Ready Player One - Ernest Cline

What a great book. To think that someone wrote a book that centres around video games and 80's movies, TV, music and culture is fantastic. It brings in all the great elements of my childhood and of all people around my age.

I was very engaged in the story the whole way through. I did not find that any part of the story was slow or made me lose interest in what was going on. I had to get back to listening to it whenever I could to find out what happened next. The great part about the audio book is that Wil Wheaton is the narrator. He is great and even puts on slightly different voices for the main few characters. The best part is when he references himself a number of times; I bet that made him laugh when going to record. 

The idea of a completely immersive online community is quite interesting and gives one the ability to be anyone they want to be, and I can see how that would be attractive and even addictive to people. I remember a few years ago when there was a very crude version of the Oasis available but I never heard of anyone ever using it and in fact I don't even know if it still exists. The suspense of the game, the chase, the puzzles is quite addictive and made me wish there were actual games out there like this.

For this book to be something completely new and yet still go through so much nostalgic 80's pop culture is amazing. I cant believe I hadn't read this book before now and that it didn't get more hype around it upon release. I didn't even hear about it until it was on the BOTNS podcast and even since then I have heard nothing of it. Until that is, I started reading it and a few of my geeky friends piped up saying they couldn't believe I hadn't read it before now. I honestly thought this book was written a few decades ago and was pleasantly surprised when i discovered it was only written in 2011. Well done on your 80's geekiness Ernest Cline, well done. 

The Kill Order - James Dashner

As this book is a prequel, of course there are all new characters. I must say I'm found it hard to feel any attachment to them. I didn't feel that they were written in a way that the reader was suppose to feel any form of attachment to them. 

This book is just loosely based on the Maze Runner trilogy. The story itself is not something I would have read normally. In fact it isn't even that interesting. I hoped it would be a lot more interesting than was. Bummed I've wasted my time and money on it really as I'm not finding it fun. Valuable reading time has been stolen from me on a story that isn't that good.

However it is an easy read, as the original trilogy was. While I was still not super interested in the story I am one of those people who has to finish a book. It's not bad enough to make me put it down and give up on it, but it still erks me that I don't like the storyline especially after The Maze runner was so great. 

Thomas' first memory of the flare - James Dashner

What was the point of this? It had no bearing on the story (again as did all of the other flash backs). I can see why it was edited out of the book.

The Death Trials - James Dashner

There was to much in this book. It was over the top with action and death and didn't have any of the originality that the first book had. I compare this book to a Michael Bay movie, where you just want to turn the noise level down to protect your sanity and not try to focus on the screen as everything moves too fat to be seen. 

The ending was predictable and not fulfilling at all. Although I could see that the story was going in that direction from the start of book two. There was so much potential for what could of become if this story, that it was sad to see it wasted in the way that it was. 

The most annoying thing to be throughout the whole trilogy was that Thomas was getting flash backs and learning things but never seemed to piece things together on this own. Most people were always one step ahead of him, even those without any memories of what was going on. Why show the reader pieces of a past that you are never going to explain or use in the story, it just frustrated the hell out if me.
Not all that happy I continued to read this series and it had just put a dampener on the greatness that was the first book.

The Scorch Trials - James Dashner

The sequel to The Maze Runner was almost as good as it's predecessor but to me it lacked a certain amount of suspense and action that the first book captured perfectly. Perhaps it was because after the Maze Runner the reader expected that anything that could go wrong probably would go wrong. However even though the Cranks were slightly frightening and the scene at the very start of the book in the common room illicit some pretty disturbing images, the rest of the book was just missing a certain off key element that was in the original.

The book is divided into three parts of the adventure, 1 the common room and tunnel, 2 the scorch and the town, and 3 the mountains and safe zone. While the first two parts were described in detail and had most of the action occur there, to me it felt like the end was rushed. I remember thinking as I was reading it that there were not many pages left and according to what the characters said in the book there was still a long distance to go. It felt rushed and condensed so that the book would not be too long or so that a big portion of the book didn't need to be described. That let it down for me.

It had been a while since I read the original book so some of the characters were a little unfamiliar at first to me, but after a small chunk of the book all was good again and the new characters introduced in this book are interesting and I look forward to reading more about them I the future books. Now on to The Death Cure and then Kill Zone. The Maze Runner has been made into a movie and will be out later this year. I'll definitely be in line for that one.

The Giver - Lois Lowry

I just finished this book. For my review and Nadine's previous review click this link.

http://literbugs.blogspot.com/2009/12/giver-lois-lowry.html

The Maze Runner - James Dashner

This is a book that has been sitting on my nightstand for a while now. I thought the idea of the story was good, but it just never made it to the top of my pile. That is until Nadine read it and told me that it was amazing and that I had to. So as soon as I finished the book I was reading I pulled this one out and went at it. My first book of 2011 for my +11 in 2011 reading challenge, The Maze Runner by James Dashner.

Boy am I happy I did. What a great book. You begin just as much in the dark as the main character Thomas, as he wakes up in a dark cold elevator. Then being introduced to a strange and heavily structured society of teenage boys surrounded by an ominous maze through which Runners search everyday for an exit. The catch is that the walls move every night. Along with Thomas, you learn that one boy arrives a month, every month, as it has always been. Until one day the elevator brings forth the unthinkable.....a girl.

Jaki's review from Goodreads

Wow, this book was pretty friggin good. I was thinking the whole way through, trying to work out the maze too. The I read the last paragraph and .... pow. I need to get the second book, and quick!

Out now in hardcover, The Scorch Trials.

 

Inside Out - Maria V Snyder

Trella was born a scrub. A nobody. Squashed in with a thousand other nobodies in the lower levels. Her whole life is devoted to cleaning the pipes of "Inside" so that the Uppers can live perfect, hassle free, uncrowded lives. Or so the scrubs believe.

When the latest Prophet arrives in the lower levels spouting stories about Gateway, Trella is not in the least bit interested. But her friend Cogon falls hook, line and sinker for the

tales. Trella wants nothing more than to climb back into the pipes away from everyone, but is compelled to get the proof needed to prove the prophet, Broken Man, is a fake and save Cog the heart ache of more false hope.

Craziness ensues pulling Trella along with it as she becomes the unwitting face of a rebellion.

Explore the wonderful and intricate world Maria V Snyder has created with Trella as she works her way through the pipes into areas not known to both Scrubs and Uppers alike.

Jaki's Review

This amazing story has a similar flavour to Stephenie Meyer's The Host as both stories are set in a small dystopic world that you get to know very well through the main characters

adventures. Trella is a fantastic main character. She has great depth and qualities that most people will be able to identify with. While not perfect, Trella is flawed, as we all are. She has low self worth, as do all the Scrubs, droned into them from the Pop Cops who maintain order in the lower levels. She is not content with her place in life and is reluctantly ready to change that.

A very good well rounded read, and just remember there is a sequel coming out in May 2011. Outside In.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth - Carrie Ryan

The basic premise of this one is a village of people surrounded by a large fence, where on the other side is the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Aptly named as it is home to the Unconcecrated, once people who have been infected, died and come back to talk the living inside the village.

Pressing at the gates, the Unconcecrated are kept at bay by the Guardians who patrol the fence lines and the Sisterhood, who rule the village and always know best.

Mary, like all others in the village, never questions the order of things until her mother falls to the Unconcecrated leaving her alone in the village with no option by to join the Sisterhood. Here she learns that not everything is as it seems in the village.

With a major breach in the fences, Mary's world is thrown into chaos and she much choose where her loyalties lie.

Jaki's review

The first half of this novel brings you into the world of the village and its regime and rules. While moving relatively slowly, it lacks any action or real intrigue to entice you to continue reading further into the book. Only my quirky personal flaw, of having to finish a book I start, made me continue through.

The second half of the book picks up as things start to happen after there is a huge breach in the fences and Mary's world is thrown into turmoil. The ending of the book is very predictable but still worth finishing. It does however, leave you with questions regarding the fates of the other characters in the book, and to me that is truly frustrating leaving their fates untold. The ending does leave it open to continue with the story and I would probably read a sequel to satiate my need of a well rounded completion.

The Giver - Lois Lowry

Books on the Nightstand have recommended this book to their listeners, so as a dedicated listener I had to read it.

The Giver follows the story of Jonas; a twelve year-old boy who lives in a seemingly utopian community. People in this community are very happy, their lifes are content and do not want for anything. However they do not have a choice in anything. Husband and wife are matched, parents apply for children and receive exactly one boy and one girl, and children mature into the next stages of their lifes at an annual ceremony until the age of twelve. At the twelve ceremony, children are given their position in life based on what the "Elders" have decided you should be. Jonas is given the position of "The Receiver" where he begins to learn and understand how controlled his community his.

Nadine's review.
I read this in an afternoon. It's only 180 pages and it's language is simple and easy to follow. The story is incredibly intriguing and so sad. You will not want to put this down until you have finished reading it. I highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys stories of a dystopic nature.

Jaki's review

This book was utter tripe. That is the only way I can describe it. The first third to half of the book is so boring and utilitarian that I had to force myself to continue, and that was only done because so many people said this was an amazing book and I thought it must get better. For a while it did, the middle of the story was interesting with the transfer of memories and Jonas experiencing all sorts of new things. Then you get towards the end of the book, which not only seems extremely rushed, but feels like the author had no idea what to do and so just slapped something together on the spot.

I would definitely not recommend this book to anyway and actually persuade people to take it off their reading lists if it is there. Don't waste your time. While it is a short book and doesn't take long to read, seriously you will have many other better books on your list that you will actually like a whole lot better.

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

Imagine living in a place where each year 24 children are sent to fight to the death for a horrifying reality TV show. Welcome to The Hunger Games.

Follow 16 year old Katniss Everdeen, a tough strong willed girl from the Seam, as she steps up in place of her little sister to be the District 12 tribute. Kat knows this is a death sentence as there can only be one survivor in the games. The rules are kill or be killed.

Whisked away to The Capital with her own stylist team, food she has never even dreamt of, and a constantly drunk mentor, Kat must learn what she can from training to survive in the games arena.

Who will survive the initial bloodbath of the arena? Can Katniss bring herself to do what is necessary to defend herself not only from the other tributes but also the arena itself and all its hidden traps?

Jaki's Review

Originally when hearing about this book I thought of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1987 film "The Running Man", where the basic premise of trying to stay alive in a rigged arena is the same. However once beginning the book I quickly saw that it was much more than that.

Straight away I was drawn into Katniss' world and began to care deeply for the people around her. My heart lurched at Prim's name being called and again when Kat volunteers to take her place. Her awe of The Capital matched my own as each new person and event was described. Once inside the arena the quick pace doesn't slow with non stop action and adventure making it almost impossible to put the book down.

A phenomenal page turning book that takes you to a world where the residents are being punished for a rebellion 74 years ago, resulting in The Hunger Games. Anyone who loves brilliantly written characters, sensational detail and a mixture of action and adventure will love this book and be looking for it's sequel Catching Fire.