Review Dump Part 3 - Adult/Teen Reads
Apr. 19th, 2010 11:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Final review dump for now. Again, links provided to my original postings of the reviews. Also, one book that was not reviewed there due to content issues.
Good Omens : The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
The end of the world is upon us! As a matter of fact it’s supposed to end next Saturday, just before dinner. Hosts of angels and demons have been preparing for this day for the last 6,000 years, more so in the last eleven of them. However, there is one small problem. Someone managed to misplace the Antichrist.
Enter Aziraphale, an exacting angel living as a rare book dealer; and Crowley, demon and one time serpent (the serpent if you must know). They’ve been living among the humans since the beginning and have, over time, grown maybe a little fond of them. Or at least they’ve grown fond of the freedoms they have living on Earth. The two even have a very civil arrangement where they keep each other informed of their doings in order to maintain the balance between good and evil. It’s going to be up to them, a witch, and four kids with a dog to stop Armgeddon.
Okay, why the hell did someone NOT bully me into reading this. Oh, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, just how much of my soul do you own now. Also my mental voice sounded like Aziraphale for weeks afterwards. Still does occasionally.
Original review
His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik
Captain Will Laurence of the HMS Reliant is one of the most accomplished officers of the British Navy. When he and his crew manage to capture a crippled French warship during the height of the Napoleonic they find a most usual prize aboard; an unhatched dragon egg. The egg is probably only a week away from hatching and the Reliant is at least three weeks away from safe harbor. And when the egg finally hatches, Laurence’s fate becomes tied to the hatchling, who he names Temeraire.
Laurence and Temeraire must now begin their new lives as a team and members of the British Aerial Corps, where dragons are paired with a pilot or captain, a small crew, and sent to fight off the French and their dragons along the channel. But Temeraire is more than he seems, and both he and Laurence may be the deciding factor in who wins the next battle.
Again a feel like a twit for not reading this series yet. Different and reminds me a lot of Horatio Hornblower, but with dragons.
Original review
Soulless by Gail Carriger
Alexia Tarabotti is in just about the worst position that a lady of good breeding can be in living in Victorian London. At 25 she is already considered a spinster, mostly because Alexia is quite intelligent and not afraid to speak her mind, not exactly a sought after trait at the time. And to make matters worse, she inherited her late father’s swarthy Italian looks, making her stand out even more. But the most difficult thing of all, Alexia is soulless.
The soulless are an oddity and closely guarded secret in a world where vampires, werewolves and ghosts live among the people and have helped build the British Empire into the technological marvel it is. As one of the soulless, Alexia can actually neutralize the supernatural. Her touch can temporarily return both vampires and werewolves back to regular mortals.
When a rogue vampire attempts to attack Alexia at a party, things are about to go from tolerable to just plain crazy. Enter the BUR, the Bureau of Unnatural Registry, and its current director, Lord Conall Maccon, Scottish Alpha werewolf of the Woolsey Castle pack. It becomes apparent, through Lord Maccon’s investigation that something dangerous is going on and Alexia has just put herself square in the middle.
Carriger’s debut novel and the first of a series, Soulless was considerably more fun that I originally thought it would be, especially for a book containing such an impossibly wide array of genres. Full of witty one-liners and wonderfully appealing characters (even the secondary characters are well done) it’s a definite pick-up for anyone who liked Bray’s Gemma Doyle trilogy or MacLean’s The Season but want something a little lighter.
I fenced on doing this as a teen review, but in the end I went for it. Much love for the steampunk elements, the werewolves!, and the super gay and sparkly vampire who speaks in italics.
Original review
Street Magic by Caitlin Kittredge
Okay, so I haven't done this one as an actually review due to content and language. This was definately geared more for adult or older teen readers.
Pete Caldecott was sixteen when she met Jack Winter, a mage. And shortly after meeting the man, she watched him die. Or did she? Now years later and a detective in London, Pete comes face to face with a dead man while looking for a kidnapped child. Jack is nothing like she remembers, he's too busy hunting up more heroin. When it turns out Jack may know how to find the missing girl, Pete will do whatever she needs to in order to get the man clean and sober. Even if that means leaving him vulnerable to the very things he's running from.
I wasn't expecting much when I picked this up at the bookstore. But I as pleasantly surprised and I managed to finish the book in one afternoon. If you're a fan of Dresden Files you might like this series, though it's definately a bit darker.