Book Review- Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Title:  Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

Author:  Rick Riordan

Series:   Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Published:  May 2005 by Miramax,  May 2006 by Puffin

Length:  377 pages

Source: bought and library

Other info: Many other series such as The Heroes of Olympus and the Kane Chronicles have stemmed off. There was a film adaptation of The Lightning Thief.

Summary :  Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse-Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy's mom finds out, she knows it's time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he'll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends -- one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena -- Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

Review: Percy Jackson is a mostly normal child. Yes, he has trouble concentrating and keeps getting thrown out of schools but mostly, he's ok. Until, on this school trip, it looks like he'll get thrown out because his maths teacher wants to kill him. And he vaporises her with a sword. More things happen, and Percy ends up at Camp Half Blood, with satyrs, demigods, and a centaur of a Latin teacher. And a quest. Because Zeus is angry. And things get better from there.

I love this series from the bottom of my heart. I read it first when I was eight or nine, maybe? I don't know, but I wanted a book and I asked my dad for recommendations in Waterstones and he picked this off the shelves and I fell in love with it when I read the chapter titles. Add the fact that I already had a love of Greek mythology and you can see how this is going to work out.

I reread this because my reading aim for 2015 is to work my way through all of Rick Riordan's demigod series and this is the first one.

The world of this is wonderful. The Gods are alive and kicking and operating out of the USA, doing what they've always done in a more modern way. This "what they've always done" includes having children with mortals, thus necessitating Camp Half Blood, a safe place to train and live without fear of monsters.

The characters  are well fleshed out and great to read about. The new takes on mythology are genius, especially when you notice the clever ways little things are updated'. You just fall in love with all the characters- Percy for his determination to keep trying, Grover for his determination to keep trying, Annabeth for her cleverness and levelheadedness, Chiron for his general badassery of being both a centaur and a Latin teacher...the list goes on.

They adventure in such a way that we meet a variety of creatures from Greek myth. I must say, when I first read it, I felt so proud of myself for being to guess ahead as to who this threat was, and I also enjoyed learning about new aspects of mythology too.

The writing describes well, but has a huge dose of humour. Case in point: chapter titles. But I loved the sheer amount of fun that this book was, comparatively speaking to everything else I was reading.

The  plot keeps running in new direction throughout the whole novel. The twists at the end where we learn how the thing got in, I  did not see coming the first time I read it. It was foreshadowed so perfectly and the way it all came round made me happy.

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to  a strong opening to a brilliant series.

Links:  Amazon| Goodreads | Author website |

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Book Review- Spireseeker by E.D.E. Bell

Title: Spireseeker

 Author: E. D. E. Bell

Series:  Spireseeker #1

Published:  October 2013

Length:472 pages

Source: author

Summary : Spireseeker is an epic fantasy tale by debut novelist E.D.E. Bell in which the heroine, Beryl, is forced from the only home she's ever known and must discover her true identity in order to confront one of her own kind, before the evil Aegra is able to enslave all of Fayen’s creatures.

Please join us in sharing this creative new novel about Beryl, a young elf who discovers that she is not who she thinks she is but instead is looked to as the one remaining hope to save her home. Communicating with the diverse creatures of the land, Beryl and her unlikely companion march through mountains, forests, and deserts to defeat evil—even as that evil seeks to destroy them first. Though a classic fantasy tale, we promise this one will be unlike any you've read. Experience it today!

Review: Beryl believes herself to be a normal girl until she is able to heal her grandomther when she is badly wounded, and she is told that  she is an elf. And not just any elf. She  has a unicorn’s blessing, enabling her to do the healing, and is also believed to be the one to  free the land of Fayen from the grasp of Aegra, who uses her blessing to manipulate loyalty to help her eliminate the other elves.

The fantasy world is different to those I’ve met before. Each elf can be blessed by an animal that gives them a unique gift, which I liked learning about. 

I really liked the characters. Beryl and her healing powers and Kick, the human companion, were fun to read about and get to know. The culture ofthe elves was fully developed and so were all the other cultures of animals. I quite liked the fact that the nonhumanoid characters played a larger part than they often do in other high fantasy stories.  

The writing style is simple, with more formal language during the council meetings  and more modern language occasionally that feels out of place.

Pacingwise, it starts off well, introducing new powers, new ideas and new quests for Beryl quickly. The middle is quite slow, It picks up towards the end, when Aegra finally appears more after an introduction at the very start followed by 70% of Beryl’s adventures. I think it would have been nice to see her a bit more, to break up the  sameness of the visiting various groups of animals and the discussing in the council, which does get a bit boring after some time. The action scenes were better  written than the talky ones.  

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a fantasy with great characters but was really dragged out in the middle.

Links: Amazon| Goodreads| Author website | 

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Book Review- Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott

Title: Fire and Flood

 Author: Victoria Scott

Series:  Fire and Flood #1

Published:  25 February 2014 by Chicken House

Length: 336 pages

Source: publisher

Other info: Book 2 will be called Salt and Stone. I highly approve of the alliteration.

Summary :  Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, and when a dozen doctors can't determine what's wrong, her parents decide to move to Montana for the fresh air. She's lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying—and she's helpless to change anything.

Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It's an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother's illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there's no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race.

The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can't trust the allies she makes. And one big question emerges: Why have so many fallen sick in the first place.

Review: Tella’s brother is dying. Her parents move them all out to the remote areas of the land, away from all civilisation. Still, Tella receives a blue box inviting her to the Brimstone Bleed, a competition taking place in jungle, desert, sea and mountains, the winner receiving the Cure for any illness whatsoever. Tella accepts it, and finds herself in a competition a where everyone wants to win.

 I’ve heard lots of people compare to The Hunger Games. This is accurate.  One person wins only. People die. People really want to win. Happy upbeat announcer at all stages of the game. I like the added motivation for competitors of the chance to have the chance to save a loved one.  

 The Pandoras, protector animals that have been created specially to help the competitors, are essentially  were pokemon, but a little more normal. I loved Madox, and the fact that the differing ways people treated their Pandoras said quite a lot  about them.

I didn’t really care much for the characters, apart from Cody (dying brother who is absent for most of the novel) and the twins. Tella doesn’t really do much compared to other dystopian and survival heroes, instead, love interest Guy does most of it. Not saying boys can’t do things, but for a heroine, it would be  nice if she did more than tag along.

It was fun to read in some places. Tella’s voice is funny, and the story moves through the areas quite quickly.

I’d like to know more about the world. Technology must have advanced somewhat to get Pandoras, but other than that, we don’t know how the world differs to ours. There’s hints of it towards the end, but I’d like to see more in future.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a book that is quite like The Hunger Games, but with added pokemon and less strong characters.

Links: Amazon| Goodreads| Author website |

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Book Review- Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

Title:  Ettiquette and Espionage

Author:   Gail Carriger

Series:  Finishing School #1

Published:  5 February 2013 by Atom

Length: 312 pages

Source: Bought

Other info:  Gail has written the amazing Parasol Protectorate series.

Summary : It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners—and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. So she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine's, young ladies learn to finish...everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but they also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage—in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year's education.

Review:  Sophronia Temminnick is not ladylike at all. So her mother sends her to Finishing School.  Madamoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing School. It’s not your typical one. It’s a dirigible. And the lessons, well, there might be lessons  like household management and dancing, but there’s also things like how to kill things. Sophronia’s school year is going to be… interesting.

I loved the Parasol Protectorate series with all my heart. I could not wait for this.

Sophronia is very cool before the main events happen. I think that when she gets to Finishing School, she is overshadowed by all the other, much more varied characters such as the eccentric teachers and random supernaturals. I felt a real affinity for Sidheag, probably because I know her story and how she ends up. I loved Vieve with all of my heart, because from the first time she showed up, I knew who she was and I love her from the Parasol Protectorate series and…yeah *dissolves into fangirling at  the nine year old version of my joint favourite character*  I also really liked Soap, the guy who works to keep the ship afloat, along with some of the other guys.

It starts very quickly. It slows down a little at times, but the adventure increases steadily and is a lot of fun. Main plot comes to focus in the second half.

Carrriger’s sharp, witty and wordy writing style is carried through into this. I’m not sure if the wordy style fits so much for a younger audience, but I liked it. It’s less laugh out loud than Heartless and Timeless, but still  great comedy, with wonderful lines like “Preshea can’t wait until she gets to poison her first husband.”

Overall:  Strength 3.5 tea, more a 3, to a fun adventure, that’s missing a little of why I fell in love with this universe.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website | 

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Domino 29 by Axel Avian

368 pgs.
Target audience: Young Adult
Rating: Wizard

Colt Shore attends a training academy for the organization F.A.L.C.O.N., Free Alliance for the Lasting Cooperation of Nations, which is not affiliated with any specific government. As exotic as that might seem for a fifteen year old boy, Colt feels ordinary when compared to his perfect-in-every-way older brother, Dixon, who died at the age of twenty-two before Colt was born. But in one singular moment his life is catapulted from the mundane to downright adventurous and life threatening when the first of twenty-nine dominoes falls. Lucy and Victor aren’t his real parents and his older brother, Dixon, is in fact his dad who was killed on assignment. As an active agent, Colt’s mother turned him over to the care of Dixon’s parents and away from all the danger typical of active agent work. Reeling from the shock of it all, Colt discovers that one of the most admired field agents at his academy is his mother, Amber Coltrane. He’s given no time to process this new information as he is rushed into active duty by Mr. Waverly, head of F.A.L.C.O.N. His mission is to protect a brother and sister pop singing group on a USO tour after receiving a kidnapping threat. Active agent Colt Shore is equipped with all sorts of Bond worthy gadgets including a poison injecting ring, and a watch complete with GPS, call scrambling, panic button, flashlight, laser cutter, sonar plus the ability to run a car by voice command. This alone is any boy’s dream. Add to that a mind blowing car chase ending with an escape through a holographic wall to HQ, subbing for the drummer in a rock concert, being chased from Afghanistan to Germany where a daring rescue takes place. A nice nod to "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." in naming the big boss Mr. Waverly. Count this as a definite winner in the boy-turned-spy genre and let’s hope there will be more Agent Colt adventures. This is an ideal choice for fans of the “Alex Rider” series by Anthony Horowitz.

 

 

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Day of doom by David Baldacci

272 pgs.

Target audience: Middle Reader

Rating: Wizard

 

The Vesper and Cahill families are at it again and with Baldacci at the helm of the last volume, the pulse pounding pressure may be to much for Dan and Amy Cahill to overcome. Seven Cahill hostages have been taken by Vesper One with the promise of their release in return for retrieving a series of bizarre ransoms. Once the Cahills find the last clue they realize that the Vesper’s plan is more diabolical and heinous than they had originally thought and could destroy millions of people. The race against time splits the group into two directions. One to find the hostages in the Cascade Mountains and Dan and Amy to D.C. to head off Isabella, suspected to be Vesper Two and finally meeting up under the Rocky Mountains for the hair-raising standoff between good and evil .The squabbling for control within the Vesper camp and the strained loyalties among the Cahills creates an emotional frenzy making the book hard to put down. It’s up to the few remaining Cahills to decipher the clues, solve the puzzle, find their missing friends and save the world. The author injects a healthy dose of history, geography and geology into the storyline. The “39 Clues” series is akin to a kid’s version of the classic movie, “It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world,” and will have readers glued to the page right up until the exciting conclusion.  (This book provided for review by Children's Lit - www.childrenslit.com).

 

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Viva Jacquelina! by L. A. Meyer

360 pgs.
Target audience: Young Adult
Rating: Dragon

In this tenth volume of the “Bloody Jack” series, Jacky Faber is on assignment for British Intelligence. Her mission is simple: proceed to Spain and spy on Napoleon and the French for the crown. However nothing is ever simple when it comes to Jacky, adventurer and mischief maker extraordinaire. After she becomes separated from her travel companions and arrives in Spain alone, she makes her way to the Iberian Peninsula where she is to translate for the commander of the British Forces. The Peninsular War against Napoleon leaves Jacky alone again and far from Madrid. Armed with her trusty shiv, fiddle, seabag and her wits, Jacky finally comes to Madrid and secures a job as an assistant and model for the famous painter, Fransisco Goya. Jacky’s usual spunky charm and jaunty flair places all the male students at studio Goya under her spell. The one female student, Carmelita is not convinced and in a jealous rage betrays Jacky to the now underground Spanish Inquisition. The non stop adventure and hijinks don’t let up even at the end. Will Jacky ever make it to China to reunite with her true love, Jaimy? In the immortal words of the famous Jacky Faber, “…I didn’t have much money left, but, hey, I had my fiddle and my wits. What more did I need?” Readers will delight in this fantastic, historical romp filled with songs, love, battles, disguises, betrayal and will greatly anticipate the subsequent volume. (Book provided for review by Children's Lit - www.childrenslit.com)

 

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Revenge of the scorpion king by Tony Abbott

103 pgs.
Target audience: Ages 7 to 10
Rating: Wizard

 Owen, Dana, Jon and Sydney know that in order to save the elementary school and their beloved hometown of Pinewood Bluffs, they must do whatever it takes to stop the Norse trickster god, Loki, from bringing the battlefield aboveground. Stowing away on Loki’s sledge seemed like a good idea until they arrive somewhere they’ve never been, the dark and mysterious Babylonian branch of the Underworld. The powers of Orpheus’ magical lyre, one of Loki’s armored gloves and a copy of Bulfinch’sMythology may not be enough to fight the trickster god. Loki is recruiting heavily from the Underworld. Among his new soldiers are the Fire serpent, Scorpion King, Birdman, the Mammoth, and the seriously creepy Thornviper. This volume continues the non-stop adventure and action of its predecessors. Mythology was never so much fun as this. For kids chomping at the bit for Percy Jackson, the Underworld series of books is the perfect teaser. A glossary at the end completes the mythological picture.
(This book provided for review by children's lit - www.childrenslit.com)
 

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