Book Review: Witches (Fables #14) by Willingham & Buckingham

Title: Witches (Fables Vol 14)
Author: Bill Willingham
Artist: Mark Buckingham
Publisher: Vertigo
Release Date: 12/7/2010
ISBN: 1401228801






Since I usually catch up with the adventures of our beloved Fables when the individual issues are collected into volumes, when I got this in the mail today (literally about an hour prior to writing this review) I immediately sat down to read it. After all, important stuff happens in this volume.

Where to begin? First we've got the problem of Mister Dark, the embodiment of everything you are & should be afraid of. He's preparing himself for something sinister, something that will undoubtedly effect not only the fables but mankind in general. If that's not bad enough, the tensions on the Farm are rising. Totenkinder has run the witches of the 13th floor for years, but now she's got competition for her leadership in the form of Ozma. Things aren't going all that well for Bufkin either- he's trapped in the remnants of Fabletown's office with a whole host of newly released monsters- including a powerful djinn & a very, VERY mad Baba Yaga. Meanwhile in Flycatcher's kingdom there's trouble as well. A drunk goblin has eaten one of the other citizens of the kingdom. The other goblins are threatening to revolt if the offender is put to death, but pardoning the gob's crimes might be just as bad.

This volume is awesome. Not only does it have the reappearance of several people and items mentioned in past volumes, but the artwork is as stunning as is par for the course in this series. Oh, and you get to see how Bufkin reacts in an emergency situation. It doesn't get much better than that. (Until the next volume, anyway.) Also cool is that this volume draws upon the whole Rose Red situation, emphasizing the showdown between good & evil that's undoubtedly coming in the next volume.

If you've been collecting the series so far, you absolutely cannot miss out on this volume. I have to admit, I was a little suspicious about what would happen after the fall of the Empire, but this current story is awesome & is a nice change after the previous Jack-centric volume.

Winter is Coming: Game of Thrones on HBO!

If you haven't heard of the upcoming Game of Thrones on HBO, then don't worry. You'll be hearing more about it soon. (For a better image of the picture above, click on it. For some reason it isn't translating well to the resizing.)

The show's based on the bestselling series by George R.R. Martin called A Song of Ice & Fire. What's awesome about this book series is that it's fantasy but much of the initial focus is in the historical accuracy as well as the world & character building. While the series obviously takes place in a world where magic does exist in some form, Martin strives to keep as much of the book's background historically accurate for a society that's set during the Middle Ages. You've got power plays, young marriages, as well as other things that takes place during such time periods such as political marriages. As the story progresses the fantasy angle gets more of a foothold & is that much more believable for the groundwork that Martin put into the first volume.

If you're curious there's quite a few new pictures out & about, such as this absolutely gorgeous wallpaper here that I discovered via the Game of Thrones twitter account. The official HBO site can be found here, complete with video teasers! (I'm excited that it has one of my favorite actors, Peter Dinklage, starring in this show. Not enough for you? What if I told you that one of the actors from LOTR was in it as well?)

Unfortunately the book series itself isn't finished yet, but hopefully the fifth book should be out soon. (The books in this series are prone to delays but are well worth the wait, believe me.)

Want to read it so bad: Blood Work,The Hollows Graphic Novel

I'd discovered a week or so ago that there was going to be a graphic novel prequel to Kim Harrison's awesome Hollows series, but recently I discovered some pictures that are going to be in the book itself.




The artwork looks amazing so far & what is interesting is that the book is going to be told from Ivy's point of view rather than Rachel's. If you want to see more of the book, you can see all of these pictures on Harrison's own website!

The book is due out on July 12, 2011 & from the website it looks like we can expect more to come!

Book Review: Pale Demon by Kim Harrison

Title: Pale Demon (The Hollows #9)
Author: Kim Harrison
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: 02/22/2011
ISBN: 0061138065







If you’ve been on the fence about the Hollows series, this book will bring you back to the series. I can’t say anything without spoiling the book for you, but rest assured- this book was awesome. This has to be one of the best books in the series so far. It doesn’t beat out the first book as my favorite Hollows read, but it’s up there.

This book finds Rachel trying to find a way to the witch convention in San Francisco, but when no flight will carry her, she has to make her way West with the last person she thought she’d travel with: Trent Kalamack. He too has a reason for heading to the West Coast, but he’s not spilling the details. Since the only other option is to not travel & be put to death or go to the ever after with Al (which is almost as bad), Rachel’s left with no other options. Stuck on what has the potential to be the worst road trip ever, Rachel & crew (oh yes, Ivy & Jenks are there too) discover that anything that can go wrong, will. Especially when you have to deal with assassins, secrets, & a soul eating demon that can not only walk during the day, but also can come & go as he pleases.

Where to begin? For starters, you’ll love that even though not everything is resolved in this book, Harrison does her best to address many of the concerns & questions that fans have been having over the series. I won’t state which ones get the most attention, but I opine (as Pierce would put it) that the many people will be satisfied in one way or another.

Also wonderful is the maturing of Rachel. She’s still the type of person who is capable of insane feats of magic, but this Rachel is one who no longer sees things (as she puts it) in the “black and white” views as she did at the beginning of the series. This shows in many of her actions in this book & the decisions she makes during the course of her adventures in this book.
This is an awesome book & one that anyone following along with the Hollows series NEEDS to read. Not breeze through in the store or library, but read. This was just sheer awesomeness & I really feel like I can’t say enough good things about it. I loved this book.

(ARC provided by NetGalley)

Check out Rabid Read's book giveaway contest!

Hi all! I'll be posting my own book contest in a few days, but until then check out this contest by Rabid Reads!




She's giving away books by some of her favorite authors, Kelley Armstrong & Rachel Vincent- check it out, it's pretty easy to enter!

Book Review: Mystify (Mystyx #2) by Artist Author

Title: Mystify (Mystyx #2)
Author: Artist Author
Publisher: Kimani
Release Date: 02/01/2011
ISBN: 0373534310






If you were on the fence about the first book, then rest assured that this entry will put you solidly in the “crazy about Mystyx” camp.

Sometimes being an outsider is the best way to fit in…

Sasha Carrington has grown up feeling like an outsider, and her parents are too concerned with scaling the Lincoln, Connecticut, social ladder to even notice her. They’d be really horrified to know about the supernatural abilities Sasha and her friends Krystal and Jake possess. But as part of the Mystyx, Sasha has found her place.

Now her parents have suddenly taken an interest in everything she does, and their timing couldn’t be worse. Sasha’s father wants her to become BFFs with snooty Alyssa Turner, who hates Krystal for stealing her boyfriend. Then there’s Antoine Watson, the boy Sasha has liked forever, the boy her parents would never approve of. But with the dark side getting more dangerous by the day, and the Mystyx’s own powers growing in unexpected ways, Sasha is facing choices that could affect her friends, her love life—and even her destiny…

I liked the first book in the series, but I have to admit that I enjoyed this book more than the first one. Sasha’s a pretty tough cookie & a little more assertive at times than Krystal was in the first book. (Although I do have to say that Krystal seems to be coming into her own in this book as well.) It also helps that the chemistry between Sasha & her crush Antoine is really well written & comes across nicely. Readers will really find themselves rooting for these two.

The book still has a bit of the growing pains that the first volume did, but Author is getting more comfortable with the characters & the plot, which comes across in her style. You can really tell that she had a lot of fun writing this entry. I just really wish that there were more questions answered in this volume- I found myself really getting frustrated along with the characters that there weren’t any real answers to their questions just yet. Even so, I really do recommend checking this book out- it’s well worth reading.

(ARC provided by NetGalley)

Making Santa's 'Good' list: rgz and First Book partner up to give books to low income teens

The only thing better than seeing teens picking up books is seeing people rally together to get books to low income teens.

If you know any groups or organizations that could help put these books in the hands of teens, let them know! If you don't know any groups, then you can still help out by doing the following: (taken directly from rgz's website)

Post to Facebook and tweet your beak off about these books using the hashtag #novelgift.

Here’s a tinyurl link to their registration page: http://tinyurl.com/2a5mwpj.

Or you can link to this blog post: http://readergirlz.blogspot.com/2010/11/novel-gift-over-125000-free-books-to.html

Then, get in touch with every group you can think of that works with young adults–schools, after-school programs, church youth groups, community centers, etc.—and let them know that these books are available now.

The five-minute online registration these groups can use is here:
http://booksforkids.firstbook.org/register/.

First Book is also eager to answer questions, either by email to help@firstbook.org, or by phone at 866-READ-NOW or 866-732-3669.

If you participate, drop us a note at readergirlz@gmail.com to be included in our blog roll of thanks to run December 31.