by Linda Grimes ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 20, 2013
Not quite as much fun as last time, but it’s sexy and amusing and sure to please Grimes fans.
Second (In a Fix, 2012) in the urban fantasy series starring Ciel Halligan, “aura adaptor,” meaning that she can take on the physical characteristics of another person. Even more useful, auras can be remembered and swapped with other adaptors.
This time out, Ciel visits the National Zoo with hot-hot-hot adoptive cousin (and adaptor) Billy and his 10-year-old sister, Molly. Precocious Molly may be an adaptor herself. But when she touches a baby orangutan, she turns into an ape—and can’t change back! Smuggling Molly off the premises while pursued by overzealous zoo officials proves a challenge for Billy and Ciel, as does concealing orang-Molly’s condition from her relatives. Help may be at hand in the form of James, Molly’s nonadaptor, science-whiz brother, who has a theory that the adaptor ability may be genetic and susceptible to switching on and off. But then CIA operative Laura, whom Ciel met in the previous adventure, turns up shot under circumstances that make it seem as if Billy shot her. So Billy’s arrested for attempted murder, although he doesn’t stay in jail long—it’s simple for another adaptor to exchange places with him. And soon Mark, the CIA spook Ciel still has a crush on from high school, shows up. Billy, who knows more than he’s saying, doesn’t trust Mark’s boss—clearly there’s far more going on than anybody will take the time to explain to Ciel. Will Ciel finally get herself into bed—and with Billy or Mark? And then James turns invisible, Molly's still an ape, Ciel’s overabundant brothers continue to interfere; everybody, it seems, wants to tell Ciel, who’s practically gushing hormones, what to do.
Not quite as much fun as last time, but it’s sexy and amusing and sure to please Grimes fans.Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7653-3181-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2013
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by Samantha Shannon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 26, 2019
A celebration of fantasy that melds modern ideology with classic tropes. More of these dragons, please.
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After 1,000 years of peace, whispers that “the Nameless One will return” ignite the spark that sets the world order aflame.
No, the Nameless One is not a new nickname for Voldemort. Here, evil takes the shape of fire-breathing dragons—beasts that feed off chaos and imbalance—set on destroying humankind. The leader of these creatures, the Nameless One, has been trapped in the Abyss for ages after having been severely wounded by the sword Ascalon wielded by Galian Berethnet. These events brought about the current order: Virtudom, the kingdom set up by Berethnet, is a pious society that considers all dragons evil. In the East, dragons are worshiped as gods—but not the fire-breathing type. These dragons channel the power of water and are said to be born of stars. They forge a connection with humans by taking riders. In the South, an entirely different way of thinking exists. There, a society of female mages called the Priory worships the Mother. They don’t believe that the Berethnet line, continued by generations of queens, is the sacred key to keeping the Nameless One at bay. This means he could return—and soon. “Do you not see? It is a cycle.” The one thing uniting all corners of the world is fear. Representatives of each belief system—Queen Sabran the Ninth of Virtudom, hopeful dragon rider Tané of the East, and Ead Duryan, mage of the Priory from the South—are linked by the common goal of keeping the Nameless One trapped at any cost. This world of female warriors and leaders feels natural, and while there is a “chosen one” aspect to the tale, it’s far from the main point. Shannon’s depth of imagination and worldbuilding are impressive, as this 800-pager is filled not only with legend, but also with satisfying twists that turn legend on its head. Shannon isn’t new to this game of complex storytelling. Her Bone Season novels (The Song Rising, 2017, etc.) navigate a multilayered society of clairvoyants. Here, Shannon chooses a more traditional view of magic, where light fights against dark, earth against sky, and fire against water. Through these classic pairings, an entirely fresh and addicting tale is born. Shannon may favor detailed explication over keeping a steady pace, but the epic converging of plotlines at the end is enough to forgive.
A celebration of fantasy that melds modern ideology with classic tropes. More of these dragons, please.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-63557-029-8
Page Count: 848
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
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by Blake Crouch ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 26, 2016
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.
A man walks out of a bar and his life becomes a kaleidoscope of altered states in this science-fiction thriller.
Crouch opens on a family in a warm, resonant domestic moment with three well-developed characters. At home in Chicago’s Logan Square, Jason Dessen dices an onion while his wife, Daniela, sips wine and chats on the phone. Their son, Charlie, an appealing 15-year-old, sketches on a pad. Still, an undertone of regret hovers over the couple, a preoccupation with roads not taken, a theme the book will literally explore, in multifarious ways. To start, both Jason and Daniela abandoned careers that might have soared, Jason as a physicist, Daniela as an artist. When Charlie was born, he suffered a major illness. Jason was forced to abandon promising research to teach undergraduates at a small college. Daniela turned from having gallery shows to teaching private art lessons to middle school students. On this bracing October evening, Jason visits a local bar to pay homage to Ryan Holder, a former college roommate who just received a major award for his work in neuroscience, an honor that rankles Jason, who, Ryan says, gave up on his career. Smarting from the comment, Jason suffers “a sucker punch” as he heads home that leaves him “standing on the precipice.” From behind Jason, a man with a “ghost white” face, “red, pursed lips," and "horrifying eyes” points a gun at Jason and forces him to drive an SUV, following preset navigational directions. At their destination, the abductor forces Jason to strip naked, beats him, then leads him into a vast, abandoned power plant. Here, Jason meets men and women who insist they want to help him. Attempting to escape, Jason opens a door that leads him into a series of dark, strange, yet eerily familiar encounters that sometimes strain credibility, especially in the tale's final moments.
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.Pub Date: July 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-90422-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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