The Wanderer (Guardian and Wanderer Series Book One) by Pippa Dee

Rating: 4 out of 5
File Size: 321 KB
Print Length: 164 pages
Series: Yes - Book one
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B007ZLG5Y2

In the not too distant future … The digger clips the side of the ancient container, cracking it. The banished ones flicker—escape is near. The crack widens and The Wanderer worms its way upwards; into the cables, into cyberspace. The Protector follows, ready to fulfill his duty. The unstoppable chain of events is about to begin. Sasha and Andy have known each other forever, and share everything—including cool email attachments. The latest one, a strange creature, is no exception. However, when Sasha gets sick with symptoms that don’t add up, they wonder if the creature from the email could somehow be involved. It’s creepy … scary … and it seems to control them. In a race against time, they must discover the secret of the strange creature and save themselves and their town from the ancient Wanderer. But there’s more to the creature than meets the eye, and Sasha and Andy will be drawn into a world of the Ancients—the Guardians and Wanderers.

First Impression
This had a ghost in the machine movie sort of feel to it. I liked it though, it was a different way to retell the evil spirit/being story.

What I thought
Firstly I am not a huge fan of techno/fantasy genre. To often it annoys me and is told on an "epic" scale, which for me translates into long, waffley and boring. However this book is fast paced and you don't ever feel bored waiting for something to happen.

The book is told from roughly five point of views; the warrior in the past (Gartram), Sasha, Alex, Justine and Georgia the teacher. At the start of the book this can get a little confusing which for me slowed the story down. But I have previously stated I am not usually a big fan of multiple points of view.

However in this story each point of view does reveal an interesting piece of the story, there is no dud points of view. All the points of view gather speed story wise and then they merge together as the action hots up. I liked that by doing it this way we get a better picture of the story with out the information feeling forced into the story.

I loved the way the evil spirit was brought back into this world. It makes for a good blend of fantasy and sci-fi. The spirit comes back through the Internet and does its dastardly deeds that way.

For me this was a quick light read perfect for the target audience of teens.

Conclusion
You wont be disappointed with this book. It is a fun action novel. Aimed at teenagers they will most likely enjoy this book the most. But is a great read for anyone who is a techno/fantasy buff.

Extra
Keep an eye out over the coming weeks for my interview with PD Martin (Pippa Dee) which will be up in the next couple of weeks!

Blood Song (Lharmell Series Book 1) by Rhiannon Hart

Rating 4 out of 5 stars
Title: Blood Song
Author: Rhiannon Hart
File Size: 440 KB
Print Length: 165 pages
Publisher: Random House Australia (August 31, 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B005HLJY8G
ISBN:1742750966
ISBN (13): 9781742750965

Synopsis
When her sister becomes betrothed to a prince in a northern nation, Zeraphina’s only consolations are that her loyal animal companions are by her side – and that her burning hunger to travel north is finally being sated. Already her black hair and pale eyes mark her out as different, but now Zeraphina must be even more careful to keep her secret safe. Craving blood is not considered normal behaviour for anyone, let alone a princess. So when the king’s advisor, Rodden, seems to know more about her condition than she does, Zeraphina is determined to find out more. Zeraphina must be willing to sacrifice everything if she’s to uncover the truth – but what if the truth is beyond her worst nightmares?

My initial thoughts
This is a fun book, light and easy to read and I have found a new fantasy series to enjoy. If you like your fantasy more "old school" then this may not be the book for you.

First Paragraph

"I was thinking of blood again so I went to practice archery. That's what I always did when I thought I was going to kill something. I hit the bulls eye every time and nothing had died yet, so at least I had that going for me."

Digging deeper
It is what I would call a modern fantasy novel in that the language is modern, and you don't spend half the book confused as to what the author is talking about as you try to work out the made up languages. This for me is great, I am not a fan of the full on fantasy's like Lord of The Rings. I don't think I have read more then one chapter of that book before I gave up after every attempt.

I loved the main character Zeraphina she was a strong clever girl but a little impulsive. She isn't perfect as she does try to please and fit in with her sister and mother. Zeraphina and Rodden are cute and awkward together, there is attraction but suspicion as Zeraphina and Rodden try to work out what the other is there for (I will leave it at that as I don't want to reveal any spoilers).

Zeraphina's sharp tongue is what drives most of the humour. The humour through the book is dry, smart and made me chuckle out loud a few time. It didn't feel forced or there for the sake of it. As it was part of Zeraphina's nature it just fitted in easily with the book.

The world building and story telling is a careful blend of information to describe the world (with out info dumping) and setting up story arcs for the next books (I want to know more about Leap NOW just telling me it's not a normal cat does not help me, and where do I get one of them ride-on flying birdy things?). The pace is fast but the story doesn't suffer and does not bog down when the information is given.

The only down side to this book is it is book one of a series, and so there are peeks into characters lives and bigger issues with in the world and the then you get left hanging. I am sure these will be resolved in the coming books but this didn't bother me while reading this book when it usually does. I did notice it but didn't care. I know these threads are important and eventually we will learn more about it.

Final Analysis
Read this book at your peril or you might turn into a fan girl/boy like the rest of us. Also make sure you have book 2 lined up and ready to go because the ending of this book will make you go "what happened to the rest of it? Why did it stop? I am not ready for it to stop. I want to know now what happens next.....waaaaa". Or something to that effect.

Book two is on my kindle ready for my holiday. Yee-ha!

Extras
Check out the following reviews by clicking on the hyperlinks.

The Eclectic Readers reviews of Blood Song and the second book Blood Storm .

Also A Ticket To Anywhere first brought this book to my attention with her review of Blood Song.