MR RIPLEY'S ENCHANTED BOOKS - DARREN SHAN OF HORROR BOOK COVER WARS 2014 + BOOK COMPETITION

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books has decided to do a one off Book Cover Wars featuring some of Darren Shan's amazing book images. I have tried to pick a varied selection for you to consider. This is your chance to vote for your favourite BOOK COVER from the five that I have chosen. 

It's very easy to vote by clicking the links that you'll find at the end of this post. You have one month to vote as the Book Cover Wars will end on the 16th AUGUST 2014. Feel free to tell your friends and other like minded people about this post. 

As an incentive, I will give one lucky person who votes and leaves a comment on the post a Darren Shan book of my choice. This is open worldwide - I will choose one lucky winner at random. Enjoy and get voting.....

BOOK ONE: ZOM-B BABY - UK PAPERBACK COVER - PUBLISHED BY Simon & Schuster Childrens Books (27 Mar 2014) - VOTE HERE

BOOK TWO: ZOM-B ANGELS - TAIWAN BOOK COVER - PUBLISHED BY Crown Publishing Limited - ( 16 June 2014) - VOTE HERE

BOOK THREE: THE THIN EXECUTIONER - US HARDBACK  BOOK COVER - PUBLISHED BY Little, Brown Books (1 August 2010) - VOTE HERE

BOOK FOUR: WOLF ISLAND - UK PAPERBACK - PUBLISHED 
BY HarperCollins Children's Books (27 March 2014) - VOTE HERE

BOOK FIVE: BIRTH OF A KILLER - UK HARDBACK - PUBLISHED BY  HarperCollins Children's Books - ( 30 September 2010) - VOTE HERE

EVENT UPDATE: UK'S FIRST YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE CONVENTION - LONDON JULY 2014 - YALC

New York Times Bestseller Rainbow Rowell Completes YA Convention Line Up

Final list of names announced for Young Adult Literature Convention.

Waterstones Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman and the London Film and Comic Convention (LFCC) are delighted to announce the final list of authors joining the UK’s first Young Adult Literature Convention. Heading them is US author Rainbow Rowell, whose first YA title Eleanor & Park spent six weeks in the New York Times Bestseller chart, was voted Goodreads’ best young adult fiction of the year and was chosen by Amazon as one of the 10 best books of 2013. The first draft of her second YA novel Fangirl was written as part of the National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo) and was chosen as the inaugural Tumblr Book Club selection.

There are also a host of other names from the YA writing world joining the line-up, including 18 year old author Beth Reekles, who was recently named by Time magazine as one of the 16 most influential teenagers in the world. Publisher and award-winning author of In Darkness Nick Lake and Heart Shaped Bruise author Tanya Byrne are also announced today. Joining them is Robert Muchamore, whose books have sold in their millions and been translated into 27 languages.

The full list of names announced today:

•                     Holly Bourne

•                     Tanya Byrne

•                     Alexia Casale

•                     Lucy Christopher

•                     Cat Clarke

•                     Steve Cole

•                     Sarah Crossan

•                     Kim Curran

•                     Phil Earle

•                     Ian Edginton

•                     Garen Ewing

•                     Frances Hardinge

•                     Catherine Johnson

•                     Nick Lake

•                     Andy Lane

•                     Julie Mayhew

•                     Sarra Manning

•                     Amy McCulloch

•                     Anthony McGowan

•                     Sarah McIntyre

•                     Robert Muchamore

•                     Beth Reekles

•                     Tim O'Rourke

•                     Bryony Pearce

•                     Non Pratt

•                     Andy Robb

•                     Rainbow Rowell

•                     Lucy Saxon

•                     Marcus Sedgwick

•                     C J Skuse

•                     James Smythe

•                     Emma Vieceli

YALC will form a highlight of Malorie Blackman’s campaign as the Waterstones Children’s Laureate. It will take place at the London Film and Comic Con (LFCC), at Earl’s Court, London on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 July 2014. YALC will bring together all the UK’s YA publishers to provide a host of author events in a dedicated Book Zone, with talks, workshops, signings, a book sales area and publisher stands promoting new and upcoming titles. Blackman will act as a curator for the two-day convention, uniting authors and publishers throughout the UK community. 2014’s YALC event will be the first time a large scale public convention around YA books has taken place in the UK, and its setting among the fans of cultish film and TV will set books at the heart of entertainment for teens and young people.

YALC is supported by Prudential plc and the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society.

For more information about the London Film and Comic Con, visit their website here: http://www.londonfilmandcomiccon.com/ and follow @YALC_UK on Twitter for all the YALC news.

Names previously announced:

•                     Holly Black

•                     Malorie Blackman

•                     James Dawson

•                     Sally Gardner

•                     Sally Green

•                     Matt Haig

•                     Isobel Harrop

•                     Will Hill

•                     Charlie Higson

•                     Derek Landy

•                     Sophie McKenzie

•                     Patrick Ness

•                     Natasha Ngan

•                     Meg Rosoff

•                     Darren Shan

•                     Holly Smale

•                     Jonathan Stroud

•                     Ruth Warburton

Best New Children's/Teen Books Published In March 2014 - UK

Roy Gill - Werewolf Parallel - Published by Kelpiesteen - 20, March 2014
'His arms kept stretching, as if they were somehow getting longer. His fingers clenched in, then spread out again like claws. The shape of his head was changing impossibly too, the ears becoming pointed and growing upward, his jaw pushing and thrusting out...The wolf threw back its head and howled.' Cameron's life of shifting between the humanian and daemonic worlds is under threat and the magic that once protected him and his friends is failing. His best friends Morgan, a werewolf with an attitude, and Eve, ex-prisoner of a vicious weaver demon, discover that they aren't the only ones in danger: the very existence of their worlds is at stake. Two sinister figures want to destroy the Parallel -- the void in between worlds populated by a dark mixture of the humanian and daemonic -- and everyone in it. What will Cameron sacrifice to defeat the demons and save the Parallel?

Sophia McDougall - Mars Evacuees - Published by Egmont - 27, March 2014 - (Review to come this week)

The fact that someone had decided I’d be safer on Mars, where you could still only SORT OF breathe the air and SORT OF not get sunburned to death, was a sign that the war with the aliens was not going fantastically well.

When Alice Dare finds out that she's being evacuated to Mars to join the youth defence force, she isn't sure what to expect. But it sure wasn't being shot at, chased by invisible aliens, befriending a robot goldfish – and then having to save the galaxy!

Sally Green - Half Bad - Published by Penguin - 3, March 2014 - Review Here

A breathtaking debut novel about one boy's struggle for survival in a hidden society of witches.

You can't read, can't write, but you heal fast, even for a witch.

You get sick if you stay indoors after dark.

You hate White Witches but love Annalise, who is one.

You've been kept in a cage since you were fourteen.

All you've got to do is escape and find Mercury, the Black Witch who eats boys. And do that before your seventeenth birthday.

Darren Shan - Zom-B Mission - Published by Simon & Schuster Children's - March 27, 2014 

What has happened to the world since the dead took over? Where have the humans gone to hide? Who do the living most have to fear? B Smith is heading for unknown territory...Leading a group of humans through London and out into zombie-infested suburbs sounds like suicide - but not for the undead! Even so, the horrors of the journey will be beyond anything B has yet seen ...'Do not underestimate the dangers of this mission. Other zombies will not ignore you when they catch the scent of fresh brains. You will almost surely be called upon to fight. The city and countryside are full of angry, bitter people who are trying to execute as many of the undead as they can. They will not distinguish between a revitalised and a revived. Most do not know there is a difference. And most would not care.'

EVENT: UK'S FIRST ADULT LITERATURE CONVENTION - LONDON JULY 2014

                       

Big names announced for UK’s first Young Adult Literature Convention

Waterstones Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman and the London Film and Comic Convention are pleased to announce an initial list of authors who will be appearing at the UK’s first ever Young Adult Literature Convention (YALC). Among them are bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant author and self-confessed movie buff Derek Landy, double Carnegie Medal winning Patrick Ness, and Red House Book Award winner Sophie Mackenzie. Also on the bill is previous Booktrust Online Writer in Residence Matt Haig, 24 year old debut Natasha Ngan, publisher-turned-author Ruth Warburton and bestselling horror writer Darren Shan. Completing the list announced today is Being a Boy author James Dawson, and of course Malorie Blackman herself. Further names, as well as days and times of authors’ appearances will be announced in due course.

YALC will form a highlight of Malorie Blackman’s campaign as the Waterstones Children’s Laureate. It will take place at the London Film and Comic Con (LFCC), at Earl’s Court, London on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 July 2014. YALC will bring together all the UK’s YA publishers to provide a host of author events in a dedicated Book Zone, with talks, workshops, signings, a book sales area and publisher stands promoting new and upcoming titles. Blackman will act as a curator for the two-day convention, uniting authors and publishers throughout the UK community. 2014’s YALC event will be the first time a large scale public convention around YA books has taken place in the UK, and its setting among the fans of cultish film and TV will set books at the heart of entertainment for teens and young people.

The full list of names announced today:

·         Malorie Blackman

·         James Dawson

·         Matt Haig

·         Derek Landy

·         Sophie McKenzie

·         Patrick Ness

·         Natasha Ngan

·         Darren Shan

·         Ruth Warburton

More names will be announced as they are confirmed. For more information about the London Film and Comic Con, visit their website here: http://www.londonfilmandcomiccon.com/ and follow @YALC_UK on Twitter for all the YALC news!

New Edition Book Cover Reveal - Darren Shan - Lord Loss and Demon Thief (Demonata Series)

Missed the demonata the first time round?

check out our new look editions of this classic horror series a hellsh nightmare for only the bravest of readers...

                           

LORD LOSS by Darren Shan - New edition. Release date: July 4th 2013.

When Grubbs Grady first encounters Lord Loss and his evil minions, he learns three things: • the world is vicious, • magic is possible,

• demons are real.

He thinks that he will never again witness such a terrible night of death and darkness.

...He is wrong.

                        

DEMON Thief by Darren Shan - New edition. Release date: July 4th 2013.

When Kernel Fleck's brother is stolen by demons, he must enter their universe in search of him. It is a place of magic, chaos and incredible danger. Kernel has three aims: • learn to use magic, • find his brother, • stay alive.

But a heartless demon awaits him, and death has been foretold...

Darren Shan - ZOM-B - Book Cover Reveal - Simon and Schuster

Hi guys!

We revealed the cover for Darren Shan’s ZOM-B today on our London Book Fair and I wanted you guys to see it in all its glory… please do let me know what you think, we’re really excited about it! - (Brilliant Book Cover - I love it!)

Try not to have nightmares!! ZOM-B is out on 27^th September 2012 and is the first in a 12-part serial, with books publishing every three months until 2015.

Darren Shan - Wants Your Blood - 1 Million Virtual Drops

   It's my duty,to tell you about this..............                                 

Do something amazing today...GIVE BLOOD...TO DARREN SHAN

To celebrate the release of the second book in the Saga of Larten Crepsley series, ‘OCEAN 

OF BLOOD’, HARPERCOLLINS CHILDREN’S BOOKS have teamed up with FIREBELLY, a creative agency specialising in the entertainment industry, to help teen horror author DARREN SHAN collect 1 MILLION virtual drops of blood from his dedicated followers.

Darren is thirsty for your blood, and here’s how he’s going to get it:

Simply donate a drop of blood to the virtual ocean with a click of your mouse and be in with a chance to win one of 1,000 prizes instantly. These vary from free wallpapers, to signed books, iTunes vouchers and iPod Nanos. If users are unsuccessful first time round, they have the chance to donate as many drops as they like in order to win an instant prize, so keep bleeding to win!

Once the 1 MILLION drops have been donated and the ocean is full, one user will win the top prize of an iPad 2 with all of Darren’s teen books pre-loaded and a personalised Saga of Larten Crespley book cover framed and signed by Darren.

         

What are you waiting for? It won’t hurt...much! Visit 

http://www.facebook.com/darrenshanofficial. Please give generously.

Darren Shan - Ocean of Boold - U.K Book Cover + Synopsis

Back in December, I showed you all the USA book cover for this eagerly awaited book by Darren Shan.

However, this popped up in my inbox some time last week. The UK cover, which again is so much better then the USA book cover, shows David Wyatt coming up with yet another stunning image. It really is a cracker and will certainly help to promote the book, as it leaps out at potential readers. The book will be released at the end of April - I'm going to find it difficult to wait until then. However, in the meantime, this is a brief outline of the book based on information that I found on the HarperCollins website.

Free from their mentor Seba Nile, Larten Crepsley and Wester Flack join the Cubs – wild young vampires with little respect for human life, and a taste for mindless enjoyment.
For the Cubs, everything is easy. But nothing has ever been easy for Larten, and soon fate throws his life into another spin. With dark paths to travel, Larten finds himself far from the Vampire Mountain and its rules. A long way from home, sick and alone, he must decide what kind of vampire he will be. Whether he will stand firm, be true to his master and his princples – or whether he will lose himself in blood…

Darren Shan - Ocean of Blood (Saga of Larten Crepsley) - U.S Book Cover

                                        
I've just been sent the US book cover image of the next book in the Saga of Larten Crepsley, which I really like. It certainly gets you thinking about what's going to happen in this next little episode of Mr Crepsley's life. As a reader of my blog, I know that you'll be excited to see this and also to get copy of the final book, once it has finally been published. It will be very interesting to see the UK book cover in order to see if it stands out as much as the first book cover, which was a recent winner of my book cover wars. Therefore, it certainly has a reputation to live up to.

For anyone who wanders along my blog, and doesn't know anything about these books, I have posted a YouTube clip of Darren at this year's Edinburgh Book Festival. You can watch him talking about the first book in this series as well as some of his other books. Hopefully, you should find this both interesting and informative - it might tempt you into reading something scary. So make sure you check it out.