catherinehaines

I’m not usually the type to read (and enjoy) books about the lifestyles of the rich and the shameless, but the more and more I read the Private series the more and more I find myself willing to make an exception for Kate Brian’s series.

Inner Circle is my second Private novel, having read Suspicion (the eleventh in the series) first1 and one thing I have been impressed with is the recapping the events of previous books in the series. As someone reading out-of-order I’ve appreciated the summings up. But even as I read along it was clear that, as recaps were kept to a minimum – a little bit here, a sentence there – a regular reader of the series will not have to deal with a book padded out by rehashing the previous ones.

While Inner Circle and its fellows are not what I would typically pick up, main character Reed is what makes the whole thing so readable. In a world of less-than-pleasant characters, Reed comes across as a breath of fresh air. While she may not make the best of choices at times, and she has her blind spots, these faults serve to make a well-rounded character out of a girl who is intellectually intelligent and has a good heart that leads her to do what she believes is the right thing.

An unlikable protagonist can often bring down an interesting book, while Reed’s likability brings Inner Circle up. Inner Circle is a short book, and could have benefited from having a little more in it – some parts sort of lurch from one to another, or some parts could have been expanded to clarify a few things. The base plot of the book was good, but it needed just a little bit more to really come alive. In addition, at times Inner Circle felt a lot like a book made for setting up future stuff, rather than having a story of its own – despite it being a whole new year at Easton, and a fresh start for the characters, it felt more like a middle book in a trilogy (one that is trying to hurry along for the big finale in part three) rather than another book in a series.

While not really my sort of thing, Inner Circle was a fast, likable read that will most likely be enjoyed by readers who are more into the subject matter than me.

To mangle a line from the movie Zoolander, New Zealand is very hot right now. Our actors and actresses are on the big and small screens in the US, and our directors making waves with giant blockbusters and indie darlings. And, of course, New Zealand has produced a number of amazing authors and stories – many of which, unfortunately, don’t seem to be as well-known as they deserve to be.

While a number of these fantastic stories are more European in their fantasies, David Hair’s The Bone Tiki makes use of New Zealand’s rich cultural heritages to create something that – in a YA fantasy/paranormal market dominated by creatures such as vampires, weres/shapeshifters and Celtic fae – comes across as feeling very fresh and new. The ghost world – referred to in text as Aotearoa – is a brilliant concept, an amazing blend of magic and New Zealand’s history, and that historical presence made what would have been a very boring and short1 journey part of a quest – it takes a lot longer to get somewhere if you’re stuck in a time where your mode of transport is horse and carriage, not a car.

Protagonist Matiu (Mat) is a delight to read; his internal conflict about coming to terms with who he is, especially with regards to his dual heritage, and his journey to learn more about where he comes from. His relationship and interactions with Kelly and Wiri are also a delight to read, while Kelly and Wiri stand strong as characters – Wiri especially, with the background I cannot give for fear of spoilers, is an interesting character. The Bone Tiki would be seriously lacking something if he were any different from the way he is. While the villains come across as a little flat at times (but are still most definitely menacing), Matiu and his friends come across as vivid and powerful.

One minor quibble I did have is the lack of a glossary in the back of the book. While I was already familiar with the majority of words (and was able to remember the rest, as explanations were also given in text), other readers obviously might not be. Terms and situations are explained in the text itself, but the ability to flick to the back and be reminded of meanings forgotten or confused would still be something highly valued. The Bone Tiki‘s sequel, The Taniwha’s Tear does remedy this situation, but it is still something that must be noted.

If you are looking for something that is a little bit different from the current trends of YA fantasy, and if you can get your hands on a copy, definitely check out The Bone Tiki. It’s fun, it’s fresh, and it earns itself four and a half stars from me.

It has been a few years since I read Saving Francesca and Looking For Alibrandi (I read my copy into destruction) but even after all that time I still remember how powerfully her writing affected me – Melina Marchetta was the rare exception made by a teenage me, a girl who at the time loathed to read anything that was not fantasy in some way.

Quietly dramatic, the power of The Piper’s Son lies in its word – the ones it chooses to use and not use, what it says aloud but still leaving things unspoken. I was only a short way in when this power really hit me as a reader, the line “[t]he Toms in literary history had let him down and he hated them all” gently but firmly announcing how powerful and tugging on the reader this story was going to be. And while The Piper’s Son is an incredibly strong work in all respects – characterization, plotting etc. – it is the writing that really stands out above the fantastic nature of it all.

Despite being a sequel to a YA novel, I would not exactly attach that label to The Piper’s Son. While there is nothing in The Piper’s Son that I would consider inappropriate for (older) teen readers, there is a maturity in the story and (externally) the characters that moves it above that general age range – Tom and his aunt Georgie, the two viewpoint characters, are 21 and 42 respectively, and their stories reflect where they are in their lives. While I would not be surprised that Georgie’s age and situation is a little distant for younger readers, the two decade age difference made no difference – her story, full of grief and guilt and so much more, was more than capable of tugging at my heartstrings. And that is what this story is about: two people, and those around them, dealing with the more painful of human emotions, and what everything going on around them and in the past means to them.

You don’t have to have read (or remember what you did read) Saving Francesca to enjoy The Piper’s Son, so don’t let that stop you from reading it. Because if you don’t read it, you will be missing out on a novel that is, well, simply stunning.

When I enjoy a book as much I enjoyed Skulduggery Pleasant, it is only natural that I would be excited for the next one in the series. But with so much to live up to, there is also the slight worry that the book you are looking forward to will suffer from the unfortunate affliction dubbed sequelitis. Playing With Fire though not only matches the first book but – if this is even possible, considering the high standards of Skulduggery Pleasant – exceeds it.

Playing With Fire opens with a bang of a scene, making it very clear that the action and (most importantly to me) the humour of the first are still very much there. The moment I had to set the book down for a minute in that opening as I was laughing so hard I knew that I voice I loved from the first book was still very much there. That wit and snark and all-around humour is one of the most appealing things about this series, so when it is in full form (like it is here in Playing With Fire) it makes for a wonderful read.

While Skulduggery himself is a wonderful character – and really, how could he be anything but? – I must confessed that young Valkyrie Cain has swiftly taken over the position of first place. She is a brilliant character – strong, intelligent, brave – and overall a delight to read. After reading a number of books with “heroines” that have no personality or anything to bring them to life Valkyrie is impressive and that is putting it mildly. Likable characters can make an otherwise average book into a good one, but brilliant characters like Valkryie, Skulduggery and the rest of the cast turn a book with an exciting plot and great world-building into something that is hard to top.

Speaking of plot, Playing With Fire‘s is nicely-paced and packed with great moments of action and character development, plus some nice twists and turns to keep things interesting – I don’t think I can say much more for fear of spoiling. Just know that if you enjoyed Skulduggery Pleasant, then I think you will enjoy the way the series is continuing and growing. If you haven’t read Skulduggery Pleasant, I suggest you run out and get yourself a copy so you can get onto Playing With Fire.

In my experience, while there are a lot of novels that make me laugh on occasion due to various scenes and lines, it’s much harder to find something that consistently makes me laugh all the way through. Humour is a tricky thing, as what is funny to one person might not be so to another (compare, for example, American and British senses of humour); it’s also difficult in that it is one thing to read humour but a whole ‘nother thing to write it.

All that being said, Skulduggery Pleasant is a wonderful example of a book that hits my sense of humour pitch-perfectly. It’s snarky, it’s witty, and, well, British in its humour – I think if you are a fan of the humour found in shows like Blackadder or perhaps Doctor Who, you would enjoy the general feel of the humour in this. I know it made me very reluctant to put the book down and go to bed, and each turn of the page gave me something new to smile about, with many moments of banter between Skulduggery and Stephanie resulting in me laughing out loud.

There is more than just laughs to this story though. It’s filled with darker moments – death and betrayal and monsters of various kinds – and victory and light are not things that come easy. Skulduggery Pleasant doesn’t shy away from the harsher truths of the situation, and is filled with moments that allow for expansions on morals, on what is right and good. Those morals don’t come across as condescending though, and while serious they are wrapped up in the humour that fills the pages of this book. The story is filled with an amazing collection of characters, with young Stephanie a shining example. She may be young and flawed, but she’s strong, brave, loyal and a lot smarter than anyone gives her credit for. While very new to the world of Skulduggery and doing her best to keep up, she is very pro-active (rather than simply reactive) and overall a very well realised character and a good role-model for younger reasons.

The stand-out character though is very obviously Skulduggery Pleasant, the title character himself. Beyond the sheer awesome that is a skeleton detective who also knows magic, he is the central source of the book’s comedy – I would quote some of his best lines to give you a taste of what he is like, but that would result in me basically copying out the whole book (and that would be a real no-no). Larger than life yet very easy to grab onto (I very quickly began ‘hearing’ his voice as a combination of the voices of Rowan Atkinson and Hugh Laurie), he’s an excellent example of what I think of when I think of characters who are ‘quite the character’.

If you enjoy your battles between good and evil to be filled with hilarious lines as well as great characters and plotting, then I suggest you check out Skulduggery Pleasant. I know I am looking forward to the next books in the series with great eagerness.

First person is one of those things that seems really easy to write (after all, we all think in first person, and using “I” and “me” is all very natural to us) but in reality it is much more difficult to do well. As well as having to deal with issues such as a limited perspective, to me the real thing that first person does (to make it all difficult) is reveal a very boring and lackluster main character. Narrating from third can help hide this, but when a reader can see directly into the mind of the main character, everything is visible.

That train of thought, plus the fact that first person seems more the domain of urban fantasy than more epic fantasy, got me interested – I like first person a lot, but for me it takes a character with real spark to pull it off well. The narrator of Shadow Prowler, Shadow Harold is a very strong personality, full of vibrancy and life – not to mention snark. He has his own little quirks, such as his occasional tendency to refer to himself in third person, and they help him leap from the page and make him a very attention-grabbing and entertaining narrator. Shadow Harold’s voice was the real charm of Shadow Prowler, and it really makes it stand out from other works because of it.

Shadow Prowler does contain a lot of the stock tropes and, yes, cliches of epic fantasy but that is not a bad thing. Others might disagree, but I see tropes/cliches as being a bit like magic: on their own they are neither good nor bad – it just all depends on the person using it. And besides, these things are used so often because they very often work. Sometimes it plays tropes straight, other times Shadow Prowler subverts/averts them. And fortunately, this first book of the trilogy is not so much a tale of questing (or at least jumping straight into the quest one has been charged with) but about letting Shadow Harold do what he does best: thieving, and getting in trouble for it. Listening to Shadow Harold’s narration snarking away as he finds himself in trouble yet again is definitely a highlight of the whole story.

Overall Shadow Prowler was an enjoyable adult fantasy story made even more so by the strong personality and humourous first-person narration of the main character. The first in a trilogy, I will most definitely be waiting for parts two and three, however long it may take.

Have you ever come across a novel (or in this case, manga) that you liked in theory, and even a good portion of its parts, but overall it just wasn’t quite what you would have liked? That was my experience with the first volume of Ouran High School Host Club. There were some things I liked, but it just was not enough for me to love it. It just was not for me.

My favourite thing of Ouran High School Host Club was easily the main character, Haruhi. She is clever, practical and generally unflappable – a good thing (and stark contrast) to the rest of the cast. I love characters like her, and only wish I could see more of them about. While in his first appearances Tamaki did little to endear me to him, watching his interactions with Haruhi over the course of this volume changed the way I viewed him; by the end of this volume I was enjoying him as a character on his own, and found myself very easily calling him my second favourite character.

Of course, it was easy to peg Tamaki as the second-favourite character as, well, the other characters were pretty much almost non-entities to me. Some did not present enough to capture my interest, while others sort of stepped beyond the realms of parody and into the realms of… “meh” and flicking forward to the next page.

Overall, the first volume of Ouran High School Host Club was something I did enjoy while reading, but had it been just a few steps in one direction or the other I most likely would have loved it. However I have heard that some of the things that I had an issue with, however minor1 do improve in later volumes, so I think that if I see the next volume about I’ll take a look.

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On The Nightstand

Welcome to On The Nightstand, a book review blog run by an avid reader named Catherine. She reads a variety of things, but loves in particular fantasy, paranormal and historical fiction. She loves introducing others to books from her home country of New Zealand and pointing out which books have finally made it to our shores. Also vampires.

The Serpents Of Arakesh, by V.M. Jones


Title: The Serpents Of Arakesh
Author: V.M. Jones
Genre: Fantasy, New Zealand
Publisher: HarperCollins New Zealand
Pages:
Copy Origin: Review copy courtesy of HarperCollins New Zealand
New Zealand Readers: Fishpond, MightyApe
International Readers: The Book Depository, IndieBound

Adam Equinox was abandoned on the doorstep of Highgate Orphanage 12 years ago. He has no idea who – or where – his parents are; no friends; nothing he′s good at; and nowhere he really belongs.

One day, reeling from yet another visit to the principal′s office, he notices Cameron Haig′s unusual bookmark. It′s the entry form for the Quest Golden Opportunity Competition, a competition Adam – along with 40,000 other kids – would love to win. Adam doesn′t seem to stand a chance. until Cameron gives him his ticket.

Unbelievably, Adam is chosen as one of the finalists. But it′s only when he and his four companions begin the gaming workshop that Quentin Quested reveals why they are really there – and launches them on a real- life quest into the parallel world of Karazan, where the Serpents of Arakesh stand guard over the most precious prize of all.

I was asking various people for recommendations of more New Zealand young adult books (especially fantasy and science fiction), and when The Serpents of Arakesh – the first book of the Karazan Quartet – was suggested I knew I wanted to give it a try. It may be a little more middle grade than what I normally read, but anything that is (what I refer to as) “gamer fantasy” is definitely all right by me.

While reading The Serpents of Arakesh, there is a lot that seems rather familiar – five different children of various backgrounds brought together via a contest very clearly has a similarity to a famous work by Roald Dahl, while its riddle-guided quest made me think of such works as Brian Jacques’s Redwall series – however when one considers the target audience and the nature of this story I think that familiarity really makes it work. The Serpents of Arakesh is not overtly (or even strongly) tropperific but it still uses and enjoys them, thus making the story easy to jump into, and characters and setting familiar. It does not rely on the tropes though, giving the characters and setting enough personality and description to really come alive.

There was one thing that kind of gnawed at me while I was reading The Serpents of Arakesh though. It is narrated in first person by the main character, a twelve year old boy who is very poorly literate. He is a very bright boy, as evidenced by his actions and leadership abilities, just not very good at things like reading and writing. Even disregarding his level of literacy, Adam just sounds a little too mature in his narrative voice than would be expected of a boy his age. Sometimes he would sound quite appropriate, and then he would use a word or a phrase that would throw me right out of the spell.

Apart from my one issue with the voice of the narrator, The Serpents of Arakesh is a clever little middle-grade fantasy, with a neat little premise and a wonderful cast of characters. Although this is the first of a quartet, The Serpents of Arakesh ties its story up very well indeed, with just enough of a sequel hook to, well, hook you into wanting the next one.

We have been seeing a lot of young adult books from the 90s and early 2000s being re-released in bind-up form - some examples would be the Wicked series, LJ Smith's body of work, and Christopher Pike's The Last Vampire series and Remember Me trilogy - and they are something that I have been taking great delight in. Why? Because it gives me and so many others a second chance to get my hands on all these wonderful stories - both the ones already read and the ones that would have otherwise not been.

The Dark Secrets series by Elizabeth Chandler is one of these reprinted series. Originally published in the early 2000s, the series is made of a number of stories connected not by characters, but by mysterious death and the small town of Wisteria. There are paranormal aspects too, but the paranormal aspects themselves are not exactly the same.

Of the two stories published in this bind-up, my favourite was the first one, Legacy Of Lies. It was a well-developed, deftly plotted paranormal tale, filled with a cast of interesting and layered characters. Legacy of Lies mentions and/or touches on a number of paranormal subjects - ghosts, reincarnation and fortune-telling for example - and handles them with remarkable skill; the plot contains enough twists and turns to keep things interesting and from being too easily to solve, but it does not lose its way either. As far as characters go, Megan is a very likable narrator and character on the whole, which makes it easier to deal with rougher parts of the story/less than pleasant characters; her grandmother and cousin reveal their layers over time, proving themselves to be more than just the one note characters they might have been in the hands of some authors.

While still an enjoyable story in its own right, Don't Tell was still a story weaker than Legacy of Lies. Lauren is a character less likable than Megan, and has a tendency towards making choices that would deem her "too dumb to live", and the characters did not seem quite as real as they did in Legacy of Lies. The plot itself does not have quite as sure a footing as Legacy of Lies did, or even as it potentially could have been - its beginning wavered, seemingly unable to decide where it wanted to go/what it wanted to be, and the ending seemed a little abrupt and out there.

While the second story was not as strong as the first, overall Dark Secrets: Legacy of Lies & Don't Tell was an enjoyable read, blending paranormal aspects into a mystery story. Dark Secrets: Legacy of Lies & Don't Tell is out now in the US, and out next month in the UK. Its sequel bind-up, Dark Secrets: No Time To Die & Deep End Of Fear is out May in the US, and August in the UK.

I originally thought this was going to be a retelling of Alice In Wonderland some sort - after all, the main character is called Alice, and everything starts to get strange after she encounters a magical rabbit - but that is not the case. Apart from those two little bits (a nod to the story by Lewis Carroll), Alice 19th is a cute, funny story about the power of words, and I think that is something that readers and writers can definitely get behind.

The story focuses on Alice, a young girl overshadowed by her pretty, popular older sister. She is also quite shy and awkward, unable to tell her crush (who unfortunately happens to be her sister's crush as well) how she really feels. This shyness, however, is portrayed realistically, and Alice's character development begins with her trying to overcome this problem; indeed the magical plotline and the non-magical character arc is woven through Alice's attempts to speak up and find Courage, which is the Lotis Word of this particaular entry. She is a lot stronger than people might give her credit for, and it will be interesting to see how she develops in further volumes. Other characters are painted more broadly, but I was impressed with the layers Alice's older sister had; it is unfortunately very easy, in cases of lack of sisterly understanding, to automatically make the non-protagonist sister flat and distinctly unlikable, but Mayura has enough to her to keep her out of this trap. She may still have very unlikable traits, but they do not make up the entirety of her being.

The magical aspect to the plot does take a back seat for the first part of this volume, but it is still present throughout, thanks mostly to the magical rabbit that Alice rescues in the opening. This rabbit - or rabbit girl, rather - provides most of the comedy, both directly and indirectly as well as the magical beginning and counseling, but as the story moves on the real potential of the magical system and the power of words becomes much more obvious and darker. It may not seem like much, given when in the volume it really appears, but it is more than enough really set things in motion and promise an exciting story to come in future volumes.

Despite some minor quibbles (such as the artwork suffering from the problem of only six faces), the first volume of Alice 19th was a light, fun read. As for its cliff-hanger ending, well, that definitely made me want to find out what happens next.

Eyes Like Stars, the first book in the Thèâtre Illuminata trilogy, was one of my favourite reads of 2009. In fact, in my review of Eyes Like Stars I wrote that it was "a book that captured me from the first pages, with characters that grabbed me from their first appearances, and a world which enveloped me the second I entered it." As you can imagine then, the quality and originality of Eyes Like Stars meant that I had very high hopes for Perchance To Dream... as well as worries that it might not match up to the high standards set by the first.

It was silly of me to think that though, as Perchance To Dream is a worthy follow-up to Eyes Like Stars. It's funny, it's creative, it's full of twists and turns, and Mantchev's writing style is still as wonderful and whimsical as ever. Her blend of prose and scenes written as a script add a real shine to the story. It is the little details that can add that final touch, like sprinkles on a frosted cupcake, and in Perchance To Dream has those sprinkles in spades.

It's main character Bertie that really shines here though. She is one of the strongest female leads in I've read in YA for a while. A lot of people mistake "strong female character" as a girl who is just physically strong when really it is much more than that. Bertie has grown since we first met her, from a girl searching for a way to stay to a person searching for herself. She is strong-willed, the rescuer rather than the damsel. And she plays off well with the rest of the cast too. Unlike in some stories today, she is not an object to be won, nor a prop passed around to continue the plot along. Instead she and the rest of the characters - good, bad and otherwise - work together to build the story skywards, even if inside of it they work against each other.

As I wrote in my review for Eyes Like Stars that it is the reviews for the books I love the most that are hardest to write. It's a real testament to the brilliance of Lisa Mantchev that she not only stumped me once with Eyes Like Stars, but again with Perchance To Dream.

It's just going to be a long intermission while I wait for the final act.

As the title suggests, this is the first volume in the Vampire Knight series, and as such this volume has all the weaknesses of an opening – as well as the strengths of a good one. It is a strong introduction to the concept, the characters and what aspects of the story will provide the conflict and the plot. I quickly and easily grasped all the factors/characters in play, so it was annoying to have the base premise (private school, two groups of students, the group that comes out at night are – shock – vampires) thoroughly and heavy-handedly retold to me, and I ended up ignoring the recap message in favour of the artwork alone.

Speaking of the artwork, it is easily the best thing about Vampire Knight. It is gorgeous, and the whole thing is filled with highly detailed panels that are a real treat on the eyes – every so often I would stop and just spend a few moments taking in all the tiny details, or just going “wow”. There is a distinct difference between the humans and vampire characters, so it only takes a glance to tell which group side/background characters belong to. There was one narration box, in amongst several describing the differences between the day and night classes, that informed us that the night class are “all extremely beautiful” – my (spoken aloud) response was “You don’t need to tell me!”

With most of the focus being on introducing everything and everyone to the reader, there is unfortunately less time spent on character development. We get just enough to cover the basics, with whatever is left dished out amongst the main characters. Male protagonist Zero does get the bulk of that, as it is his storyline that really is moving forward the plot in this volume; unfortunately the little that is left over for main character Yuki Cross is not quite enough. Unfortunately she does get put into the damsel role a little bit too much. On the other hand, she does have spirit and potential, and I hope to see some growth and development there in future volumes. I hope that will be the case with all the characters really, now that the introduction has (for the most part) been dealt with.

Despite some minor quibbles, overall I found Vampire Knight: Volume 1 an enjoyable (and beautiful!) introduction to a series that I would love to read more of – I know I am really enjoying a work is if I find myself actively shipping two (or more) characters, which was the case here. So if you are like me and will devour anything to do with vampires, I suggest you take a look at Vampire Knight.

When I first saw Unwind on a website, and read the description, my first reaction to the premise was “Pff. That’s so ridiculous.” But the concept would not leave me, and I started thinking. And remembering. That once upon a time there were people who sacrificed others, including their sons and daughters. That there were people who used to watch people fight to the death for their entertainment. That there were people who owned other humans, and considered them to be property and not people.

That even today, there are places where girls are being killed because they were simply not boys. That even today there are people who believe it should be a woman’s right to commit infanticide within the first 24 hours of birth if she does not want the child – and that this is a fate preferable to being adopted. That there are people who think the best way to counter what they see is murder is to commit more murder, just aimed at different targets.

Unwind is a very thought-provoking book, about so many subjects: life and death, abortion, adoption and so much more. But I think what Shusterman does best is not come firmly on either side of the issue. There is no one easy answer here, and so Unwind does not attempt to give us one. It is more a warning than an answer, and that is where its strength lies. If it was the other way around, Unwind would not have been anywhere near as effective as it is.

I would not call Unwind an enjoyable book, but I would definitely call it one worth reading. It does not entertain so much as provoke thoughts – and horrify, oh boy does it do that – and afterwards I was unable to ‘disconnect’ and have peace from certain scenes and images from the novel. It has been a few days, and Unwind is still very much at the front of my minds, and that is what a good book does.

And Unwind is a very good book. Every scene – indeed, every word – is powerful and purposeful, with some that will knock you in the gut even as it knocks its target out of the park. Each character is well-formed and, like the issue that Unwind presents, are very complicated. And the little things that are mentioned in passing, that many would neglect, turn out to be far more important – yet perhaps different – than a reader might suspect. Together Unwind is a book that is made better by all the parts it is made of and put in the right order.

As much as I recommend this book, I will attach a warning: some scenes – and those who have read Unwind will most likely know which one in particular I am speaking on1 – are very, very likely to disturb. It may not be gory, but it is still very horrifying. So while I am recommending it, do have a think about it all.

But whether you think before, or after, or both, Unwind will definitely have you thinking, and about so many things.

When I reviewed Evernight, the first of Claudia Gray's vampire book series, I gave it a rating of three and a half stars, and despite my having an issue with a plot twist, I called it "...a nice addition to any collection of YA vampire fiction". In my review of the second book, Stargazer, I noted that the one problem that I had had with Evernight (and its narrative) was not really an issue, and that as a sequel Stargazer built on what went before and proved to be a very good sophomore effort by Gray. I also commented that there was plenty of promise for book number three - Hourglass. Having finally read that novel, I can happily say that Hourglass lives up to what Stargazer promised.

Claudia Gray is an author who gets better with every book, and Hourglass really shows that. The pace of the story is kept up, and the characters keep developing - perhaps not in the way a reader might like, but definitely in ways that make sense. It is the emotional moments that are the strongest though - those quiet moments between characters when it is just them and what they are feeling/thinking. When reading Evernight and Stargazer I was never quite entirely convinced of the relationship between Bianca and Lucas. Maybe it was because Lucas was not as present as he could have been, or perhaps it was because he seemed outclassed by other potential love interests (namely Balthazar). But in Hourglass Gray hits it right on the nose, and I was finally able to be convinced of their love. It has matured and strengthened beyond the initial early lovesick stage enhanced to something strong, believable and powerful.

Speaking of Lucas, he really gets to shine here. After his absent periods in Stargazer he is a very firm presence here: this is his world now, and we get all the knowledge and backstory that comes with finally getting to see it properly. It is an interesting flow, really, to go from a group of vampires that we as the reader know on the whole are not that bad to a group that perceives them as being, well, monstrous. Of course, neither side is correct here, but it is still interesting to see what actions by/members of each side confirm or deny the opinions of the other. This is also true of the wraiths and their "relationship" with vampires - this storyline becomes far more pertinent and something that will definitely help define the whole series, and make it sound out from the plethora of other vampire novels. I dare not say much else because of spoilers (the book is not out yet in most parts of the world) but I will say that it definitely is the gamechanger of the series.

Last but not least, any story that has Ranulf and Vic in it is all right by me - adding in more characters development and hidden depths/intelligence just makes the whole thing even better. They need to have a buddy comedy novel or something; I would be there in an instant if that were the case. Their appearances are always a highlight for me, and I welcome many more in the next book.

Hourglass is the third book in the Evernight series by Claudia Gray, and in my opinion it is the best so far, Gray ups the stakes, follows through with consequences and challenges, and finishes it all off with a kicker of an ending. You can find out yourself come March!

One of New Zealand author Margaret Mahy's most recent of offerings, The Magician of Hoad is a little different from her works I have previously have read; while The Changeover and The Tricksters are very much urban fantasy/paranormal novels, The Magician of Hoad is very much a more traditional fantasy piece. It features kings, princes and nobles ladies, street rats and travelling people, and heroes and magicians.

But is the fact that The Magician of Hoad is quite different from Mahy's previous stuff I adored, a sign that it does not stand up to the quality and wonder of her older books? While some might be put off in a change in genre (to one that they themselves do not enjoy as much), The Magician Of Hoad is still very much a wonderful addition to Mahy's body of work. It still has her same wonderful voice and way with words that her other novels have. The Magician Of Hoad may be a little different, but it is still very good and very enjoyable, with many similarities to help counter the differences; overall it is nice to see successful exploration/change such as this, be it for author or reader.

The Magician of Hoad is a novel full of surprises. It seemed to take great delight in pulling the rug out from underneath me as the story progressed - in a good way though, as even though I found myself saying "Whoa!" in the latter half of the novel, the surprises/revelations were pleasant, impressive and made for a story far more complex than I initially expected The Magician Of Hoad to be. I had actually originally thought The Magician of Hoad to be a story for slightly young adult readers on the younger end of the spectrum but then I saw the actual size of the book - over 400 pages of Mahy goodness - and was hit with a decided number of older subjects, especially once the characters became much older than they were when I first 'met' them in the early pages.

The Magician Of Hoad is a patient, intelligent fantasy, focusing on the clashing of personalities and politics, rather than the use of physical weapons that one might typically see in a sword-and-sorcery style fantasy. If you are a fan of Margaret Mahy, or any of the above, then I recommend you give The Magician Of Hoad a try.

Diana Wynne Jones is one of those authors that I have heard a lot of good things about but, for one reason or another, I had yet to read. My only experience with anything of hers was the Studio Ghibli adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle - and even that film differs significantly. But after reading Enchanted Glass - a funny, clever and overall wonderful book - I can safely say that I am going to be reading more of her work in future.

Whimsical, witty and wonderful are three of the many adjectives that could describe Enchanted Glass. It is a book filled with all sorts of vibrant and quirky characters, and even though the bulk of the cast are adults, they are just wild and wacky enough to capture the attention of any young reader, just fantastical enough to take a step from our world and the adults we know. Because really how young (and old) lovers of the quirky not find humour in a crotchety old gardener whose idea of revenge is foisting an incredible amount of over-sized vegetables on his employer? Or the beautiful young woman who predicts the future through the names of winning horses? But even if a bunch of quirky (and possibly mad) adults do not appeal to younger readers, there's always young Aidan and the troubles he causes instead.

There is a lot of cross-age appeal in Enchanted Glass. While the story itself mostly lends itself to younger readers, Jones' writing is multi-layered providing an enjoyable read for many different ages, with some jokes that definitely were aimed towards adults, and would have passed over the heads of younger readers. The writing of Enchanted Glass is intelligent and humorous, with just the right amount of wit and laughter and more to keep adults reading aloud to children laughing along and just as captivated as the young one being read to.

Overall Enchanted Glass is a highly enjoyable novel with something for readers both young and old. Whether you're a fan of Diana Wynne Jones or have not read any of her work at all, I highly recommend Enchanted Glass if you are the type to enjoy a light-hearted fantasy filled to the brim with intelligent, humour, and a delightful array of characters wrapped up in the perfect amount of charm.