Verily, I Mean Spookily, I Say

Well Happy New Year all out there who dwell in "The Land of Blog." I did not intend to but it seems I have started my new year with some spooooky books. Oh well, here are two books I recently finished reading and hope you will give them a try if you have not already.


The Curse of The Wendigo by Rick Yancy - This book is a follow up to the most awesome "The Monstrumologist." To see my review of that book click HERE! As in the first book young Will Henry is in the service of Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, a well respected Monstrumologist (a scientist who studious dark creatures that go more than bump in the dark). Dr. Warthrop is approached by a women he loved long ago after her husband goes missing in Canada. Her husband, who also happens to have been a close friend to the Doctor, had been tasked by there former mentor Dr. Von Helrung to prove the existence of the mythical Wendigo (He Who Devours All Mankind: a creature that starves even as it endlessly hunts and feeds on human flesh). Dr. Warthrop eventually agrees and he and Will journey into the wilds of Canada in search of his lost friend. This is an intensely frighting book as the protagonists struggle against a monster that may be real or a trick of the mind. The intensity level for this book is set to 11 and does not go down until all is said and done. Who will live? Who will die? Who will remain sane? Mr. Yancy is on par with Stephen King in presenting a story that is so frightening, yet you must keep turning the page to find out what happens next. Really great stuff!!!!! As with the previous book I feel obligated to warn all that this is probably not for young children. This book contains some extremely gory scenes in addition to just being down right frightening. It scared the living "you know what" out of me and I'm far from being a child. Also there are few curse words. So before starting to read this book make sure it is cool with your parents and you are not frightened easily.

Just to give you a taste of what these books are like, check it out:

Bloody Horowitz by Anthony Horowitz - Another great book with spooky, scary, bloodcurdling stuff. This is a compilation of 14 short stories by Mr. Horowitz that is guaranteed to be loved by all you out there who love frightening stories. Some of my favorites in the book were Bet Your Life, Robo-Nanny and Are You Sitting Comfortably. Bet Your Life is about Reality T.V. and Game shows taken to the extreme. 5 contestants are competing for 10 million dollars in precious diamonds. What's the big deal about the story you ask? Think about the title and maybe you will understand. Robo-Nanny is actually kind of funny in a dark way. It is set in the future where the use of robots is quite common. Two extremely busy parents purchase T-199 the most advanced human like Nanny on the market. It has different settings for how strictly it deals with children from very lightly to...uh, read the story to find out. Are You Sitting Comfortably deals with the horror of message chairs. Horror of message chairs you ask? Again read to find the gruesome answer. Again this is a great collection of scary stories recommend for those 9 and above.

My complements to Iron Carl on the exciting review of "Behemoth" and I will be sinking my teeth into that one soon (get it, sinking my teeth.....um, never mind).

Until next time,

Library Ninja Bill

Merry, Merry and Other Cool Stuff!

Hello and Happy Holidays to all you travelers in "The Land of Blog!!!!" Well it's getting closer to Christmas and I am looking forward to spending time with family, friends and loved ones. Hey have I ever shared any pictures with you of my family? Well heck, let me do that now:




Papa-san Ninja



Momma-san Ninja (Taking care of business)

Little Ninja Bill and pet Fox!!!!

And now, my big Christmas surprise....Porky Pig singing White Christmas!!!!

Incarceron by Cathrine Fisher - It was created to become paradise. A place where all criminals where taken to be reformed by a group of wise people known as the Sapienti. They all disappeared into this place that has passed on into legend, except for the existence of a warden, and people are uncertain if it really exist. Well it does exist and the this paradise has become quite the opposite. Welcome to the ultimate prison; welcome to Incarceron. Incarceron is more than a mere prison. It is alive and controls the lives of all its inmates in one way or another. A teenager, who is more than meets the eye, named Finn is a prisoner in Incarceron who is trying to escape. His fellow potential escapee's are his oathbrother Keiro, a dashing but very unpredictable character, Gildas, a Sapienti, and Attia, a former slave to a group that Finn and the others belonged to before trying to escape. There is also a place that is supposedly outside of Incarceron known as The Realm. The Realm is a scientifically advanced civilization where, to supposedly stop war and humanities atrocities, time has been stopped to the period of the 18th century. Kings and Queens rule the land and treachery is around every corner. Claudia, who is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, feels trapped and without hope in The Realm. She is to be married against her will to an oafish an unfeeling prince and put under the thumb of the Queen who rules the land. She discovers secrets about Incarceron with the help of Jared, a Sapienti (it is an order that has existed for a very long time both without and within Incarceron), that she hopes to change her fate. This is a fantastic read that will delight those who are into Scfi and Fantasy. Heck, if you just like good stories you will love this one. This book is intended for teen readers as it has some language and violence.

P.S. Hot off the presses!!!! The follow up to Incarceron, Sapphique is coming out soon and I can't wait.

And now for something completely different!!



Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld - This Steampunk book is set in an alternative history at the very beginning of World War I. The two main characters are Alex, heir to The Austria-Hungary Empire (which is allied with Germany), and Deryn Sharp a British girl pretending to be a boy in order to join The British Air Service. The Austria-Hungary Empire and Germany have in their arsenal Clankers, steam-driven iron machines (both land based, Stormwalkers, Land Frigates, etc. and flying, Zeppelins, Aeroplanes, etc.) with guns and weapons attached. The British, French and Russians have genetically engineered animals. Darwinist Scientists have mixed genes from several animals to make new ones that are used for everything from labor to weapons. The most feared and powerful creation in The British Arsenal is The Leviathan a massive air-beast, which is mainly made after a whale, but is actually a massive ecosystem. Weapons on The Leviathan range from deadly bats that hurl metal shrapnel to powerful airguns (the reason being that The Leviathan uses massive amount of hydrogen to fly and hydrogen plus spark equals a big boom!!!!!!) amongst other things. The story mainly revolves around Alex and his friends trying to smuggle him out of Austria-Hungary because the powers that be want him dead and Deryn's struggle to be accepted into The British Air Service and maintain her secret that she is not really a boy. The two do end up crossing paths in this very cool book. What's even more exciting is that the sequel to this book, Behemoth, is already out and I can't wait to get my hands on it!!!!

Well that's it all you crazy cats!!!! Have a great holiday season and be kind to each other,

Bill



Not So Patiently Waiting

There are two books I'm wanting to get my hands on right now the first is Behemoth. If you read Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan, than you are probably are already ahead of me. If you haven't read either, you are in for a treat. The sequel released last week, but my library hasn't yet ordered it despite my begging and pleading. We do have the audio book on the way, which I hear is great, but the illustrations done by Keith Thompson are so great that I want to get my hands on a print copy.

Behemoth continues the alternate history story of an Austrian prince who is running for his life from the Germans. The prince must trust in people he would normally consider enemies to survive.

The second book is The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan and it comes out tomorrow. This book is on order for my library, so I am going to resist the temptation to just run out to the store and buy it. This book is the first in the new Heroes of Olympus series that takes place with the next generation of demigods after Percy Jackson's adventures. If you don't know who Percy Jackson is, you have some awesome catching up to do.