Sci Fi Jungle

Patrick Ness - The Knife of Never Letting Go

The other day Amazon had the three Patrick Ness books in "Chaos Walking" trilogy on sale for 99 cents a piece.  They are YA fantasy, but being that the price was right I read the sample and then bought the three books.  Now, the first book is back to 6.99.

Reading the sample of The Knife of Never Letting Go, I was instantly pulled into the life of the last child on the colony, Todd, and his talking dog.  Everyone in the colony can hear everyone else's thoughts, in what they call "The Noise."  The book is narrated by Todd in a pidgeon English, that might be a little hard to take after a while.

I haven't gotten too far into the book yet, but it's already clear that something is not right in the town of Prentisstown and Todd better figure something out fast.  Unlike our average 13 year old, who has nothing more to worry about than soccer trophies and homework, Todd has to deal with a world without any women, and where he is forced to listen to the thoughts of all his neighbors.  I think this is going to be an interesting read.

 

Hhh

Songs of the Earth by Elspeth Cooper

I just finished reading the book "Songs of the Earth" by Elspeth Cooper.  It's a fantasy, a little bit in the vein of a "coming of age with powers" type of story but it came across as fresh and imaginative.

The world it's set in is a bit of an alternate reality medieval time period. The church here is the Church of Eador, and they don't take kindly to witches.  Chirch Knight in training Gair is an orphan who was sent to the church and has a big secret to hide.  He hears a song in his head and can do things like conjure a ball of light.  Unfortunately his gets caught doing just that, and is about to be burned at the stake.

I won't spoil the story for you - Gair has quite a bit of adventures and gets a chance to learn more about his powers.  The book is well written, the story sucks you in, and there is just enough epic fantasy politics and portents of doom to come to keep you on the edge of your seat.  The only problem - when is the next book coming out? I am going to have to take up a hobby like making model planes waiting for the next book.

 

 

Fair Game by Patricia Briggs is Out

I have now read EVERY SINGLE book that Patricia Briggs has written.  I think there's a short story or two I may have missed in an anthology, but other than that I have gotten them all.  I like her older fantasy stuff a lot and am kind of dissapointed that I've read them all.  :-)

She's got a new book out in her Alpha and Omega series.  This is in the same world as the Mercy Thompson books, but focuses on a different pack and their leaders.  I pre-ordered the book, but I haven't read it yet.  As soon as I am done with my weekly blogging catch up, then I will attack and see what the werewolves are up to.

And by the way - if you need to buy a real medical autoclave, have I got the place for you.  MedicalDeviceDepot.com has everything from welch allyn devices to professional blood pressure monitors.  Who knew?

Skylanders!

Skylanders figures have become really hard to find, so I am going to show off our collection.  Most of these we got right in the beginning when it first came out around Christmas-time.  A couple of the new ones I got from Amazon on pre-order.

The kids really get a kick out of the game, and I like the way you can extend the game with the additional modules.  The toys themselves are very well made and the boys sit and play imaginatively with them without the game at all, which is pretty cool.

I really want to finish my basement and make it into the worlds coolest playroom.  Some of the walls are already drywalled, but I need to do a lot more work on it - like basement flooring, etc.  I'd love to have a bathroom added, and have just the place for it.  Well, that's something to save for.

Free Fantasy - Scriber

I saw this freebie listed on Amazon and it has some really glowing reviews - Scriber by Ben S. Dobson.  It has 44 reviews with an average of 5 stars so pick it up while its free and stock up your Kindle or Kindle app on your computer or device.

Another freebie that looks like it could be good is Agatha H and the Airship City by Phil and Karen Foglio.  I think this also has a graphic novel series of the same story.  Personally, it looks kind of cheesy but the price is right so I will check it out.

I am avoiding all diet pills side effects and just doing more cooking.  My secret is to just try to keep up with my kids - excercise wise.  I did have XBox Kinect Zumba in my hand at Target today, but I put it back.   I bet I would play it once and then it would languish, as another piece of evidence of my lack of will power.