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Sunday, July 29, 2012
Author: Clay Griffith & Susan Griffith
If you've read the first book, you will know how the story left off. I am not going to go into an extreme amount of detail as I don't want to spoil anything that happened up to this point. The story is extremely engrossing though, You're introduced to more vampire clans, and learn a lot more about what exactly is going on between the humans and vampires. But in book two you start to see some backstabbing going on and some deals being made that could really mess things up for the people of Equatoria. And it's up to Adele, Gareth, Anhalt and others to try and prevent things from happening. Because if things are allowed to play out like a few people would wish them to, it would ruin them all.
A lot of the characters from book one are back, even Cesare.. who I still hate. You learn more about Adele and Gareth, as you would expect. And as I mentioned above, you're introduced to some new vampires throughout the story, and quite honestly I didn't really care for them all that much. They are the type of vampires you can come to expect from this series, Clay and Susan really know how to write their vampires.. some of the darker ones you will come across. Which is a good thing though, because that is how I feel vampires should be written. There are also a few other characters which you learn quite a bit more about such as Simon who is Adeles brother. He plays a really important part in this book. You see Senator Clark, which is Adele's husband, or so he claims but there might be a few problems with that, which is all I will say. I really enjoy all of these characters, even the ones I dislike. They all add something awesome to the story and help make it an enjoyable read.
The ending was pretty epic, to say the least. I love how it wraps up focusing more on two characters in particular. One of which you might not be expecting, but I was pleased with how this book was wrapped up. And don't even get me started with the epilogue, I want to know what they are up to so badly. It's going to be really interesting to see where things go in The Kingmakers which is book three of the series. And just by the title, I expect that we will be seeing a lot more of the politics and drama. But with everything else that you have going on throughout the books that stuff easily becomes bearable.
I would highly suggest reading this series if you haven't though. Keep in mind that it is an adult series, considering the vast majority of my reviews are young adult. But I really feel like this series could easily appeal to young adult readers, at least older teens and up. It's a lot darker than most of the books you'd see in young adult, but I can think of a few that could be comparable so it's not bad by any means. I really hope that you'll decide to check it out though, make sure to check out my review of book one "The Greyfriar" if you haven't yet.
Thank you to Pyr for providing me with a copy of this book for review.
Release Date: September 20th, 2011
Publisher: Pyr
Pages: 399
Publisher: Pyr
Pages: 399
Age Group: Adult
Source: Finished copy for review
Source: Finished copy for review
Rating: ★★★★★
Princess Adele struggles with a life of marriage and obligation as her Equatorian Empire and their American Republic allies stand on the brink of war against the vampire clans of the north. However, the alliance's horrific strategy for total victory drives Adele to abandon her duty and embark on a desperate quest to keep her nation from staining its hands with genocide. Reunited with her great love, the mysterious adventurer known to the world as the Greyfriar, Adele is pursued by her own people as well as her vengeful husband, senator Clark. With the human alliance in disarrray, Prince Cesare, lord of the British vampire clan, seizes the initiative and strikes at the very heart of Equatoria.
As Adele labors to bring order to her world, she learns more about the strange powers she exhibited in the north. Her teacher, Mamoru, leads a secret cabal of geomancers who believe Adele is the one who can touch the vast power of the Earth that surges through ley lines and wells up at the rifts where the lines meet. These energies are the key to defeating the enemy of mankind, and if Princess Adele could ever bring this power under her command, she could be death to vampires. But such a victory will also cost the life of Adele's beloved Greyfriar.
The Rift Walkeris the second book in a trilogy of high adventure and alternative history. Combining rousing pulp action with steampunk style, the Vampire Empire series brings epic politcal themes to life within a story of heartbreaking romance, sacrifice, and heroism.
I enjoyed The Rift Walker much more than I did the first book in the series. I just felt liked things moved a lot quicker out of the gate. I would say my only argument against this book was that there was so much more politics involved in it than the prvious book, at least in my opinion. But I will get into that later on in the review. This is such a rich story, not only the settings but the characters also. Clay and Susan do an amazing job drawing you into the story, and getting you involved with everything that is going with the characters.
If you've read the first book, you will know how the story left off. I am not going to go into an extreme amount of detail as I don't want to spoil anything that happened up to this point. The story is extremely engrossing though, You're introduced to more vampire clans, and learn a lot more about what exactly is going on between the humans and vampires. But in book two you start to see some backstabbing going on and some deals being made that could really mess things up for the people of Equatoria. And it's up to Adele, Gareth, Anhalt and others to try and prevent things from happening. Because if things are allowed to play out like a few people would wish them to, it would ruin them all.
A lot of the characters from book one are back, even Cesare.. who I still hate. You learn more about Adele and Gareth, as you would expect. And as I mentioned above, you're introduced to some new vampires throughout the story, and quite honestly I didn't really care for them all that much. They are the type of vampires you can come to expect from this series, Clay and Susan really know how to write their vampires.. some of the darker ones you will come across. Which is a good thing though, because that is how I feel vampires should be written. There are also a few other characters which you learn quite a bit more about such as Simon who is Adeles brother. He plays a really important part in this book. You see Senator Clark, which is Adele's husband, or so he claims but there might be a few problems with that, which is all I will say. I really enjoy all of these characters, even the ones I dislike. They all add something awesome to the story and help make it an enjoyable read.
The ending was pretty epic, to say the least. I love how it wraps up focusing more on two characters in particular. One of which you might not be expecting, but I was pleased with how this book was wrapped up. And don't even get me started with the epilogue, I want to know what they are up to so badly. It's going to be really interesting to see where things go in The Kingmakers which is book three of the series. And just by the title, I expect that we will be seeing a lot more of the politics and drama. But with everything else that you have going on throughout the books that stuff easily becomes bearable.
I would highly suggest reading this series if you haven't though. Keep in mind that it is an adult series, considering the vast majority of my reviews are young adult. But I really feel like this series could easily appeal to young adult readers, at least older teens and up. It's a lot darker than most of the books you'd see in young adult, but I can think of a few that could be comparable so it's not bad by any means. I really hope that you'll decide to check it out though, make sure to check out my review of book one "The Greyfriar" if you haven't yet.
Thank you to Pyr for providing me with a copy of this book for review.
Release Date: September 20th, 2011
Publisher: Pyr
Pages: 399
Age Group: Adult
Source: Finished copy for review
Rating: ★★★★★
Princess Adele struggles with a life of marriage and obligation as her Equatorian Empire and their American Republic allies stand on the brink of war against the vampire clans of the north. However, the alliance's horrific strategy for total victory drives Adele to abandon her duty and embark on a desperate quest to keep her nation from staining its hands with genocide. Reunited with her great love, the mysterious adventurer known to the world as the Greyfriar, Adele is pursued by her own people as well as her vengeful husband, senator Clark. With the human alliance in disarrray, Prince Cesare, lord of the British vampire clan, seizes the initiative and strikes at the very heart of Equatoria.
As Adele labors to bring order to her world, she learns more about the strange powers she exhibited in the north. Her teacher, Mamoru, leads a secret cabal of geomancers who believe Adele is the one who can touch the vast power of the Earth that surges through ley lines and wells up at the rifts where the lines meet. These energies are the key to defeating the enemy of mankind, and if Princess Adele could ever bring this power under her command, she could be death to vampires. But such a victory will also cost the life of Adele's beloved Greyfriar.
The Rift Walkeris the second book in a trilogy of high adventure and alternative history. Combining rousing pulp action with steampunk style, the Vampire Empire series brings epic politcal themes to life within a story of heartbreaking romance, sacrifice, and heroism.
I enjoyed The Rift Walker much more than I did the first book in the series. I just felt liked things moved a lot quicker out of the gate. I would say my only argument against this book was that there was so much more politics involved in it than the prvious book, at least in my opinion. But I will get into that later on in the review. This is such a rich story, not only the settings but the characters also. Clay and Susan do an amazing job drawing you into the story, and getting you involved with everything that is going with the characters.
If you've read the first book, you will know how the story left off. I am not going to go into an extreme amount of detail as I don't want to spoil anything that happened up to this point. The story is extremely engrossing though, You're introduced to more vampire clans, and learn a lot more about what exactly is going on between the humans and vampires. But in book two you start to see some backstabbing going on and some deals being made that could really mess things up for the people of Equatoria. And it's up to Adele, Gareth, Anhalt and others to try and prevent things from happening. Because if things are allowed to play out like a few people would wish them to, it would ruin them all.
A lot of the characters from book one are back, even Cesare.. who I still hate. You learn more about Adele and Gareth, as you would expect. And as I mentioned above, you're introduced to some new vampires throughout the story, and quite honestly I didn't really care for them all that much. They are the type of vampires you can come to expect from this series, Clay and Susan really know how to write their vampires.. some of the darker ones you will come across. Which is a good thing though, because that is how I feel vampires should be written. There are also a few other characters which you learn quite a bit more about such as Simon who is Adeles brother. He plays a really important part in this book. You see Senator Clark, which is Adele's husband, or so he claims but there might be a few problems with that, which is all I will say. I really enjoy all of these characters, even the ones I dislike. They all add something awesome to the story and help make it an enjoyable read.
The ending was pretty epic, to say the least. I love how it wraps up focusing more on two characters in particular. One of which you might not be expecting, but I was pleased with how this book was wrapped up. And don't even get me started with the epilogue, I want to know what they are up to so badly. It's going to be really interesting to see where things go in The Kingmakers which is book three of the series. And just by the title, I expect that we will be seeing a lot more of the politics and drama. But with everything else that you have going on throughout the books that stuff easily becomes bearable.
I would highly suggest reading this series if you haven't though. Keep in mind that it is an adult series, considering the vast majority of my reviews are young adult. But I really feel like this series could easily appeal to young adult readers, at least older teens and up. It's a lot darker than most of the books you'd see in young adult, but I can think of a few that could be comparable so it's not bad by any means. I really hope that you'll decide to check it out though, make sure to check out my review of book one "The Greyfriar" if you haven't yet.
Thank you to Pyr for providing me with a copy of this book for review.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Author: Jody French
Release Date: May 1st, 2012
Publisher: Neverland Publishing
Pages: 180
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Finished copy for review
Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: May 1st, 2012
Publisher: Neverland Publishing
Pages: 180
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Finished copy for review
Rating: ★★★★★
Red Dirt Rocker is a contemporary and inspirational American dream-come-true story geared toward a Young Adult audience. Based, in part, on the true and incredible adventures of teen MTV musician Forrest French, this hip and vibrant page-turner filled with pop culture references will draw the young reader in as they see the story unfold through the eyes of this straight-edge teenager from a tiny, hick, country town, whose life is about to change forever.
His strict dad raised him to be a football jock—his free spirited mama raised him on classic rock. Small town athlete and teen musician Forrest French finds himself torn, having to decide between public high school, sports and his simple, country life in Coweta, (aka Cow-Town) Oklahoma; his deep Southern roots and strong family ties, or the jet-setting life of an MTV rock star. While dealing with the team bully and facing the fickleness of teen dating relationships, Forrest depends on his faith to keep a cool head. In this story filled with teen angst and teen hopes, Forrest holds fast to his beliefs as he hangs on for the ride of his life in the upside-down, backward and thrilling world of rock-n-roll.
Red Dirt Rocker illustrates to its Young Adult audience that they can be accepted and successful with straight-edge flair, be they athlete, band geek, cheerleader, or aspiring rock star. Experience a shotgun ride right alongside Forrest as he embarks on his rock-n-roll dream and finds that a beautiful heart and strong values may just win over superficial beauty and popularity in the end.
When you're reading a book you always look for that awesome connection with it. But that connection can come in so many different ways. Red Dirt Rocker is an amazing book, and it's truly an inspiration for young and older readers alike. When I was contacted by Jody, she had explained how this story was about her son and I found myself really interested in reading his story after having read the description of the book. I didn't know what to expect, because honestly you don't see Young Adult books like this every day.
As you would expect since this book is inspired by actual events, it feels extremely real. Everything about it, it's not like you're reading a biography though. I will admit that I had thought it might feel a little like that, but it doesn't. It has the life and fun feeling that you'd expect to see in your average Young Adult contemporary novel that is completely fictional. I think it's awesome that his mom wrote this book, and I imagine he played a huge part in helping write it. I just think it's so awesome that she was able to turn his story into a book that could be used to inspire teens and adults to not give up on their dreams and goals.
While this book is based on actual events that happened to Forrest, some of the characters, band name and other things are made up for the purpose of the book and also other reasons. But all of the major events that take place throughout the book, and all of them are quite incredible especially considering how young he was at the time. And just as it says at the the end of the synopsis, I think that it was so great that Forrest really didn't let everything that was going on get to his head. I actually found myself really impressed with how he handled certain situations throughout the book. I don't know if all of the minor things were all factual or not, but regardless of that he really had a great attitude about everything, which is something you don't really see to often with people that get that kind of attention at that age.
I've been following this book on Goodreads since I had spoke to Jody, and I really think it deserves so much more attention than it's getting now. I love coming across books like this, and it feels great to be able to get the word out there for people to check them out. This is honestly a book that I think any Young Adult book reader can enjoy and relate to. Everyone has dreams and goals they want to accomplish, and the hurtles you have to jump over to get there. And it's great to be able to read such an awesome story about a great person that was able to accomplish so much.
I really hope that you will check out this book after you've read this review. It was a great change of pace for me from everything else I had been reading, and I think it just deserves so much more attention than it's getting at the moment. I'd love to hear if you plan to try and get this book, and what you think of the story from what you've read in the synopsis and my review. And if you've read it, I would love to hear what you thought about it.
Thank you to Jody for providing me with a copy of this book for review.
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