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| Papa-san Ninja |
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Momma-san Ninja (Taking care of business)  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
