Ubalblog

[  Mood: Sick ]
[  Currently: Listening to The Next Chapter on CBC Radio ]

Kim Harrion contines to develop her Hollows series in this eigth installment. Rachel is still realing over her shunning for being a black witch. Her mother has moved away in orde to not be affected by the shunning. The Coven is also trying to snatch her out of Cincinnati in order to lobotomize and sterelize her. The lobotomy is to prevent her practicing black magic, but the sterilization has a more sinister purpose.

Rachel has realized that she is the genetic link between witches and demons. Becase of this her children will be demons.The Ravenwood virs (really an ancient elven curse) should have killed her as a child to prevent that from happening. The cure given to her by Trent’s father has made her a menace to society.

Now Rachel is fighting off attacks from the Coven, trying to to keep her demon teacher Al happy, keep Trent off her case and deal with the return of her demon dealing ex-boy friend Nick, all while pushing away the romantic advances of the demon familiar Pierce. Things are going to get bumpy.

SPOILERS BELOW
For the first time, author Harrison has indicated an end point to this series. Trent’s father saved Rachel to keep the demons ot of the world. It is implied that Rachel will become more powerful, perhaps even becoming immortal.

Harrsion is also not afraid to make major changes to her characters. With the death or Matalina and the resetting of Jenk’s biological clock, the pixie part of her world is set to change.

A very good read.

[  Mood: Fed Up WIth Life ]
[  Currently: Watching Castle ]

Katsa has a talent that makes her very good at one thing, a talent called a Grace. Her two coloured eyes mark her as being gifted to any who meet her. And given that her Grace is fighting, Katsa is even more of an outcast than other gracelings.

Katsa spends her life living in her uncle, the king’s, court, acting as his enforcer. Disgusted with what she has to do for the king, Katsa forms a council, a secret organization bent on doing good. And it is this council that pulls her into a plot involving two kingdoms and an insane man with a grace. Along the way, she meets the mysterious Prince Po, a young man with a grace that is not all it seems to be.

This is a solid first novel from Kristin Cashore full of action that appeals to both the boys and girls that are fantasy fans. Katsa can be a difficult heroine to like, given that she is so good at fighting, it makes her near invincible. Katsa’s popularity is also bizarre, given how crusty she is, but I am willing to allow a little Mary-Sue on the part of Cashore in exchange for the sheer action this novel packs in the latter half. Hopefully her story-telling skills will continue to develop and future outings will offer more of the action and less of the character angst.

Will be in an upcoming What to Read After Harry.

[  Mood: Happy ]
[  Currently: Watching Human Target ]

This a remarkable bit of world building with a unique magic system. In this world, magic is preformed by poets who try to capture useful ideas and force them into a human form. That idea-in-a-human-form becomes an andat, a being capable of preforming specific magic.

For example, the main andat in this story is called Seedless because he can cause the seeds to fall out of the cotton. This has lead to the city of Saraykeht becoming a centre for the cotton trade. But Seedless is also capable of making a pregnant woman spontaneously abort. And this is where his power is. No one would dare attack the city for fear that Seedless would be used on their women and crops back home.

Into this world is thrust Itani, a labourer who is not all he seems to be, and his lover Liat as they try to navigate through the murky politics of the trading houses and the Khadim. Layered on top of that is the older, wiser and more practicle Amat who must flee for her life when she uncovers a plot to bring down the city-states.

This is a very good first novel, but as I read it, I found that I wanted to spend the most time with the character named Amat. She alone is not a trope that we have visited in fantasy a hundred times. Still, the book moves at a good pace and is an entertaining read.

[  Mood: Fed Up WIth Life ]
[  Currently: Watching Stephen Colbert at the Olympics ]
Today, March 24, is Ada Lovelace Day. A day to celebrate woman in science. Bloggers around the world are posting blog entries dedicated to the women who dare to do science.

Now I toyed with the idea of doing a fictional scientist, heck I even tried to get the people of RevSF to do a series on fictional female scientists of sci-fi, but as the day approached, I began to think, “I need to do a real woman”.

So I bring you, Gail Anderson, professor at Simon Fraser University.

Why her? Cause she is famous for her work in forensic entomology.

Yup, that’s right. She uses bugs to figure how long someone has been dead. To decidedly unfeminine things. She plays with dead things and bugs. She is a seven yer-old boy’s dream date!

And Dr. Anderson has not just helped catch those people who have murdered humans. Two poachers who had shot baby black bears for the sole purpose harvesting their gallbladders found themselves convicted thanks to her work. Anderson’s work on the biological origins of criminal behaviour has been hailed as innovative and refreshing. She routinely consults with police forces across Canada, including the RCMP and was named by Time as one of the top five innovators in criminal justice.

OK, now she’s Batman’s dream date.

Add on to this the reality that without Gail Anderson, Gil Grissom would just be a creepy guy who knows way to much about furries and little people to not be in a penitentiary.

[  Mood: Happy ]
[  Currently: Watching My son play and trying to stop him from terrorizing the cat ]

Recently, we here at RevSF did a podcast on the Wizard of Oz. This lead me to want to read the book again to see what I thought of it now that I was an adult.

Realistically, there are many children’s classics from the early 1900s that don’t stand up to the test of time. Instead they are snapshots of the time in which they are written. The Wizard of Oz may be the greatest classic written at this time. So it would be fair to think that it would be the greatest disappointment.

Not so.

This may have more to do with the genius that was L. Frank Baum. When Baum created his fantasy classic, it wasn’t like the other children’s books at the time. Due to this, he had problems get the book published. Why? He had, essentially, created a new genre, one that was inspired by fairy tales, but was not derived directly from them.

And because of this, the book holds up pretty well for the modern reader. It is definately not the gritty, romance fantasy that is so popular with modern teens. Instead, this is a gentle story with minor dangers that is perfect to read aloud to younger children. Stronger primary readers are safe in tackling this book alone. It would be perfect for curling up with your child on a cold winter’s night just before bed.

It will be joining an upcoming What to Read After Harry.

[  Mood: Happy ]

In case you missed it, I recommended Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians a while back in my What to Read After Harry column. So it was with glee that I picked up the second installment in the series. Yes, I know that second installments can let us down, but I had high hopes for my buddy Al.

I was not disappointed.

Alcatraz is back, and this time is on the trail of his Grandfather Smedry, who himself is on the trail of Alcatraz’s father, who himself has headed to the Library of Alexandria. If this sounds confusing, don’t worry, it isn’t. It is, however, indicative of the style of this book.

Brandon Saunderson’s second entry in his Alcatraz series continues with the mad-capped, zany, fourth-wall-breaking adventures of his protagonist stumbling from disaster to disaster, using his talent for breaking things to try and save the day. Alcatraz learns more about his power, as well as the rest of his family. He also gets a glimpse into what Bastille’s life is really like (with hints of the romance you know is coming!)

This is an excellent book for the reluctant reader in your life, as well as the ardent fantasy fan. It does not take itself too seriously, while taking swipes at the likes of Garth Nix. Go get this.[img]

[  Mood: Happy ]
[  Currently: Watching My son colour ]

This novel brings to a conclusion Karen Miller’s epic Kingmaker, Kingbraker series. (OK – admittedly there are only two books long – but they are sooooooo long, that it is epic!)

In this installment, we find Asher helping Gar adjust to the death of his family as well as his new role as king. Gar makes Asher the Olken administrator, to the acclaim of his fans and muttering of his enemies. Asher is finally also making headway in wooing Dathne. Things look like they are going well.

That is until Gar’s magic begins to fail and Asher’s begins to emerge. Then Gar asks Asher to risk everything to help him keep up the facade, neither realizing that the darkest force of all is behind everything, waiting for the right time to strike.

Although there is a little dip in pace in the middle, Miller’s story moves at a good clip, coming to a thrilling conclusion. These are main characters that you care for and a main villain that you can boo. Worth getting.

Ambrose is an odd kid. Because he has an anaphalactic reaction to peanuts, his mother is over protective. Afraid to loose him after the sudden death of his father, Ambrose’s mother won’t allow him to do anything without her. No hanging out with friends after school, no sports. Add to that the fact that they have moved every few years so that his mother can take another low paying sessional lecturer job, and it becomes easy to see why Ambrose has trouble relating to his peers.

Things get so bad that Ambrose is slipped a peanut by a school bully and nearly dies. His mother decides to pull him out of school and homeschool him. This means she has to shift her work hours to the evening, leaving Ambrose alone. At first, he enjoys his freedom, but he quickly becomes bored. Stumbling across a flyer for a Scrabble Club, Ambrose hatches a plan to get a ride from his landlord’s ex-convict son. Unbeknowst to Ambrose, this sets off a chain of events that will turn his world upside down, while at the same time allow him to stand on hsi own two feet for the first time.

Author Susin Nielsen has created a wonderful story about those people on the fringe of social groups, as well as allowing people the space to change. Brilliant, without being preachy. (show less)

[  Mood: Sleepy ]
[ Currently: Editing a podcast while I drink my tea ]
You want to know what will replace the Vampire as the new teen supernatural boyfriend? Angels or their descendants. Cassandra Clark used them in the Mortal Instruments trilogy, Repossesed has the fallen angel angle going and Usborne is planning an angel trilogy, to name a few.

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick is the latest in this trend. It’s main character is Nora, a typical High School student. She and her best friend, Vree, shop, talk about boys and sit beside each other in every class they can. That all changes when her biology teacher makes them switch seats and Nora ends up beside Patch, a very good looking new student who gives off an alien vibe.

Turns out that Patch is fallen angel who may or may not have nefarious plans for Nora. Nora knows it, but yet she finds herself drawn to him. Can she figure out who to trust before it’s too late.

Though the writing and characterization is fine, I can not recommend this book. Clearly aimed at the Twilight market, this book suffers from one fatal flaw. It is part of a growing group of modern teen girl fiction that shows true love only exists in abusive relationships. Patch stalks Nora through a great deal of this book, forcing her to go on dates with him and generally harassing her. I get that girls like to rebel by dating the bad boy, but surely in this day and age we can tell young women that relationships can be epic and desirable without being unhealthy.

This will not be making the What to Read After Harry list.

[  Mood: Happy ]
[  Currently: Listening to CBC Radio ]
You’ve heard of Duff Goldman. You may not know his name, but you know his work. As the owner of Charm City Cakes, he makes his way into your living room every week with Ace of Cakes, the reality show that documents the cakes made for various events and the stories behind them.

This is not a cookbook, but rather a documentation of how Charm City Cakes came to be and how it came to be on TV. There are also bios of all the cast and crew of the show, plus details on how the show is produced. I, for one, finally learned what a writer on a reality show actually does.

This book also includes lots, and lots of photos. Photos of finished cakes, photos of cakes in progress, photos of the various bands to which the Charm City crew all belong.

If I had any criticism, it would be that the cake gallery is too small. I would have preferred page after page of cakes and a short paragraph about the cake rather than the six page fold out that looked more like a yearbook collage.

Still worth picking up.