Days of Blood and Starlight – Laini Taylor (Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy #2)
2012, Hachette H&S Fiction
528 pages
RRP: AU$19.99
ISBN: 9781444722680
Reviewed by Kate Smith
(warning – contains spoilers for the first book in the series, Daughter of Smoke and Bone)
Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School #1) – Gail Carriger
2013, Hachette Atom
320 pages
RRP: AU$16.99
ISBN: 9781907411588
Reviewed by Liz Grzyb
Being a big fan of Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series, I was looking forward with much excitement to the release of Etiquette & Espionage, Carriger’s new young adult series focusing on the adventures of fourteen-year-old Sophronia, who is covertly introduced to Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. This finishing academy doesn’t just focus on pouring tea and flirting over a fan, but also trains young ladies to become highly accomplished spies and assassins.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone – Laini Taylor
2012, Hachette Hodder
448 pages
RRP: AU$14.95
ISBN: 9781444722659
Reviewed by Kate Smith
I hate it when this happens. While there was really no way to finish the story in a single book, and I’m really glad that Taylor didn’t try to do so, I hate having to wait for the next part of the story. However, looking on the positive side of matters, my wait for the continuing story allows me to go back and read again to see how people and events fit together having the knowledge gained by the end of the novel.
The Dead-Tossed Waves – Carrie Ryan
2010, Hachette Gollancz
416 pages
RRP: AU$49.95 (HB)
ISBN: 978-0575090897
Reviewed by Gillian Polack
There are two important things I need to state up front. Firstly, I have not read the book The Dead-Tossed Waves follows (The Forest of Hands and Teeth) – The Dead-Tossed Waves therefore stands alone for me, and all the knowledge I have of the world and the characters is from within the novel itself. Secondly, this is a zombie novel. For the most part it is a great deal more than a zombie novel, for the focus is on the coming of age and into the wisdom to survive of Gabry, the protagonist. While it has far more to it than zombies and while the zombies are seldom given that name, it’s still a zombie novel and it covers the bases that a zombie novel must cover: how does one kill a zombie, what happens when one is infected, what happens when one’s friends are no longer the humans they were, how does the world live through a zombie apocalypse.
Deadlocked – Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse #12)
2012, Hachette Gollancz
336 pages
RRP: AU$29.99
ISBN: 9780575096585
Reviewed by Ruza Foster
Deadlocked is the penultimate novel in the southern vampire mysteries series, and while I’m a fan of this series I think Harris has really started scraping the bottom of the barrel with this latest release. Perhaps she should have put Sookie and Eric to rest much earlier.
The Fallen Blade – Jon Courtenay Grimwood (Assassini #1)
2011, Hachette Orbit
432 pages
RRP: AU$29.99
ISBN: 9781841498454
Reviewed by Kate Smith
On picking up the book and reading the blurb on the back, I was immediately interested. The combination of what appeared to be a period political thriller combined with supernatural elements appeared very promising, and I began reading with relatively high expectations. Unfortunately, for me, this hope was not met.
Cold Magic – Kate Elliott (The Spiritwalker Trilogy #1)
2010, Orbit Hachette
502 pages
RRP: AU$22.99
ISBN: 9781841498812
Reviewed by Gillian Polack
Two cousins are each other’s best friend. They are at school together and plotting mischief as intelligent (and bored) girls do in their late teens. Cat is ripped from both the emotional comfort of a poor family with status to maintain and from her best friend’s company, and forced into marriage. The marriage is not what it seems. Nothing is what it seems. Cat’s whole world is turned upside down over and over again. This is the basis of the story. It provides a very strong underpinning for the adventures that Cat has, for the relationship with her cousin is firm enough and developed enough so that we have a clear understanding of who she is and what she’s leaving behind. At one stage Elliott cheats with this, and adds to the background so that we begin to doubt those relationships: this detracts from that lovely emotional solidity that she establishes early on, but she is a fine writer and, it shifts the tenor of the novel rather than destroying it.
Heir of Night – Helen Lowe (Wall of Night #1)
2010, Orbit Hachette
480 pages
RRP: AU$24.99
ISBN: 9780356500003
Reviewed by Liz Grzyb
The Heir of Night is the first installment of Helen Lowe’s Wall of Night series, and the second novel has been released recently. The series follows Malian, daughter of Lord of the House of Night, one of the great Derai families in Haarth as she is threatened by the Darkswarm. There are prophecies, monsters, forbidden lands and magic: everything needed for a tale that lands smack bang in Fantasy land! The plot is very traditional for the genre - young girl is under threat and finds she has a special gift of some kind; she and her friends must save the world from a terrible fate.
Timeless (The Parasol Protectorate #5)- Gail Carriger
Hachette Orbit, 2012
384 pages
RRP: AU$19.99
ISBN: 9781841499871
Reviewed by Liz Grzyb
Gail Carriger’s previous Parasol Protectorate books are all witty, engaging, and really, just a lot of fun. Timeless is no exception, as Alexia and her erstwhile entourage travel to Egypt to investigate the God-Breaker Plague and to pay a pressing social call on the ancient Queen of the Alexandria vampire Hive. Those who have adored the series over the past three years will be saddened to know that this is the last we see of the Protectorate, but will certainly not be disappointed in the send-off Alexia has been given by Carriger.
Twilight The Graphic Novel Volume 1 – Stephenie Meyer, Art and Adaptation by Young Kim
Hachette Yen, 2010
224 pages
RRP: AU$19.99
ISBN: 9781907411526
Reviewed by Kate Williams
I have never seen the appeal of graphic novels and this one hasn’t done anything to convert me, however it is possible to respect the amount of passion and effort that has gone into bringing the first half of Twilight to life. Young Kim’s background in animation is clear in this incredibly detailed interpretation of the popular novel as is Stephenie Meyer’s guiding hand.
