The Warlock's Child Series

Book 1 The Burning Sea, Book 2 Dragonfall Mountain, Book 3 The Dragon Claw.

It’s not very often I start a review with the front cover but when the covers contain dragons of all shapes and hues, drawn by the Dragon Master himself, Marc Mcbride, it’s a good place to begin. The covers are eye-catching and glorious. 

The series is complete with Book 6 to be released in September 2015. Each of the first five books ends with the greater story still unresolved and a cliff-hanger leading the reader directly into the following book.

This structure suits a reluctant reader who is overwhelmed by a wad of pages but will devour the longer story as action-packed, manageable block-sized books. For the more avid reader, as all six books are being released in quick succession, it’s not long to wait for the final resolution.

On the first pages of each book, there’s a map which the reader will find invaluable as the story unfolds in Savaria and Darvinia and on the Centralian Sea that separates the kingdoms.

This is a grand tale of dragons and forbidden magic, of warlocks and sewer rats, of battles and capture, of devious plans and an unlikely hero. And that’s just the first three books.

In The Burning Sea, war has been declared by the Emperor of Darvinia. The Savarians are suspected of working forbidden magic. Long ago the four magics, earth, air water and fire, were divided by the Dragons who continue to ensure no human will ever wield the magics together again. The last time a human did that, it caused the greatest war ever imagined.

We meet Dantar and Velza, brother and sister, travelling on the ship Davarian Invincible with their father, the warlock, Calbaras, Dantar is a lowly overworked cabin boy but Velza is a shapeshifter and an officer. It’s not surprising they don’t get along.

Somewhere hidden on board is a dragon chick and the Dragon Drauvard is taking a keen interest in the ship

In Dragonfall Mountain, the Invincible is sunk in battle.  Velza learns some unpleasant truths about her father and brother and sister find themselves on the same side. Dantar discovers a new strength and the possibility of his own magic. And a dragon dies, the first dragon death in over a thousand years.

Ironclaw opens with the Dragons demanding the Savarian king explain why forbidden magic is being practised in the city of Teliz:

In the entire world there are few things that can strike fear into the heart of a king. The sight of his army retreating would be high on the list… at the very top, however there could be nothing to rival three very angry dragons the size of warships towering over you and asking questions for which you have no answers.

The story progresses with multiple plot strands. Calbaras has created a copy of Dantar and this shell now needs to be filled. Dantar continues to emerge as the one who matters and it seems a shapeshifting dragon always appears to protect him when he is in danger.

At the end of Iron Claw, Dantar, his friend Marko and Merikus the sewer rat are captives, waiting to be hung and arguing about which one of them might be a shapeshifted baby dragon in disguise. The young reader is perfectly primed and positioned to read on to the next book in the series

Recommended for children 9 years and up, in particular suitable for those who like their books short but their fantasy story a little longer.

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title: The Warlock’s Child Series – Book 1: The Burning Sea, Book 2: Dragonfall Mountain, Book 3:The Iron Claw

Author: Paul Collins and Sean Mullins

Illustrator: Marc McBride

Publisher:  Ford Street Publishing

Publication Date: $12.95 RRP

Format: Paperback

Type: Junior Fiction, Fantasy

In Hades

Kai’s family is fractured. So is he. With his parents’ separation all his high achievements mean nothing. He sinks into a world of despair. Drugs and every other kind of abuse possible is called on to try and block out what once was. It is on a bad day that he steals the car. The worst part is that his autistic brother Rod is with him when it crashes.

The story is about what happens to Kai’s soul after the crash and what he needs to do to redeem himself, to allow it to rest in peace. His quest through the underworld to find Rod is filled with guilt, determination, pain and discovery. He meets another lost soul, whom he names Bilby-G.  An anorexic, she too, is on the same journey through guilt, and together they slowly come to terms with what it is they’re facing.

Alexander uses her knowledge of Greek myths and characters with great skill to incorporate allusions to accent her main characters’ challenges and struggles.

This outstanding verse novel could be seen as Goldie Alexander’s best piece of work yet. Even the positioning of the text upon the page is done with careful consideration. This device contributes tremendously to the overall effect on the reader’s impression of what is being shown. The fine-line, black and white illustrations by Aaron Pocock perfectly complement the text.

Themes that flow through the work are those of self-discovery, family, trust, love, and forgiveness: of others and their human weaknesses, but mostly of oneself.

 Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Title: In Hades

Author: Goldie Alexander

Illustrator: Aaron Pocock

Publisher: Celapene Press

Publication Date: November 2014 $14.95 RRP

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9780975074268

TYPE: Fantasy adventure

Fairest

When I received Fairest to review, I hesitated. Fairest is a prequel to the three books in the Lunar Chronicles (Cinder, Scarlett and Cress) which were already on my personal ‘to buy’ list. Even though the events of Fairest take place prior to the books I haven’t a read, a prequel’s target audience is those who’ve read and loved the series. And the dedication agreed. This book is for the readers. The Lunartics. The fans. I didn’t want to diminish my series reading experience.

So I did the “dip a toe in the water” test. One sentence was all it took. It won’t be a spoiler to quote the sentence:

She was lying on a burning pyre, hot coals beneath her back.

I challenge any reader not to at least complete the page. By page-end I cared about Levana’s story. I read on until the book was finished in just two reading sessions. I’m now twice as eager to read the series.

Levana is the younger sister, forever destined to live in the shadow of Channary, who will be queen. Channary is beautiful but Levana is horribly disfigured by a childhood accident. She lives her life behind a ‘glamour’, a magically created false appearance.

The ‘glamour’ tempts Levana, and she finds she can exploit it to satisfy her heart’s desire. More than anything , she wants to be loved. When Channary unexpectedly dies and Levana becomes regent for baby Serene, Levana is determined to be a good queen and to rule Lunar well.

But behind the ‘glamour’ is a damaged soul who ultimately will not let any man, woman or child stand in her way.

The Lunar Chronicles is a modern fairy tale with cleverly twisted shades of familiar characters and plotlines. Levana is wicked stepmother, evil queen and royal witch. Like Snow White’s stepmother queen, mirrors cause her to fly into a rage when they always show her true appearance.

Fairest is a prequel not only to the Lunar Chronicles but the fully-formed evil queen of so many fairy tales. It begins beyond the wickedness to explore where the evil came from and what was there before that. Is evil born or made? I found myself questioning my judgement, unable to determine how I felt about Lavana.

How wonderful is that?

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title:  Fairest

Author: Marissa Meyer

Publisher:  Pan MacMillan Australia

Publication Date: $16.99 RRP

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 97812500696

Type: Fantasy

Princess Academy

This book landed on desk for review almost a year ago. I looked at the pink cover and saw the word “princess” in the title and placed it at the bottom of the pile.

What a mistake that was. This is a wonderful fantasy, and yes there are princesses, but nothing like I could ever imagine. Two pages in and I realised this book was something special. A little internet research revealed a New York Times best-selling Newbery Honour Medal winner. I’m not surprised.

When the priests announce the prince will choose his bride from a small remote mountain village, Miri and the other girls her age are sent to the Princess Academy for training. Their teacher is a harsh taskmaster, the girls become competitive and squabble and even their lives are in danger.

But Princess Academy is more than this. It is beautifully written and Miri’s home Mount on Eskel where linder rock is quarried and workers use silent quarry-speak to communicate seems almost real.

The workers used this way of talking without speaking aloud so they could be heard despite the clay plugs they wore in their ears and the deafening blows of mallets. The voice of quarry-speech only worked in the quarry itself, but Miri could sometimes sense echoes when she sat nearby. She did not understand how it worked exactly, but had heard a quarry worker say that all their pounding and singing stored up rhythm in the mountain. Then when they needed to speak to another person, the mountain used the rhythm to carry the message for them.

There are social and political undertones. Miri struggles to find her place among her peers. The village is oblivious to the value of the stone it mines but Miri is quick to learn the ways of the outside world. A little knowledge is a catalyst for great change.

I loved this book so much I immediately moved on to Shannon Hale’s latest release, Dangerous. Next I need to read the Palace of Stone, the sequel to Princess Academy. I recently discovered Princess Academy was originally published in 2005 and the sequel is already waiting for me.

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title: Princess Academy

Author: Shannon Hale

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PB RRP $9.99

Publication Date: July 2013

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9781408836804

Type: Young Adult Fantasy

The Finisher

I watched her until she disappeared from view. Then I looked to the sky. I wasn’t sure why. Maybe to find answers I could never hope to discover down here.

Welcome to the village of Wormwood, surrounded by the Quag filled with nightmare creatures. Wormwood is home to the Wugmorts, who go about the same business every day, marking their years into session and their time into slivers.

Vega Jane is a finisher, whose job it is to “finish off” objects of beauty for the wealthier classes. There is a strict class structure in Wormwood and the Council keeps everything in order. No-one comes into Wormwood, and because of the Quag, no-one ever thinks of leaving.

When Vega Jane sees a Wug run into the Quag, chased by Council canines, she begins to question. A series of strange events lead her to a map and the discovery that nothing is as she has been told, not even her job as a Finisher at Stacks.

I read a lot of fantasy. What sets this book apart from me is the world. Wormwood is so different but at the same time familiar. Add that to a story line that can’t be second-guessed (no matter how much fantasy you read!) and this book is a winner for me.

There is a map of Wormwood to guide the reader and the black and white illustrations by Nathan Aardvaak make the Quag creatures even more frightening. While there is no mention of a sequel, the ending leaves the reader in exactly the right place to move on to book two. I am hopeful there will be one.

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title: The Finisher
Author: David Baldacci
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia, $16.99 RRP
Publication date: March 2014
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9871447263005
For ages: Young Readers, Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy

Siren’s Storm

 by Lisa Papademetriou

Random House. Young Adult, Fantasy. Paperback RRP $18.95

Reviewed by Barbara Brown.

It is twelve months since Will, his brother Tim and his neighbour Gretchen went sailing on Tim’s boat. Two boys went out but only one returned. Tim’s body was never found and Will cannot remember anything. A scar on Will’s face and a burnt sail. What happened that night?

Will lives in a small coastal town that, in the warmer months, is home to the wealthy. Gretchen arrives every summer and is Will’s best friend. But this summer is different. Both Will and Gretchen feel the loss of Tim deeply. There are unanswered questions about that night unasked between them. How did Gretchen save Will but not Tim? Why does she not remember being there? Why does she sleep walk some nights and Will has to chase after her before she reaches the rocks?

Now a new girl has arrived in town. Asia is beautiful and exotic, andWill is fascinated by her. She seems to have a power over others that only Will can see.

Then another mysterious drowning occurs. Is Asia just another drifter travelling through town or is there something more dangerous about her?

Siren’s Storm is a book of myths and fantasies set in a modern day tale. Brilliant. If you loved to read about Jason and the Argonauts, as I did as a child, you will love this book.

Bloodlines 2: Reckoning

by Kate Cary

Hardie Grant Egmont. Young Adult, Fantasy, Supernatural. Paperback rrp $16.95

Reviewed by Barbara  Brown 

Reckoning is the story of the heir to Dracula’s bloodline, Quincey Harker. The book begins in November 1917 and finishes just over a year later. But in the world of vampires and early 20^th century England, a lot can happen in a year.

Quincey Harker has turned to become the man his father wanted but Quincey loses the only thing he truly loved and cannot forgive his father for that. He now wants to escape his destiny. But how do you escape something that has never been able to be undone?

Mary Seward is the best friend of Quincey’s true love and is engaged to Quincey’s cousin. Mary is also the one that escaped Quincey’s and her own beloved fiance’s transformations. But how? How could a mere mortal flee from the castle in Transylvania along with a young baby? Quincey believes Mary is the answer to his controlling his lust for blood. He will do anything to get Mary to help him.

After months hiding in her small town, looking after the injured from the battlefields, Mary starts to feel safe… But when her nightmares become reality, she must once more flee from the pursuit of Quincey and his terrifying, yet seductive charm. But is she running into the arms of someone more powerful than Dracula’s heir?

Reckoning is the sequel to Bloodline. I have not read Bloodline and I didn’t need to. Reckoning is a gripping story on its own. There are so many twists that several times I had to re-read snippets to confirm that my guesses were wrong. A brilliant and wonderful twist on the theme of vampires. And to answer the unasked question, I am going to read Bloodline next.

Tweenie Genie

Genie in Charge

by Meredith Badger

hardie grant EGMONT. Australian, Junior, Fantasy. Hardback rrp $16.95

Genie in Charge is the long awaited book three in the Tweenie Genie series. And, like the other two books, I was not disappointed.

Poppy, our young Tweenie Genie, is now in her stage three of training and to graduate she, and the other stage three tweenies, must mentor a stage two tweenie. When tweenies graduate they are granted a special wish to work in the job they want. Poppy, of course, wants to work in the royal stables looking after all the magic carpets.

On Mentor Day the Velodrome Bottle has been transformed with balloons and banners. Poppy is excited. She hopes she will get a wonderful match since she is a “golden” genie (a genie with a good heart). She doesn’t mind who it is just so long as they love flying. Poppy loves taking care of the Royal magic carpets and can’t wait to go flying with her new student.

But things don’t seem to go as planned. Everyone is matched perfectly except Poppy. Her student, Aggi, hasn’t turned up for the matching process. Why would she miss this important day? When Poppy finally meets Aggi she is confronted with a rude genie who doesn’t like riding magic carpets at all.

What happens if Poppy doesn’t graduate? How will Poppy ever get her wish if she can’t mentor Aggi? And why doesn’t Aggi want to dress like all the other tweenies?

Tweenie Genie fans won’t be disappointed in this next exciting instalment of the adventures of Poppy and her friends. And if you’ve ever wondered what happens when a genie’s bottle is broken … you will have to read Genie in Charge.

The Reading Stack reviewed Meredith Badger’s Tweenie Genie. Genie in Training in May 2009 and Tweenie Genie. Genie High School in February 2010.

Fallen in Love

by Lauren Kate

Random House. Young Adult, Fantasy. Paperback RRP $22.95

Reviewer - Barbara Brown

Everyone who is a fan of Lauren Kate and her Fallen series, will love this unexpected interlude showing extra glimpses of the star-crossed lovers, Luce and Daniel.

Fallen in Love relates the love stories of a number of the characters in the series. Four individual stories, set in medieval England on the eve of Valentine’s Day, entwine together and explain why some of the characters act and the way they do now in contemporary time.

This collection of short stories is not a chronological volume in the Fallen series. However, it does continue on from Passion, following extracts of the storyline. It is a must read if you want to know what happens to Luce and Daniel on that night hundreds of years before.

Fallen in Love also comes with a free downloadable Fallen Books app from the App Store or Android Marketplace, where you can watch the front cover come to life and Lauren Kate talks about her books. A very clever marketing tool in this modern world.

Fallen, Torment and Passion are the first three books in this wonderful story of love, right and wrong, good and evil, heaven, earth and hell. And I would definitely recommend them. Rapture, the final tome will be out the middle of 2012.

The Reading Stack reviewed Fallen, Torment  and Passion in February, February 2011 and June 2011 respectively and The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove in September 2011.

http://www.fallenbooks.com/

Unearthly

by Cynthia Hand

Harper Collins. Young Adult, Fantasy. Paperback RRP $24.99

Reviewer - Barbara Brown

When Clara turned fourteen her mother told her that she was special. The angel blood that runs through her makes her smarter, stronger and faster than humans. She is on this earth to fulfil a purpose and that she will have to follow her destiny.

Clara is now sixteen and has a dream that comes to her any time, day or night, sleeping or awake - a dream of a forest fire and a boy. This boy and the fire are Clara’s purpose. But what does she have to do? Does she have to save the boy from the fire?

Clara’s purpose leads her and her family to Wyoming. Here she meets the boy of her visions, Christian. He is the most popular boy in school and is dating the most popular girl. Others see Clara as infatuated with Christian, as are all the girls in the school.

The purpose, Clara soon realises, is only a small part of being an angel, or part-angel and she finds there are good and bad angels and that she has a bigger fight on her hand.

Then she meets Tucker. A boy who tugs at her heart. When the time comes and the forest fire starts Clara realises that both Christian and Tucker are in danger. Who does she choose? And will her decision change the purpose she is destined for?

Unearthly is the first book in a trilogy. It is a captivating story that dragged me along and had me reading it within 24 hours. Now to find out what happens in Hallowed due out in early 2012.

www.cynthiahandbooks.com

Gamers’ Challenge

by George Ivanoff

Ford Street Publishing. Australian, Junior, Young Adult, Science Fantasy. Paperback RRP $16.95

Guest Reviewer - Anastasia Gonis

It all started when they broke the Designers’ Rules. They kissed. Then everything changed. Now Tark and Zyra are no longer part of the game. Zyra is now susceptible to every human hurt and habit. Tark is ‘unheard and unseen’ but he feels free from the dependency of Designers’ Paradise where they had lived unchanged and ageless, each one programmed with specified speech patterns.

But a different game starts when Zyra and Tark come into contact with Tee, an Outer, which they too have now become, who has left the game and lives in a community of similar minds. The two are faced with another challenge; another quest. They discover that they have been character constructions, players trapped in a never-ending game that exist in a world of technology that recreates them over and over.

The Outers are being chased by a ball of static known as VI –Viral Interface, comprised of pieces of computer Interface that have escaped into the environment and become lethal. The worst is that the VI becomes larger and more powerful with every kill. It also multiplies as it grows, splitting into additional killers with increasing power and momentum.

The Outers discover the existence of an Ultimate Gamer, with an ultimate exit code that can remove him from the game environment and into the real world. Thus begins the quest to find him and uncover the cheat code. But they are unprepared for what this means. One revelation leads to another inside a labyrinth of options connected with the countless deceptive personas of the Ultimate Gamer. Will Tark and Zyra be able to discern what reality is as they play one last game?

With zombies, knights and dragons, bloody battles, chaos and catastrophe, and magik portals, the reader will view computers, viruses, corrupted files and anti-virus programs with new eyes. Here they become metaphors for danger and destruction in a world where conformity is the ultimate game.

This is the sequel to the charged, Gamers’ Quest. The Reading Stack interviewed George Ivanoff in March 2010.

http://www.gamersquestbook.com/

http://www.georgeivanoff.com.au/

The Key to Starveldt

The Rare: Book Two

by Foz Meadows

Ford Street Publishing. Australian, Fantasy, Young Adult. Paperback RRP $19.95

Reviewed by Barbara Brown

Solace Morgan and her group of friends each have unusual gifts – the Rare.

A prophecy was left to Solace from her parents – the parents she never knew – and now she and her friends, Evan, Manx, Electra, Jess, Laine, Paige and Harper have to unravel the cryptic clues it contains about each of them.

“The Rookery lives at the Sign of the Singing Hawk. My daughter, if you read this, seek Liluye there. She can be trusted. Mayhap she knows more of the prophecy. At the very least, she can guide you – not only to Sanguisidera, but in yourself. Homewards.”

They leave the confines of their safety house somewhere in Sydney and enter a different realm, the Rookery, where everything is so different it is hard to imagine anything normal again. But the Rookery is safe for Solace and the Key to Starveldt, the one thing that Grief, Solace’s evil brother and Lord of the Bloodkin, wants.

Solace has problems with her friends and relationships within the group - add danger, lies, secrets and death into the mix and the eight friends start questioning each other and their gifts. Has Grief infiltrated the group without having to step into the Rookery? Can the eight find the Castle of Starveldt before Grief does?

I loved Solace and Grief and waited impatiently for The Key to Starveldt. Now I have to wait again … for the third book Falling into Midnight.

The Reading Stack reviewed Solace and Grief - The Rare: Book One  in March 2010.

http://fozmeadows.wordpress.com/

Passion

by Lauren Kate

Random House. Young Adult, Fantasy. Paperback RRP $24.95

Reviewer - Barbara Brown

This was a highly anticipated third book about Luce and Daniel. However I was a little disappointed as the whole book is about Luce travelling backwards to find out why she has to die every time she kisses Daniel. Daniel is also travelling back in time to try and find Luce and to stop her from getting trapped. The last 13 pages of this 420 page novel are when the two finally get together! And of course it was worth it but just a little bit frustrating.

Passion is about Luce, a human, and her angelic soul mate Daniel, a fallen angel. Luce must solve why her past lives have always ended up in a flaming death, usually after a very passionate embrace with Daniel. So why does Luce not die when she kisses Daniel in this lifetime?

Both Daniel and Luce are battling their feelings for each other and working out why Luce doesn’t combust every time they are together. Is it because Luce has no faith and has never been baptized? Or does it go back to how Daniel became a fallen angel?

While Luce has help from a gargoyle named Bill, Daniel is on his own. When Satan manifests himself and decides to start meddling then things are set for a great battle in the last book.

Fallen and Torment are the first two books in this wonderful story of love, right and wrong, good and evil, heaven, earth and hell. And I would definitely recommend them. Rapture, the final tome will be out later this year. Can’t wait!

The Reading Stack reviewed Fallen and Torment in February 2010 and February 2011 respectively.

http://www.fallenbooks.com/

Faerie Winter

by Janni Lee Simner

Random House. Young Adult, Mystery, Fantasy. Paperback RRP $18.95

Reviewer – Barbara Brown

I had just finished reading Simner’s Bones of Faerie when I found the sequel, Faerie Winter, so I was excited to continue on with Liza’s plight of humans versus faerie and the plight of the children that were born after the war would become. Sometimes sequels can be a bit disappointing but Faerie Winter was so good I read it in just over a few hours. I couldn’t put it down.

Liza has returned to her village with her friend Matthew and Tara, her mother who they rescued from the world of Faerie. Life in the village is as normal as it can be when every child has a magical gift. However, when a young boy enters the village the trouble begins.

Ethan is a firestarter. He doesn’t seem to be able to control his power and Liza and Tara end up with a burnt house and the townsfolk demanding Ethan leave. But Ethan is only young and badly injured, so he is given a reprieve of three days to prove he is not a threat. Matthew sets out, in his wolf form, to get help from Faerie friends in another village to tend to Ethan’s injuries. The evil trees are dying now but a new danger lurks in the forests.

Liza ends up with a lot more than she expected when she brought Ethan to her home and it isn’t good. How can she help others when she has no control over her own powers and thoughts?

If you have never read a fantasy tale before then I recommend you read both Bones of Faerie and Faerie Winter. Loved them! And would it be wonderful to see on the big screen?

The Reading Stack reviewed Bones of Faerie this month.

http://www.simner.com/

Bones of faerie

by Janni Lee Simner

Random House. Young Adult, Fantasy, Mystery. Paperback RRP $18.95

I hesitated before picking up Bones of faerie. There are so many “fairy” and mystical beings books around that I could not possibly see how this one could be anything new. Luckily I was wrong.

A war between humans and Faeries has occurred. Most of the world has been devastated and now people live in small communities surrounded by myth and fantasy and the dangerous world of magic. It isn’t just Faeries that are to be watched but now the plants have tasted blood and thrive on attacking humans who venture too far from their well-tended paths. Once you have been caught by a tree do not expect to live.

Liza has watched her father protect their town by destroying anything that holds magic. When her own baby sister who is born with faerie-pale hair, clear as glass, is left to die on the hillside, Liza is scared. Her mother disappears into the forest without a word and Liza is left with her father and his draconian beliefs and punishments.

When Liza discovers that she may possess magic and sees a vision of her mother she decides to escape from her father and seek her mother, even though she knows she could not have survived outside the town after dark. But her visions show her the past and the future and the present and her mother, she feels, is alive. Somewhere. But where?

Liza’s journey takes her into the realm of Faerie and back again and her powers may enable both world of Faerie and human to heal.

Bones of faerie was an incredible journey that I now want to continue with the second recently published Faerie Winter.

http://www.simner.com/

embrace

by Jessica Shirvington

Hachette Australia. Australian, fantasy, romance. Paperback RRP $24.99

Reviewer - Barbara Brown

Violet Eden is turning seventeen. Her best friend, Steph, is excited about Violet’s birthday but it’s hard for Violet to get too excited. Her mother had died in childbirth and it seems Violet and her dad will be forever constantly reminded of this day – both joyous and sad. The only good thing about the birthday dinner will be that Lincoln will be there - friend, trainer and mentor who just happens to be sexy and mature and Violet has the hots for him big time.

Before they go to dinner, her father gives Violet a gift from her mother - a box, an amulet, a poem and a letter that was written before Violet’s birth and her mother’s death. Did her mother know she was going to die? What does she mean “A big decision lies ahead … I love you. Please forgive me.”? She puts the precious gift away and goes out to enjoy her night with her father, her best friend and Lincoln. And at the end of the night Lincoln confirms what Violet has believed all along – they were meant for each other – with an earth moving kiss. But then he leaves her abruptly on her front doorstep.

Lincoln is Grigori, part human, part angel and Violet is his eternal partner. Then Phoenix arrives, an exiled angel who Violet can’t believe anyone could be any sexier and he doesn’t lie to her. Bliss is where he takes her, but is it where she should go?

embrace is a wonderful story that you should not be blindsided because it’s about angels. It is more about light and dark and a love triangle that I feel very jealous about! If you like fantasy, mind games and a bit of a sexy love story, then this is a book for you.

http://www.jessicashirvington.com/

FEVER

A Dark Touch Novel

by Amy Meredith

Random House Australia. Young Adult, Mystery, Science Fiction, Fantasy. Paperback RRP $17.95

Reviewed by Barbara Brown

Book three of the Dark Touch Novel series starts with a severe heatwave hitting Deepdene. Along with this heatwave is a plague affecting the citizens of the small coastal holiday village for rich New Yorkers. No-one has died from the plague despite the fever, rash and then skin falling off in chunks.

Eve Evergold is the local Deepdene witch and with the help of her best friend Jess and Luke, the boy that seems to have Eve on his mind and he on hers, they set out to try and figure out if the plague, along with the weather, is caused by a demon or is just a virus that is running rampant throughout their small community.

But Eve has sealed the portal that allows demons to easily come and go and it still is secure. Where and what is this new demon?

With more and more friends getting sick, the school being closed and the whole community locked in from the outside world, Eve, Jess and Luke are going to need every bit of brain, strength and knowledge that they can to outwit and get rid of this demon – who is he? Could he be one of them?

A great read for young adults that like a bit of the occult and are sick of vampires but still like to see a girl kick some bad ass butt!

The Reading Stack reviewed book one Shadows, in June 2010. Book two, The Hunt, was released in late 2010 and book four, Betrayal, will be out soon.

Out for Blood

by Alyxandra Harvey

Bloomsbury. Fantasy, Romance, Crime, Young Adult. Paperback RRP $14.99

Reviewer - Barbara Brown


Hunter Wild is a teenage girl that attends a special school, the Helios-Ra Academy. This academy trains students on how to hunt and kill vampires. Hunter Wild is their star pupil and her grandfather, a famous vampire hunter, has high hopes for her. That is until she meets one of the famous Drake brothers, Quinn, and falls in love with him. The problem with Quinn is he is a vampire.

But the world is changing and vampires and humans are trying to help each other rid the world of the Hel-Blar, a factional vampire community who are hell bent in overcoming the Drakes and the vampires who side with them. They also like to kill for sport and fun – vampires included. Vampires are ruled by a matriarch who just happens to be Quinn’s mother and his sister, Solange, is next in line. The Drakes are trying to co-exist with humans but the Hel-Blar are trying hard to ensure that doesn’t happen.

Hunter is realising that the Drakes are good and without them the world will be even more dangerous. But when students start getting sick within the Helios-Ra Academy, there seems to be a darker force at work that is more evil than Hel-Blar. Can Hunter save her friends and herself?

Out for Blood is the third book in the Drake Chronicles but Harvey has written each book about a specific Drake. All three books can be read individually but the stories do intertwine together and give you some insider knowledge of the Drake family and their friends and enemies. As always there is a twist that you really don’t see coming at the end. Book four is due out later this year and I look forward to more of the Drake family.

The Reading Stack reviewed the first two Alyxandra Harvey’s books on the Drake family, My Love Lies Bleeding in February 2010 and Blood Feud in August 2010.

http://www.alyxandraharvey.com/
http://www.thedrakechronicles.com/

The Year of the Flood

by Margaret Atwood

Bloomsbury. Science Fiction, Fantasy. Hardcover RRP $41.95

The Year of the Flood is the story of two women who survive a man-made disaster, obliterating the majority of the human race.

Ren and Toby both are members of a cult called God’s Gardeners at one time or another. Toby is rescued by Adam One and his followers from the hands of a maniac who has used Toby for his enjoyment and is now ready to discard her to the place of no return. Ren is dragged into the Gardeners complex by her mother when she is a child, escaping the boring life of being married to a man who doesn’t really acknowledge Ren and her mother’s existence.

Toby gradually works her way up through the ranks of the Gardeners until her closest friend and supporter dies and Toby steps into her shoes and takes up the position as Eve Six and becomes the keeper of bees and administerer of potions.

Ren spends her childhood with the Gardeners learning that their way of life is a good way of life, where animals and humans co-exist and each is treated with respect. When her mother decides to leave the Gardeners and return to her husband and his chemical company, Ren is torn.

When the waterless flood hits the world both Ren and Toby have been locked away from others and find they have been spared from the disease. But what is the new world going to be like? Who else has survived? And what of the new species of animals and humans?

With man continually tinkering with DNA and chemicals, the animals, diseases, drugs and machinery, The Year of the Flood could possibly be a story waiting to happen.

http://www.yearoftheflood.com/

Torment

by Lauren Kate

Random House. Young Adult, Fantasy. Paperback RRP $29.95

Lucinda Price, Luce known to her family and friends, has been hidden away by her angelic boyfriend, Daniel. After the angel/demon battle at the last school, Sword & Cross, Luce is not safe and has been sent to a school in Fort Bragg called Shoreline, a school for the rich with a secret class for the ‘gifted’. Normal kids try hard to get into the gifted programme but unless they have a parent who is an angel or demon, they will never get in. Except Luce.

Luce has been placed at Shoreline under the protection of the school’s Nephilim kids. These kids all have powers and Luce can be well hidden in amongst their auras from the Outcasts, immortals who want Luce dead.

The shadows that have followed and surrounded Luce all her life are still with her but she learns, with the help of her new friends and teachers, that they can be manipulated to help her see into her past and past lives. Luce has eighteen days to learn as much as she can about her and Daniel’s past before the truce between Daniel and Cam, the demon that tried to kill Daniel at Sword & Cross, finishes and then Luce may have to fend off more than one enemy.

The more Luce learns about her past, the more she realises that her and Daniel have a long past that always ends up badly. Could their relationship finally culminate in something, but what? She is a mortal and he is a fallen angel.

The Reading Stack reviewed Book one, Fallen in February 2010. You don’t have to read book one but I would recommend it just to enjoy the story of past lives and angels and demons. Can’t wait for book three, Passion which will be out mid-2011.

http://www.fallenbooks.com/