Books for December

The Immortals by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

Review

This is, if you don't know, the last book in the Edge Chronicles series. Although it starts in a new time period, with new characters and technology, I do recommend reading the rest of the series first before getting to this one. This is probably the longest book in the series, it's certainly bigger than any of the others, but it does feel a little rushed in places. Quite frankly, I would have quite enjoyed reading another hundred pages or so, which I think would have fleshed it out a bit more. This book certainly did leave me wanting more, and sad that the series is finally over.

The story of The Immortals follows Nate Quarter, a young lamplighter in a Phraxmine, helping to harvest phrax, a substance used both to power skyships and new weaponry. When his friend is killed by a corrupt mine sergeant and his guards, Nate has no choice but to flee or die. In the Great Glade, he tries to find the owner of the Phraxmine, but the man has gone missing after a journey to the goblin city of Hive, which looks to be about to experience a military coup. So Nate's adventures begin, and at the end of the story, the edge will be free of a few more monsters and tyrants. An excellent read!

Surviving Antarctica by Andrea White

Review

This is a book about a post-apocalyptic future where what you see on reality television is actually happening, and the survival shows have actual deaths occurring on camera. In the Alamo reproduction, almost all the contestants were killed when the Mexicans broke through the walls of the fort, but the ones who survived won big prizes. And that's what draws people to the brutal contests. People who failed the toss, a randomized event to see if they can continue their education, get the promise of a second chance... or death. But when the Head of Entertainment decides that her audiences are jaded enough to watch children participate in a recreation of Robert F Scott's doomed attempt to reach the South Pole, she may have finally pushed the citizens, already angry at the way people are being treated, over the edge. Meanwhile, Stephen Michael, a producer on the show, feels it is his duty to help the kids in whatever way he can, even if it means breaking the rules of the show and talking to them.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Review

If contemporary authors are to believed, the future of the United States is dark indeed. That's three books now I've read recently that depict a shattered America. However, this book is by the far the darkest future I've read about in these books. The Hunger Games depicts a brutal contest organized by the Capitol, the ruler of twelve minor states or districts, to remind them of its power over them. All children between 12 and 18 are required to enter their names into the contest, but the true winners are those who don't get picked. When Katniss's younger sister's name is drawn, she volunteers herself to take the girl's place. But is she ready for the violence and brutality that lurks just beneath the shining facade of the Capital?

Hive by Tim Curran

Review

Jimmy Hayes was expecting just another winter as a contractor at Kharkhov Station, but as soon as he stepped in the door, he got a bad feeling about the place. When mummies are cut out of the ice by the station's scientists, he doesn't know what to think. Especially not when he gets a look at the things. They're not human by any stretch of the word, and even the sight of them partially defrosted in the lab is enough to send shivers down his spine. But it doesn't stop there. Everyone in the station, whether they admit it or not, is getting nightmares that they can't quite remember but leave them shivering. When Lind, the plumber, who was one of the first to see the mummies after they were brought back to the station, goes crazy and tries to kill himself, Hayes and the station's doctor, Sharkey, know something more is causing it than just isolation. But LaHune? , the station's director, refuses to believe anything is going wrong and may have a secret agenda for the strange mummies. At some point everything is going to come to a head, but how can you fight something that's dead and has been for billions of years?

The Necromancer by Michael Scott

Review

When Josh and Sophie return home, they find that they are in a great amount of trouble. It's understandable, seeing as they have been missing for about a week, but their aunt doesn't understand the true reason they had to leave. They are being hunted by a necromancer, immortal humans and elder beings who don't have the best intentions for humanity. But when Sophie is kidnapped, Josh has no choice but to rejoin the Flamels and try to find her. Meanwhile, John Dee, the necromancer, creates a plan to topple the Elder's shadow-realms and leave him free to ascend to power. But he needs magic and blood to summon a creature of such power that it can do this, and a very special person's blood at that. And so the necromancer begins to hunt for Josh, and even the Flamels may not be able to prevent him from finding him.

-- JackW - 01 Dec 2010