Friday Faceoff – Spread a little Sparkle Wherever you go… #Brainfluffbookblog #FridayFaceoffSparklingcovers

This meme was started by Books by Proxy, whose fabulous idea was to compare UK and US book covers and decide which is we prefer. This meme is now nurtured by Lynn’s Book Blog and this week we are featuring SPARKLING covers. I’ve selected the sci fi YA adventure Across the Universe – Book 1 of the Across the Universe series by Beth Revis.

 

This edition was produced by Razorbill in January 2011. I love this cover’s backdrop with the beautiful, glittering nebulae, although the two faces juxtaposed into an upside- down kiss doesn’t really do it for me. Someone mentioned it looks like two fish kissing and now that’s all I can see.

 

This paperback edition, published in November 2011 by Razorbill, has taken a different aspect of the story, rather than featuring the romance. I really like the image of Amy wandering along the corridor of the ship Godspeed all alone. It certainly gives a good sense of the plot.

 

Published by Razorbill in January 2011, this Kindle edition is my favourite. I really love the image of the ice-crusted hull with a lump that has fallen away. The font is also suitably futuristic and funky, which works really well with the space opera feel of this one. It’s original, beautiful and eye-catching. My one grizzle is that the chatter plonked in the top right shouldn’t be there, but it isn’t a dealbreaker.

 

This French edition, published by Pocket Jeunesse in September 2014, reverts to featuring the romance in the story. It is a beautiful cover with the two lovers gazing longingly into each others’ eyes with the starscape as a backdrop. However, I really don’t like the twirling font which is at odds with the sci fi setting – while this story does feature a romance, it isn’t the plotline that powers the narrative arc. So I believe the strong romantic feel is slightly misleading for those predominantly seeking a girl-meets-boy story.

 

This Greek edition, published in November 2011 by Πατάκης is more than a nod in the direction of the first cover. I really like the simplicity of the stylised outlines against the spacescape, but the issue I have with it is that the artwork effectively stops two-thirds down, so that the bottom third is essentially a textbox. This has been cluttered with a rather random logo and the series information with little thought as to how it blends with the rest of the cover design. Which is your favourite?

2016 Discovery Challenge – How Did I Do?

After reading Jo Hall’s post here, I decided to join this challenge and set myself the target of reading and reviewing at least two books a month by women authors I’ve not previously encountered. For a variety of reasons, 2016 proved to be my best reading year, ever. So I actually read and reviewed 45 books by women I haven’t read before. There were so many great authors in that group and my top five are included in my outstanding books of 2016 – see here. So I want to feature my top five very near misses in no particular order:-

Radiance by Cathrynne M. Valente
I enjoy being a Netgalley reader – it pushes me out of my comfort zone every so often. I’m not sure I would have picked up this offering if it hadn’t been on offer, given the description was a decopunk pulp SF alt-history space opera mystery set in a Hollywood-and solar system-very different from our own. Severin Unck’s father is a famous director of Gothic romances in an alternate 1986 in which talking movies are still a daring innovation due to the patent-hoarding Edison family. Rebelling against her father’s films of passion, intrigue, and spirits from beyond, Severin starts making documentaries, traveling through space and investigating the levitator cults of Neptune and the lawless saloons of Mars. For this is not our solar system, but one drawn from classic science fiction in which all the planets are inhabited and we travel through space on beautiful rockets. Severin is a realist in a fantastic universe.

For starters, this is a novel with a fractured timeline, so the story skips around and is told in a mixture of interviews, gossip and through extracts of old classic film, among other narrative modes. Therefore you need to pay attention. Initially I wondered what I was getting myself into – for the sheer oddness of the world wasn’t anything I was prepared for, given that I’m allergic to reading any kind of blurb. Was it worth the effort? Oh, yes.

 

Machinations – Book 1 of the Machinations series by Hayley Stone
The machines have risen, but not out of malice. They were simply following a command: to stop the endless wars that have plagued the world throughout history. Their solution was perfectly logical. To end the fighting, they decided to end the human race. A potent symbol of the resistance, Rhona Long has served on the front lines of the conflict since the first Machinations began—until she is killed during a rescue mission gone wrong. Now Rhona awakens to find herself transported to a new body, complete with her DNA, her personality, even her memories. She is a clone . . . of herself. Trapped in the shadow of the life she once knew, the reincarnated Rhona must find her place among old friends and newfound enemies—and quickly. For the machines are inching closer to exterminating humans for good. And only Rhona, whoever she is now, can save them.

I also read and reviewed the second book, Counterpart in this intriguing series. There are indications that Stone is still feeling her way – this is, after all, her debut novel and the machines weren’t particularly vividly drawn – but I have never read a book where the issue of cloning has been so thoroughly and emotionally examined. Despite its flaws, this one has stayed with me.

 

The Fettered Flame – Book 2 of the Shkode series by E.D.E. Bell
The Fettered Flame is a genre-bending fantasy novel that continues the saga of two dying worlds, plagued by their own unique struggles for power. Follow the journeys of Cor – a woman striving to understand her powers of magic and how the connect to her past, Atesh – her contemplative dragon companion, and Jwala – a dragon plunged into a rebirth of ancient ideals. The Fettered Flame is the second instalment in the Shkode trilogy: a quirky and modern take on dragons and wizards, exploring themes of identity, prejudice, violence, compassion, and the ways we are all connected.

I was sufficiently impressed to seek out the first book, The Banished Craft, in this science fiction/fantasy mashup. The blurb may sound a bit gushy, but it is spot on. This is epic fantasy with a sci fi twist and I’m looking forward to reading the next instalment when it is released as I love the characters and Bell’s quirky, insightful take on the world she has created.

 

Rosemary and Rue – Book 1 of the Toby Daye series by Seanan McGuire
October “Toby” Daye, a changeling who is half human and half fae, has been an outsider from birth. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the Faerie world, retreating to a “normal” life. Unfortunately for her, the Faerie world has other ideas…

I loved McGuire’s writing and went on to read her wonderful novella Every Heart a Doorway. One of my promises to myself is to continue reading more of the Toby Daye series in 2017.

 

Rebel of the Sands – Book 1 of the Rebel of the Sands series by Alywn Hamilton
Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there’s nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can’t wait to escape from. Destined to wind up “wed or dead,” Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk, but things don’t go according to plan…

Hamilton’s punchy, accomplished writing grabbed me from the first page and didn’t let go until the end of this adrenaline-fuelled ride. Amani is a feisty heroine who attracts trouble like iron filings to a magnet and I found this one really hard to put down until it was finished and am very much looking forward to reading the sequel.

 

Given I nearly doubled the target number of women authors I read and reviewed, should I increase my goal for 2017? I’ve decided against doing so. One of the reasons why 2016 was such a bumper reading year was because I wasn’t writing. Editing and rewriting, yes – but I wrote nothing new. So reading became a refuge that I don’t normally crave so intensely as diving into a new world of my own for the first time tends to thoroughly tick that box. Therefore, I shall launch my 2017 Discovery Challenge with the target of reading and reviewing at least two books a month by women writers previously unknown to me. And if I have half as much joy in the coming year as I’ve had reading this year’s offerings, I shall be very happy, indeed.

What about you? Did you set yourself any reading challenges in 2016 – and if so, how have you got on? Do you intend to continue them into 2017?

Discovery Challenge Books I Read in 2016
1. The Puppet Boy of Warsaw by Eva Weaver
2. Truthwitch – Book 1 of the Witchlands series by Susan Dennard
3. Gold, Fame, Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins
4. Daughter of Smoke and Bone – Book 1 of the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series by Laini Taylor
5. Heart of Obsidian – Book 12 of the Psy-Changeling series by Nalini Singh
6. Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente
7. Rosemary and Rue – Book 1 of the Toby Daye series by Seanan McGuire
8. Radio Silence by Alice Oseman
9. The Sector – Book 1 of the Non-Compliance series by Paige Daniels
10. Brink’s Unfortunate Escape from Hell – Prequel to the Skycastle series by Andy Mulberry
11. The Many Selves of Katherine North by Emma Geen
12. The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
13. Cinder – Book 1 of the Luna Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
14. Bright Blaze of Magic – Book 3 of the Black Blade series by Jennifer Estep
15. A Rural Affair by Catherine Alliott
16. Queen of Hearts – Book 1 of the Queen of Hearts saga by Colleen Oakes
17. The Outliers – Book 1 of The Outliers trilogy by Kimberley McCreight
18. The Loneliness of Distant Beings by Kate Ling
19. Banished – Book 1 of the Blackhart trilogy by Liz de Jager
20. The Nothing Girl by Jodi Taylor
21. Change of Life – Book 2 of a Menopausal Superhero by Samantha Bryant
22. Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet by Charlie N. Holmberg
23. Speak by Louisa Hall
24. Inborn – Book 1 of The Birthright series by Amy Saunders
25. Machinations – Book 1 of The Machinations series by Hayley Stone
26. Woman of the Hour by Jane Lythell
27. Shift by Em Bailey
28. An Accident of Stars – Book 1 of The Manifold Worlds series by Foz Meadows
29. Across the Universe – Book 1 of the Across the Universe series by Beth Revis
30. The Thousandth Floor – Book 1 of The Thousandth Floor series by Katherine McGee
31. The Changeling by Christina Soontornvat
32. The Fettered Flame – Book 2 of the Shkode series by E.D.E. Bell
33. Aveline – Book 1 of The Lost Vegas series by Lizzy Ford
34. Escapology by Ren Warom
35. So Many Boots, So Little Time – Book 3 of the MisAdventures of Miss Lilly series by Kalan Chapman Lloyd
36. The Imlen Brat by Sarah Avery
37. Return to the Secret Garden by Holly Webb
38. A Darker Shade of Magic – Book 1 of the Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab
39. Synners by Pat Cadigan
40. Renting Silence – A Roaring Twenties Mystery by Mary Miley
41. Split the Sun – Book 2 of the Inherit the Stars duology by Tessa Elwood
42. Rebel of the Sands – Book 1 of the Rebel of the Sands series by Alwyn Hamilton
43. Ever the Hunted – Book 1 of the Clash of Kingdoms series by Erin Summerill
44. The City of Ice – Book 2 of the Gates of the World series by K.M. McKinley
45. Graveyard Shift – Book 10 of the Pepper Martin series by Casey Daniels

2016 Discovery Challenge – August Roundup

After reading Joanne Hall’s thought-provoking post, I decided to read and review at least two women authors unknown to me each month. During August, I managed to read 3 Discovery Challenge books, which takes my yearly total so far to 25 books read by women I haven’t previously encountered.

Across the Universe – Book 1 of Across the Universe series by Beth Revis
Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone—one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship —tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn’t do something soon, her parents will be next.

This YA generational ship adventure manages to evoke a real sense of claustrophobia as Amy views with increasing horror the way society has evolved during her long sleep. The shocking ending means that I hope to be able to revisit this entertaining series before too long.

 

The Thousandth Floor – Book 1 of The Thousandth Floor series by Katherine McGee
Welcome to Manhattan, 2118.
A hundred years in the future, New York is a city of innovation and dreams. But people never change: everyone here wants something…and everyone has something to lose. Leda Cole’s flawless exterior belies a secret addiction—to a drug she never should have tried and a boy she never should have touched. Eris Dodd-Radson’s beautiful, carefree life falls to pieces when a heartbreaking betrayal tears her family apart. Rylin Myers’s job on one of the highest floors sweeps her into a world—and a romance—she never imagined…but will her new life cost Rylin her old one? Watt Bakradi is a tech genius with a secret: he knows everything about everyone. But when he’s hired to spy by an upper-floor girl, he finds himself caught up in a complicated web of lies. And living above everyone else on the thousandth floor is Avery Fuller, the girl genetically designed to be perfect. The girl who seems to have it all—yet is tormented by the one thing she can never have.

We’ve all seen the plot device on CSI – the episode starts with one of main characters in a burning building/being shot/another horrible situation, and then the narrative jumps back in time to lead up to that particular point… And this is exactly what McGee has done with her debut novel. The book opens with a beautiful young girl plummeting to her death from the top of the tallest building in New York – and then the narration jumps back two months to introduce us to a cast of characters whose lives intertwine in a variety of ways.

 

The Changelings by Christina Soontornvat
Izzy’s family has just moved to the most boring town in the country. But as time goes on, strange things start to happen; odd piles of stones appear around Izzy’s house, and her little sister Hen comes home full of stories about the witch next door. Then, Hen disappears into the woods. She’s been whisked away to the land of Faerie, and it’s up to Izzy to save her. Joined there by a band of outlaw Changelings, Izzy and her new friends set out on a joint search-and-rescue mission across this foreign land which is at turns alluringly magical and utterly terrifying.

Soontornvat’s pacing is nicely judged throughout in this children’s fantasy adventure. Layers of information unpeel along the way, as we need to know about it, rather than enduring any semi-omniscient info dumps so often occurring in children’s books. An entertaining read for the age group who are ready for Terry Pratchett’s The Wee Free Men.

 

Tackling my TBR
This is in response to my habit of continually gathering up new books – and not reading them. I want try and reduce the teetering pile by my bed, so I’ve decided to report back on how I’m doing in the hope that it will nudge me to read more of them. Except that during August, I was so busy reading Netgalley arcs and other review copies, I only managed one book – Across the Universe by Beth Revis.

Review of Across the Universe – Book 1 of KINDLE Ebook Across the Universe series By Beth Revis

This was recommended as a cracking generational ship read during a discussion about this science fiction sub-genre, so I went looking for it…

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone—one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship —tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn’t do something soon, her parents will be next.

This YA adventure is set on a generational ship and the two protagonists are Amy and Elder, the leader-in-waiting, who is being groomed to take over running the ship by the cynical, short-fused Eldest, who brooks no opposition. When Amy is woken decades earlier before the ship is due to land, she quickly realises it was an attempt to kill her – and when other stored personnel are murdered in the same way, she is desperate to protect her parents, still frozen in the hold of the ship. Meantime, she now has to try and fit in with the other inhabitants of the ship – a far taller order than you might think, given that everyone else on board is genetically very similar to each other, and with her pale skin and auburn hair, she immediately stands out.

We learn about the trammelled society aboard Godspeed through Amy’s appalled eyes and Elder’s increasing restlessness at Eldest’s autocratic pronouncements. It’s nicely done and the sense of claustrophobia experienced by Amy as she realises she will spend most of her life aboard this ship, is vividly portrayed. I liked her efforts to discover who is murdering the frozen personnel who are stored in the ship’s hold as she continues to come to terms with what is going on.

Meanwhile, Elder becomes increasingly distracted by her to Eldest’s fury, though he is also struck by how attached she is to her parents – which leaves him feeling isolated as the custom is that the ship’s Eldest never knows who his parents are to prevent any dynastic ruling family taking control. Revis continually provides us with a steady dripfeed of answers while posing the next layer of question. This book steadily ramps up the stakes as the extent to which Godspeed has deviated from the original mission becomes apparent.

Of course, in order for this story structure to be really successful, the reveal has to pay off. We have to be amazed and/or appalled at the denouement and feel it was worth the book-long wait. Revis handled this beautifully – she produces the big twist at the end and just as I was coming to terms with how this is overcome, she gives us yet another big game-changer. I really enjoyed the way this played out, transforming this book from an 8 into a 9. The good news is that the next two books A Million Suns and Shades of Earth are available and I can see why this book garnered a shedload of nominations for awards when it was first released in 2011.
9/10

Sunday Post – 14th August

This is part of the weekly meme over at the Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where book bloggers can share the books and blogs they have written.

The grandchildren have now gone home and I’m very glad I’m currently crazy busy so I can ignore the fact the house is a lot quieter and emptier… Last Sunday we travelled to my parents’ house for a family gathering in Ringwood. It was a shock just how much warmer it was away from the coast and the constant cool wind as we relaxed in the garden, catching up with other family members as the children cycled and ran around the garden. On Tuesday my sister-in-law and niece came down for the day and I got to see the pics my niece took during her month-long pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, during which she and a friend walked over 800 km – an amazing achievement. It seems only yesterday when she used to come and stay with us as a five-year-old. On Wednesday morning Himself and I took Oscar to play crazy golf down at the beach – the weather was just right, sunny without being too hot and we all enjoyed ourselves and declared it a draw, though I think we all did very well – no one lost a ball. In the evening, our writing group was held here as I had Oscar still staying and it was lovely to catch up with everyone during this holiday period and hear how everyone is getting on with their various projects.
On Thursday, we dropped the children back in Brighton to stay with their other grandparents and in the evening, my daughter and I met up in Brighton after she finished work, had a lovely meal, then attended a question and answer session with Scroobius Pip at Waterstones to celebrate the launch of his book Distraction Pieces as she is a fan of his podcast. It was an interesting evening – he is an excellent speaker, irreverent and funny with some sharp things to say about modern life.

As you can see, I’ve had a very social week – which has impacted a bit on my blogging and reading…

This week I’ve managed to read:

Telepath – Book 1 of Hive Mind series by Janet Edwards
Amber is one of over a million eighteen-year-olds in one of the great hive cities of twenty-sixth century Earth. She’s about to enter the Lottery of 2532, which will assess her abilities and decide her hive level, her profession, her whole future life. Amber’s dream is to be level 10 or above, her nightmare is to be a level 99 Sewage Technician. When Lottery discovers Amber is a rare and precious telepath, she must adapt to a new life protecting the people of the crowded hive city. Her job is hunting down criminals before they commit their crimes, but she doesn’t know she’s being hunted herself.
I really enjoyed this latest book from Edwards and have reviewed it this week.

 

 

 

Fluff the Magic Rabbit by Roger Shadbolt
Roger is one of my students and he’s been working on this children’s book for a couple of years. Now he has it in book form, complete with some beautiful illustrations, he presented me with a copy so I could roadtest on Oscar. He thoroughly enjoyed it – it is far sharper and funnier than the title may suggest, so I will be reporting Oscar’s observations back in due course, along with a couple of tweaks I noticed while reading it to him.

Across the Universe – Book 1 of Across the Universe series by Beth Revis
Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules. Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone—one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship —tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn’t do something soon, her parents will be next.

This was recommended during a chat about generational ship books – though I cannot recall who suggested it. If it was you – thank you! This is a really enjoyable book, full of tension as Amy grapples to cope with a dystopian nightmare that is now established on Godspeed. I’ll be reviewing it in due course.

My posts last week:
Sunday Post – 7th August

Teaser Tuesday – featuring Across the Universe – Book 1 of the Across the Universe series by Beth Revis

*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky

*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of Nevernight – Book 1 of The Nevernight Chronicle by Jay Kristoff

Friday Faceoff – The Heavenly Host featuring The Madness of Angels – Book 1 of the Matthew Swift series by Kate Griffin

*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of Telepath – Book 1 of the Hive Mind series by Janet Edwards

Other interesting/outstanding blogs and articles that have caught my attention during the last week, in no particular order:

A Pirate’s Life for Me-ish https://mylittlebookblog.com/2016/08/12/a-pirates-life-for-me-ish/
It’s lovely to have Lizzy Baldwin back and blogging – and this amusing, yet thought provoking article reminds me all over again why I’m a frequent visitor to her site…

Interview with a Holocaust Survivor https://historywithatwist.wordpress.com/2016/07/26/interview-with-a-holocaust-survivor/
This amazing interview by Frank Grunwald is riveting – he is such an exceptional individual and so brave to share his experiences.

Six Word Stories: Polluted https://richardankers.com/2016/08/12/six-word-stories-polluted/
Sometimes it doesn’t take long to make your point – as long as your word choice is absolutely spot on…

Photolicioux – Sueño No. 1: Artículos eléctricos para el hogar https://photolicioux.wordpress.com/2016/08/09/sueno-no-1-articulos-electricos-para-el-hogar/
There is something about this particular image I found very disturbing – I even dreamt about it…

Guest Post – The Moon Village and the Space Economy http://earthianhivemind.net/2016/08/12/guest-post-moon-village-space-economy/
Steph featured this fascinating article about a future settlement on the Moon – one envisaged by scientists rather than writers…

Many thanks for visiting and taking the time and trouble to comment – and may you have a wonderful reading and blogging week.

Teaser Tuesday – 9th August, 2016

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books and a Beat.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This is my choice of the day:
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
19% Eldest leaves the Learning Center door open, and as he storms away, my eyes drift up to the metal screen, behind which are the twinkling lightbulbs I thought were stars. Why lie about the screen, about the hidden level of the ship? And what other lies has he been telling?

BLURB: Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone—one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship —tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn’t do something soon, her parents will be next.

This is a generational ship story carrying the seeds of a colony. Forty-nine years from their destination and in the wake of a plague that decimated the population and abruptly changed the power dynamic on board the ship, a young leader-in-training starts stumbling across more secrets than he should. It is early days, but I’m enjoying the story so far.