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In a country ruled by the iron grasp of a fanatical, paranoid, cruel despot, people are either cowed into submission or so desperate for freedom they turn to guerilla warfare and terrorism.  To strike closest to the ruler’s inner circle and cause the most upset to the veneer of a “peaceful” society, young women are indoctrinated to sacrifice their lives in a fiery blast.  Innocents die on both sides and few question the madness or the methods or if there’s really any difference between the tyranny of the ruler or the ruthlessness of the freedom fighters. No one until Grace. At 17, she has lived her life amongRead More →

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Jill Jekel is devastated by the murder of her father. When the police discover that he had been involved in illegal activities they lose interest in finding his murderer. Jill discovers that her father had been secretly working in his laboratory in the middle of the night and used her college savings account to fund his experiments!  Now with her mother falling apart, Jill tries to find “normal” again. When the mysterious, handsome Tristen Hyde gives Jill attention and support she finds herself curiously drawn to him. And when their chemistry teacher suggests they work together in a competition for a chance to win a 30K scholarshipRead More →

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In the not-too-distant future, the world has been baked dry and select people live a fairly comfortable existence in walled colonies, dependent on hoarded technology, water reserves, and the resourceful masses who exist outside the enclave walls from whom life-sustaining resources are taken on a regular basis.  Aside from foodstuffs and other tangible goods taken in by the Enclave, the most unsettling quota the masses outside the wall have to provide is newborn babies. That’s the world 16 year old Gaia Stone occupies; she lives outside the Enclave walls and is apprenticed to her mother, one of the few midwives whose sworn duty is to take hours-oldRead More →

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I just finished Matched by Ally Condie and loved it! I rarely read a book cover to cover but I read this one in two days. I had to see where it was going to go! A little bit Hunger Games and a whole lot The Giver, Matched is the story of a 17 year old girl figuring out that the utopian society she lives in might not be as flawless as she always thought. Cassia feels as if she’s waited forever to turn 17 and be “matched” with her perfect mate. At the ceremony, Cassia is both surprised and excited that she is matchedRead More →

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Australian author Richard Harland’s newest book, Worldshaker, is an action-packed, fast-paced thrill ride that grabs the reader from the first page and keeps you riveted until the satisfying conclusion. Col Porpentine is the grandson and heir to the supreme commander of the juggernaut Worldshaker. A technological marvel, Worldshaker carries over 10,000 people, including the nobility from the Old Country (formerly England) on an endless trip around the world, consuming resources and leaving a trail of destruction behind.  Col is a privileged member of the upper decks and has never questioned the order of things, the mastery of his people, and the mission of Worldshaker.  But then he meetsRead More →

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Catherine Fisher’s latest fantasy novel, Incarceron, has recently been released in the US by Dial, and this The Times’ Children’s Book of the Year (2007) is worth picking up. Incarceron is a prison unlike anything you’ve ever imagined: its inmates live their whole lives, from birth to death, in an entirely enclosed world with a vast network of cities, underground tunnels, metal forests, and unbound wilderness, all under the ever-present, all-seeing, sentient Eye of Incarceron.  It has been sealed for centuries and only in legend has anyone ever escaped.  Finn, a 17 year old prisoner, has no memories before waking up in a cell 3 years before. EveryRead More →

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In the not-to-distant future, civilization is divided into 4 realms: the privilidged classes in Realm One, living a life of comfort, safety and ease; the working classes living in an overly industrialized Realm Two that isn’t much different from today’s dirty industrial cities; social misfits, outcasts and dangerous elements in a harsh, prison-like Realm Three; and a foreboding, frightening Realm Four from which no one and no real information returns.  And all that divides these Realms and their citizens is a mysterious Test that all citizens take when they’re 14. It’s administered by the Great Processor and no one challenges the test or the results. 14 year oldRead More →

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Rooted firmed in the steampunk genre,  Scott Westerfeld’s new series opens with gusto in Leviathan, released last week from Simon Pulse. In this alternate reality where the Central Powers (Clankers) have invented amazing mechanikal war machines, 15 year old Prince Aleksander Ferdinand’s parents, the heir to the throne of the Austria-Hungarian Empire Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Sophie Chotek, have been assassinated and he is whisked away in the dead of night by just a few loyal men in a giant walking war machine, a Stormwalker.  Naive to the intricacies of politics and international intrigue, Alek slowly realizes this assassination has been the spark to set off the greatest warRead More →

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What could happen to us in a world where we no longer need to think? Where people live their daily lives uber-connected to the internet and everything it has to offer- encyclopedias of knowledge a split-second away, instant communication capabilities, worlds of information and shopping- complete with pop-up ads tailored to your desires? And what could happen if the thing connecting you to this infinite world malfunctioned? M.T. Anderson’s Feed tackles these issues. In a future world, people live with the Feed, a chip implanted into their brains that connects them to the internet on steroids. Everything they do, shop, hang out with friends, goRead More →