Review: The Mysterious Benedict Society

Title: The Mysterious Benedict Society
Author: Trenton Lee Stewart
Genre: Children / Mystery / Science Fiction
Publication: 2007

Summary: Dozens of children respond to this peculiar ad in the newspaper and are then put through a series of mind-bending tests, which readers take along with them. Only four children-two boys and two girls-succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and inventive children could complete. To accomplish it they will have to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules. But what they'll find in the hidden underground tunnels of the school is more than your average school supplies. So, if you're gifted, creative, or happen to know Morse Code, they could probably use your help. (Summary taken from Barnesandnoble.com)

My Thoughts: I like puzzles. I like things that challenges my mind and make me work to figure out the solution. I'm not saying I'm any good at it though. The thing I liked most about this book is that its full of puzzles that the children in it must solve.

The first part of the book is the best in my opinion. I really liked reading about how each of the children solved the puzzles in their own way. I even admit that I hadn't even clued in with of them myself! This is probably the strong point of the book I would say.

Other than that to tell the truth I'm actually having a hard time writing a review for this book because even though it was a good book, and it has to be considering its a New York Times Best Seller, I only just liked it. I liked it fine and the story was good but it is certainly geared towards children more I would say. The story is clever with puzzles but the main plot was more or less predictable which made the twists not so shocking. But I don't think that was the focus of this book because aside from that the characters were really great and I loved how they all interacted together and how each of them were very unique. It was funny at times and definitely charming. The writing was really good too and easy to read so in the end it was a good book.

Ultimately I never felt that certain "I just NEED to know what happens next!" itch but I did like it. I would recommend this book to children and young adults because it's a very charming book that's full of adventure and great characters. I'm sure even some adults would find a few of the puzzles in here a little challenging. I will someday read the next ones but they aren't on my immediate to-read list.

My Rating: 3.5/5

Review: Beyonders - A World Without Heroes

Title: Beyonders - A World Without Heroes
Author: Brandon Mull
Genre: Fantasy
Publication: 2011

Summary: Jason Walker has often wished his life could be a bit less predictable--until a routine day at the zoo ends with Jason suddenly transporting from the hippo tank to a place unlike anything he's ever seen. In the past, the people of Lyrian welcomed visitors from the Beyond, but attitudes have changed since the wizard emperor Maldor rose to power. The brave resistors who opposed the emperor have been bought off or broken, leaving a realm where fear and suspicion prevail.

In his search for a way home, Jason meets Rachel, who was also mysteriously drawn to Lyrian from our world. With the help of a few scattered rebels, Jason and Rachel become entangled in a quest to piece together the word of power that can destroy the emperor, and learn that their best hope to find a way home will be to save this world without heroes. (Summary taken from Barnes and nobles.com)

My Thoughts: I believe Brandon Mull could not write a bad story even if he tried. Being a tremendous fan of the Fablehaven series, I went into this book with very high expectations and I wasn't left disappointed. Mull has a way of bringing life to his stories and characters that I have come to enjoy greatly as I love his style of writing and his storytelling. With all of his books, and especially Beyonders, I did not want to put it down for even a moment. If I had the time I would have read it all in one sitting because I just needed to know what happened next.

I got to hand it to Mull, he definitely knows how to write a compelling story. During the story there was a certain thing tugging at my mind about a major plot point which I couldn't really make sense of because it seemed silly to me, then I was pleased to realize it was all part of his master plan to create the story that way because in the end it blew my mind. It introduces a lot of great characters who I came to care about and I experienced joy and sorrow for them. All of the characters are believable and handle themselves perfectly to really make the book shine.

Beyonders - A World Without Heroes is definitely now one of my favorite books. It's exciting, engaging, perilous, funny, sad and overall spectacular. I may just be showering praise onto this book but honestly it's all I can do. I liked it that much. I wish I were a time traveler so I could read the next one immediately.

My Rating: 5/5

Review: Autumn: The City by David Moody

Title: Autumn: The City

Author: David Moody
Genre: Horror
Publication: 2005

Summary: When a mysterious virus swept across the city, millions of people suddenly collapsed to their deaths within moments as they wheezed and coughed struggling for breath. The city had died but a fortunate had not been affected by the disease floating in the air. As the dead begin to rise, together they struggle to stay alive and to keep their minds intact as they search for answers and try to remain out of reach of the increasingly violent walking corpses outside.

My Thoughts: The thought of a zombie apocalypse for me is the scariest horror scenario that could ever happen. Autumn: The City brings out all the fear and dread that surrounds this unlikely happening and like a slow rise it consistently builds up the tension with every chapter. Bringing a fresh perspective to the the traditional zombie story, Autumn: The City delivers delightfully.

This is the second book in the Autumn series and although I have not read the first book, due to this being given to me by a friend to read, I had no problem enjoying the story. The author did an amazing job depicting how the city had gone to waste with each passing day since the disease had spread. Something I really enjoyed about this fresh approach to the zombie story is that he gave it a bit originality, even though it's hard to make any zombie story somewhat original anymore because they are basically all the same. Not every person who died had risen again and there was an evolution to the behavior of the walking dead. The book never once use the word "zombie", although a phrase in the book did reveal that the idea was not foreign to the world, and there wasn't any pointless gore for the sake of there being gore.

My favorite bit about this book was the raw human emotion that the author did amazing at expressing - fear, anger, emptiness, confusion, longing, etc... Every character displayed their emotions differently than others and it was all very compelling and believable. The book was all about expressing the struggle of the survivors and how they tried to come to terms with it. I definitely could appreciate that because a lot of zombie anything these days rely heavily on gruesome acts such as flesh eating and gore. There was plenty of decay and descriptions of rot and smell, but that only helped depict the scenery and the horror of the survivors.

The book was easy to read, the writing was vivid, the emotion excellent and the build up intense. Each character portrayed were believable and the walking dead were creepy and progressively more frightening. This book is definitely intended for mature readers due to its nature and for its coarse language. But if you are a fan of zombie stories then I highly suggest reading this book.

Favorite Passage: "Suddenly feeling paranoid and self-conscious, Michael did up his trousers and immediately began trying to work out how he was going to clean the bedding and his clothes without Emma asking questions or discovering what he had done. A once-familiar feeling of post-ejaculation regret bordering on disgust washed over him. What had he done? Millions of people were dead outside and there he was, wanking under the bedclothes like some dirty little schoolboy. He felt ashamed, and that shame increased infinitely when Emma rolled over."

My Rating: 4.5/5

Review: Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright

Title: Red Riding Hood

Author: Sarah Blakley-Cartwright
Genre: Fantasy & Romance
Publication: 2011

Summary: Valerie's sister was beautiful, kind, and sweet. Now she is dead. Henri, the handsome son of the blacksmith, tries to console Valerie, but her wild heart beats fast for another: the outcast woodcutter, Peter, who offers Valerie another life far from home.

After her sister's violent death, Valerie's world begins to spiral out of control. For generations, the werewolf has been kept at bay with a monthly sacrifice. But no one is safe. When an expert wolf hunter arrives, the villagers learn that the creature lives among them - it could be anyone in town.

It soon becomes clear that Valerie is the only one who can hear the voice of creature. The Wolf says she must surrender herself before the Blood Moon wanes . . . or everyone she loves will die. (Summary taken from Amazon.com)

My Thoughts: The reason I picked up Red Riding Hood was because I was fascinated to read an adaption of the original fairy tale. I like seeing old things become new. So I picked up this book while I was strolling through the mall one day, not really looking for anything in particular, and came upon this. At the time the movie was being shown at the theaters and I thought it would be cool to read the book first and watch the movie after so I can see the comparison. But I will not go into detail about the movie here. The book, however, was good but I couldn't bring myself to believe some of it. Like the romance for instance.

The writing of Red Riding Hood was really good and beautiful and the author did a wonderful job depicting emotion and scenery such as the village of Daggerhorn. The writing was elegant... but dragged on too much. As much as I found the writing to be beautiful, I found myself at times wanting to scream at the narrative for not getting to the point - especially for the first half of the book. After that, when it rolled into the second half, I found it was more bearable since the action picked up and the mystery surrounding the Wolf was exciting. If it weren't for the Wolf bits I wouldn't have enjoyed this book at all. There was a lot of girly infatuation with men that I didn't care for because it's just not my thing, but that doesn't mean someone else who likes romance wouldn't enjoy it.

The Wolf parts were definitely my favorite. They were mysterious and whenever I thought someone to be the Wolf there would be something else that would make me reconsider and keep wondering. The Wolf was eerie and frightening and awesome all at once. I mean, I wouldn't want to cross paths with it, but as an observer it was great.

The only thing about the romance was that some of it wasn't believable. For instance - Valerie's love at first sight with Peter. I just didn't feel believable. "Oh my, that's Peter? My childhood friend who I haven't seen for years? I think I'm in love with him!" I didn't care for that. Although I'm certainly not an expert in romance, I just couldn't bring myself to appreciate this aspect of the book.

Now for the number one thing that totally turned me off was the ending. Because there was no ending. I spent the entire time reading and wondering who the Wolf is and... nothing! I considered writing this as a possible spoiler but then felt it wasn't because you can find out who the wolf is eventually... if you read the bonus chapter on the website. So you will be able to discover the mystery although you won't find it inside the book. The entire time reading I had my suspicions about certain people and was aching to find out the truth in the end, but when the end came I was severely disappointed and angry because I thought it was a terrible ending. Then I learned that the author added a bonus chapter on the website, which to me felt tacked on, where I then learned the Wolfs true identity. Shame on you, Sarah Blakley-Cartwright.

Overall I did enjoy Red Riding Hood for its mystery, action and the Wolfs character but I couldn't get into some romance aspects and I didn't like the ending. The first half of the book was alright but I felt it dragged on too much and the second half was much better and more exciting. Although this is a fantasy novel it does heavily involve itself with romance so if you're into that sort of thing then I would recommend this book.

My Rating: 3/5

Review: War of the Ancients Trilogy by Richard A. Knaak

Title: War of the Ancients (Trilogy)

Author: Richard A. Knaak
Genre: Fantasy
Publication: 2004 & 2005

Summary: Months have passed since the cataclysmic Battle of Mount Hyjal, which put an end to the Burning Legion's invasion. Most Legion forces on Azeroth have been slain or driven into hiding. Yet now a mysterious energy rift in the mountains of Kalimdor propels three heroes to the distant past: the dragon mage Krasus, the human wizard Rhonin, and the weathered orc veteran Broxigar. It is a time long before orcs, humans, or even high elves roamed the world. A time that marks the Legion's first invasion of Azeroth, brought about by Queen Azshara and other night elf nobles. A time when the Dragon Aspects are at the height of their power -- unaware that one of their own will soon turn on the world he was charged to protect. (Summary taken from Amazon.com)

My Thoughts: It's been a few months since I've read this trilogy so my memory of it isn't exactly fresh, but I do know I enjoyed it so much that these are books that will be hard to forget. These three books are part of some delicious Warcraft lore. I've played World of Warcraft for years and the one thing I loved the most about the game is the lore, and these books deliver in a big way.

Although it isn't necessary, I would recommend reading Day of the Dragon written by Knaak because it's somewhat of a prequel to this series. Day of the Dragon introduces some of the main characters in War of the Ancients and so you'd get a better understanding of who they are. But it's not a major issue if you don't.

Knaak does a great job at fleshing out the Dragonflights and giving life to his characters in this series. He's basically a pioneer in Warcraft's Dragon lore. As a former World of Warcraft player, I have always had a fascination with Night Elves and their background - like how did the Burning Legion cross into Azeroth the first time, what caused Deathwing to go insane, and why was Illidan imprisoned for ten thousand years? You learn all of this in these books.

The story as a whole does drag on at times, but I think it's mainly due to introducing more characters along the way. The battle scenes between the Night Elf armies and the Burning Legion are very descriptive and some are just plain epic. I find that Knaak does a well at describing battles and its easy to read. You meet a lot of characters from classic Warcraft lore and get to know some new ones as well who are just as interesting and fun to read about.

The plot isn't too complex, there is mystery, plenty of action and magic, and tons of lore revealing the past of the Night Elf race, druidism, the Dragonfights, and the Burning Legion and its master. If you have not played any of the Warcraft games but are still like the Fantasy genre then you will get your fix out of this series, and if you have played Warcraft and are interested in its lore then this is a must read because it's great.

My Rating: 4/5

Review: Stormrage by Richard A. Knaak

Title: Stormrage

Author: Richard A. Knaak
Genre: Fantasy
Publication: 2010

Summary: Many are the mysteries surrounding the Emerald Dream and its reclusive guardians, the green dragonflight. In times past, druids have entered the Dream to monitor the ebb and flow of life on Azeroth in their never-ending quest to maintain the delicate balance of nature.

However, not all dreams are pleasant ones. Recently the Emerald Nightmare, an area of corruption within the Emerald Dream, began growing in size, transforming the Dream into a realm of unimaginable horror. Green dragons have been unexpectedly caught up in the Nightmare, emerging from it with shattered minds and twisted bodies. Druids who have entered the darkening Dream lately have found it difficult - sometimes even impossible - to escape.

Nor are these the Nightmare's only victims: more and more people are being affected. Even Malfurion Stormrage, first and foremost of the druids on Azeroth, may have fallen victim to this growing threat. As uncontrollable nightmares spread across the world, a desperate quest begins to find and free the archdruid. (Summary taken from back of book)

My thoughts: I am a fan of Richard A. Knaak's work. The very first book I ever read I think was Day of the Dragon which was also his work. I liked all his previous books and Stormrage did deliver as the others did but not as well. I liked Stormrage. That's all. It had a great idea and was thrilling during some parts but unfortunately the drawn out narrative and continual plot twists was a little too much. But as part of the World of Warcraft story, it was a great piece of lore.

In a nutshell, I would say the beginning was slow, the middle was fantastic and last third or so was repetitive.

The beginning of the book did feel a bit drawn out but it wasn't bad either. It sets up the plot well and gives you a good feel of the struggles that are happening in Azeroth. It introduces the characters well enough too but my only criticism about the characters is that they often felt... emo. When it gets rolling into the Emerald Dream and introduces the Emerald Nightmare then my blood got flowing and I thought it was rockin'! The Emerald Nightmare was drawn out really well and it definitely gave you the feeling of dread and fear. The struggle happening between the Nightmare Lord and his minions against the druids and people of Azeroth was great and exciting. I thought to myself if I had been put in that setting I'd be scared out of my pants. But as the story progressed passed the initial fascination with the Emerald Dream and Nightmare, the story began to become repetitive.

I cared about Malfurion's struggle while he was trapped by the Nightmare Lord within the Emerald Dream and the character interaction was great as well. The book also gives us a few good twists that really threw me a curve ball which I appreciated, but it ends up that there are so many plot twists that I started becoming tired of them.

All in all I cared about the characters struggles, even though at times they bordered on being emo, and I thought the Emerald Nightmare and its from of attack was fantastic, but becoming too repetitive and having too many plot twists weighed the story down in the end.

My Rating: 3/5

Review: Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski

Title: Blood of Elves

Author: Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Fantasy
Publication: 2009 (First Published 1994)

Summary: For over a century, humans, dwarves, gnomes, and elves have lived together in relative peace. But times have changed, the uneasy peace is over, and now the races are fighting once again. The only good elf, it seems, is a dead elf.

Geralt of Rivia, the cunning assassin known as The Witcher, has been waiting for the birth of a prophesied child. This child has the power to change the world - for good, or for evil.

As the threat of war hangs over the land and the child is hunted for her extraordinary powers, it will become Geralt's responsibility to protect them all - and the Witcher never accepts defeat.

My Thoughts: Upon reading the prequel to this book, The Last Wish, I was extremely excited and looked forward to reading Blood of Elves. Although I enjoyed it, ultimately I was disappointed. I knew these books were part of a series but didn't think that it would have been an unfinished story. Perhaps that's my mistake for not looking into it more but the book ends... with nothing. There isn't really an ending. The book ends with a chapter break and feels like it should keep going on the next page, which I imagine will continue on in the next book once it's finished being translated into English. Last night when I was only left with thirty pages I wondered "How is the author going to wrap ALL that up in thirty pages?" but he doesn't. So that's why I felt disappointed because I wanted to know how it ends and what happened to the characters.

I concluded that this book was basically an introduction to the series as a whole. Like setting up/introducing characters and allowing us to get to know them so we can care about them, and giving details of the wars and the political and economic struggles going on so the real action can take place in the next book. A lot of talking happened, which I'm not bashing because I loved it all, and very little action took place. Because of that fact it made it feel just like what I said - an introduction; very informative and something to give us the low down.

Aside from that I did enjoy Blood of Elves. I got a good feel for the characters and enjoyed learning about the history of some of the things. The dialogue, which takes up about eighty percent of the book, was superb and was believable and drew me in. Some of it did drag on a bit but every character had a life of their own. Reading about the relationships between characters like Ciri and Geralt, and then Ciri and Yennefer were my favorite bits. I loved reading up on the history of Kaer Morhen, the Witchers settlement, and observing Ciri develop her skills in different arts. What little action there was was exciting too and I'm hoping for more of it in the next book.

All in all I enjoyed Blood of Elves but was ultimately disappointed because I wasn't satisfied with its ending. Although it was perhaps intended by the author to be that way. Because the characters were so well drawn out I do intend to read the next book because I really want to know what happens to them and of what will become of this war and of Ciri's fate.

My Rating: 3.5/5

Review: The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

Title: The Last Wish

Author: Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Fantasy
Publication: 2007 (First published 1986)

Summary: Geralt was always going to stand out, with his white hair and piercing eyes, his cynicism and lack of respect for authority… but he is far more than just a striking-looking man, He’s a witcher; his sorcerous powers, enhanced by elixirs and long training, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary murderer: his targets are the vile fiends that ravage the land. But first appearances are often deceptive. Not everything monstrous-looking is evil, and not everything fair is good… and in every fairy tale, there is a grain of truth.

As guardian of the innocent, Geralt, the witcher from Rivia, meets incestuous kings with undead daughters, vengeful djinns, shrieking harpies, lovelorn vampires and despondent ghouls, and none are quite as they appear…

My Thoughts: The first time I've ever heard of The Witcher was from the video game I picked up a couple of years ago. As far as I knew that was all it was - a video game. While at that same store talking to someone about it a couple of months ago, the employee had mentioned that she had gotten the books as a gift because she liked the game so much, and so I was pleased to find out that it had been a novel first and then adapted into a video game. On my wife and I's last trip to the big city I had picked up The Last Wish, the first book in the series, and was overjoyed with my luck of finding it there.

The Last Wish by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski is now my favorite book.

The novel is broken up into a series of short stories which give you glimpses of the life of Geralt, the witcher, of Rivia. Sapkowski's writing is possibly one of my favorites because I love dialogue and character interaction and there is plenty to be had here. The novel starts off with a story of Geralt being hired to deal with a kings dilemma, which involves a bewitched monster, and from there he ends up recovering in a temple in which he's friends with the priestess in charge. From there each story is a flashback to earlier parts of his life and each story is unique and captivating. Because the story followed a path like this I found it much easier to read and I didn't want to put it down because I always wanted to know what happened next.

Geralt is a great character. I really like his views and philosophies on certain topics and he's a great anti-hero. Being a witcher, a professional monster slayer for hire, he lives to protect people from evil, for a price, but he's not interested in politics and petty affairs. Something I greatly enjoyed about this book is that it doesn't just tackle topics that are black and white, good or evil, but the grey areas where we would have to ask ourselves what would we have done in those situations. The tales are dark and gritty and has a good deal of intellectual discourse.

Another thing I liked as well is that the author managed to integrate old fairy tales into his stories and gave them all his own twist. Such as the stories like Hans the Hedgehog and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. They weren't the main focus of the stories but kind of like side notes which fit in well and gave me a smile.

The Last Wish is a mature book. I wouldn't recommend it for children because there are topics and situations that wouldn't be appropriate for them to read. But if you like Fantasy with stories that concern themselves with mature topics, monster slaying, love and action then I suggest this book for you.

Favorite Quote: "People," Geralt turned his head, "like to invent monsters and monstrosities. Then they seem less monstrous themselves. When they get blind-drunk, cheat, steal, beat their wives, starve an old woman, when they kill a trapped fox with an axe or riddle the last existing unicorn with arrows, they like to think that the Bane entering cottages at daybreak is more monstrous than they are. They feel better then. They find it easier to live."

My Rating: 5/5


This is my first book review so I'm not exactly sure how to write a proper one, since I always got away with not writing one in high school because I'd write a song and played it for the class instead, so I hope I did alright because I plan to do one for every time I finish a novel.