Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides, having spent her young life concealing the truth of her parentage and authentic nature. This task proves ever more difficult when she is thrust into the spotlight of the royal court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, and struggles to protect her own secret, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.

Even prior to its release, I had been hearing nothing but positive declarations regarding Rachel Hartman’s debut Seraphina, particularly from readers of young adult high fantasy. These very affirmative murmurings really stood apart from the reviews that tend to follow many other dragon novels in the YA market; Seraphina wasn’t merely hyped  -it was genuinely praised, and that made me curious.

Rachel Hartman has crafted a very detailed and vast universe for which to set her coming-of-age draconic tale – so detailed in fact that the novel comes equipped with a list of the cast of characters as well as a glossary of terms contained in its final pages. For myself, I can say that the glossary of terms most certainly proved necessary!!! Not one to provide large passages of information from the outset, Hartman instead wastes no time in immersing the reader in the city of Gorred and its citizens, complete with all of their idiosyncratic mannerisms and unique language. Ultimately, this helped to establish a very credible sense of place and time, however it was on occasion somewhat overwhelming for a first-time visitor to this world.

The characters that inhabit the pages of Seraphina are perhaps its most memorable and engaging element. Seraphina herself proves to be a worthy heroine, at once plucky and independent, while never giving the impression that there isn’t room to learn, grow and make valuable mistakes in her journey towards self-acceptance. Her romance with Prince Lucian Kiggs is honestly one of the best developed and well-paced I have encountered in young adult fiction for a very, very long time. And while there is a long list of excellent supporting characters, both nice and not-so-nice, my favourite without a doubt was Orma, Seraphina’s uncle, who struggles as a dragon in human form, overcome at times by emotions and completely unable to make sense of them. Any time I saw Orma’s name upon the page, my heart soared!

Some readers have questioned whether Hartman’s world-building overshadowed the plot of the novel, however I found the gradual pacing and building of suspense to be quite effective, ultimately preferring a focus on character over a focus on merely constructing event after event. The ‘action’ of the narrative might prove too slight for some fantasy fans, but I felt it was all the more potent for its sparseness, and remarkably for the first in a series, the conclusion held no cliff-hanger or overt lead-in to the second instalment.

Seraphina may not convert me into an instant fan of dragon literature within YA, but it has certainly helped to regenerate my faith in YA authors to create worthwhile characters, intriguing universes, and intelligent love stories and character relationships.

Seraphina – Rachel Hartman

Random House Australia

ISBN – 0375866566

467 pages

July 10th 2012

Don’t Sweat. Don’t Laugh. Don’t draw attention to yourself. And most of all, whatever you do, do not fall in love with one of them. Gene is different from everyone else around him. He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood.

Gene is a human, and he knows the rules. Keep the truth a secret. It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night – a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood. When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him. He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible – and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever – but is it worth the cost of his humanity?

©2012 Andrew Fukuda (P)2012 Macmillan Audio

The Hunt is about to begin. There is a lottery that will take place to choose the lucky winners – Vampires who have not tasted real human blood, since humans are almost extinct and a rare delicacy only tasted by the very few. Gene is one of the lottery winners and is whisked away to the hunting grounds, with no time to prepare. The Vampires are housed in close quarters preparing for their hunt only days before the humans will be released from the dome they now live under.

Gene is hiding his true identity. Living in close quarters with vampires is very dangerous. He may be considered one of the lucky ones by winning a place in the lottery but that is not how he sees it. Each day spent at the headquarters preparing for the hunt is another day Gene has to be on constant guard. Every glance, smell, look is noticed by the ever vigilant vampires. They are all on edge, ready to taste human blood, ready to hunt.

The Hunt is an intense read, the growing stress that every day brings upon Gene, who’s secret must not be revealed.  The story has its bursts of action, which is overlaid with fear, paranoia and curiosity. I enjoyed reading a book that takes on the view of a socialized vampire,  living in cities and attending school. Though very few of them have experienced human blood, it is still a constant desire. Gene’s character brings emotion into an otherwise cold, dispassionate world. The one thing that makes Gene different, his secret makes for an entertaining twist to the vampire stories today.

Sean Runnette is an award-winning audiobook producer, director and narrator. As a narrator he has a gripping tone that brings out the danger and the careful and unambiguous way the vampires speak and represent themselves. He makes it a very memorable story. The anxiety that Gene feels and the intimidation of the vampire elders are what stood out to me while listening. It must be hard to imagine a world in which vampires rule, human’s are farmed. You would do just about anything to live…wouldn’t you?

“The Hunt” audio clip

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone – one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship – tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn’t do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed’s hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there’s only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

This title was incredibly hyped within the YA community prior to and upon its release, and has since received a large amount of praise and recognition. While the attractive cover and the Beatles-inspired title certainly earned my interest, I was a little hesitant as to whether the science-fiction elements would prove to have any substance and originality, or whether this would fall into yet another trap of being a romance hiding behind another genre.  Thankfully, the former won out, and in addition, the book proved to have strong elements of murder mystery and dystopian fiction which melded seamlessly with the inter-galactic setting.

Told in dual narration, Across the Universe offers two unique perspectives on an uncertain future in the vast nothingness of space; Amy is our connection to the Earth that we know, and Elder is a resident of the human population born into space. Both characters have incredibly jarring and contrasting views on basic human behaviour as well as larger moral issues (evident in some quite disturbing scenes of sexual activity) which help to present a more immediate portrayal of the dual decline and advancement of human nature during its time in space.

Amy and Elder boast strong character traits, making for worthy protagonists, and their eventual romance doesn’t feel too forced or rushed, and is in fact quite credibly drawn, given the wider context of murder and social collapse that surrounds them. However, the true drawcard of this novel came for me in the supporting characters, namely Elder’s friend Harley, whose emotional breakdown was the real moment of connection for me as a reader.

The pacing of the novel was well-crafted, with much of the mystery remaining out of reach until effectively unravelled; also, as this is the first instalment in a series, there was the sense of ‘to be continued’ but never the infuriatingly feeling of details being purposefully omitted. Beth Revis also does atmosphere superbly, and this is evident from the novel’s opening chapter, in which Amy is cryogenically frozen, narrating each stomach-churning detail as it happens. Never before have I felt so incredibly claustrophobic while reading!!

I found Across The Universe to be an enjoyable read, with some interesting moral dilemmas raised, and given its popularity and strong readership, I think it will continue to have a great deal of well-earned success. Now I must just get my hands on its sequel, A Million Suns!

Across the Universe – Beth Revis

Razorbill Australia

ISBN – 1595143971

416 pages

January 11th 2011

At the start of August there was a glut of new books on the shelves; most of them having rich covers and intriguing blurbs. The one I chose to give a chance was Skylark by Megan Spooner. I picked it up first for the cover, second for the blurb and third for grabbing me with the first page.

In a spectrum of purples and a collage of cityscape, forest and filigree iron work, my first impression was a positive one. On the bottom of the front cover there’s also a quote in what looks to be Latin (the google translator doesn’t like it though) that reads Vis in magia in vita vi ~ In magic there is power and in power, life.~

The goodreads.com blurb reads as such…

Her world ends at the edge of the vast domed barrier of energy enclosing all that’s left of humanity. For two hundred years the city has sustained this barrier by harvesting its children’s innate magical energy when they reach adolescence. When it’s Lark’s turn to be harvested, she finds herself trapped in a nightmarish web of experiments and learns she is something out of legend itself: a Renewable, able to regenerate her own power after it’s been stripped.

Forced to flee the only home she knows to avoid life as a human battery, Lark must fight her way through the terrible wilderness beyond the edge of the world. With the city’s clockwork creations close on her heels and a strange wild boy stalking her in the countryside, she must move quickly if she is to have any hope of survival. She’s heard the stories that somewhere to the west are others like her, hidden in secret—but can she stay alive long enough to find them?

This book reminded me of those wise quotes about following your own path and blazing your own trail, because that’s basically what Lark does for a large portion of the story. She learns to survive in an unknown environment, overcomes her fears and adapts in a mostly believable manor.

Some elements of Lark’s survival seemed a tad convenient but I was able to forgive this for the sake of the action sequences and the urge to turn the page to find out what happens next. The pacing varies, but is slowed only to create tension in a really effective way.

I was impressed by the vivid images of the ‘outside world’ through the eyes of a terrified Lark. The contrast between the City and the Iron Wood is quite significant, and speak volumes about the way they are ruled.

I keep trying to think of books or movies to compare Skylark to and the only thing that comes to mind is the slightly demented sequel to The Wizard of Oz, Return to Oz. Clockwork devices and people who aren’t what they seem are the main similarities.

Spooner is ahead of the curve when it comes to this breed of sci fi. She’s definitely a trail blazer and I look forward to reading the sequels Shadowlark and The Leaden Sky.

www.meganspooner.com

Hardcover, 344 pages

Published August 1st 2012 by Carolrhoda Lab

ISBN 0761388656 (ISBN13: 9780761388654)

Madeleine Tully lives in Cambridge, England, the World – a city of spires, Isaac Newton and Auntie’s Tea Shop. Elliot Baranski lives in Bonfire, the Farms, the Kingdom of Cello – where seasons roam, the Butterfly Child sleeps in a glass jar, and bells warn of attacks from dangerous Colours. They are worlds apart – until a crack opens up between them; a corner of white – the slim seam of a letter.

As I do so love to create these comparisons, I shall proudly state that I found Jaclyn Moriarty’s A Corner of White to be the book baby that would result from John Green and Neil Gaiman coming together to write a novel. And trust me, this is a compliment indeed!

Moriarty weaves a quite seamless tale of dual universes, dual protagonists and contrasting lifestyles in such an original and vibrant fashion that even when there were inevitable questions and moments of confusion, the sheer delight of this journey overshadowed everything else. It should also be noted that for the first instalment in a series, there was an overriding sense of satisfaction and containment within the novel, which is very rare for a series opener.

Effectively combining elements of contemporary realism with a splash of epic fantasy and magic, A Corner of White depicts the experiences and struggles of Madeline, who resides in The World (our world) and Elliott, a resident of The Kingdom of Cello (not our world!) Both are teenagers, however the wider cast of characters in both universes spans all ages and offers insight into a variety of human experiences and emotions. While the novel’s core focus on two teenage protagonists will no doubt see this classified as a young adult title, I do feel sincerely that it could effectively cross over into the adult age bracket.

The novel’s tone and sensibility was easily one of its most engaging and entertaining factors; there is a pervading and surprising sense of humour throughout, often quite tongue-cheek, which had me smiling and giggling continually. There are even slight ‘meta’ moments within the narrative, with Madeline’s character being in doubt of Elliot’s existence and often asking him if his ‘Kingdom’ includes such common fantasy tropes as “some kind of strong-willed princess with rebellion on her mind?” These were incredibly fun to recognise and enjoy!

Both the characters of Madeline and Elliott were incredibly sympathetic and relatable in their own, unique ways and both had worthwhile journeys to undertake; seeing their connection with one another was equally as interesting as seeing their individual lives unfold. Within all of the novel’s characters, there was always a strong sense of these people as human beings, incredibly flawed and genuine, and this was refreshing and admirable.

Finally, the fantastical aspects of the novel were wonderfully obscure and strange, and it was very deliberate and gradual reveal of the ‘laws’ of this universe that made Moriarty’s creation so memorable. The Kingdom, with its violent colours and its changing seasons, is both a place that repelled and intrigued me.

Just as Madeline and Elliott came to feel about their relationship with one another, I am heartily glad and thankful to have encountered A Corner of White, and I very much look forward to the continuation of the series.

A Corner of White – Jaclyn Moriarty (The Colours of Madeline,  Book One)

PanMacmillan Australia

ISBN – 13 – 9781742611396

400 pages

September 18, 2012