Lily Dale is a tiny town in rural New York. It's also one of the few towns on earth dedicated to spiritualism: talking with the dead, telling the future, reading minds, that kind of thing. When Calla's mother dies in a mysterious accident, she opts to live with her eccentric grandmother in Lily Dale for the summer. Calla has no idea her grandmother is a medium, someone who communicates with the dead. When Calla starts seeing strange things of her own, she must decide if she's gifted or crazy. With her new-found abilities, Calla tries to help the dead she meets find peace while trying to piece together what really happened to her mother.
Since Lily Dale is an actual place, that part of the story is rather intriguing. Calla's character can be melodramatic at times, but it never overshadows the main narrative. Over all, the series is worth the time.
Showing posts with label sci fi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sci fi. Show all posts
The House of the Scorpion by Farmer
Matteo lives in a little house in the middle of a poppy field in Opium, a land between Mexico and the US that is a creative way to solve the problem of both drug trafficking and illegal immigration. El Patron, ruler of Opium, uses those caught crossing the boarders to farm and process drugs.
El Patron takes a special interest in Matteo, teaching him music and allowing him to live in the big house. When guests from the north arrive, Matteo learns that El Patron's attention isn't because Matteo's special; it's because he's El Patron's clone. He will be used for spare parts when the need arises. Matteo fights for survival in this gripping novel that offers frightening answers to some of today's most difficult questions.
El Patron takes a special interest in Matteo, teaching him music and allowing him to live in the big house. When guests from the north arrive, Matteo learns that El Patron's attention isn't because Matteo's special; it's because he's El Patron's clone. He will be used for spare parts when the need arises. Matteo fights for survival in this gripping novel that offers frightening answers to some of today's most difficult questions.
Heir Apparent by Velde
I'm not a gamer, but I still liked this creative virtual-reality-game-gone-wrong story from Velde. For her birthday, Giannine receives a gift certificate to a game arcade from her father, who's more out of the picture than in it. The gaming center is surrounded by protesters, who think fantasy and role playing are corrupting the youth. Giannine goes in anyway and starts to play "Heir Apparent," a game where the player has just been named the next king and has to survive till coronation. A few minutes into her first try, Giannine is informed that the protesters have damaged her gaming equipment. She must win the game in the next three hours or her brain will be cooked and she will die.
Despite the desperate situation she's in, Giannine remains funny and resourceful. You'll be laughing even while agonizing about whether she'll survive. It's a great book.
Despite the desperate situation she's in, Giannine remains funny and resourceful. You'll be laughing even while agonizing about whether she'll survive. It's a great book.
Incarceron by Fisher
It's the future again. There's been a big war that ended in the establishment of a monarchy. The king said the whole technology business was too complicated and decreed everything had to stay as it was in good ol'1700-ish. The people responsible for the war or deemed a stability risk were taken to Incarceron, an inorganic yet conscious prison with a nasty sense of irony. The prisoners live and die there, and so do their children. By the time of the story, no one remembers the outside world except Finn. Finn's memories only stretch back a few years, despite the fact that he's 17. He's convinced he's from the outside and tries to escape. Meanwhile, the warden's daughter Claudia is attempting her own escape from a political marriage to the queen's horrible son. As we all knew they would, the prisoner and the princess manage to cross paths.
The story is a bit bumpy. Keeping track of two separate realities will prove difficult to some readers, as well as keeping characters straight. On a side note, Fisher has some combative moments with grammar, mostly struggling with pronoun-antecedent agreement and some ungainly appositive phrases. In plain language, some of the passages are hard to read because of the way they're written.
The story is a bit bumpy. Keeping track of two separate realities will prove difficult to some readers, as well as keeping characters straight. On a side note, Fisher has some combative moments with grammar, mostly struggling with pronoun-antecedent agreement and some ungainly appositive phrases. In plain language, some of the passages are hard to read because of the way they're written.
The Roar by Clayton
It's the future again and things have been really messed up by the animal plague. As a result, everything outside the wall has been razed to get rid of the animals. The earth's population has been piled on top of each other, most of them living in relative squalor in semi-flooded moldy apartments. The first generation born after the plague have a variety of mutations ranging from webbed feet to telepathy. When the government starts a fitness and video game program all teens are required to do, Mika doubts their intentions. However, he believes that by playing the game, he'll be able to find his twin sister, who was supposedly drowned a year ago. Nothing is what it seems.
Mortal Engines by Reeve
In the far-distant future, the world is decimated in the 60-minute war and cities travel on rolling tracks, sort of like enormous tanks. The cities hunt other, smaller towns and use their resources.
Tom is an apprentice historian in London and helps sort through the old things found on eaten towns. His hero is Valentine, the head historian. When a girl from an eaten town tries to kill Valentine, Tom comes to the rescue. Unfortunately, Valentine is not what he seems so both Tom and the would-be assassin Hester are thrown of the city and left for dead. The pair have to reconcile their ideological differences and work together to get back to London and save the world.
Tom is an apprentice historian in London and helps sort through the old things found on eaten towns. His hero is Valentine, the head historian. When a girl from an eaten town tries to kill Valentine, Tom comes to the rescue. Unfortunately, Valentine is not what he seems so both Tom and the would-be assassin Hester are thrown of the city and left for dead. The pair have to reconcile their ideological differences and work together to get back to London and save the world.
Mockingjay by Collins
This is the third and final book in the Hunger Games series and it is just as gripping as the others, even if it is a lot bloodier.
At the end of book two, Katniss was plucked out of the arena by the rebel forces leaving Peeta behind. District 12 no longer exists after it was firebombed when Katniss was rescued. She and her mother and her younger sister, Prim, are taken into District 13 along with the other survivors from District 12 including Gale, Katniss’s best friend. President Coin of District 13 wants to turn Katniss into the Mockingjay, a symbol of the rebellion against the Capital. Reluctantly, she agrees as long as Peeta, who is used as a tool by the Capital, and the other tributes still in the Capital are pardoned and she gets to kill President Snow. As the Mockingjay, Katniss is filmed in propaganda clips that can get rather bloody as the rebels rally around her and storm the Capitol. It’s almost like she has been groomed for the arena again.
Be prepared. This book has more bloodshed and death than the first two books put together. One of the beloved characters die and Katniss earns her share of wounds and scars. In the end, however, the truth wins out and she is left with the man she needs to survive – and little else.
At the end of book two, Katniss was plucked out of the arena by the rebel forces leaving Peeta behind. District 12 no longer exists after it was firebombed when Katniss was rescued. She and her mother and her younger sister, Prim, are taken into District 13 along with the other survivors from District 12 including Gale, Katniss’s best friend. President Coin of District 13 wants to turn Katniss into the Mockingjay, a symbol of the rebellion against the Capital. Reluctantly, she agrees as long as Peeta, who is used as a tool by the Capital, and the other tributes still in the Capital are pardoned and she gets to kill President Snow. As the Mockingjay, Katniss is filmed in propaganda clips that can get rather bloody as the rebels rally around her and storm the Capitol. It’s almost like she has been groomed for the arena again.
Be prepared. This book has more bloodshed and death than the first two books put together. One of the beloved characters die and Katniss earns her share of wounds and scars. In the end, however, the truth wins out and she is left with the man she needs to survive – and little else.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)