by Mandy Wrangles

So, you like vampires, huh? Um, I hate to break it to you, but isn’t that a little passé? I mean, with the current glut of bloodsuckers out there, aren’t we supposed to be over them and chewing at the bit for the ‘next big thing’?  Everywhere we turn in the bookshop, online, television and the movies, another vampire and his/her crew have popped up. Generally, they’re pining for the short mortal life they once had, in love with a human and fighting their natural instinct to gut and devour them. Oh, and they’re always ridiculously good looking… aren’t they?

Well, no. Sure, some of the vampires of late might fit that mould, but it’s a modern day phenomenon. The Vampire Diaries, Twilight, Vampire Academy, House of Night, Evernight and about seven thousand and twenty-nine more. Some (lots) of them are even pretty cool. But have there just been too, too many? Do you groan out loud when you see a book or movie trailer for another vampire story? Or do your fingers twitch gleeful anticipation, does your heart begin to pump that little bit faster in anticipation of release day? Do you expect your vampires to charm the pants off you before they eat?

Or, has the (ahem) well run dry? Are bloodsuckers yesterday’s news?

I don’t think so. Yes, the current trend to elevate our favourite monsters into the stratosphere of all-things-hot-and-yummy might just be running its course. But what about those vamps who are the real thing? The monsters, the demons, the really, truly bad guy vampires? They’ve been around in folklore since – well forever – in many different guises. I don’t see them going anywhere soon. We might be a little full up with being fed the same old modern day bloodsucker, especially since so many are so similar. We all love a bad guy with a heart, but I hate to be the one to break the news – vampire hearts aren’t supposed to beat. And it’s those vampires – the ones with the shrivelled up life-muscle that I believe will never really go away.

Publishers and movie makers are moving away from vampires, looking for the next big thing – angels, shape-shifters, mermaids and co. But vampires have been with us forever, they’re not going anywhere in a hurry. They’ll morph and change, fit in with whatever it is society wants or needs from them. Let’s face it; that’s how they’ve survived this long already. I think we’ll see more vamps like those in True Blood and Being Human. I’m looking forward to seeing what author Claudia Gray does with ‘Balthazar’, her spin-off to the Evernight series. The vampires in Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series also still have a way to go with their Shadow Hunter counterparts, and they’re certainly vamps who can’t always be trusted. (AND ride flying motorbikes!) Granted, most of them are hot (hey, I never said I had anything against a gorgeous vampire), but they’re more dangerous, more driven by their thirst and need to feed their murderous instincts. We’ll also see more classic vampire-types, like Lestat and his buddies from Anne Rice’s novels, Kurt Barlow from Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot and of course, The Master from Buffy and the granddaddy of them all, Dracula himself.

Vampires will make a big, bad comeback – not that they’ll ever really go away – and when they do, be careful. Keep the garlands of garlic slung around your window, the crucifix beside your bed. Because when bloodsuckers come knocking once more, they’ll be bigger, badder and thirstier than ever. And in the meantime, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying those impossibly good looking, angsty vamps. Just remember… they’re all monsters underneath.

I know a good percentage of you have flown at least once, and there’s a pretty good chance than some of you, while flying, were stuck sitting next to someone you would rather not be in a confined place with for hours.

This is not the case for Hadley Sullivan when rescheduling her missed flight to London to be a bridesmaid in her Dad’s second wedding. Oliver is the young man she meets in the departure lounge and he is a cheeky young Englishman heading home for an event of his own. Neither of them really wants to be headed across the globe and they find and instant connection.

The mainly black and white cover photo by Oleg Oprisco, depicts a couple kissing on a generic city street with the double exposed images of passers-by’s around them. This gives me the impression of time standing still for the smooching pair. The font of the title alerts me to the fact that it is a story of young love and there’s a red heart drawn around the couple for emphasis.

This was an incredibly sweet book. I love the idea of meeting someone nice on a flight. Someone you can spend hours talking with and not getting the feeling you’re over sharing or sticking your foot in your mouth.

It’s set over 24 hours and has an amazing amount of depth for something with only 215 pages. I was even brought to tears at one stage.

The scene structures are simplistic but they are a fantastic backdrop for the character interaction.

There is a smallish cast until the wedding scene and it works well to give the polar opposite scenarios of isolation and privacy, compared to the crowded insanity of the celebrations.

Hadley is someone I can certainly relate to, and I was right with her through her emotional transitions of trepidation, anger, sadness, and joy. It feels mean to say, but she got on the plane as a brat and stepped out of the hotel a young woman. That’s some serious character development.

It is a challenge to find something out of place, but at a push I think there weren’t enough interruptions by the flight attendants. (See, it’s nothing)

I would say the book can easily be knocked over in an afternoon and it’s a really pleasant few hours you spend observing Hadley and Oliver as they try to figure out The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight.

Release date: January 2012

Paperback 216 pages

Published by: Headline Publishing Group

ISBN: 978 0 7553 8402 0 (978 0 7553 9217 9)

Follow Jennifer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jenesmith

Clockwork Prince is the second book in Cassandra Clare’s Infernal Devices, a prequel series to The Mortal Instruments. Set in an alternate, steampunked London about 130 years ago, it centres around the young American Tessa as she sets out to find the truth of who or what she really is, and the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.

Straight up, I have to say it’s no secret I’m a huge fan of Cassandra Clare, and I’ve blogged and reviewed about both series right here at Burn Bright on a number of occasions. Her books are luscious works of art, both in cover design, language and the stories they keep. And as much as I enjoyed Clockwork Prince, unfortunately, it just didn’t quite hit the mark of her other books.

Clockwork Angel, the first book of the Infernal Devices, introduced a brilliantly conceived world of old London: gritty, grey and full of dark magic invisible to Mundanes (us mere mortals), with interesting, believable and funny characters – many of which shared surnames with those from the future stories of The Mortal Instruments. Reading it was a bit like taking a backwards walk through time, connecting the dots and the links to characters we already knew well. Big, bad evil was lurking around every corner, and the awesome steampunkery of zombie-demonbots kept the reader guessing in an ‘anything goes’ kind of way. But this time around? Hmm.

Clockwork Prince is a more ‘internal’ sort of story. Charlotte, the Head of the London Institute is in danger of losing her position due to events at the end of the last book. She’s challenged by another high-ranking Shadowhunter who’d like the Institute for himself and sons. If Charlotte and the others who make the Institute their home aren’t able to discover what The Magister (cue evil genius violin music here) is up to, and hopefully capture him – well, it’s all over for our heroes. Charlotte, her husband – the eccentric Henry, and their wards: Jem, Jessamine, Will and Tessa will all be out on the streets. Or at least sent back to Idris, their home country. When the group start poking around in The Magister’s background, they come against more secrets than they bargained for, and while some are exposed, so are the true loyalties of the Institute members.

In the midst of the political goings on of the Shadowhunters is the love triangle between Tessa, Jem and Will. And this is where things got a little tedious for me and where the ‘internal’ stuff comes in. The language used is, I’m sure, spot on for the time period, but to be honest it felt stilted, without much difference between characters, even though they’re different nationalities. Tessa, who was so cool in Clockwork Angel, fell into the ‘Mary Sue’ category – that is, she was a bit too perfect, and a bit too helpless for my liking. The love triangle is predictable, though there are some complications given the unique relationship between Will and Jem. The real problem is the angst and confusion each character feels. There’s just soo much of it, and not enough of the scary stuff.

Will this put me off the next instalment in The Infernal Devices? No way. I’ll be there on release day, ready to soak up more Shadowhunting love. Cassandra Clare has an insane publishing schedule over the next few years, and, to be honest, this book feels like it was a bit of a filler; a bit rushed. I’ve enjoyed far more of her books than not, and I’d suggest you would too. So even though Clockwork Prince isn’t quite up to the standard of her other novels, it’s still worth giving a go – if only to keep up with the rest of the series.

Published by Walker Books

Paperback, 496 pages.

ISBN – 978-1-4063-3037-3

Presenting the initial Courtney Crumrin miniseries in a new digest-sized format. Courtney’s parents have dragged her out to a high-to-do suburb to live with her creepy Great Uncle Aloysius in his spooky old house. She’s not only the new kid in school, but she also discovers strange things lurking under her bed.

Paperback, 128 pages

Published May 28th 2003 by Oni Press

ISBN  1929998600 (ISBN13: 9781929998609)

I loved this story! Courtney’s courageous, smart and has a lot of spunk. If you’re looking for something that’s got a little bit of a creep factor, but enjoyable even for younger readers, I recommend this one.

This story opens up with Courtney and her parents moving to a posh part of town to live with their Uncle Aloysius. In the opening pages Aloysius is described to us by a gremlin creature, Butterworm, who is peeking through the windows. He tells us about the creatures and experiments that he has seen going on inside, and that moving into this particular house was probably not the best thing for Courtney and her parents.

From the first night Courtney has problems sleeping. She keeps seeing shadows and movements in the dark, and is, in no time, exploring the house – rooms that she was explicitly told not to go into by her Uncle.

She eventually discovers books in the library that are written in different languages. Picking one out, she begins to interpret some spells that may get the kids at school to like her more and stop beating her up for her money.

It works.

She takes on bullies, loved-spelled boys, Gremlins, changelings that smoke, drink whiskey and then try to auction off human children in the Goblin Market. From talking cats to dangerous creatures in the night, Courtney takes them all on, and barely breaks a sweat.

A classmate goes missing, baby’s are stolen, Courtney practices magic, and a doppleganger tries to take over her life. I really enjoyed all the adventures that Courtney goes through. Not only does she roll with the punches, in the end she saves the day. I cannot wait to read more of Courtney’s stories.

So it’s February and we all know what that means! Love is in the air (if you’re not feelin’ the love, you better hold your breath!) !!

Just because you’re not married, or aren’t seeing anyone, doesn’t mean you should totally shut out Valentine’s Day! You have parents, siblings, and friends you could all get small gifts for! And I have a few great ideas 🙂

1. Get an old jar, decorate it, and fill it with Kisses!

2. Be a little creative; instead of just going out and buying a card, make one!

3. Get all the delicious treats you know your Valentine loves and make them a gift basket!

4. Make them a few decorative cupcakes. They don’t have to be perfect!

5. And lastly, wake up early and make your Valentine breakfast!

I hope this will help you guys! If you have any ideas you would like to add, then comment below, I would love to hear what creative ideas you have! 🙂

Lisa