Fantasy

The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus, Book 5)

Posted on by The Novel Girl

Blood of Olympus cover

Author: Rick Riordan

Series: Heroes of Olympus

Genre: Fantasy/Mythology/YA

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Pages: 528

 

The final installment of the Heroes of Olympus series finds our Demigod Heroes still in the midst of their battle to stop Gaea from waking. The crew, still aboard the Argo II, are trying to make it in time to stop the Feast of Spes. Meanwhile, Reyna and Nico are attempting to get the Athena Parthenos to Camp Halfblood in time to keep Octavian from attacking and destroying the camp. Will our Heroes succeed in their quest?

I want to start this by saying that I am a HUGE fan of Rick Riordan, this series, and the Olympians series that preceded it. That being said, I was a little bit disappointed in this last book. It was almost as if Percy and Annabeth were moved in to minor character roles, after we have spent so many books becoming incredible invested in them. The final battle was also a little bit disappointing, in that it just didn’t seem like… enough. The final battle in The Last Olympian was much more what one expects from a final battle scene, in my opinion. I did enjoy the book, in that it was definitely a Riordan book, and was well written and incredibly descriptive. His wit and humor was definitely present, and I enjoyed the characters that were in the forefront. I just wish that there had been more Percy and Annabeth present in this one, as it was the last book. I am sad to see the series end, but I am excited to start the Magnus Chase series, since anyone that has followed Rick Riordan knows that Norse mythology is his favorite!

House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus, Book 4)

Posted on by The Novel Girl

house of hades cover

 

Author: Rick Riordan

Series: Heroes of Olympus

Genre: Fantasy/Mythology/YA

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Pages: 608

 

The end of Mark of Athena found Percy and Annabeth falling in to Tartarus, and the rest of the Demigod heroes promising to find the Doors of Death on the living side and meet them there to close them, so that they can stop Gaea from being raised. Percy and Annabeth must survive traveling through Tartarus, which is worse than traveling through Hades itself, in order to reach the doors on their side. The rest of the Seven have their own battles to fight before they can even reach the House of Hades, which they must fight their way through in order to reach the doors on their side. If either one fails, there will be no stopping the Giants from raising Gaea. Percy and Annabeth are facing sure death in Tartarus, until they get some unexpected help that just might get them through…

I have put off finishing the last couple of books in this series for a while now, obviously, but I am glad that I finally got back to them. I forgot just how much I love these books and these heroes! Riordan is a master of world building. I can picture everything that he is describing, and the visual of Tartarus is, just, wow… The writing is excellent in this novel, as it is in all of the ones before. I think he just gets better as he goes. I am anxious to finish up the next one, and see what happens with these Demigods. If you are looking for a fun series, and like Greek and Roman mythology and YA Lit, I recommend this series.

Blood Ties (Blood War Chronicles, Book 1)

Posted on by The Novel Girl

Blood Ties cover

Author: Quincy J. Allen

Series: Blood War Chronicles

Genre: Steampunk/Fantasy

Publisher: Wordfire Press

Pages: 263

Set in the Victorian era, the newest release from author Quincy J. Allen introduces us to Jake Lasater, an injured Civil War veteran who happens to have some clockwork limbs that are magic infused. He is on a quest to deliver a mysterious package for Lady Danesti, but there are those who are out to prevent this. The Chinese Tong and a few others would like to find Jake and settle a score with him, as well. Jake is travelling with his partner, Cole, and Skeeter- who is his ward and a tinker. His lady, Qi, is also a tinker (helpful!). They run in to more trouble than one can imagine during their action packed journey!

I know that I have told you guys that Mr. Allen’s novel, Chemical Burn (which I reviewed earlier this year), is my number one book of the year thus far. I really didn’t expect that he could write something else that would compare to it: He did! The characters in this novel are so well developed that I felt like I knew them within a few pages of them being introduced. I could not stop reading this book! I didn’t so much feel like I was reading it, as it felt like a friend was telling me a story, and I love getting that feeling from a novel. It was fast paced and filled with action and witty banter between the characters. I really enjoyed that, as with his other writing, the female characters were strong and played a pivotal role in the story. There really weren’t any “background characters”; all of them were really well developed.

I didn’t think that Quincy Allen could make me love him more as an author, but he certainly did with Blood Ties. I am anxiously awaiting book number two!

You can get the e-book today on Amazon!

http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Ties-Book-War-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B016L3NZVU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1446329263&sr=1-1

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Posted on by The Novel Girl

coldest girl in coldtown

Author: Holly Black

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Little Brown

Pages: 448

In Tana’s world, everyone knows about vampires. Once someone is bitten and infected, they go cold. If they give in to the virus and drink human blood, they turn. Tana has seen this happen first hand, when her mother was bitten when Tana was a child. One morning, Tana wakes up from a party to find all of her friends slaughtered, except her ex and some guy that she doesn’t know, who are tied up in the bedroom. Her ex has been bitten, and is turning cold, and the guy is a vampire. As Tana is in the middle of her rescue plan to get them all out (because the vamps are still in the house), one of them barely bites her on the back of the leg. She doesn’t know if it was enough to make her turn cold. She does the only thing that she knows to do, takes them all three to a coldtown. Coldtowns are where all of the vampires and those that are bitten are quarantined off, so that they can’t infect the rest of the population. Along the way, they meet up with some others trying to get there, because they want to be turned. They all get there…that’s where the adventure begins.

This book took me a little bit longer to get through than I expected. I’m not sure why. It just moved a little bit slower for me than I thought that it was going to. The premise for it was really unique, which was refreshing for someone who reads a lot of vampire novels! Overall, I would definitely recommend the novel, but not if you are just wanting a quick read. Definitely dive in to it when you have a little bit of time to spend with it.

Fire (Seven Realms Trilogy, Book 2 aka A Companion for Graceling)

Posted on by The Novel Girl

fire

Author: Kristin Cashore

Series: Seven Kingdoms Trilogy

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Firebird

Pages: 528

This novel is set during the same time as the original Graceling novel, but it is in a different realm known as The Dells. In this realm, rather than having Gracelings, they have “monster animals”. These monsters can be bugs, birds, raptors, or I the case of Fire- a human monster. Her being a human monster causes other monsters and other humans to be drawn to her. It also gives her the ability to reach in to the minds of other animals and humans. In this uncertain time in The Dells, when war is imminent, Fire must fight a battle within herself to determine whether she is willing to expand on her ability in order to aid the king. He wants her to help him obtain information that he needs to aid his efforts in the coming war. Her doing this may possibly save her own life, as well.

This sequel/companion/whatever they are calling it now (it looks like the series name changed with re-publishing, as well, from Seven Kingdoms to just Graceling Realm) didn’t grab me right off the bat in the way that Graceling did. I won’t say that it started off slowly, it just wasn’t quite as engrossing in the beginning. It did get better pretty quickly, though, and I ended up really enjoying it. It’s not the rave review of Graceling, but it was definitely worth reading.

Alice in Zombieland (The White Rabbit Chronicles, Book 1)

Posted on by The Novel Girl

alice in zombieland

Author: Gena Showalter

Series: The White Rabbit Chronicles

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Pages: 416

Ali, Alice Bell, and her sister, Emma, have grown up never being allowed to leave their house after dark. Their father believes that there are some kind of strange monsters out there, that only come out at night, that want to hunt them down and eat them. The problem with his theory is that no one else has seen these monsters, except for her crazy father. That all changed on Ali’s birthday, when she convinced her parents to venture out to Em’s recital… at night. The evening ended in a car crash that changed Ali’s world forever. She saw the monsters, and what they are capable of. Now she must learn to fight them, with the aid of a group that she never dreamed existed, because they’re hunting her now.

Gena Showalter is a master! Confession: this is my first zombie themed read. I’ve never even watched The Walking Dead (I know, I know!). I wasn’t sure if I would like it or not, because I had no idea if zombies would be my thing, but I truly did enjoy it. It had a great story line, along with several sub-plots, so it really held my interest. On to book two!

Graceling (Seven Kingdoms Trilogy, Book 1)

Posted on by The Novel Girl

graceling-cover

Author: Kristin Cashore

Series: Seven Kingdoms Trilogy

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: HMH

Pages: 480

The first novel in this series by award winning author, Kristin Cashore, was engrossing within the first few chapters. This story centers on Katsa, who is the niece to a king in a realm where some people are marked as Gracelings. One can distinguish those who are graced from others by the colors of their eyes. The graces can be anything from cooking, swimming, mind reading, or fighting to Katsa’s grace: killing. Her king uncle uses her as a weapon, and she is growing tired of it. She has formed a counsel which carries out secret missions of justice. During one of the missions she meets Po, another Graceling and prince. They then go on a dangerous mission themselves, where they learn more than they thought possible about themselves, their grace’s, and one another.

I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy this novel or not when I first came across it. The beautiful cover and brief description convinced me to give it a try. It didn’t disappoint. All of the characters are well developed and multi-dimensional. The scenery is well visualized and described. It was a cosuming read, and I’ve already got the next one lined up to throw myself in to.

Get in Trouble: Stories

Posted on by The Novel Girl

Kelly Link

Author: Kelly Link
Publisher: Random House
Genre: Fantasy/Myth/Urban Legend
Pages: 352

I fell in love with this book and this author from the first five pages! Kelly Link has one of the most brilliant literary minds that I have read in a very long time. Her writing is something completely different from anything that I have read before, and it captivated me. You might notice under genre, I couldn’t really decide what to put: there is a reason for that! I can’t really decide what it is! This author crossed the genre boundaries from fantasy to urban legends to mythology, and back again in a way that leaves the mind buzzing and asking for more. I certainly did not want this book to end! This is the first short story collection that I have read in quite a while, and I am so thankful that I decided to grab it. There was not a bad one in the bunch, but I think that my favorite of them all was “Summer People”. That story had a little bit of everything: mystery, fairy people, and just the right amount of creepiness. That one was followed closely by “Origin Story”, because who doesn’t love a good superhero…bad superhero? Like I said before, a very different kind of fiction! I was left at the end altogether saying “WTF?” and wanting much, much more!

Red Queen (Red Queen, Book 1)

Posted on by The Novel Girl

red queen

Author: Victoria Aveyard
Series: Red Queen
Publisher: Harper Teen
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 383

This was a book that I picked up on a whim, after seeing it out for a month or so and thinking that it looked kind of interesting, and I can honestly say that I am so glad that I did!! This is the first novel in what will be the Red Queen series, and it was a phenomenal debut from this author. It is a very different type of fantasy novel than the ones that I have read before it. It is set in a place where the world is divided in to Red’s and Silver’s. The Red’s have red blood and no extraordinary powers, and the Silver’s have silver blood and some sort of power that makes them unique and special. Mare, the main character in this novel, is a Red…technically, and scheduled to be sent out to fight on the front lines in the army. That is until she is thrown in to the world of the Silver’s, when it is accidentally discovered that although she has Red blood, she has Silver power. The story gets turned upside down and inside out from that point on! The king and queen decide to betroth her to their youngest son and pass her off as a long lost Silver to hide what she is, but this girl has no training in how to be a “proper lady”. The people who you think you can trust, you can’t….or can you?! This novel was a constant twisting and turning roller coaster ride, and I loved every minute of it! I cannot wait for the second book in this series to come out! If you’re looking for a different type of fantasy, this may just be your pick!