Life certainly isn’t getting any easier for Sophie Mercer. After all the magic-filled adventures and horrors she had to endure in the prequel you would think she could catch a break. Not likely. There are more secrets and hidden agendas afoot and Sophie still isn’t being told the whole truth about things. And with a mixed up heritage like hers, knowledge could be the only thing stopping a catastrophe.

Sophie is sent to London for the summer to spend some time with her absentee Dad—who just so happens to be the Head of the Council of Prodigium (or big Kahuna when it comes to magical beings) . Sophie and co thought Hex Hall had its fair share of magical blunders and enemies, but it’s nothing compared to London.

Raising Demons has built on all the wonder and delight that makes Hex Hall so enjoyable and added an extra wallop of drama, mystery and action that will again grasp your attention in a vice and have you galloping along at breakneck speed. Sophie is stronger and smarter; and despite all that has happened, she is still quick with the sarcastic quips that add a good dose of giggles to the mayhem.

Character development has remained strong with the evolution of those we have met before, and some believable newcomers. The mystery and subterfuge are again expertly hidden with red herrings aplenty to keep you guessing and the revelations shocking.  The cliffhanger ending is such a shock that you will be desperately wishing there were just a few more pages to clear up all the theories racing through your mind.

The Hex Hall series is a brilliant blend of light comedy, magic, monsters and mystery. I can’t find a release date for the next installment, Spell Bound, apart from the fact that it will release sometime in 2012. I for one will be waiting with bated breath and hoping I don’t drive myself mad theorising in the meantime.

Hex Hall 2- Raising Demons—Rachel Hawkins

Published 1 March, 2011 by Simon & Schuster

Paperback, 368 pages

ISBN:978-1-84738-723-3

We all know strange things have been going on with vampires recently. Authors and filmmakers have been twisting mythology, setting new rules and boundaries for the most fabulous of all monsters. Vamps seem to take on all sorts of different guises – the ones who can walk around just like you or me in the sunshine, don’t have any hassles at all with crossing moving water and might even dine out on garlic bread with their pizza. Some have fangs, some don’t; others wear crucifixes as a fashion statement. But the common link is blood. Drinking it, that is. Other than that, it seems writers can do whatever they want with the once feared and gruesome bloodsucker… but should they?

American author, Richelle Mead has delved a little deeper into the basic vampire myth, drawing from Romanian Folklore; it’s this that makes her Vampire Academy series that bit different to everything else out there right now.

The series contains six books, with Vampire Academy being the first. It’s there we meet Rose Hathaway, who narrates the series, and her best friend Vasilisa (Lissa) Dragomir. Rose is a Dhampir, a vampire/human hybrid. Dhampirs have enhanced strength, suffer none of the weaknesses of actual vampires (heck, they don’t even need to drink blood) and quite often, serve as bodyguards – called guardians – to the real vamps. Those real vampires fall into two groups, which is where the Romanian Folklore kicks in.

There’s the Moroi and the Strigoi. Moroi are actually living, breathing creatures and while they need blood, they never kill to obtain it. In fact, there’s always lots of willing humans or Dhampirs ready and willing to bend a neck and get a quick endorphin rush in return. Sunlight doesn’t kill Moroi, but it does weaken them, and while their strength and senses are heightened compared to humans, they still die natural deaths. Moroi also each possess an ‘element’ of magic. Typically, this is either  Earth, Fire or Water. But occasionally, a Spirit user pops up amongst the Moroi – and this causes all sorts of problems for both the users themselves, those around them, and those who want to capture and use the Spirit user’s unique gift.

Then there’s the Strigoi. These guys are your typical bad-arse vampires, of the undead variety. They’re evil and they’re bloodthirsty and can be killed by all the usual methods – sunlight, decapitation, stake through the heart (as long as it’s pure silver) and fire. Moroi and Dhampirs can and are turned throughout the series into Strigoi – whether it be by force, or occasionally, by choice.

In book one, we learn that Rose is not only Lissa’s best friend, but once she’s finished her training at St Vladimir’s, wants nothing more than to be Lissa’s guardian for life. Lissa is the last member remaining member of the Dragomir bloodline, a Moroi royal family. The two girls share an unusual one-way psychic bond which enables Rose to be able to see through Lissa’s eyes and read her mind. It gives the reader an interesting insight – although all the books in Vampire Academy are told from Rose’s point of view, sometimes we get a sneak peak at what’s going on with Lissa. And sometimes – that information is a little hot and heavy.

Yes, both the girls have love interests. Lissa with the dark and handsome Christian; a fellow royal Moroi. Rose’s love interest is not so straight forward, and the backdrop of the entire series. She falls for Dimitri, a world famous guardian, stronger, more lethal and feared by the Strigoi than any other Dhampir. He also happens to be Rose’s instructor and teacher. Yep, you guessed it – even in a world of vampires, this is a big no-no.

Rose, Dimitri, Lissa and a whole gang of supporting characters (some of whom are going on to ‘Bloodlines’, Mead’s next series) become entangled in all manner of sticky situations throughout the six books. There’s love, lust, loss and heartache entwined with plenty of action for our kick-arse heroine. Rose is a strong protagonist, a girl who grows into a woman with strong values and is willing to fight and kill for what she believes in, no matter how high the cost to her own heart.

So should authors like Richelle Mead play with vampire lore and rewrite the myth? Well, yeah. Everything old becomes new again… right? I think this series works most of the time. It can be a little repetitive and sometimes feels formulated, but on a whole I think those who can’t get enough of the modern day vampire and like a bit of lovin’ with their bloodsuckers will enjoy Mead’s spin on an old folktale.

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Bk 1 – Vampire Academy, ISBN – 978-1-59514-174-3

Bk 2 – Frostbite, ISBN – 978-1-59514-175-0

Bk 3 – Shadow Kiss, ISBN – 978-1-59514-197-2

Bk 4 – Blood Promise, ISBN – 978-1-921518-29-4

Bk 5 – Spirit Bound, ISBN – 978-1-921518-86-7

Bk 6 – Last Sacrifice, ISBN – 978-1-921518-90-4

Marianne and Yunyu are thrilled to announce that Yunyu has written another single to coincide with the release of Angel Arias (book 2 of the Night Creatures series). The single (title to be announced) will be available FREE to those who purchase the book via QR tag on one of the pages.

Ship Breaker is a cautionary tale of both climate change and class disparity, both of which it handles masterfully.

Plenty of novels have emerged over the last several years predicting just what kind of change will befall the earth due to the climate change we – and nature itself – has wrought.  Few have held my attention as well as Bacigalupi’s work, Ship Breaker.

The novel starts strong, with the protagonist – named Nailer for reasons known to his father – stripping wiring from a salvaged ship in order to sell for scrap. Much like my earlier review of Trash by Andy Mulligan, the setting of Ship Breaker is one of a community of scavengers. In this case an entire beachfront society in North America is devoted to the salvaging, smelting and recycling of ships in a world run short of raw natural resources. Oil is all but gone; fossil fuels are banned throughout the world for fear of future flooding; most of the world’s major ice shelves have already melted; many of the great cities are already undersea.

Luck plays a major part of this story, or, as the characters put it, “luck and smarts.” Nailer falls into a compartment flooded with waste oil and is abandoned by one of his work crew with whom he had shared a blood oath so she could quietly sell the oil off herself. And it is with both luck and smarts that he saves himself from drowning.

Soon afterward he stumbles across a wrecked clipper ship with another of his crew and discovers, amongst the many treasures worthy of salvaging, an injured girl who is either their key to freedom from a life amongst the ship breakers or a terrible accident waiting to happen.

The story of Ship Breaker stays strong throughout the length of the novel, with vibrant characters and well written action from cover to cover. This isn’t a story that grows cold in your hand; you will want to keep turning the pages to see what the plot holds.

Paolo Bacigalupi—Ship Breaker

Published 9 May, 2010, by Little Brown

Paperback, 323 pages

Luce is not a stranger to loss. Her father and mother died several years ago. She is now cared for by her alcoholic uncle. She is very shy, has no friends and  is anti-social. After one very stormy day, her uncle attempts to rape her and tells her not to come home. Even more confused and depressed than usual, she throws herself into the ocean to drown; instead, she turns into a mermaid.

In her frustration and hate Luce swims hard and fast. She sings out her frustration and in her confusion watches as a boat guides itself into the cliffs. She watches and sings to the people aboard as they all slowly drown. The wreckage is noticed by the other mermaids and she is taken into the tribe as a new member. She is soon taught the laws of the tribe, makes friends and learns the way of the mermaid. As time goes by, more mermaids begin arriving through different circumstances. Soon there is uproar in the tribe, alliances are formed and laws are broken. But will Luce be able to help keep some order in the tribe before too many humans die in their wake?

The change into a mermaid does not happen to all girls; it’s usually the girls that have a dark past  who “change because of what humans do to us.”  They cannot all sing. Some of them have the talent of singing or making other noises immediately, some develop it, and some never do. The leader is chosen by how well they can manipulate their voice and swim the best.

They do not sing to every ship that passes and they do not take down big ships in which they cannot guarantee all aboard who have heard or seen them will die afterwards. They still have to breathe air so spend their time in caves with beach or air space and swimming around.  If their tales leave the water, they experience horrific pain that can end up killing them.

For a story about killer mermaids this one was pretty entertaining. I have to say that I found the main character very depressing throughout most of the story, but she develops and grows some along the way.

Besides the mass murders, this whole tribe concept was really not any different than an all girls high school setting. You have drama, certain rules that must be followed, and a leader. I loved all the characters, Catarina is a strong-headed leader, who eventually bumps heads with Luce. It was like an all girls school drama power-trip most of the book, but I loved it. It was very well written, very entertaining and contained a lot of interesting ideas.

The story is highly reminiscent of the siren tales from Greek mythology (calling/singing to the sailors, leading them to death or confusion).  Lost Voices is a great introduction to this trilogy. It features great characters and world building. It doesn’t  end in a cliffhanger, but with just enough intrigue to make you want to see which characters will show up in the next book.

Sarah Porter—Lost Voices
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published July 4th 2011 by Harcourt Children’s Books

ISBN 0547482507 (ISBN13: 9780547482507)