Fantastic Finds

Zombies Calling by Faith Erin Hicks

Joss' life sucks. She's in the middle of university exams and student loan debt when she'd much rather be watching the zombie movies she loves. So it's no surprise that when she tells her roommates that she's been attacked by a swarm of real-life, brain-hungering zombies--zombies!--they think the stress has finally cracked her.

But Joss knows she's sane--and it's a good thing, too! Because the zombies are real, and she's the only one who knows how to fight them. Armed with "The Rules," truths about fighting the undead gleaned from zombie movies, Joss, Sonnet and Robyn just might make it out of their dorm alive. -Plot summary borrowed from Goodreads

Anglophile protagonist. Close knit group of misfits. Zombies as metaphors for current life issues. Frequent pop-culture callbacks. Mutant Enemies that say "grr argh!" Yeah, it's safe to say that I am completely in love with this one. It's a quick read and you can kind of tell that this began as a webcomic, but you'll have too much fun to mind. If you're a fan of Shaun of the Dead or Scott Pilgrim (I'll give a cookie to anyone who leaves the connection between the two in the comments) I think you'll enjoy this one.

I had pumpkin flavoring in my coffee today, which means something very, very important- fall is almost here! To celebrate this, the best of all seasons, here is a sneak peek at some of the books I will be reading and reviewing over the coming months.

Another Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn

Since this paranormal thriller is being billed as a cross between the writings of Stephen King and Pretty Little Liars, it promises a hefty dose of chills, drama and intrigue. I, a fan of CW dramas, particularly of a supernatural nature, am so there.







The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

"One evening, my father asked me if I would like to become a ghost bride..."

"Though ruled by British overlords, the Chinese of colonial Malaya still cling to ancient customs. And in the sleepy port town of Malacca, ghosts and superstitions abound. Li Lan, the daughter of a genteel but bankrupt family, has few prospects. But fate intervenes when she receives an unusual proposal from the wealthy and powerful Lim family. They want her to become a ghost bride for the family's only son, who recently died under mysterious circumstances. Rarely practiced, a traditional ghost marriage is used to placate a restless spirit. Such a union would guarantee Li Lan a home for the rest of her days, but at a terrible price." Plot summary borrowed from Goodreads

Paranormal historical fiction with a gorgeous cover? Why is this not already on my shelf? 



Untold, The Lynburn Legacy Book Two by Sarah Rees Brennan

You can read my gushing glowing review of Book One here. I love this series, with its mysterious small town setting, gothic trappings, quirky family dynamics, and well-rounded characters. The romance is a bit over the top, but, given the aforementioned fondness for the CW, I can hardly pretend to be above bad boy (or are they?!) love interests with leather jackets, motorcycles, and weird abilities, especially when their female counterpart is interesting, capable, and intelligent. 





The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Holly Black has traded in fae-flavored urban fantasy for a vampire dystopia, and I am so on board. I'm hoping for some well-thought out and compelling vampire worldbuilding similar to what I read in Team Human (which is FANTASTIC, close this tab and read it immediately), rather than the slightly Mary Sueish genre lumbering from Julie Kagawa's The Immortal Rules, but we shall see.




Kinslayer by Jay Kristoff

The first book, Stormdancer, was a bit love or hate for most readers, and I loved it. Sure, Kristoff borrows a lot from Japanese culture, and it doesn't always work, but I give him major points for even approaching Steampunk from a different cultural perspective than "white upper middle class Englishman." Also, I have a mighty need for more Buruu in my life. Plus, when do I ever turn down a demon-hunting protagonist? Ok, sometimes, but a demon-hunting protagonist with her very own talking griffin? Not bloody often, mate, that's when.




The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Guys. GUYS. More Raven Boys. More Blue Sargent and all her clairvoyant family. More ghosts and romance and Ronan. And his baby raven. AAAAHHHH.









The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two by Catherynne M. Valente

I can't even tell you how much I want to be back in Fairyland with September, A-L, and the other characters from this series. I tend to get a little carried away when talking about this series, so you might just want to read the first two blog posts I've done, before I get carried away again. 





There are more, of course, many of which are on the scarier side (Halloween being not far off, after all), but I don't want to give everything away at once. Stay tuned, folks.

Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy and Prediction edited by Carrie Ryan

Have you ever been tempted to look into the future? To challenge predictions? To question fate? It's human nature to wonder about life's twists and turns. But is the future already written—or do you have the power to alter it?

From fantastical prophecies to predictions of how the future will transpire, Foretold is a collection of stories about our universal fascination with life's unknowns and of what is yet to come as interpreted by 14 of young adult fiction's brightest stars. -Plot summary borrowed from Goodreads

This anthology collects stories from:
Malinda Lo (Ash)
Lisa McMann (Wake)
Kami Garcia (Beautiful Creatures)
Margaret Stohl (Beautiful Creatures)
Laini Taylor (The Daughter of Smoke and Bone)
Michael Grant (Gone)
Saundra Mitchell (The Vespertine)
Richelle Mead (The Vampire Academy)
Matt de la Pena (I Will Save You)
Meg Cabot (The Princess Diaries)
Heather Brewer (The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod)
Diana Peterfreund (Rampant)
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry)
Carrie Ryan (The Forest of Hands and Teeth)

All anthologies are inherently a bit of a grab-bag, and Foretold is no exception, or if it is, the difference here is that nearly all the stories are ok. There were two I skipped, and one I LOVED (I'm a huge Daughter of Smoke and Bone fan, I'll give you three guess which story that was, and of course the first two don't count). The others were just pretty decent, in my opinion. Your mileage may vary, especially if you're a big Vampire Academy fan (that trailer was surprisingly good, right?). Oh, and I did really like the story about vampires in apocalyptic Paris, but just the fact that I'm struggling to think of stories to talk about says a fair bit about the collection. An enjoyable read, but I wouldn't bump other things off your reading lists for it.

Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood

With the Brotherhood persecuting witches like never before, a divided Sisterhood desperately needs Cate to come into her Prophesied powers. And after Cate's friend Sachi is arrested for using magic, a war-thirsty Sister offers to help her find answers—if Cate is willing to endanger everyone she loves.

Cate doesn't want to be a weapon, and she doesn't want to involve her friends and Finn in the Sisterhood's schemes. But when Maura and Tess join the Sisterhood, Maura makes it clear that she'll do whatever it takes to lead the witches to victory. Even if it means sacrifices. Even if it means overthrowing Cate. Even if it means all-out war. -Plot summary borrowed from Goodreads

I've been waiting for this for a year, and that much buildup may have tarnished my enjoyment of it a bit. I loved the first installment, with its alternate 19th century New England details and seasonal flair, not to mention sisterly relationships that reminded me of Little Women, plus witches and an evil patriarchy for good measure. What's not to love? But this second entry in the series is weighed down by politicking and prophesy. Some things I loved from the first shone through, but not the romance, and Cate spent too much time dithering and not nearly enough time becoming a leader or not being manipulated. Still, the world-building is intriguing, the characters memorable, and I'll be happy to see if things pick up in the third book of the Cahill Witch Chronicles.

Somewhere Beneath Those Waves by Sarah Monette

The first non-themed collection of critically acclaimed author Sarah Monette''s best short fiction. To paraphrase Hugo-award winner Elizabeth Bear's introduction: '"onette's prose is lapidary, her ideas are fantastical and chilling. She has studied the craft of fantastic fiction from the pens of masters and mistresses of the genre. She is a poet of the awkward and the uncertain, exalter of the outcast, the outre, and the downright weird. There is nothing else quite like Sarah Monette's fiction." -Plot summary borrowed from Goodreads

Ok, so this isn't YA. I was getting desperate for another post, and I know there are people who may read this blog occasionally who would love this one. Before this one I had read The Bone Key, her collection of short stories about Kyle Murchison Booth, a sort of supernatural detective. She really captured the feel of Lovecraft's horror in some of those stories, without getting bogged down in the prose or offering faceless narrators. She also has the detective story thing down, and I'd love to see a Mystery! production of Booth's stories, in the same vein as Miss Marple or Poirot. 

Both these points, while true, don't do any justice to Monette's own voice as an author, which is distinct, memorable, and masterful. These stories will creep up on you- the language is evocative and conjures up images that will stick with you. The other thing that sets Monette apart, and that many other reviewers have commented on, is the feeling of Otherness embodied by most of her narrators. Her protagonists are, for the most part, outsiders, people who find themselves treading boundaries. To call them quirky would be an insult- they aren't stock characters with a twist, or exploding with irritating eccentricities. They are three-dimensional people, drawn believably but with surprisingly few strokes. Some, like the cops in "A Night in Electric Squidland" and "Impostors," and the aforementioned Booth, are recurring characters. Others, like the courtesan/spy from "Amante Doree" or the heartbroken musician from "Katabasis: Seraphic Trains" (possibly my favorite story), you'll only see for a few brief pages but are unlikely to forget. 

I'd recommend this, and The Bone Key, for fans of Neil Gaiman, Margo Lanagan, Charles DeLint, Catherynne M. Valente (the Seraphic Trains story really reminded me of Palimpsest), Lovecraft, Hellboy, Supernatural (not only are there paranormal cop buddies, there's a naive but tetchy angel), urban fantasy, horror, and magic realism. 

*A caveat: some of these stories are extremely dark, and not just in the sense that they deal with supernatural beings and gothic situations ("The Séance at Chisholm End" is a fantastic period piece about spirit mediums). No, some of these stories deal openly with some heavy stuff, like the loss of an older brother to Vietnam ("Letters from a Teddy Bear on Veterans Day"), surviving conquest ("A Light in Troy") and trauma ("After the Dragon"), and the horrors of war ("No Man's Land"). Serious trigger warnings for these, especially the last.   

Poor blog, I haven't been posting much lately. I haven't been reading as many teen books as I did last year- this is partially because I've been away, or there have been adult books I've wanted to read. But, here's a bit of a confession:

Sometimes I get a bit tired of reading young adult books.

*cringes*

Before I go any further, let me say a few things clearly and emphatically.

Not all teen books are the same.

It's not a genre, it's just a target age group.

IT'S NOT A GENRE.

SERIOUSLY. NOT A GENRE. So there aren't set guidelines as to tone, content, setting, violence, characterization, voice, perspective, length, complexity, intelligence, competence or style. There are scads of of important, meaningful, technically skilled works of literature that also happen to be aimed at a teenage audience.

Are we clear?

Ok, good.

With that in mind.... there are certain popular trends in teen lit right now, namely dystopian novels and paranormal romances. As one would expect, publishers are fully aware that these are popular marketable themes, and are flogging the hell out of any book they can get away with claiming might be the next Hunger Games or Twilight. This means that there are soooooooooo many books which, on the surface, appeal to my interests, but were written hastily, accepted for their perceived money-grabbing potential, and add nothing to the already teetering heap. I'm pretty burned out on those, and haven't been reading as many books that don't already have some serious buzz surrounding them (or if I just can't resist the summary). In some ways this is good, as I am becoming more selective, but it also leads to a bit of a rut wherein I find myself mostly picking up sequels or things that seem like pretty sure bets anyway.

There's also a bit of an issue that really is not an issue- teen books are aimed at teens. And I'm not a teen. One way to look at this is in terms of romance. Many teen books are dealing with first loves, and often idealized ones. Big, sweeping, tragic, epic PERFECT romances. Which is perfectly fine. But sometimes I want to read something a bit more complex, or edgier, than fluttery, sweet, will they-won't they soulmatey crap. To put it in vampire terms (as you do), sometimes I want Buffy and Angel making eyes at each other in the Bronze, and sometimes I want Buffy and Spike wrecking house.

Or maybe I want to read about someone else struggling with their job, not math class.

(Again, this is not an issue of genre. Someone could reasonably suggest that I look to, say, modern literary fiction, but I would be just as happy reading about, say, a demon hunter being frustrated with her crappy midlevel position in the research and development department of a paranormal defense organization. It's a stage of life thing, not a setting thing).

None of these are complaints, I'm just putting down some thoughts that have to do with the lack of entries. I still love teen media, and have dozens of young adult books on my to-read pile that I can't wait to get my hands on. Maybe I'll post more about movies here, or branch out? I've been keeping it pretty YA-specific in the name of job-hunting, but I don't know.

Any thoughts, guys?

Unnatural Creatures edited by Neil Gaiman

Unnatural Creatures is a collection of short stories about the fantastical things that exist only in our minds—collected and introduced by beloved New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman.

The sixteen stories gathered by Gaiman, winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards, range from the whimsical to the terrifying. The magical creatures range from werewolves to sunbirds to beings never before classified. E. Nesbit, Diana Wynne Jones, Gahan Wilson, and other literary luminaries contribute to the anthology.

Sales of Unnatural Creatures benefit 826DC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students in their creative and expository writing, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. -Plot summary borrowed from Goodreads

It's a good time to be a Gaiman fan. Good Omens might finally get its long awaited adaptation, and HBO is developing a multi-season American Gods Series (I'm actively restraining myself from getting too excited about my own casting choices. "Benedict is too busy, don't get your hopes up" is a new mantra). On top of that, The Ocean at the End of the Lane was better than I had expected- while Gaiman builds on themes he's been exploring his whole career, the book never feels stale and if anything, the pseudo-autobiographical elements add weight to the narrative voice. Check out Tor's excellent review here. Add to that an anthology of stories about mythical creatures and you've got one happy fantasy fan. 

For one thing, how great is the cover design? I love the sketchy antler-tentacle design, and the longer you look the more things you see. I like the font, too, and the contrasty blue text (graphic design people, feel free to weigh in here!). As for the stories themselves, well, most were good, a few were boring, and one or two I loved. Some I had read in other collections, including Gaiman's- which turned out to be one of my favorites. It's not brilliant, but it's got a good variety and plenty of shelf appeal. Plus, the proceeds go to a very cool charity!