“If night falls, all fall”

Malian has spent her whole life being trained to rule. As the Heir to the Keep of Winds, the oldest on the mountain range known as the Wall of Night, she is expected to uphold the long held traditions of her people at all costs- even if it is personal. The ancient enemy lurks and threatens to cast the world in shadow but Malian has never really experienced any of the threat first hand. That is until the enemy launches a direct attack on her home.

The Keep becomes a bloodbath as the twisted magic of the enemy sweeps through, slaying warrior, priest, woman and child alike. Fleeing to the Old Keep Malian manages to escape with her life but with the greatest danger her own dormant magic flares to life. In a world where magic has become a source of fear and those “cursed” with the old gifts are segregated in the Temples, Malian finds herself faced with a dire choice. To accept her powers and her destiny, she must be prepared to pay the price.

This has to be one of the best YA fantasy novels I’ve read in a long time. Teeming with beasties, mind blowing magic and a protagonist who captures your heart and attention from the very first passage, The Heir of Night ticks all the right boxes and more. The world is fresh and enthralling and the secrets and characters that roam the walls of the Keep will have your imagination running wild.

Lowe has painted a vivid tapestry full of colour that you are instantly transported into Malian’s life and the world comes to life right before your very eyes.  The action is thick and fast and the more harrowing and highly emotional scenes are crafted with such skill it’s like it’s happening to you. The characterisation is astounding. The entire main cast are well developed and their personalities leap of the page but leave enough mystery surrounding them that the part they may play is not given away too soon. The differing viewpoints throughout the story also add a refreshing depth without losing any of the pace or the strength of the authors voice.

I found myself totally swept away and all 447 pages flew by in a flurry just like the storms that sweep the Keep. This is certainly one of those novels that causes the outside world to cease to exist and Malian will firmly plant herself feet first into your imagination. Book two, The Gathering of the Lost is already on shelves and I can’t wait for the next nail bitting adventure.

The Heir of Night- Helen Lowe

Orbit

ISBN:978-0-356-50008-9

447 Pages

Find out more about the Wall here: http://helenlowe.info/index.html

“Whaaat? Lisa you just now started reading the Vampire Academy series? What’s wrong with you?”

I know, I know, you all probably want to throw rocks and sticks at me through this screen! But I just never got around to reading this series, and I really didn’t do too much research on them, to see what they’re about, or to check what some of my favourite book bloggers thought about them.

A while ago I finally got myself to purchase the first two books, but still months went by before I finally picked up the first book, and dug in!

To be honest … I regret not starting this series right when it hit the book store shelves!

Vampire Academy is about a girl (or vampire princess, same thing, right?) named Lissa and her guardian named Rose, who are just being forced back to their school called (take a wild guess, go ahead!) Vampire Academy, after running away and spending the last few months by themselves in the human world.

The Vampire Academy is a boarding school that not only vampires, but also their in-training guardians, attend.

Finally, arriving at the school, Lissa was just sent straight off to class while Rose was receiving her punishment for not “preventing” Lissa from running away. Rose is stuck in classes she needs to take as a senior, but she is also forced to take before and after school training lessons, and whatever free time Rose has left, she is forced to spend it in her dorm room.

Throughout dealing with coming back to school, not seeing each other very often, and just some regular old high school problems, the two girls find out that Lissa holds these immense powers! She can not only save people from dying, but she can even bring them back from the dead. Every time Lissa does this, she makes a huge sacrifice, she loses a pieces of her own soul!

Vampire Academy was nothing I thought it would be! I was really getting tired of this whole vampire thing, but this book puts a whole different spin on it! I love it, and I just want to punch myself for not reading it earlier! (Well at least I dont need have to wait, for what seems like forever, for another book in the series to come out!) If you haven’t picked up these books, I recommend you should!

Acknowledging the fact that she was different from everyone else wasn’t hard for Wendy Everly. She’d always known she didn’t quite belong, although not to the extent of not even being human. Fitting in with her strange new life as a troll princess certainly hasn’t been easy but running away back to the “normal” world may just be the worst mistake she’s ever made.

Kidnapped and imprisoned by her birth family’s enemies, Wendy soon learns that the line between good and evil isn’t always clearly defined and some of the truths she has taken for granted may just be lies after all. And of course there are the feelings for Finn that just won’t go away- even with the arrival of a new dangerous hottie she can’t help being drawn to. Can Wendy make it back home to Forening safely and be the Queen in waiting her people desperately need?

Amanda Hocking has created a world that will have you wanting to pack your bags and immerse yourself in it fully. In Torn, the second book in the Trylle trilogy we start to see the emergence of a stronger, more determined Wendy with fantastic results.

Secrets are revealed that will not only leave Wendy reeling but the reader as well. The constant arrival and growth of fascinating characters bringing new twists and turns certainly amps up the volume. Some of your preconceived notions about some recurring characters will be flipped on their head and others will be re-affirmed. The most delightful part of this instalment for me was that we finally get to see behind Elora’s queenly mask to the woman and mother within. There are plenty of laughs, drama and oh my moments that the pages will fly by so fast you’ll wonder where they went.

Wendy is such a complex and delightful lead to get to know. Her journey feels like your own. Hocking has given us a heroine fully flawed who constantly breaks not only all the princess rules, but obliterates the typical princess mould and breathes new life into the fairy tale realm. And of course the fact that we have not one, but two candidates, for Prince Charming’s job adds to this.

There truly is a very good reason this trilogy broke the self-publishing sales records. If you haven’t discovered Wendy’s world you seriously need to put Switched and Torn on your to read list asap. You’ll never think of trolls the same way again.

NB: Make sure you keep an eye out for the all new short story included in the back.

Torn-Amanda Hocking

Pan McMillian

291 Pages

ISBN:978-1-4472-0570-8

Releases March 1 2012

I have been a willing hostage to the imagination of Garth Nix for almost half my life, so of course when I found out there was a new novel being released, I was more than a little excited. And the verdict? Wow! If you have entered one of Nix’s worlds before, you know that Nix is a master storyteller not to be missed, and A Confusion of Princes certainly doesn’t disappoint.

Meet Prince Khemri. Taken from his parents as a small child and equipped with biological and technological improvements, he is now an enhanced human being, trained for the glory of taking his place as one of the Princes of the Empire. If he dies and is deemed worthy, he may be fortunate enough to be re-born. Which is just as well, for upon his graduation, his dreams of instant glory and gratification are soon shattered. The Empire is well versed in secrets and half-truths and Khemri soon finds that he is only one of ten million princes- and they all want each other dead. This may be the greatest game of chess ever played- and we are all the pawns.

A Confusion of Princes is more than just advanced tech, heroic battles, far flung space and alien life forms. This is a tender tale of love and one young man’s fight to regain humanity. This is a space opera at its epic best. Khemri is a strong and commanding lead who will have you fully vested into his plight. Told entirely from his point of view, this is his memoir and his “voice” will wrap itself completely around you have you desperate to see just what mayhem he stumbles upon next.

The world is visually rich and will transport you right into the thick of the action and the complex layers surrounding the mysterious Empire will have you digging through trying to find the truth at its core. The added bonus of an all new short story set in the world certainly adds to the enjoyment.

Even if Sci-fi isn’t your normal genre of choice, A Confusion of Princes is certainly worth stepping outside of your comfort zone. This is a stellar intergalactic adventure with a lesson for us all.

A Confusion of Princes- Garth Nix

Allen and Unwin

337 Pages

ISBN:978-1-74175-861-0

Released April 8 2012