Hell's Heroes by Darren Shan

Title: Hell's Heroes





Author: Darren Shan





Published: London : HarperCollins Children's, 2009





Pages: 235





Series: Book 10, Demonata





Snippet: "I start to follow, assuming it's the demon, but when he rips the locker door off and tears open a lunchbox, I realise he's found a sandwich."





Summary: May contain spoilers! The final dramatic conclusion to Darren Shan's international phenomena, The Demonata. Expect the unexpected..."The girl gazes up at me. She's even younger than I thought, clutching a small teddy bear in one hand. 'Are you the bogey man?' she whispers, eyes round. 'Yes,' I croak, then take hold of her head with my huge, scarred, blood-soaked hands and crush..." Beranabus and Dervish are gone. Bec has formed an unholy alliance with Lord Loss. Kernel is blind, held on Earth against his will. Grubbs is mad with grief and spinning out of control. The demons are crossing. The Disciples are falling. The Shadow is waiting. Welcome to the end.





Review: Hell's Heroes, being the final book in the Demonata series, I had some expectations for it and I was a little disappointed.  The majority of the book seemed like a filler for the big event at the end.





The story was interesting enough. It wasn't anything surprising or anything like that. There was only one part at the end that I was a little surprised about.





Kernel is still my favourite character and Bec is my second favourite. I don't really like Grubb's all that much to be honest.





To be honest I felt that Hell's Heroes was just a book. It wasn't anything special at all. But if you're a fan of Darren Shan's other books then you may enjoy Hell's Heroes. But as far as endings to series' go Hell's Heroes wasn't too bad.





Source: LibrarySource URL: https://free1image.blogspot.com/search/label/magic
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Prophet of the Pentacle by Marilyn D. Privratsky

Title: Prophet of the Pentacle





Author: Marilyn D. Privratsky





Published: Outskirts Press, 2009





Pages: 45





Snippet:"All was peaceful and serene, but not everyone found sleep on such a night."





Summary: In ancient times, a great battle was fought between a ruthless evil, named Lord Jarden and a powerful sphinx, named Berecynthia. She defeated and imprisoned this evil, but was mortally wounded, so unable to vanquish it. After the passing of five ages, a royal advisor named, Randye of Corpus, sets out on a mission for the king of the Shandel, to investigate a mysterious and lonely isle named, Ice Isle. Unknowingly the advisor sets free the ancient evil and becomes its host. Now the only thing that is able to save the beautiful realm of Andora and her people from this ancient evil is a sacred alliance of prophets called the Osarian Knights. Trained by a mysterious sphinx known as Farro, ages earlier, these prophetic knights struggle to stop the ruthless creature from turning the mystical realm into a wasteland of burning ash and hell on earth, which would only be the beginning... (Taken from Goodreads)





Review:  Prophet of the Pentacle was a really interesting book. It was a very very short book (45 pages of text and a few pages of maps and charts).  Apart from the size of the book being very memorable the language and the way the book was written was really cool. It was something different and I just loved the way the book was written. It made for something different and just made the book have an old style feel to it.





The story line itself was unique and something  different.  I thought it was really good for the most part but I found myself getting a little confused at some parts.  I did enjoy it overall though.





There was very little character development which I think accounts for the length of the book. I didn't think the lack of character development took away from the story line because I have a feeling there will be more of that in the next book.





Overall, Prophet of the Pentacle is a good book if you're interested in fantasy novels.  I believe that Prophet of the Pentacle is an adults book but really there is no reason why anyone aged 12 and up can't read it.





Source: Copy received from author for reviewSource URL: https://free1image.blogspot.com/search/label/magic
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Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey

Title: Guardian of the Dead



Author: Karen Healey



Published: NSW : Allen and Unwin, 2010



Pages: 347



Snippet: "The empty eyes stared straight back into mine."



Summary: Can Ellie discover a power she never knew she possessed? At her boarding school in New Zealand, Ellie Spencer is like any ordinary teen: she hangs out with her best friend, Kevin; obsesses over her crush on a mysterious boy; and her biggest worry is her essay deadline. Until everything changes... In the foggy woods near the school, something ancient and deadly is waiting. (Taken from Christchurch City Libraries Website)



Review: I'm not sure where to begin this review.  I liked some of the things in the book but not all.



Starting with the story itself, I really enjoyed that part.  I love fantasy books and this one was a pretty good fantasy.  It also involved a lot of mythology from Maori and Greek cultures, which I thought was quite good. This is the second book I have read which mentioned Maori mythology and it put a really interesting spin on it.



The characters were quite well-written characters.  I liked Mark, I have no idea why, he just seemed like a really likable character same as Ellie and Kevin.  I did not like Reka which was fine.  I like reading books where not all of the characters are completely lovable.



The setting was New Zealand.  Christchurch, New Zealand to be exact and well I felt it was maybe a little too close to home.  So much of the book was set in places where I spend the majority of my days and well, I felt it took away from the story a little bit.  Mostly because I had trouble imagining the events unfolding there.



I must say that Karen Healey did a brilliant job of describing most of the settings in the books because they do look like they did in the book.



The second problem I had with this book was that it was over-saturated with New Zealand. Well, it was in my mind anyway.  I just felt like a large part of the book was trying to push New Zealand and the culture of New Zealand on to people.  Some of it was there to tell the story which is fine.  But the rest of it just seemed like filler.  To be honest at times I felt like I was reading a tourists guide to New Zealand rather than a young adult fantasy novel.



I thought the book as a whole was pretty enjoyable.  I look forward to more from Karen Healey in the future.



Source: Library









Kiwi Spotlight







This kiwi indicates that this book is by a New Zealand author. It is also set in New Zealand.
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The Good Neighbours : Kith by Holly Black and Ted Naifeh

Title: Kith





Author: Holly Black





Illustrator: Ted Naifeh





Published: Graphix, 2009





Pages: 128





Series: Book 2, The Good Neighbours





Summary: While sixteen-year-old Rue Silver travels into the faerie realm to find her mother, faerie creatures are entering the human world and wreaking havoc, forcing Rue to ponder where her loyalty should lie. (Taken from Christchurch City Libraries Website)





Review: I enjoyed Kith, there was a massive cliffhanger at the end of Kin and so I couldn't wait to read the next book in the series. I have to say though, while the cliffhanger was resolved I just didn't enjoy Kith as much as Kin.





The characters were all interesting in their own ways but they were all massively selfish. I just found it to be quite confusing at parts.





The illustrations were really cool, I loved the pictures of the fey creatures, they're so wicked and dark and creepy.  It definitely added to the atmosphere of the book.





The story itself was pretty good, it was one redeeming feature of the book.  I think that the only part that really let me down about this book was the characters.  But I really loved the story line it was a good read. The ending was quite good, it left an opening for more.





Overall, Kith was pretty good.  I would suggest reading the first book, Kin, before this one though.  I'm interested in this series so I look forward to the next book, Kind.





Source: LibrarySource URL: https://free1image.blogspot.com/search/label/magic
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Firespell by Chloe Neill

Title: Firespell





Author: Chloe Neill





Published: Signet, 2010





Pages: 256





Snippet: "Scout released me, then wiped tears from beneath her eyes."





Summary: As the new girl at the elite St. Sophia’s boarding school, Lily Parker thinks her classmates are the most monstrous things she’ll have to face… 



When Lily’s guardians decided to send her away to a fancy boarding school in Chicago, she was shocked. So was St. Sophia’s. Lily’s ultra-rich brat pack classmates think Lily should be the punchline to every joke, and on top of that, she’s hearing strange noises and seeing bizarre things in the shadows of the creepy building.




Review: Firespell was an interesting book.  The more I read it the more I was interested, it kind of had a little element of mystery and I really love mystery so I wanted to keep reading to know more.  Some of the little mysteries within the book were solved in this book but others weren't and no doubt will be answered in the next book.
I liked Lily, as far as main characters go she rocked.  She had attitude and she wasn't weak, she was very independent and so it was really refreshing to have a kick-butt main character.
As for the paranormal aspect of Firespell, it was there but there wasn't too much. Which is understandable because it is the first book in the series so it is setting the scene.
Overall, I really enjoyed Firespell, there was so much that made the book so enjoyable.  There were awesome characters, the story line was really interesting and there was an element of mystery which just makes the book so much more cooler.
I definitely cannot wait for the next book in the series because Firespell is an awesome read.



Source: Own copy
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Syren by Angie Sage

Title: SyrenAuthor: Angie SagePublished: London : Bloomsbury, 2009Pages: 628Series: Book 5, Septimus HeapSnippet: ' "It is a cowfish," said Miarr. "They taste horrible." '
Summary:
In the fifth book of this Magykal series, Septimus and his friends find themselves on an island whose secrets are as dark and dangerous as its inhabitants. Septimus Heap returns to the House of Foryx with Spit Fyre to pick up Jenna, Nicko, Snorri, and Beetle. But the journey home does not go well and when Septimus and his friends are caught in a storm, Spit Fyre crashes into the Rokk Lighthouse. They are rescued by the lighthouse keeper who is disturbingly sinister, and who has an equally sinister cat And all the while, Septimus is trying to fight the strange pull he's feeling to the island and its mysterious secrets.
Review: I'm a huge fantasy fan and The Septimus Heap series is a great fantasy series. I've loved the first four books and Syren, at book number five, stays true to the Septimus Heap series as a whole.
I must say that Syren is more for a younger audience but it is actually still entertaining and really enjoyable. As the book is in sequence you have to read them in order. So if you haven't read any of the others I suggest you do so before Syren.
One thing I really like and also get really annoyed with is the different story-lines between different characters that eventually tie-in. I thought it was really interesting because it's good to know more than one viewpoint of things. I also get annoyed at it though because I'm always left hanging about what's happening with some of the characters for a while and I really want to know what happened.
I just have to mention that each chapter has a little illustration to go along with it and the illustrations are so great. They're really detailed and I love them.
While at some points I did find Syren to be quite boring, I did enjoy it as a whole. It is definitely worth a read.Source: Library
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Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Title: Magic Bites
Author: Ilona Andrews
Published: New York : Ace Books, 2007
Pages: 272
Series: Book 1, Kate Daniels
Snippet: "It's a reflex. Hear a bell, get food. See an undead, throw a knife. Same thing, really."
Summary: When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake.
Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate's guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta's magic circles.The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for a series of bizarre killings—and the death of Kate's guardian may be part of the same mystery. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she's way out of her league—but she wouldn't have it any other way…
Review: Magic Bites is more of an adults book with one or two mentions of adult themes. I decided for a change of pace and read an adults book. I actually really really loved Magic Bites. It was such a cool book.
I loved the descriptions of different bits and pieces. Be warned though, there were some graphic descriptions but they were really well written.
I loved Kate she was such a cool, tough chick. She was independent and there was something about her that just wasn't told to us. I vaguely know what it is but I think I need to read the next book in the series to find out exactly what it was.
I really liked how the vampires in this book were portrayed it was a lot different to any of the books I've read in the past and I loved it so much.
There were so many things that were awesome about Magic Bites that I could go on and on and you'd be here all night. But I actually don't have anything negative to say about Magic Bites. When I think about it, nope, it was a really well-written and completely awesome book. It is definitely worth reading. I know I will also be picking the next book up some time in the future.
If you feel like reading something different thats a little bit more of an adults book then Magic Bites is definitely a good book. It is full of magic, mystery, creatures of the night, well-written descriptions and fantastic characters. There's even a tiny bit of romance, not much, but enough to satisfy those who like a little bit of romance.
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