Boneshaker Review

Title: Boneshaker
Author: Cherie Priest
Series: Clockwork Century #1
Audiobook Narrator: Karen Redding and Wil Wheaton
Genre: Steampunk, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Alternate History

Summary (From Amazon.com):
In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born.

But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.

Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.

His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive.

Review:
Boneshaker is my fourth steampunk book that I finished reading (while listening to the audiobook version also for better experience. The story center around Briar Wilkes(narrated by Karen Redding)attempts to rescue her son, Ezekiel (or Zeke on which geek extraordinaire, Wil Wheaton was the narrator) who has his own personal quest on recovering his (in)famous father's science equipment inside the blight "zone" which is infested by "rotters" (aka zombies).

The overall story is very unique as it projects a semi-dystopian/post-apocalyptic feel once the the main character enters the "blight" area of the city. As with any steampunk books that I have read, the setting is held around the 1800's (around the American Civil War period). Boneshaker is a great beginning to a great steampunk series and I can't wait to read the next book "Celementine".

Mockingjay Review

Title: Mockingjay
Author: Suzanne Collins
Series: Hunger Games #3
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia, Science Fiction

Review:

Mockingjay is the final installment within the Hunger Games Trilogy series. The tale starts with the particular dreary results of "Catching Fire's" ending line, "Mockingjay" starts with Katniss Everdeen wandering with the wreckage on her District 12 local, tripping more than skulls and getting the ashes in the incinerated bodies that is used to be her neighbors.

Difficult as it would seem to top the ingenuity and action-packed, edge-of-your-seat storyline of "The Hunger Games," or the continued, in-the-ring thrill ride of its follow-up, "Catching Fire," "Mockingjay" leaves the government's kid-on-kid hunting grounds and heads into the destitute reality of the districts, which have come under heavy fire from the Capitol for rising up against its superficial and oppressive leadership.

The final plot is not surprising at all as with the previous books. Nonetheless, Suzanne Collins seems to keep us visitors entertained as well as appalled during the entire inevitable revolt and ending. There is a good surprise twist in the end, the particular moral that is buying and selling in one master for another isn't a stepping-stone on the path to freedom. Mockingjay may not have the accolades simlar to Tolkien's "Return of the King" but a great one nevertheless.

Catching Fire Review

Title: Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins
Series: Hunger Games #2
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia, Science Fiction

Review:

Catching Fire is the follow-up to the critically acclaimed "The Hunger Games". Like the Hunger Games, Catching Fire has an undercurrent of impending rebellion. It has action, death, deceit, loyalty, love, abuse of power and much more. In some ways, it is as good as The Hunger Games. In other ways, it falls short or exceeds the first novel.

Catching Fire held its own in comparison with its predecessor. The pace of the story was initially a shock from the cliffhangers and action that concluded the previous book, but the unfolding of events allowed for a natural, engaging continuation.

The story begins in District 12 where Katniss and Peeta are preparing to tour the 13 districts and Capitol City to celebrate their victory at the Hunger Games. There is an element of wariness and disdain about the whole process. Katniss is being pressured by President Snow, who sees her past actions in the arena as subtle rebelliousness. Katniss wants to protect her family by doing as Snow says. However, from the beginning, the reader gets the sense that Snow is not to be trusted and that things will not go according to plan. Throughout the book, the plot progresses very quickly and there are multiple instances where some events are merely skimmed over

The one area in which Catching Fire exceeds its predecessor is the ending. A surprise twist followed by a cliffhanger was the perfect way to keep readers rabid for more. By the end of this book, it is easy to be curious about what Katniss' fate will be.

In short, Catching Fire was a page-turning follow-up to an extraordinary novel. As with any good series, you have to ready the next book to enjoy the whole series and I expect the final book, "Mockingjay" to be a good finale.

The Hunger Games Review

Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Series: Hunger Games #1
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia, Science Fiction

Review:

On her first young-adult novel, Suzanne Collins has mixed together elements both classical and modern to produce a story that, if not entirely new, nevertheless bears her unique imprint. Beginning with elements of the Theseus myth, she mixes in a large dollop of Battle Royale by Koushun Takami, elements of Richard Bachman's The Running man and Alan Moore's V for Vendetta and an extrapolation of current social and political trends. But she makes it her own, and the book avoids feeling derivative through her complex and impressive characterizations of both lead and supporting characters, and the bewildering interplay of personal emotions and political conspiracies.

Overall, the Hunger Games had it's impressive early run I was disappointed on how the story ends. I was expecting a much better ending but since this is a trilogy, I would hope the series would end in a much better note.