Not jet lag, no matter what her mother says – why can Daine alone move among the time-frozen people and animals? And why does she suddenly see severed heads on bloody spikes along the city walls, a murder of crows, the glowing ones attacking?

All her life, it’s been just Daine and her makeup-artist mom, traveling from movie set to movie set, her school classes done online, no other family, no problems. But now these visions and Daine’s uncontrollably violent reactions to them have changed all that.

Suddenly, her grandmother calls – for the first time in Daine’s life, she has another relative – and it’s decided that she must go to her rural New Mexico home and learn how to cope with her… abilities? For Paloma (mother of the father who died before Daine was born) is a seer and a healer who claims that these gifts are part of the teen’s heritage.

First time separated from her mother, first time to attend school, first time to ride a horse – Daine gradually shakes off her mental exhaustion to realize that whatever haunted her in Morocco is even stronger here. As she learns from grandmother Paloma about their family lineage as Soul Seekers, she also discovers that nearby vortexes lead to other worlds and that a strong family of ruthless soul-eaters will try to use them – and her – to bring more evil into this world.

A blind girl who sees auras, a vision quest for Daine’s spirit animal, twins separated at birth who mirror the light and the dark of this struggle – who could imagine that this small town of Enchantment would be the site of a soul-battle on Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead? First in the Soul Seekers trilogy, Daine strives to discover if she’s truly Fated to be part of all this. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)