Book Review - Brandon Sanderson - The Rithmatist

This book is based on an original idea that the author had around Spring 2007. At this time, Brandon's initial penned title was known as the 'Scribbler' and was based around the world that he aptly calls "gearpunk". However, due to other commitments, he was unable to fix the 'major flaws' (his acknowledgement) that he had encountered until more recently. Thank goodness he did find the time to revisit this book as the overall finished product is definitely worth all of the time and effort that he has invested in it.

In fact, in my opinion, these are perhaps some of the reasons as to why this book is so brilliant. It has had time to mature, just like all things classical. I'm sure that the plot has undertaken many changes and transformations along the way in order to make it the story that we are reading today. This is the book that should put Brandon Sanderson on the UK map as a great young adult fiction writer as well as an epic and well established adult fantasy writer.

This book is a rapid fantasy ride that will grip you. It's very complex and perhaps one of the most imaginative reads that I have come across in quite a long time. The core of the story is based around the Rithmatists, who draw pictures in chalk on the ground. However these take on mysterious and magical powers. You could be mistaken into thinking that this seems quite harmless, but these chalklings can be instructed to injure people . . . especially the wild chalklings. 

The Rithmatists find themselves protecting the Isles from deadly forces until one day they start to mysteriously disappear. A killer is on the loose. It takes Joel (non-Rithmatist) and his unlikely friends to save the day.  This is a breathtaking read with a fantastic storyline. It is full of mystery and suspense that will leave the reader wanting more - much more.

This is quite easily one of the best concepts that I have read in a long time. I was really immersed in the complex structure, which is depicted in detailed diagrams throughout the book, and give an in depth insight into the author's vision. In following this fantastic adventure, many chilling turn of events are introduced.

This book is up with the best fantasy reads this year. The ideas and the development of the setting are very well thought out and detailed. The enjoyable characters, who all add to the sense of mystery, create twists and turns within the story. The fast-paced nature of events and the great injection of "gearpunk", which some might identify as Steampunk, make this book tick all of the right boxes. The ending ties up all of the loose ends in a good way and leaves a teasing glance as to what may come next.

This is definitely a book for your summer reading list if you haven't already read it. If you already have, then I would love to hear what you think.

I'm hoping that time now passes by very quickly until the publishing of the next book in the series. I hope that I'm not going to have to wait another six years............!

Guest Post #4: Fleur Hitchcock - My Favourite Reads - Middle Grade - Past and Present

                                        

Twitter: @FleurHitchcock  - One of the judges of the 9-12 section of the Hot Key Young Writer’s prize, people might like to take note of my middle grade choices!!!

Website: http://fleurhitchcock.wordpress.com/

Favourite books for young people?  I couldn’t possibly, I thought, how can you pick one?

Well I couldn’t, but I’m a middle grade author, and we’re often overlooked in favour of young adult, so I thought I’d try and hold up the flag for a few of my middle grade faves, some of which I read to my children and some I enjoyed as a child, but all of which I have read recently, 

Night Birds on Nantucket.  I was devastated when I finished reading this aged 8, and even though I read Joan Aiken’s other stories and enjoyed them, they couldn’t deliver quite the terror and excitement of Nightbirds. Maybe it was the first Dido Twite book that I read, and so the novelty of the inventive slang and the rich descriptions had greater resonance or maybe I was exactly the right age.  It wasn’t the first in the series, and the series is very loosely linked, but I still think it’s the best of her very good books, all of which I’d recommend.

Holes.  I read this one hot summer and felt every scrap of Stanley Yelnats’ discomfort.  Probably the most beautifully constructed book I’ve ever read, it tells the story of wrongly convicted Stanley, and his incredibly roundabout release from the awful Camp Green Lake.  Apart from being funny, and scary, and so, so neat, it also has one of the best first lines ever: ‘there is no lake at camp green lake’, and one of the most unpleasant villains in children’s literature.  This is a middle grade book, but I can’t think any adult wouldn’t enjoy it.

                                

The Secret Henhouse Theatre.  It’s a common tale, children get together to raise the money to save the farm, although it doesn’t quite come out that way and Helen Peters steers away from the Enid Blyton path, by making the book harder, and more bruising than the books of my childhood.  It’s well written and emotionally close up, so that the central character is sitting on the reader’s shoulder all the way through, and the words play out like you’ve slipped into a movie so that although you should probably linger, it’s a really quick read.

National Velvet – worth reading just for the prose.  Exquisite writing.

The Mouse and His Child – again, beautifully written, a strange poetic journey, about the tiny mechanical mouse attached to the tin mouseling.  The creatures they meet that both help and hinder them are vividly painted and their adventures full of peril. I loved it when I was a child, and when I read it again recently, I was amazed by Russell Hoban’s use of language.

                          

Framed.  This book makes me laugh but underneath the humour and misunderstanding lies great warmth and heart.  I don’t think anyone else gets near Frank Cottrell Boyce’s love for his characters, and the way he fuses hope with the misery of things beyond a child’s control still really impresses me.

The Graveyard Book: Of course it’s a favourite, but I do like the cemetery so much more than the fantasy scenes. 

Artichoke Hearts.  This is on the edge of YA – but strays into that place between childhood and teenage with huge sensitivity.  Absolutely the best children’s book I’d read in ages.

 Sky Hawk:  Written by my contemporary from Bath Spa on the Writing for Young People MA – I saw the very beginnings of this book, and Gill’s passion for her subject infuses the writing, but not at the expense of characterisation or atmosphere. It’s a cracking read and yet full of carefully considered description.  And it makes me cry, which is always a plus. 

And, And And..... But I’ve run out of words. 

About the Author

Born in Chobham and raised outside Winchester, Fleur Hitchcock grew up as the youngest child of three. She spent her smallest years reading Tintin and Batman, and searching for King Alfred's treasure. She grew up a little, went away to school near Farnham, studied English in Wales, and, for the next twenty years, sold Applied Art in the city of Bath. When her younger child was seven, she embarked on the Writing for Young People MA at Bath Spa and graduated with a distinction. Now living outside Bath, between parenting and writing, Fleur works with her husband, a toymaker, looks after other people's gardens and tries to grow vegetables.

Author Guest Post #3: Dan Smith - Favourite Reads Past or Present

                                               

Twitter: @DanSmithAuthor   Website: http://www.dansmithsbooks.com/

Favourite Reads – Past or Present by Dan Smith

I don’t really remember reading a lot of children’s books when I was growing up – as a 10/11 year old I had already started on the likes of Jack Higgins and Alistair Maclean (‘The Eagle Has Landed’ and ‘Where Eagles Dare’ were firm favourites), but there is one book from my childhood that sticks in my mind. I loved ‘The Runaways’ by Victor Canning. There was something about the main character, Smiler, being accused of a crime he didn’t commit, that stirred something in me. Oh, and I loved ‘Danny, Champion of The World’ by Roald Dahl – all those ingenious ways of catching pheasants! 

‘Lord of The Flies’ by William Golding is a book that grabbed me when I read it at school. The isolation, the darkness, the savagery and, of course, The Beast. I’ve now read this book more times than I can remember and it never gets boring. It’s the ultimate survival story . . . or is it? You see, when I was twelve years old, I was introduced to the film of The Old Man and The Sea, and decided I had to read the book. I was mesmerised by it and still am. I once recommended the book to someone who returned it saying, ‘it’s about a bloke who catches a fish’. Well, yes, but it’s the best book ever written about a bloke who catches a fish. It’s also about so many other things, like friendship, tenacity, pride, loss, courage, struggle, human nature . . . you get the idea.

‘The Go-Between’ by LP Hartley is another favourite. It might seem an unlikely choice with its genteel Edwardian setting, but when I read it as a teenager, it was the dark underbelly of the society that intrigued me. The lies and deception. I also love that the narrator only really knows what happened when he is much older and able to understand it all. 

Oh, and don’t get me started on ‘The Road’ by Cormac McCarthy! What a beautifully grim book that is. In fact, I love McCarthy’s writing and could re-read many of his books – as long as there’s time to read Elmore Leonard and James Lee Burke. What else, what else . . ? ‘The Wasp Factory’ by Iain Banks was a huge inspiration for me to start writing, as was pretty much anything Stephen King wrote in the eighties. I love ‘True Grit’ by Charles Portis, ‘Clockwork Orange’ by Anthony Burgess, ‘Fight Club’ by Chuck Palahniuk, ‘Game of Thrones’ has had me gripped and ‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar is brilliant – read it now if you haven’t already – and . . . phew, I should probably stop now. 

Well, I don’t read anywhere near as much as I would like to. When I’m writing a first draft of a new novel, reading someone else’s work is fine, but when I’m editing, it sometimes feels a bit too much like work. In those circumstances, I often turn to another overlooked form of storytelling – the graphic novel. So here’s a list of my favourite gra . . . oh? You’ve heard enough? Well why are you still here, then? Go and read a book or something. 

About the Author

Growing up, Dan Smith lived three lives: the day-to-day humdrum of boarding school, finding adventure in the padi fields of Asia and the jungles of Brazil, and in a world of his own, making up stories. He lives in Newcastle with his wife and two children. My Friend the Enemy is his debut children's novel.

Dan Smith reads from his novel My Friend The Enemy (Chicken House Publishing) Published on 4 July 2013

Author Guest Post #2: C. J. Busby - My Favourite Read - Eight Days of Luke’, by Diana Wynne Jones

                                             

Twitter: @ceciliabusby             Website: http://www.frogspell.co.uk/

‘Eight Days of Luke’, by Diana Wynne Jones

I first read Eight Days of Luke when I was about nine, not long after it had come out. It was just about the best book I had ever read, and from that point on and on the basis of that book only, Diana Wynne Jones was my favourite author. I checked every library or bookshop I entered for other books by Diana Wynne Jones. Never being quite sure whether I would find her under ‘W’ for Wynne, or ‘J’ for Jones meant that the disappointment of finding no trace of her was always delayed till I had thoroughly checked both places, as well as the letters either side in case a book had got misplaced. But although I did find Charmed Life (quickly another favourite), there was generally no sign of her. So I read Eight days of Luke again. And again. I probably got it out of our library at least ten times (why on earth didn’t my parents buy it for me? But somehow books seemed too expensive in those days to actually own!) It’s not hard, even now, to recapture that sense I had as I read it that here was something completely out of the ordinary – utterly compelling and magical. It’s the particular combination of the ordinary everyday world with the world of myth that marks out a Diana Wynne Jones book – rarely are her books completely set in a fantasy realm, and even when they are, there is a kind of matter-of-factness at the heart of what happens. 

David, the protagonist of Eight Days of Luke, is an ordinary schoolboy, in the horrible situation of being dumped with a whole bunch of rather selfish and unpleasant relatives in the school holidays because his parents are dead. One particular holiday, thoroughly miserable and angry, David decides to curse them. His curse, all made-up words and emotional release, suddenly takes on a life of its own, a combination of ‘fierce terrible words’ that ‘asked to be said’. As he finishes declaiming them, the garden wall comes crashing down around him, and a strange, red-haired boy appears in the ruins – Luke. From then on, David’s life changes, immensely for the better, although Luke gets him into all sorts of scrapes, and draws the attention of some very mysterious and powerful people: Mr Chew, Mr Wedding, Mr Fry. It soon becomes clear that David isn’t the only one with difficult relatives – these people are after Luke for something terrible he’s done, and only David can save him, by somehow finding the ‘object’ that Luke stole, without knowing what it is. 

Anyone who is familiar with the Norse legends – and when I first read the book, I had thoroughly absorbed Roger Lancelyn Green’s magnificent Myths of the Norsemen – realises quite quickly that Luke is the Norse trickster god, Loki, master of fire and mischief. It follows that Mr Chew is Tyr, Mr Wedding, Woden, and Mr Fry, Frey. Suddenly, it’s as if you are reading the book with double vision: the ordinary and the mythological, the mundane and the magical, side by side – and it’s this, I think, that makes Diana Wynne Jones’s books get under your skin in such a thorough way. It’s impossible, after that, not to have the sense that only a thin veil separates your everyday life from the world of magic and myth. Any time, any day, you might just enter an amusement arcade and find yourself in Valhalla, or cross a bridge and realise it was an echo, a ghost, of Bifrost. Unlike with Harry Potter, ordinary people are not forever walled off from the magical world as unknowing Muggles – they are always just one step away from diving into or being caught up in the magical or mythological.  The effect of this revelation at the age of nine was a completely exhilarating ‘extra sense’ of magical possibilities in the everyday world that has never left me. For me (as for Neil Gaiman) it makes Diana Wynne Jones simply the best writer of magic for children there is. And although I have now managed to find and read (and re-read, frequently!) almost everything she’s ever written, Eight Days of Luke is probably still my favourite book.

About the Author

C. J. Busby was brought up on boats and in caravans in the southeast of England and north Wales. She lived in south India for a year for her PhD, and then taught Social Anthropology at universities in Edinburgh, London and Kent. She lives in Devon and has three children and currently works on environmental issues with schools, and is a copyeditor for an academic press. Her first picture book text, The Thing, was shortlisted for the Nickelodeon Jr national Write a Bedtime Story competition. 

Joseph Delaney's - Seventh Son - New Movie Trailer - Official Warner Bros. UK

This film is released in February 2014!  It is based on Joseph Delaney's Wardstone Chronicles (Spook's Apprentice) books.  This shows Jeff Bridges facing down a dragon in the Seventh Son official movie trailer and looks absolutely amazing.... what do you all think?

Author Guest Post #1: Nigel McDowell - Five Favourite Books

                       

Five Favourite Books.........

Twitter: @NMcDowellAuthor  Web site: http://www.nigelmcdowellauthor.com/

The Witches by Roald Dahl

Devouring anything by Dahl was an obsessions for all small boys in my Primary School, but of all his books, The Witches was the one I returned to time and again, and still do.  He begins simply, startlingly, by telling the reader that witches really do exist.  As a child this was a revelation, and a terror...but keep reading: he tells all we need to know about witches, how to recognise them, and how (hopefully) to outwit them.  Dahl is famous for his grisly humour, his resistance to comfort or patronise.  But what he does wonderfully is to acknowledge a child’s worst fears (a psychopathic Headmistress, creatures trying to turn children into mice by feeding them potion-laced chocolate) and at the same time indulges their wildest dreams (an extraordinary chocolate factory, an escape from a cruel life on a giant peach, learning the power to overthrow that deranged Headmistress).  He tells children that the world can be a dark place, yes, but says too that if you search hard enough, you can discover some magic to light the way.  

                    

Z for Zachariah Robert C. O’Brien

When I wonder about how to begin a novel, these words often return to me: ‘I am afraid.  Someone is coming.’  This is how Z for Zachariah begins, and once started it is impossible to put down.  I read this novel, like many others, as a teenager.   It was part of High School English; we studied it for an entire term, but even that couldn’t weary it.  It pre-dates Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and the tide of recent books about apocalypse and disaster, and in clear, lucid prose tells an intimate story about a girl, Ann Burden, fighting for her survival.  Her battle to succeed against loneliness, isolation, but also against someone who would attempt to destroy her.  It is claustrophobic, desolate, frightening, and a book I hope teenagers still read (and, if they must, study).

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Simply put - the novel that made me want to write.  At sixteen, this book (intended, I was told, for girls) was something moving, poetic, witty, sharp, beautiful.  It is still all those things to me, and more.  I read it when I want to be reminded of what I’m aiming for. 

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

Margo Lanagan is an Australian YA author, and one of the best.  She has written many wonderful short stories; reminiscent of Angela Carter, with her lyrical prose and macabre imagination.  But if you haven’t yet read her work then her dark gem of a novel, Tender Morsels, is the place to begin.  Set in a dark fantasy world so vivid and vile that you can almost smell its reek in your nostrils as you read, feel the filth gathering under your fingernails, it is a fable about how brutality and love can (and must) live alongside one another in the world.

NW by Zadie Smith

I wanted to include something recent; something not just contemporary but that (in the current climate of historical fiction) is also determinedly modern, and attempts to deal with and make sense of the “now”.  Zadie Smith’s newest novel is, I think, her best.  As in her previous work, her dialogue is keen and seductive; her portrait of London detailed and vivid, and her observations on class and guilt, marriage and motherhood, and melancholy - faultless.  But this is also a bold exercise in style.  A modern (or post-modern?) masterpiece.

About the Author

Nigel grew up in County Fermanagh, rural Northern Ireland, and as a child spent most of his time battling boredom, looking for adventure - crawling through ditches, climbing trees, devising games to play with his brother and sister, and reading. His favourite book as a child was The Witches by Roald Dahl. After graduating with a degree in English (and having no clue what to do with it!), he decided to go off on another adventure, spending almost two years living and working in Australia and New Zealand. With him he took a small notebook containing notes about a boy called "Bruno Atlas", and a seaside town called "Pitch End". When he returned to Ireland after his travels, one notebook had multiplied into many, and eventually his notes for Tall Tales from Pitch End filled a large cardboard box... Nigel now lives in London. He has written articles on film and literature for a number of websites.He is always on the hunt for books about folklore and fairytale. He wishes he had more time to climb trees. Tall Tales from Pitch End is Nigel's debut novel.

New Children's/Teens Books: Published August 2013 - US Post

                        

Greg Ruth - The Lost Boy - Published by GRAPHIX - 27, August 2013 - Age 8+

Some mysteries are too dangerous to leave alone.
Nate's not happy about his family moving to a new house in a new town. After all, nobody asked him if he wanted to move in the first place. But when he discovers a tape recorder and note addressed to him under the floorboards of his bedroom, he's thrust into a dark mystery about a boy who went missing many, many years ago. Now, as strange happenings and weird creatures begin to track Nate, he must partner with Tabitha, a local girl, to find out what they want with him. But time is running out, for a powerful force is gathering strength in the woods at the edge of town, and before long Nate and Tabitha will be forced to confront a terrifying foe and uncover the truth about the Lost Boy.

Matthew J. Kirby - The Lost Kingdom - Published by Scholastic Press - 27, August 2013 - Age 8+
In this extraordinary adventure story, Billy Bartram, his father, and a secret society of philosophers and scientists venture into the American wilderness in search of the lost people of the Welsh Prince Madoc, seeking aid in the coming war against the French. Traveling in a flying airship, the members of the expedition find their lives frequently endangered in the untamed American West by terrifying creatures, a party of French soldiers hot on their trail, and the constant threat of traitors and spies. Billy will face hazards greater than he can ever imagine as, together with his father, he gets caught up in the fight for the biggest prize of all: America.
THE LOST KINGDOM is an epic journey filled with marvelous exploits, courage and intrigue, and a bold reimagining of a mythical America. Matthew J. Kirby brings his signature storytelling prowess and superb craft to this astonishing story of fathers and sons, the beginnings of a nation, and wonder-filled adventure.

Mark Millar & Dave Gibbons - the Secret Service - Published by Marvel - 27, August 2013 - Age 13+
From the writer of Kick-Ass and the artist of Watchmen comes a collaboration decades in the making! The world's greatest secret agent is on the most exciting case of his career. But will the end of the world as know it take a back seat to training his street-punk nephew to be the next James Bond? meanwhile, what's the secret link between a series of kidnapped sci-fi stars, the murder of an entire town, and a dark secret from inside Mount Everest? Under Uncle Jack's supervision, Gary's spy skills and confidence blossom--but when the duo learn what's behind the celebrity kidnappings, the knowledge comes at a price. The conspiracy begins to unravel, but who can be trusted when so many prominent figures seem to be involved? It's a must-be-seen-to-be-believed action spectacle!

Madeleine Roux - Asylum - Published by HarperCollins - 20, August 2013 - Age 13+
Asylum is a thrilling and creepy photo-novel perfect for fans of the New York Times bestseller Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.
For sixteen-year-old Dan Crawford, New Hampshire College Prep is more than a summer program—it's a lifeline. An outcast at his high school, Dan is excited to finally make some friends in his last summer before college. But when he arrives at the program, Dan learns that his dorm for the summer used to be a sanatorium, more commonly known as an asylum. And not just any asylum—a last resort for the criminally insane.
As Dan and his new friends, Abby and Jordan, explore the hidden recesses of their creepy summer home, they soon discover it's no coincidence that the three of them ended up here. Because the asylum holds the key to a terrifying past. And there are some secrets that refuse to stay buried.
Featuring found photos of unsettling history and real abandoned asylums and filled with chilling mystery and page-turning suspense, Madeleine Roux's teen debut, Asylum, is a horror story that treads the line between genius and insanity.

Jonathan Friesen - Aquifer - Published by Zondervan - 6, August 2013 - Age 13+
Only He Can Bring What They Needed to Survive. In 2250, water is scarce, and those who control it control everything. And they'll do anything to maintain their power---deceiving, dividing families, banning love ... even killing those who oppose them. But above all, they seek to control knowledge and communication---ensuring the truth that will bring their downfall will never be known. But one person verges on discovering it all. Sixteen-year-old Paki becomes the Deliverer, the only one allowed to contact the people called 'Water Rats,' who mine the essential water deep underground and bring it to the 'Toppers' who desperately need it above. But when he meets a Water Rat who captures his heart and leads him to secrets---secrets about a vast conspiracy, and about himself---the net around him tightens. Paki and those around him must uncover and share the truth needed to overthrow tyranny---even as they fight for their lives.

Mr Ripley's New Children's Books: Science Fiction & Fantasy - Published August 2013 - UK Post

                                        

Kass Morgan - The 100 - Published by Hodder - 29, August 2013
No one has set foot on Earth in centuries - until now.
Ever since a devastating nuclear war, humanity has lived on spaceships far above Earth's radioactive surface. Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents - considered expendable by society - are being sent on a dangerous mission: to re-colonize the planet. It could be their second chance at life...or it could be a suicide mission.

CLARKE was arrested for treason, though she's haunted by the memory of what she really did. WELLS, the chancellor's son, came to Earth for the girl he loves - but will she ever forgive him? Reckless BELLAMY fought his way onto the transport pod to protect his sister, the other half of the only siblings in the universe. And GLASS managed to escape back onto the ship, only to find that life there is just as dangerous as she feared it would be on Earth.
Confronted with a savage land and haunted by secrets from their pasts, the hundred must fight to survive. They were never meant to be heroes, but they may be mankind's last hope.

                       

Diana Wynne Jones - The Dark Lord of Derkholm - Published by HarperCollins - 29, August 2013

A hilarious adventure about a fantasy world in danger of destruction from that most vile of threats… tourism .Winner of the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature in 1999.

A humorous fantasy from Diana Wynne Jones. In a world next door to ours, the tourist industry is devastating the population by its desire to experience all the fantasy clichés - Dark Lords, impoverished villages, dragons etc.

The Head of the University resolves to shut the tours down; the only problem being the ruthless tour-master - and his all-powerful demons. To save them all, the incompetent wizard Derk is appointed as Dark Lord in the hope that he will ruin the tours, and sure enough proceeds to fail at everything due to his general uselessness. But can failing at everything lead to a win this time?

  

                     

Kim Curran - Control - Published by Strange Chemistry - 6, August 2013

Scott Tyler is not like other teenagers. With a single thought he can alter reality around him. And he can stop anyone else from doing the same.
That's why he's so important to ARES, the secret government agency that regulates other kids like him: Shifters.They've sent him on a mission. To track down the enigmatic Frank Anderson. An ex-Shifter who runs a project for unusual kids - as if the ability to change your every decision wasn't unusual enough. But Anderson and the kids have a dark secret. One that Scott is determined to discover.As his obsession with discovering the truth takes him further away from anyone he cares about, his grip on reality starts to weaken. Scott realises if he can't control his choices, they'll control him.

Sarah J Mass - Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass) Published by Bloomsbury - 15, August 2013 

Eighteen-year-old Celaena Sardothien is bold, daring and beautiful – the perfect seductress and the greatest assassin her world has ever known. But though she won the King’s contest and became his champion, Celaena has been granted neither her liberty nor the freedom to follow her heart. The slavery of the suffocating salt mines of Endovier that scarred her past is nothing compared to a life bound to her darkest enemy, a king whose rule is so dark and evil it is near impossible to defy. Celaena faces a choice that is tearing her heart to pieces: kill in cold blood for a man she hates, or risk sentencing those she loves to death. Celaena must decide what she will fight for: survival, love or the future of a kingdom. Because an assassin cannot have it all . . . And trying to may just destroy her.

Love or loathe Celaena, she will slice open your heart with her dagger and leave you bleeding long after the last page of the highly anticipated sequel in what is undeniably THE hottest new fantasy series.

Book Review: Jonathan Stroud - Lockwood & Co: The Screaming Staircase

                    

Dear Reader, 

It has come to our notice that your property is being troubled by a Wraith, Spectre or similar Type Two apparition. As you know, such Visitors are very dangerous and bring with them the risk of fatal ghost-touch. You would be wise to consider urgent remedial action. The following procedures are recommended:

• read this book review
• buy a copy of the following book
• read the book thoroughly and enjoy it! 

Once these procedures have been completed, you will then become enlightened as to the suitable course of action that you need to take. 

As you can perhaps tell, I've had a serious infestation of the mind. I've been looking at this book for quite a long time on the bookshelf. In fact, to be precise, exactly three months it has been waiting patiently to be read. Eventually I cracked under the intense pressure and had to read it. The sample of ginger biscuits and the Lockwood special brew tea bags (that came with the proof) certainly helped the flow of concentration and whet the appetite - they were very scrumptious too.

This book is not published until the 29th August, so I do apologise if I'm teasing you but I just can't wait to scream about how good this book is. Although I do promise that this will be (hopefully!) a 'spoiler free' review so that you can just have a peep between the lines of the page. It is just going to give a tiny glimpse of what you can expect and perhaps an introduction to a floating spirit or two.

Jonathan has certainly taken me by surprise with this book. We all know that he writes great stories full of fantasy magic and brilliant imagination, as well as amazingly written characters in skilfully executed settings and backdrops. These are all still evident within this story but there are also elements of some Hitchcock horror genius which grows in strength towards the end of the book. You will know what I mean when you get there. 

You might want to keep the light on when you read this book. It's a dark and scary roller-coaster ride that will keep you on the edge of your seats from the very first page to the last. It's gripping, engaging and full of explosive action. It has a whole raft of nasties for the Lockwood Psychic Investigation Agency team to deal with. Unfortunately though, nothing ever goes to plan for the unlikely trio as you will all soon find out.

I have one little moan about the book regarding the predictability of the outcomes of events. I did work out most of the story before it happened, but nevertheless it worked and, if the movie goes to plan, then this will definitely work well on the big screen. 

The expectation that surrounded this book was easily delivered. It is a fast paced horror story that builds up to a massive crescendo of scary moments filled with terror and mayhem. This is a memorable story full of mystery and secrets that uncover a hidden depth of knowledge that will leave the reader captivated on many levels. The more you read, the more the  tension rises to palpable levels. 

I think that Jonathan has created a brilliant story enclosed within this book. It will certainly find many a new reader in both the young and old. Hitchcock meets Ghost Busters is perhaps the easiest way in which I can sum up this book - so be warned.......... 

Mr Ripley's New Children's Horror Books: Published August 2013 - UK Post

                                   

Kenneth Oppel - Such Wicked Intent (Victor Frankenstein) - Published by David Fickling Books - 1, August 2013

When does obsession become madness? Tragedy has forced sixteen-year-old Victor Frankenstein to swear off alchemy forever. He burns the Dark Library. He vows he will never dabble in the dark sciences again, just as he vows he will no longer covet Elizabeth, his brother's betrothed. If only these things were not so tempting.

When Victor and Elizabeth discover a portal into the spirit world, they cannot resist. Together with Victor's twin, Konrad, and their friend Henry, they venture into a place of infinite possibilities where power and passion reign. But as they search for the knowledge to raise the dead, they unknowingly unlock a darkness from which they may never return.

                    

Paul Bryers - Spook (Spooked) - Published by Hodder Children's Books - 1, August 2013

Twelve-year-old Kit Connelly has been saved from almost certain death ... by a ghost. A ghost who looks a lot like a fourteen-year-old version of herself. Believing that her ghost must have saved her for a reason and knowing that she only has two years left to make her mark, Kit decides to do something life-changing. But her plan to save the world takes her on a nightmare journey involving a crazed rock singer, an old World War II fort in the Thames Estuary - and a spectacular siege that brings Kit's story to a dramatic and surprising conclusion.

               

Derek Landy - Skulduggery Pleasant: Last Stand of Dead Men - Published by HarperCollins -  29, August 2013

War has finally come.

But it's not a war between good and evil, or light and dark – it's a war between Sanctuaries. For too long, the Irish Sanctuary has teetered on the brink of world-ending disaster, and the other Sanctuaries around the world have had enough. Allies turn to enemies, friends turn to foes, and Skulduggery and Valkyrie must team up with the rest of the Dead Men if they're going to have any chance at all of maintaining the balance of power and getting to the root of a vast conspiracy that has been years in the making.

But while this war is only beginning, another war rages within Valkyrie herself. Her own dark side, the insanely powerful being known as Darquesse, is on the verge of rising to the surface. And if Valkyrie slips, even for a moment, then Darquesse will burn the world and everyone in it.

               

Yangsze Choo - The Ghost Bride - Published by Hot Key Books - 1, August 2013

Seventeen-year-old Li Lan lives in 1890s Malaya with her quietly-ruined father, who returns one evening with a proposition - the fabulously wealthy Lim family want Li Lan to marry their son. The only problem is, he's dead. After a fateful visit to the Lim mansion, Li Lan finds herself haunted not only by her ghostly would-be suitor, but also her desire for the Lims' handsome new heir. At night she is drawn into the Chinese afterlife - a world of ghost cities, paper funeral offerings, monstrous bureaucracy and vengeful spirits. Enlisting the help of mysterious Er Lang (a dragon turned clerk) Li Lan must uncover the secrets of the ghost world - before she becomes trapped there forever. Drawing on traditional Malayan folklore and superstition, The Ghost Bride is a haunting, exotic and romantic read perfect for fans of Empress Orchid and Memoirs of a Geisha.

Ransom Riggs - 'Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children' Sequel Hollow City and Other News

                                   

                                       

This is an image possibly from the front cover of "Miss Peregrine's" sequel, "Hollow City," which picks up right where the first book left off, following the merry band of peculiar orphans as they travel to London in search of answers.

Who is this stern young man, and why is he lurking in this open door in a pair of the world's most high-waisted trousers? We've no idea, but you can bet the answer is something strange—in the "Miss Peregrine's" universe, it's always something weird. (Perhaps he's come in from out-of-doors to tell us that there's a hollowgast lurking in the yard.) Either way, he'll be waiting to meet you in the pages of "Hollow City" when it comes out January 2014.

Also other connected news: Fox also announced that Peregrine's Home for Peculiars will hit big screen July 31, 2015. The film, based on Ransom Riggs' debut novel, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, will be directed by Tim Burton from a script by X-Men: First Class writer Jane Goldman. The story follows a teenage boy who is transported to an island where he must help protect a group of orphans with special powers from creatures out to destroy them.

Book Review: The Grunts Are All at Sea by Philip Ardagh - Illustrated by Axel Scheffler

                                         

We've got something to crow about with this latest adventure from Nosy Crow - the small publisher with wings. This is the second instalment featuring The Grunts. All at Sea is contained in a lovely yellow hardback which has been exquisitely illustrated by one of the best illustrators in town - Axel Scheffler. 

This book is fantastically peppered in black and white images that are really daft. Each one captivates the reader and lends a whole new imaginative quality to the plot. Philip Ardagh is the wordsmith of this mad cap adventure; his clever word-play and his trademark whit are in abundance. This book is a wonderfully delightful story that will keep you engrossed right until to the very end.

Whether you are six or one hundred and six, this book is crying out to be read. It is recommended for readers who love the power of a great story. You will soon romp through this crazy tale packed full of silly and bizarre antics that are totally off the scale. Loaded with irony and total mayhem this is a fun story to read; it will have you laughing on a journey all the way to the sea and back.

The Grunts are on a wibbly wobbly mission to get a Person of Great Importance (or POGI) to someone called Mrs Bayliss.  Along the way they meet some mysterious villains and some very unlikely heros; each is very imaginatively written and brilliantly characterised. Speedy McGinty is my favourite character. She is a wheelchair-whizzing globe-trotter action type and, in my opinion, makes a refreshing change to other characters that I have been introduced to. 

I haven't had so much fun and enjoyment reading a book since riding an elephant backwards down the high street in my underpants. So batten down the hatches, run to a bookshop and grab yourself a copy of this book. It will not only make you smile but it will transport you to the far reaches of your imagination. You'll find fun, frolics and a crazy sea adventure ahead . . . . . . in fact what more could you every wish for?

Did I mention the Grunts game on iTunes? It is called Beard of Bees and is really quite cool if you'd like to check it out.

Book Review: Dan Smith - My Friend the Enemy + Trailer and Book Reading - Chicken House

                                       

I was really looking forward to reading this book once I knew that it was coming through the post. It's always a treat when I get books from Chicken House as I seem to love every book that I receive. In my opinion this publishing company have a great skill of picking a range of fantastic and diverse books to cater for every imaginative mind and this book is no different. 

It's a great skill when an author can write a story that provokes many thoughts from the reader - this book does it in spades. The book is set in the summer of 1941. The main character is called Peter. One day, when out playing in the woods, a German plane is shot out of the sky and comes crashing down very close to Peter. He rushes to the crash site hoping to finding something to keep but what he finds is something very different . . . . This is the start of a beautiful story that explores the friendship and the moral dilemma of helping the enemy and doing what feels right. It's told with great skill through the eyes of children within a hostile environment. 

This is a very captivating read. Whilst it is really sad in parts it is also told with an upbeat tempo. It portrays the times and spirit of that period particularly well. The attitudes and the hardships are very well depicted. They show everyone pulling together in times of need and keeping morale high. The life of making do, the lack of food and those everyday things that we now take for granted just make you think and begin to recognise what life was like at that time

The characters in the book are brilliant; I would even go on to say that they are special. It is as if the author has handpicked the key memories of children who lived through World War 2 and then captured these in his own vision. 

This is a sparkling book of friendship and adventure that will capture your heart strings and certainly take you down a turbulent path of mixed emotions. One of my favourite authors is Robert Westall who often took me down the fantastic path of WW2 gritty stories. Dan's first foray into children's literature brought back these golden times and I would really like to thank him for that. Perhaps he also enjoyed these qualities and aspects himself as a child - I believe that he also lives in the North East and might well be already acquainted with the same Robert Westall books as myself.

I would really like to see many people picking up this book and not just children. It's a book to get lost in a world which was someones reality back in the day. It may stir the emotions of people who perhaps lived through those times and, for those who are just far too young, it may help them to understand that particularly dark and bleak time. In my strong opinion, it might just make us all better people. The book is out on the 4th July so get it on your summer reading list.