Category Archives: Fiction

March 30, 2013 · 2:30 am

The Return Man by V.M. Zito

v.m. zito

 

Well… I’m glad I got this from the library.

The Return Man has been on my radar for a long while now. I remember seeing the author featured in some article online, and then reading about this book and thinking it sounded like a cool idea. It got good reviews on Amazon, and I was tempted several times to buy it around Christmas but didn’t. Finally I got it from the library and I was really looking forward to it.

This is about Henry Marco, AKA “The Return Man”. When the zombie apocalypse hit, the Western U.S. was evacuated and left to the walking dead. Marco stayed, and is hired by survivors in the Safe States to track down their undead loved ones and put them at peace. But now Homeland Security has heard about him, and insist in his cooperation by taking a job that will bring him to California – back to his past, and back to where the zombie outbreak began.

I felt pretty “meh” the whole way through the book. I was entertained enough to keep reading I suppose, but I have the sense that I could have put it down at any point and not particularly cared if I came back to it or not. It takes a LONG time to start to connect to Marco, because you don’t really learn much about him until near the end. There’s one other main character, Wu, and he was bland as well.

I should mention some of the good points of the novel. There’s an overarching theme about grief in all its different forms, and the effect it can have on a person’s state of mind. Seeing Marco grieve for the loved ones he’s lost was a little touching, and it was interesting to see how he and a few other survivors deal with that. There’s also a slightly different twist on zombie lore, and it’s that emotional memories linger slightly in the zombie brain, leading zombies to wander to places that meant a lot to them when they were alive. Not with any intent or purpose, just a weird trick of the human brain that I thought was interesting.

Now for some of the complaints about the storyline itself… for instance, it’s said that Americans evacuated to the east, now called the Safe States, where the Mississippi River helps provide a defendable border. But at another part in the novel, Marco mentions that since walkers don’t breathe, they can walk underwater. Soooo… why does the river help as a defense against the zombies then? There were a couple little issues like that here and there. Also, Marco has apparently been a zombie-killer for hire for about four years but he seems to have a really hard time just taking down a single loner zombie without  having to struggle for his life. It got frustrating.

 I guess this book just wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be. I like the unique approach the author took for a topic that’s dangerously close to being overdone, but it didn’t quite work for me.

Sarah Says: 2.5 stars 

 

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March 28, 2013 · 6:00 am

Hell to Pay by Matthew Hughes

Matthew Hughes

This is the third (and last, I believe) book in the To Hell and Back trilogy by Matthew Hughes. You can check out my reviews of The Damned Busters and Costume Not Included. Be warned, there are spoilers here for those first two books!

At the end of Costume Not Included, things were a little wonky. Satan, Hardacre, Chesney’s Mom, and Joshua were all chilling in the Garden of Evil working on a new draft of the Bible. And from spending time in Joshua’s presence, Chesney was cured of his autism and now behaved and thought more like a normal person.

Now Chesney (with the help of his demon sidekick Xaphan) is battling bad guys out-of-town while Melda tries to manage the financial assets that Hardacre left in their care. Chesney also learns that Poppy Paxton hasn’t been the same since Xaphan wiped her memory of the horrible things she saw, and he’s determined to make it right. Meanwhile, Satan’s archduke Adramalek knows that something suspicious is going on when he can’t contact Satan and Xaphan isn’t talking. Also, there are warrior dinosaurs.

Basically a lot of crap hits the fan, and it went in a really odd direction. There were still some enjoyable parts and I was happy to see more of Xaphan, but the first book in this series was definitely the best. I feel like the ending of this book was a bit of a cop-out, honestly. But remember how I mentioned that Chesney becomes normal at the end of the second book? Well that bothered me, because Chesney’s high-functioning autism kind of made him fun. Well at least in this book, he learns that sometimes being normal kind of sucks, and that made me happy.

Anyways, this was an okay book but a disappointing end to the series. I wish there was a book just about Xaphan!

Sarah Says: 3 stars

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March 25, 2013 · 6:00 am

The Iron Jackal by Chris Wooding (Tales of the Ketty Jay #3)

Chris Wooding

 

You see how it says “Absolutely marvellous.” on the cover? TRUTH.

This is the third book in the super awesome Tales of the Ketty Jay series by Chris Wooding. Here are my reviews for the first and second books – you should probably go read those books first, cause you know, spoilers and whatnot. And because your life will just be better once you’ve read these books.

 

So where did we last leave our intrepid heroes?

Well, after the events of The Black Lung Captain, Darian Frey and his crew are doing pretty damn good. They’re famous for saving a whole town (Sakkan) by taking on the Manes, and they’re enjoying the perks. Darian’s also pleased because him and Trinica Dracken seem to be on more even ground now – though the past still hurts, he’s trying to get the old Trinica to come out more and more. She has a job for them though – lift an ancient Samarlan artifact off a train, don’t open it the case it’s in, and bring it back to her to sell to someone who wants it. Easy peasy, right? Except nothing is ever that simple, and it starts Frey on race against the clock to save his own life.

This series knows how to bring the action – rooftop chases, daemons, golems, gunfights, Mane frenzies, speeding trains… love it! Never a dull moment. And SO many parts make me laugh too.

So the plot I didn’t love quite as much as the previous two books, even though it was different and original and still action-packed. But you know what makes up for it? Silo! We FINALLY get to learn more about Silo’s backstory and he becomes a more prominent character, instead of just him hanging out in the engine room all the time. Everyone’s story is expanded a little bit, and everyone has their moment of glory all while working as a crew. Am I getting sappy? I don’t even care. For a sci-fi adventure series, these books make me FEEL stuff.

Also, some major stuff was set up in this one that I have a feeling is going to be the focus of the next/last book, The Ace of Skulls. (Seriously, on the exact day it comes out in the U.K., I’m totally going to The Book Depository and ordering my copy. I cannot wait for September 19th!)

Ummm yeah. That’s as much as I’m going to gush about this book right now. Please read these books. I just want someone I know, any person, to read them so I can have someone to talk to about them! Until then, I’m eagerly awaiting The Ace of Skulls.

Sarah Says: 4.5 stars

 

 

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March 23, 2013 · 6:00 am

The Space Between by Diana Gabaldon

 

Diana Gabaldon

 

Okay, let’s be honest – this review is only going to interest you if you’re an Outlander fan. Which you SHOULD be, because the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon is probably one of the greatest things ever written in the history of the universe.

The Space Between is a novella / short story that was recently published in an anthology The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination. I’m not a big one for short stories or anthologies, so I borrowed this book from the library just to read Gabaldon’s story. It’s also featured in A Trail of Fire (a book of four Outlander and Lord John related short stories), which hasn’t been released in the US yet but is available in the UK.

Anyways, The Space Between is about Michael Murray escorting Joan MacKenzie to Paris, where she plans to join a convent. This is taking place at the same time as the end of An Echo in the Bone, so you should probably only read it if you’re up-to-date on the Outlander series. Michael is grieving for his dead wife and another family member, and Joan is trying to escape some things she doesn’t understand. Events take place, which I can’t mention here (it’s surprising how many spoilers are in an 82-page story), but it DEFINITELY gives a lot of food for thought. I’m wondering now if we’ll see more of Michael and Joan’s stories in book #8 (hopefully to be out late this year) and if so, how much events there will affect Jamie and Claire’s main storyline. Just a hint - Master Raymond appears in this story. I find Raymond SOOOOO intriguing, so this was very exciting. I now have a million questions, but that’s to be expected from such a little teaser.

 Man I love this series.

Sarah Says: 4 stars

 

 

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March 13, 2013 · 6:00 am

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Rainbow Rowell

 

Guys I read this in one day! Absolutely gobbled it up.

It’s 1986. Eleanor is starting at a new school, and she’s already got the odds stacked against her since she’s a bit on the chubby side, has bright, curly red hair, and her strange wardrobe. When she gets on the bus, everyone ignores her and refuses to make room… until she gets to Park, who not-so-kindly allows her to sit with him. And there starts an unlikely friendship that eventually turns into a beautiful story about first loves.

You guys, this book was SUPER cute. There were some darker elements as well – Eleanor’s family life is horrible and she has a lot of confidence issues – but the friendship-to-romance between Eleanor and Park was just adorable. I love that they became friends, slowly bonding through a love of music and reading comics, before they became something more. I was recovering from my oral surgery while I was reading this, and it was such a good distraction – I was literally squeeing with glee whenever something particularly cute or sweet happened. I’d look up at the honeyman and be like “AWWWWW they finally held hands!” and grinning like a fool.

Eleanor was a great character – even when she was frustrating me by being stubborn or criticizing herself, you can’t help but love her because the girl has is hard and she really is a sweet girl with a snarky side. And I love me some snark. I like girls who are different.

PARK! I think Park is what makes this book cupcake-level sweet. Park is better off than Eleanor - his parents are happy, and they live pretty comfortably. He struggles with his own different confidence and identity issues, but he rarely let his own problems get in the way of how incredibly awesome and generous he is when it come to Eleanor. Just… I don’t even want to say any more, because nothing should be spoiled. This book is such a delight.

Seriously you guys, if you haven’t read it yet, you have to. This book has been marketed a lot as YA because it’s about teenage love. I actually think it’s more suited to those of us who are just a bit older, who can actually look back on their high school years and remember all those tumultuous feelings of that age. It’s about first love! Plus, being able to remember the days when we used cassette tapes and landline phones helps bring back that extra bit of nostalgia.

I’m already looking forward to re-reading this. And it makes me really want to re-read Attachments, because that was another fantastic book by the author and now I miss it. Maybe there should be a Rainbow Rowell-themed readathon at the end of the year? Cause she is the bestest. And I CANNOT WAIT for Fangirl.

 

Sarah Says: 5 stars

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March 11, 2013 · 8:00 am

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

warm bodies by isaac marion

This is without a doubt the most hopeful zombie book I’ve ever read.

So, I should start off by saying that I saw Warm Bodies in the movie theater before I read the book. I didn’t really have a desire to read the book until I saw the movie and absolutely loved it. The book is a lot bleaker than the movie (no real funny moments in the book), but it was still awesome and thought-provoking. It’s surprising to read a zombie book that has so much heart.

So, the protagonist of Warm Bodies is R, who has surprisingly clear, concise, human-like thoughts for a zombie. He has no pulse, no memories, and no identity that he remembers, but he’s different from the other zombies – he likes chilling in his airplane home and listening to music. He’s living out his boring, frustratingly slow zombie life until one day when he and some buddies go hunting for food, he meets Julie… and saves her. First his prisoner and then his friend, Julie awakens something in R. But a zombie-human bond is new, with consequences neither of them sees coming.

R is a fantastic narrator, and seems more human than plenty of human characters in other non-zombie books. He doesn’t just have thoughts, he has DEEP thoughts. And feelings. I was really wary of reading a book about a thinking zombie, because the last one like that I tried I DNF’d it. But R was just so wonderful that he totally made it work. Some of my favorite quotes from R…

“But it does make me sad that we’ve forgotten our names. Out of everything, this seems to me the most tragic. I miss my own and I mourn for everyone else’s, because I’d like to love them, but I don’t know who they are.”

and

“I shrug, deciding that this gesture, while easy to abuse, does have its place. It may even be vital vocabulary in a world as unspeakable as ours.”

Julie is also a likable character. She, in a sense, is kind of the life of the book. She’s what sparks major changes in R. She’s full of feelings and hope and energy. In the movie they made her a little more angry, and I think I liked her better here. There were hints to a more depressing past, but her positivity shone through more. Of course we only see her through R’s eyes, so of course she seems remarkable.

Also, if you’ve seen the movie – the Boneys are a lot different. They kind of dumbed down the idea of the Boneys in the movie. I can’t really say whether I like the book or the movie more… I love them both, for different reasons. The movie was great and more light-hearted but still gave me all the feels. The book was more pensive and thorough and full of great quotes.

Anyways, this was a lovely book. It was original. It made me think, both about zombies and about human life in general. I really liked that it gave zombies more of a story, and that it put a new spin on why zombies like brains so much. I liked that it turned into a forbidden love story, because those are some of my favorite. It was philosophical, sweet, and had enough action in it to never get boring. I’m glad I bought it, because I can definitely see myself re-reading it in the future.

There’s a prequel called The New Hunger that I really want to read, but it’s only available in e-book format right now so I’m going to wait for the print version. And Isaac Marion has stated on his blog that he plans to write a sequel to Warm Bodies, which is really exciting.

 Sarah Says: 4.5 stars

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March 9, 2013 · 4:32 am

Classics Club March Question

Hi there!

Finally, a question I can answer that isn’t based on my sad little list of books read off of my Classics Club list! I’m sure I’ll eventually love those questions after I’ve made more of a dent, but I don’t want to talk about the same couple of books over and over again, you know?

Anyways, here’s the Classics Club question for March:

“Do you love Jane Austen or want to “dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone”? (Phrase borrowed from Mark Twain).

  1. Why? (for either answer)?
  2. Favorite and/or least favorite Austen novel?”

 

 

I totally love Jane Austen. Screw you Mark Twain (cause I’ve only attempted to read The Prince and The Pauper by you and found it super boring and tedious, but I’ll try something else by you later).

Anyways, Austen. Yes. The only book of hers I haven’t read yet is Mansfield Park, which I’m hoping to read later this year. I love her because she’s the master of witty insults masked in politeness, and she includes a lot of social commentary in her books about love. Her books aren’t the MOST romantic – characters rarely ever express their love or kiss or anything until near the end – but the parts that are romantic are EPICLY romantic. There’s a reason Darcy’s proposals to Elizabeth Bennett, Wentworth’s letter to Anne, and so on are so well known.

I also like that her novels are all so different from each other, in content and style. Northanger Abbey is so ridiculously different from Pride and Prejudice.

I haven’t been able to pick a favorite Austen. I love Emma because Emma is snotty and rich, I love Northanger Abbey because it’s dark and goofy, and I love Persusasion because it’s full of social criticisms and romance. I of course love Pride and Prejudice because come on… I just have to. It was the first Austen I ever read or saw, so it has a special place.

My least favorite Austen is definitely Sense and Sensibility. Edward is a lousy Austen hero – he’s boring and awkward and you have no clue why Elinor is so attached to him. Colonel Brandon is super awesome, but he doesn’t get nearly enough time on page. He’s the most romantic and his love for Marianne is the best, but all that gets glazed over. LAME.

So what do ya’ll think? Love it or leave it when it comes to Austen? Favorite Austen novel? Austen novel you can’t stand?

~Sarah

 

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February 23, 2013 · 2:50 am

Classics Club February Question

 

 

Hi there, fellow Classics Club readers!

Once again, I feel a little lame because I only just joined the CC at the start of the year, so I haven’t read a ton of classics from my list yet. But I’m going to attempt the February question anyways!

“What classic has most surprised you so far, and why?”

Vanity Fair

 

I’m going to have to go with the book I’m reading right now, Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray. I had heard of this classic before but didn’t really know what it was about, and honestly I wasn’t quite looking forward to reading it – it’s just one of those chunky classics that I figured I should read at some point. I joined a readalong for it, and I have to say that I am LOVING it so far!

I think Vanity Fair is most surprising in how funny it is. I know that it’s supposed to be a satire, but I didn’t expect it to be so silly and sarcastic! I have cracked up SEVERAL times while reading this. I’ve been underlining and writing notes as I go along – some are parts that are interesting or meaningful, and some are just parts that make me giggle.

lol

Like this.

 

The first discussion post is coming up for the Vanity Fair readalong this weekend, and I can’t wait to talk to the other gals about it!

What about you? Have you read Vanity Fair? What classic have you found most surprising?

~Sarah

 

 

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February 20, 2013 · 7:00 am

The Black Lung Captain by Chris Wooding (Tales of the Ketty Jay #2)

Ketty Jay series, Chris Wooding

 

I literally hugged this book when I finished.
 
Just as a reminder, this is the 2nd book in the Tales of the Ketty Jay series, and you should head on over to my review of the first book, Retribution Falls, to check that out. And then you should start reading this series IMMEDIATELY, because I love it and I want to talk to people about it! Mmmkay?

So where did we last leave our intrepid heroes?

Well at the start, the crew of the Ketty Jay ain’t doin so hot. Captain Darian Frey is feeling a bit listless, wondering what he really wants. Jez is fighting her Mane side more and more, but feels it’s a losing battle. Crake is trying to drink his guilt and sorrow away. And the rest of the crew is restless; sick of everyone’s melancholy and sick of taking small, pathetic jobs. When they get an offer to go to the deep, dark heart of Kurg for a treasure that only Crake can unlock, it seems like things are starting to look up. But that treasure isn’t what anyone thought it would be, and now they’re fighting to get it back before unspeakable damage occurs.

For those of you who have read the first book (and are hence my very best friend), there’s a lot to look forward to in this book. Crake faces his past, Jez learns more about what it means to be half-Mane, and Darian comes face-to-face with Trinica Dracken again.

THERE IS SO MUCH AWESOME IN THIS SERIES. Too much for me to put in one measly review. I think that part of what I love is that all the characters really are important (even the cat), and Wooding does a great job at distributing the focus among them all. So many of them are searching for something, and I love learning more about them all. Everyone has their shining moment. Once again there’s an interesting, well-fleshed out plot with a ton of action. There’s funny quips and fun epic battles, and even little tender moments. AND this book was at least as good as the first, which is awesome. No second-book syndrome!
 
I just love it all. I CANNOT WAIT to read The Iron Jackal. For some reason it’s not really in print in the U.S. right now, but I’m going to order it from The Book Depository as soon as I possibly can. And after I read that I’ll be biting my nails waiting for the fourth book to come out, hopefully at the end of this year!
 
Sarah Says: 5 stars

 

 

 

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February 5, 2013 · 10:38 am

Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding (Tales of the Ketty Jay #1)

Chris Wooding

Retribution Falls gave me book hangover. Right now I am so disinterested in reading any other book but the sequel (The Black Lung Captain), but I can’t read that until I get paid and can go buy it this weekend.

I forget where exactly I first saw a review for this book, but it described it as a little bit of Firefly, Pirates of the Caribbean, and steampunk mashed up into one book and that reviewer wasn’t far off. How can you not want to read a book that’s described like that??? I went to the library that day and checked it out. Anyways, so this book is about Captain Darian Frey and his airship the Ketty Jay. Frey has assembled a rag-tag crew who are all running from something – there’s the new navigator Jez who’s hiding a secret, Crake is a daemonist on the run with his armored golem, Malvery is a doctor trying to drink his guilt away, and there are a couple other crew members as well. When someone offers Frey a job that seems too good to be true, he takes it up – not telling his crew that it would make him much richer. But when the job goes wrong, Frey and his crew become Vardia’s new Most Wanted and they’re dodging  bounty hunters and the Century Knights. Frey realizes that he was set up, but it takes some investigating and the crew learning to work together to uncover the truth that will hopefully set them all free.

I loved this book.  I can’t think of a bad thing to say about it. The story starts off a bit slow, but that’s okay because (this being the first steampunk-ish novel I’ve ever read) it allowed me to get used to the world, setting, and characters. Getting to know each of the characters was fun and exciting, as they’re all complex and have secrets and mysteries in their past and I liked guessing what they were before they were eventually revealed. They all have faults, which makes them realistic. Even though they all start off very divided, the crew really does slowly come together over time and the book ended with such a feeling of camaraderie that I had a big smile on my face, and a desperate need to get to the sequel to see what happens to them next. I’m not even sure who my favorite character is – Frey, Jez, and Crake are all so awesome in different ways.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the plot and story, and this is probably why I like pirates and anti-heroes. There was plenty of action and things never got boring. There were gun fights and situations that seemed hopeless. There are cutlasses and lever-action shotguns and a huge kick-ass golem. And I love that the book didn’t shy away from the gritty details in the fight scenes. I really liked that pretty much all the women introduced were totally kick-ass. I liked the little bits of steampunk machinery, daemonism, and magic. This would make a FANTASTIC movie or TV show.

Aahhhh I could go on about this book all day! There were so many good bits, and the writing was really good. Like I said, I never got bored. There were several parts that were wonderfully snarky and great, and I can’t wait to get my own copy of this book to re-read and underline the parts I like best. And I really, really cannot wait to go get the sequel in a couple of days and read it. For some reason the library system in my area doesn’t have the sequel or I’d be reading it already, but in all honesty I’m perfectly happy to go buy my own copy.

So, someone please read this? If you love Firefly and pirates and stories of people of shady moral character, this is totally the book for you.

 Okay, done fan-girling now.

Sarah Says: 5 stars

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