Scrapped Princess

Scrapped Princess
Volume 1 – A Tale of destiny

Scrapped Princess
Volume 2 – Song of the forgiven

By Ichiro Sakaki

These are the novels that inspired the Scrapped Princess anime series. There are 14 Volumes planned.

Fourteen years ago, in the kingdom of Linevan, the queen gave birth to twins – a boy and a girl. However, a prophecy foretold that the girl would, on her 16th birthday, destroy the world, and therefore should be executed immediately. Heartbroken, the queen could not kill her daughter, but instead arranged for her to be adopted by local friends.

Pacifica grows up with her new siblings, Shannon and Raquel, unaware of her true fate. However, when it is revealed that she is the Scrapped Princess, the trio decide to avenge the murder of their father and to test the truth of the prophecy. Fast-paced adventure and action ensues, as the three journey across the kingdom, hunted by fierce warriors intent on killing the Princess before she destroys their world.

An fun series, though a bit slow in some spots, and clearly missing the visual details of the manga and anime. An interesting blend of a manga and a novel – it’s more an illustrated novel really - with several manga-style illustrations.

Blood beast

Blood Beast

By Darren Shan

Book Five in The Demonata Series. Previous titles, in order:

Lord Loss
Demon Thief
Slawter
Bec

Brilliant series - lots of horror, demons, fights, death, and interesting characters.

Grubbs is back, haunted by his nightmares, and battling demons again. But this time, his greatest challenge is his internal struggle against the family curse. The full moon brings agonizing symptoms, and Grubbs must fight against his emerging werewolf.

Shan keeps the pace frantic, the horror scary, and the characters true to their uniqueness. Grubbs’s inner dialogues are touching and revealing, filled with his self-doubt and his fierce protectiveness for his friends and what’s left of his family. Shan’s writing is crisp and abrupt – characterized by his short sentences and brisk dialogue. It works perfectly for this story, and for the voice of his narrator, Grubbs.

It finishes on a doozy of a cliffhanger – can’t wait for the next one!

Viking warrior

Viking Warrior

By Judson Roberts

A strong, violent, bloody story set in 9th century Denmark marks the first book in a new series titled The Strongbow Saga.

Young Halfdan, the main character and narrator, is a slave in his father’s house due to his illegitimacy. When his father is mortally wounded in battle, his mother makes a tragic sacrifice which frees Halfdan to be fully recognized by his half-brother and half-sister. Characters important to Halfdan, and his journey from slave to warrior, are richly drawn and are the key revealers of the minutiae of Viking life. Historical detail is so intimately interwoven into the story, making the time and place of the story believable and real.

The language of the story is beautifully done – Halfdan’s voice is a perfect mix of high fantasy, heroic sagas, Viking legends and enough contemporary to make for an ease of reading.

This is an incredibly violent tale though, set in cruel and violent times. Halfdan faces many trials and tragedies, some quite heartbreaking. The strength of his character is revealed in the way he copes and adapts and changes during his journey. This story is so much more than an historical adventure. So looking forward to the next in the series!

Snakehead

Snakehead

By Anthony Horowitz

Another action-packed Alex Rider story, the seventh in this series. This one is set in Australia, with Alex working with ASIS to foil the South East Asian criminal group called Snakehead.

There’s action galore - threats to the environment, a Great Big Bomb, threats of non-con organ transplants, a martial arts tournament of death, and new gadgets to play with. There’s also Alex’s godfather, Ash, who may or may not unlock secrets from Alex’s past. Alex’s character grows a little deeper, a little more complex with each installment. As the series continues, I’m hoping that Horowitz continues to balance the exciting James Bond side of his story with the journey of personal growth that Alex is undertaking in his search for identity.

City of Bones

City of Bones

Author: Cassandra Clare

This is the first in a planned trilogy – the series title The Mortal Instruments referring to three magical items that can grant power over life and death.

Clary Fray is a normal teenager in every way, until she realizes that she can see things that others around her cannot. As she begins her journey to reclaiming the heritage that has been denied to her, her view of the world expands to include the existence of demons, vampires, werewolves and Shadowhunters. Clary’s clueless-but-loveable friend, Simon, gets caught up in her adventures; and she meets the brooding-and-mysterious Jace, who is adored by his brother-in-all-but-name Alec; and Alec’s gorgeously-beautiful-but-tough-as-nails sister Isabelle.

It is the cast of characters that carry this first novel. Interestingly intriguing, they are worth the effort of trying to determine their place in the plot, their various motivations and simply enjoying their moments of uniqueness. And the gothic, urban, New York setting gives such a gritty realism to the fantasy elements of the story.

In the end though, the novel is let down by the unoriginality of the plot. It is so derivative of so much else – more than simply reminiscent - the worlds of Buffy, Dr Who, Harry Potter, and Star Wars, are all echoing around in there. I’m mindful that this is the first in a series, so there’s hope that Clare is using these worlds as a springboard to her own ideas in the next two books. The nod to Holly Black’s Modern Faerie Tales is nicely done, and aims for that ‘insider’ feeling for readers following two authors writing in the same urban fantasy genre.

I was too disappointed with the plot device revealed at the end of the story; it’s so cliché now, it would take a writer with extraordinary skill to make that type of plot-line fresh and believable. Unfortunately, Clare is not there yet, and it made the ending anti-climactic and wince-worthy.

Nonetheless, I will be looking forward to reading the next part, The City of Ashes, to see where Clare takes her story and these characters. I have hopes that this will be one of those series that improves enormously with each new installment, building to a trilogy seen, as a whole, as a Great Read.