The Cry of the Icemark

"The Cry of the Icemark"
Stuart Hill
Nordic Fantasy
The Icemark Chronicles #1

Summary
In the frozen north lives a hard and proud people. The people of icemark are on the eve of their princess's coming of age. On her birthday she will become recognized as the next ruler of icemark, and she will be able to marry.

When a powerful enemy from the far west, who has never been stopped before, attacks icemark the king leads a small armed party to stop them. In the end the king and his men died to the last man but they gave the princess and all the rest of the people time to get away.

Now she must seek out allies who where once enemies, and friends who she never new even excited. Together they might be able to fight off this enemy, but will she be able to find them in time.

Review
This is a good book for teens and young adults. Although this book will never be in my top 10 favorite books of all time it is still really good. I read through the whole book very quickly and never even put it down.

The main character is strong and powerful. She is both honest and strong. The writer has created a world that we both know and that is new to us. The book is interesting in many ways and worth a quick read.

I would give this book a 6.8 to 10.

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Saga

"Saga"
Brian K. Vaughan
Saga Monthly Comic
Fantacy/Sci-fi

Summary
The largest planet in the know universe is at war with its own Moon. One side winged humanoids focused on science. The other side are horned humanoids who use magic. For years and years the planet and its own moon, science and magic, fought a bloody war causing massive destruction on both of their worlds.

Over time the war was outsourced to other worlds until it covered the whole galaxy. In the end every world has been made to choose a side. Science or magic, horns or wings, planet or moon.

In all of this war and chaos two lovers, one from the moon the other from the planet, find each other and marry. Now with a baby on the way will they be able find safety from both sides of the war? Will they ever find a place to call home, and can they create a peace or just greater war.

Review
This is an amazing comic book. This comic might be the best one writing in the last 10 or 20 years. I would put in on par with "Watchmen", "V for Vendetta" and "Sandman". So far there is only three collected volumes but it is still on going.

The story is rich and full. The characters are likable but honest. Whenever I read one of these comics I can't put it down and when I'm done I crave more. This story is about war, love and family. It is powerfully emotional, but also highly relatable.

The writer also blends science fiction and fantasy perfectly in a way I have never seen before. Other writers have tried to blend these two but it has always felt awkward to me, until now.

There is one thing I would say is a negative. The comic is a little overly gratuitous, to the point of being border line pornographic at parts. The violence can also be extreme and unpleasant to see. This means that this comic in not for anyone under the age of 18.

Over all I would give this comic book a 9.5 out of 10.

Vampire Academy

"Vampire Academy"
Richelle Mead
Vampire Academy #1
Supernatural Romance

Summary
In the heart of Montana there is a school. Like most schools this one has teachers, students and classes. the school teaches math, science and history. In almost every aspect this school is like any other high end academy, except for the fact that this one is full of Vampires.

Rose is a Dhampir and the personal body guard in training to her best friend, Lissa, the last vampire princess of her line. Both of them went to the vampire academy for years but after being warned by a teacher of a threat against Lissa's life they ran away.

Now after living on there own for two years they are heading back to the academy, but after being on there own for so long can they fit back in with the other students? Even worse can they find out who is trying to kill them?

Review
The best way to think of this book is Harry Potter Meets Twilight. It has a little more romance then Harry Potter but a lot more action then Twilight. Over all I really enjoyed this book and the whole series. It was a fun quick read.

This book also adds some interesting ideas to the vampire myth and Mead has created a world that leads the reader to wish they where a part of it. The characters and world are very compelling, and help the reader to believe in the impossible.

My only real complaint was that the writing was a little awkward in her delivery of the story. She had more then one time in which I wanted more or less information. The good news is that she fixes most of these problems in the next book and all of them by the end of the series.

Over all I would give this book a 7.3 out of 10. Fun, creative, and interesting.

Priceless

"Priceless"
Shannon Mayer
Rylee Adamson Series #1
Modern Fantasy

Summary
Rylee is a seeker. If you don't know what that means your not part of our world and you should stop reading right now, burn this book and pray you did not catch the attention of anything more powerful then yourself.

If you are from our world, she can help you. Rylee can find anyone for you no matter where they are and she can stand with you against the darkness. She has allies from across the magical world, but she also has enemies.

The FBI is investigating Rylee for her sister's death from five years ago, and for her involvement in the finding of several kidnapped children.

So if you are desperate and in need of help call Rylee Adamson.

Review
This is a really fun book. If you have read the Dresden files you will love this book. The Rylee books is a watered down version of the Dresden files with a strong female main character, and a more romantic vibe.

I really liked the book. The over all feel was strong and involved. Mayer took an original view on many classic horror and fantasy monsters. I was pulled into the story and plot my powerful characters, strong hooks and interesting twists and turns.

To be honest I was really scared of reading this book because I found it on amazon with my Kindle. This book is mostly self published and all of this lead me to be a little nerves. Don't be though, this book is great and the writer should be on your list of your favorite books.

I would give this book an 8.1 out of 10.

Divergent

"Divergent"
Veronica Roth
dystopia
(Divergent #1)

Summary
War, mature, crime, and suffering are all cased by the weakness in human kind. We often fail to live up to the most important attribute that would lead to an end to all of this. But what attribute would that be? The world has divided itself in to five factions based on which human attribute leads to a better world. Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent).

Beatrice is a young Abnegation who is turning sixteen. At that age all children must choice whether to stay with the faction of their birth or choose another. Luckily there is a test given to all children before their choosing telling them which faction would be best.

Like all children before there test Beatrice was scared for her test. But knowing that after this test she would know what to do made it better. Sadly for her she was wrong. During her test something went wrong after it the tester told her that she different, she was divergent. This meant that unlike most people Beatrice was equally suited to mutable factions and that was dangerous.

To protect herself Beatrice picked a new faction against her parents’ wishes. But will her new faction saver her or put her in more danger.

Review
I know I'm a little late on this book. With the movie coming out and the books popularity there are a lot of reviews out there, but a friend gave me this book and I had to review it.

I really loved this book. Throughout the story I feel with the main character. She is both strong and vulnerable which leads to a feeling of connection that is often hard to create in novels. I also really liked that the main love interest is a strong male role model.

I also enjoyed the basic concepts of the book. It feels both real and futuristic. The story builds on basic human ideas that we all know and understand. This leads to a thought provoking story that is not to difficult for the average man to understand and enjoy.

I do have one problem with it over all. As good as the book is and as much as I liked it there was just something missing. I got to the end of the book and felt a little lost. The writer fits a lot of the most powerful stuff in to the end chapters and it creates an awkward feeling for the reader.

Over all I would give this book 8.2 out of 10.

Ship Breaker

"Ship Breaker"
Paolo Bacigalupi
Post-Apactoliptic

Summary
In a post-apactoliptic world a young boy names Nailer works as a ship breaker, taking apart old ships ships for the metal and oil. Nailer works on a small crew ripping out copper wires from the inside of the ship. In the crew loyalty is everything so when one of his crew mates leaves him to die in the belly of the ship, he thinks that would be the end of him.

When he makes it out alive he starts to see the world in a new way. For the first time in his life he sees others as more then threats. He starts to see all human life as worth saving so when a rich girl washes up on shore instead of killing her and taking her money he fights to save her and this choice changes his world forever.

and just maybe help change everyone else world as well.

Review
This is a really great young adult novel. This book does something that has been lost in much of modern litterateur. In the pursuit of telling a fun story the writer forgets to look for something deeper. With more and more books coming out everyday the stories often become cheaper and cheaper. Ship Breaker "breaks" away from this this new trend and brings something more powerful to the table.

The main character shows a powerful and believable growth throughout the book. As I read the book the story and writing pulled me along. The original ideas and creative setting made for an interesting combination.

If I was to give this book one critique it would be that the flow is a little choppy. Although I ate right through the book, there where times when I was bored or the writer would add something out of place into the story line. This created a brake in the flow of the book that was sometimes annoying.

I would give this book a 7.7 out of 10.