City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare is the fourth in The Mortal Instruments series of books. The Mortal Instruments is a series of six books, of which five have been already published and divides into two trilogies. City of Fallen Angels kicks off the second half with new threats and new challenges for our protagonists. We start off in a good place – things have been quiet and settled since the events of City of Glass. Clary’s main preoccupation is preparing for her mother’s wedding to long time love Luke and enjoying her relationship with Jace. Naturally, that peace doesn’t last for too long… It has been some time since I finished the first half of The Mortal Instruments, but Clare’s writing style and wonderful characters immediately drew me back into the world of Shadowhunters, demons, vampires and warlocks. I adore this world and loved reading more of it – I don’t know why it took me so long to get back to it! What I liked The worldbuilding – Clare clearly has an excellent grasp of her world. Everything fits together and holds well to its own internal logic. The characters. While I still retain…
City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare is the fourth in The Mortal Instruments series of books. The Mortal Instruments is a series of six books, of which five have been already published and divides into two trilogies. City of Fallen Angels kicks off the second half with new threats and new challenges for our protagonists. We start off in a good place – things have been quiet and settled since the events of City of Glass. Clary’s main preoccupation is preparing for her mother’s wedding to long time love Luke and enjoying her relationship with Jace. Naturally, that peace doesn’t last for too long… It has been some time since I finished the first half of The Mortal Instruments, but Clare’s writing style and wonderful characters immediately drew me back into the world of Shadowhunters, demons, vampires and warlocks. I adore this world and loved reading more of it – I don’t know why it took me so long to get back to it! What I liked The worldbuilding – Clare clearly has an excellent grasp of her world. Everything fits together and holds well to its own internal logic. The characters. While I still retain…
Codex Angelicus by the Quebecoise author Anne Robillard is the fifth entry in her A.N.G.E. series. This contains 10 books of which five are currently available in ebook format. For those of you unfamiliar with this series, A.N.G.E. stands for Agence Nationale de Gestion de l’Étrange (National Agency for the Management of the Bizarre) and refers to the top secret agency which investigates paranormal phenomena. We are introduced to the Agency in book 1 through new recruit Cindy Bloom. Cindy is only one of the many fascinating characters in the series. Sadly it is only available in French right now. I have read books 1-5 and here are my thoughts on the series up til now. What I liked Steady plot developments and twists. Throughout the series Robillard has built up the plot. We start off with Cindy being assigned to the False Prophets department under the tutelage of Oceane Chevalier – False Prophets is referred to as the new agents’ kindergarten as it’s normally a very safe and boring field where nothing much happens. Of course, what they learn there drives the whole plot for the rest of the series. Each subsequent book picks up on what has gone before…
Codex Angelicus by the Quebecoise author Anne Robillard is the fifth entry in her A.N.G.E. series. This contains 10 books of which five are currently available in ebook format. For those of you unfamiliar with this series, A.N.G.E. stands for Agence Nationale de Gestion de l’Étrange (National Agency for the Management of the Bizarre) and refers to the top secret agency which investigates paranormal phenomena. We are introduced to the Agency in book 1 through new recruit Cindy Bloom. Cindy is only one of the many fascinating characters in the series. Sadly it is only available in French right now. I have read books 1-5 and here are my thoughts on the series up til now. What I liked Steady plot developments and twists. Throughout the series Robillard has built up the plot. We start off with Cindy being assigned to the False Prophets department under the tutelage of Oceane Chevalier – False Prophets is referred to as the new agents’ kindergarten as it’s normally a very safe and boring field where nothing much happens. Of course, what they learn there drives the whole plot for the rest of the series. Each subsequent book picks up on what has gone before…
I was recently given a review copy by the publisher of Swamped by Andrea Hertach. It tells the story of young Marley Aaron who, along with local wildlife, campaigns to save a swamp along with its delicate ecosystem from destruction by urban developers. Like The Monster Mob, which I reviewed recently, Swamped is very much aimed at a younger readership, probably around the 8-11 year range. What I liked Concept. Swamped is clearly intended to increase environmental awareness in young people and it does that very well. It explains about the delicate ecosystem in the swamp and the damage that humans could do. I’m not certain though that the developer and mayor would be as sympathetic to Marley’s concerns in real life as they are in the book! Entertaining style. I enjoyed that interaction amongst the local creature inhabitants of the swamp and also their working together with Marley and her pet dogs. What I didn’t like As with The Monster Mob, it is clearly aimed at a younger audience and more mature readers may find it rather simplistic and too easily tied off. All in all I think Swamped sets out what it intends to – increase environmental awareness…
I was recently given a review copy by the publisher of Swamped by Andrea Hertach. It tells the story of young Marley Aaron who, along with local wildlife, campaigns to save a swamp along with its delicate ecosystem from destruction by urban developers. Like The Monster Mob, which I reviewed recently, Swamped is very much aimed at a younger readership, probably around the 8-11 year range. What I liked Concept. Swamped is clearly intended to increase environmental awareness in young people and it does that very well. It explains about the delicate ecosystem in the swamp and the damage that humans could do. I’m not certain though that the developer and mayor would be as sympathetic to Marley’s concerns in real life as they are in the book! Entertaining style. I enjoyed that interaction amongst the local creature inhabitants of the swamp and also their working together with Marley and her pet dogs. What I didn’t like As with The Monster Mob, it is clearly aimed at a younger audience and more mature readers may find it rather simplistic and too easily tied off. All in all I think Swamped sets out what it intends to – increase environmental awareness…
I was recently given a free copy by the publisher to review The Monster Mob by Andrea Hertach. It tells the story of a group of kids, Alex, Charlie, Leanna and Pete who share a love of creative writing and form the “Monster Mob” to share their (creepy) stories with each other. The novel is structured around the kids’ stories and their attempt to find the storyworthy in real life. From my reading I would guess this is aimed at middle graders, particularly those who already have a love of reading and writing. I don’t think older readers would appreciate as much – the themes and concepts are kept pretty simple and there might be little to hold their attention. However, there are a fair number of classical literary references – to Poe, Shelley, Shakespeare and Dickens and the author makes these pretty explicit in order for younger readers to appreciate them. What I liked The Monster Mob is a very light, quick read and passes a pleasant couple of hours. The writing style was clear and engaging. I did enjoy the ending with Mr Hawthorn – I thought it was rather sweet. What I didn’t like This book is…
I was recently given a free copy by the publisher to review The Monster Mob by Andrea Hertach. It tells the story of a group of kids, Alex, Charlie, Leanna and Pete who share a love of creative writing and form the “Monster Mob” to share their (creepy) stories with each other. The novel is structured around the kids’ stories and their attempt to find the storyworthy in real life. From my reading I would guess this is aimed at middle graders, particularly those who already have a love of reading and writing. I don’t think older readers would appreciate as much – the themes and concepts are kept pretty simple and there might be little to hold their attention. However, there are a fair number of classical literary references – to Poe, Shelley, Shakespeare and Dickens and the author makes these pretty explicit in order for younger readers to appreciate them. What I liked The Monster Mob is a very light, quick read and passes a pleasant couple of hours. The writing style was clear and engaging. I did enjoy the ending with Mr Hawthorn – I thought it was rather sweet. What I didn’t like This book is…
The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak is a historical fiction novel based on the early life of Russian Empress Catherine the Great. Through the eyes of bookbinder’s daughter turned lady-in-waiting Varvara it tells the story of Catherine’s arrival at court and of her navigation through Court politics to the Imperial Throne itself. Now, historical fiction is not a genre of which I read a lot; however I was intrigued by this one and it turned out to be the perfect antidote to my waiting-for-Dorothy-Must-Die reading slump. I don’t know a great deal about Russian history and I found myself checking Wikipedia from time to time to learn more and to help me separate fact from fiction. What I liked Engaging protagonist. Although the novel is about the rise to power of Catherine the Great, we follow her story through Varvara’s eyes as Varvara herself goes through her own journey. Varvara is intelligent, resourceful and has a keen eye for observation. Although she starts off relatively powerless, by the end of the book, she has amassed considerable wealth and influence, making hard choices along the way. In that respect her journey mirrors Catherine’s. The vivid picture Stachniak paints of court glamour…
The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak is a historical fiction novel based on the early life of Russian Empress Catherine the Great. Through the eyes of bookbinder’s daughter turned lady-in-waiting Varvara it tells the story of Catherine’s arrival at court and of her navigation through Court politics to the Imperial Throne itself. Now, historical fiction is not a genre of which I read a lot; however I was intrigued by this one and it turned out to be the perfect antidote to my waiting-for-Dorothy-Must-Die reading slump. I don’t know a great deal about Russian history and I found myself checking Wikipedia from time to time to learn more and to help me separate fact from fiction. What I liked Engaging protagonist. Although the novel is about the rise to power of Catherine the Great, we follow her story through Varvara’s eyes as Varvara herself goes through her own journey. Varvara is intelligent, resourceful and has a keen eye for observation. Although she starts off relatively powerless, by the end of the book, she has amassed considerable wealth and influence, making hard choices along the way. In that respect her journey mirrors Catherine’s. The vivid picture Stachniak paints of court glamour…