Tag: action/adventure

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Blood Red Road: Moira Young

This sort of reminded me of that movie Book of Eli. You know when the world ends and all these crazy people take over like it’s the wild wild west?

Blood Red Road is sort of like that, but in a good way. I really liked the book although I thought the ending was a bit “ehh”.

But again, loved the book and totally recommend it!

Summary:
Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from. That’s fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother, Lugh, is around. But when a monster sandstorm arrives bearing four cloaked horsemen, Saba’s world is shattered. Lugh is captured, and Saba embarks on a quest to get him back.
Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the world outside of desolate Silverlake, Saba discovers she is a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent—and she has the power to take down a corrupt society from the inside. Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks, Saba stages a showdown that will change the course of her own civilization.
Blood Red Road has a searing pace, a poetically minimal writing style, intense action, and an epic love story—making Moira Young one of the most promising and startling new voices in teen fiction. 

Reading level: Young Adult Hardcover: 464 pages Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books (June 7, 2011) Language: English ISBN-10: 1442429984

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Legends of the Guardian King series: Karen Hancock

I read these books off of a recommendation and the fact that their Kindle price was pretty cheap (hey, I’m on a budget!)

I feel kind of mixed about these books, even though I really liked them. They are overtly in the Christian genre, which to be honest, I don’t normally like. However, I got into these books. They have a way more “fantasy” feel than normal Christian books do, although their “analogies” were pretty obvious. Like Tersius is Jesus, just say it already! 🙂

If you like the fantasy genre with magic and warlocks and such, but are looking for a bit tamer version, then I would definitely recommend these to you.

I liked them and you get the feel good feeling of good triumphing over evil. But it’s not all roses as the protagonist goes through the fire similar to Job!  But I think it just makes you love him even more.

When you read the summary you’ll probably be like me and like “ehhh”, but give it a shot! Plus if you have a Kindle, book 1 is free, can’t beat that!

Anyways, totally recommend with 4 stars.

Summary of book 1:
Hancock’s intriguing Arena [BKL Ap 15 02] drew a great deal of praise for the originality and starkness of its alternative universe. In The Light of Eidon, she begins a fantasy series called Legends of the Guardian King that is more clearly a Christian allegory but is so crisscrossed with subplots and deceit that exactly where the light of Eidon shines may baffle the reader. It certainly baffles young Abramm Kalladorne, Hancock’s hero. He is the little-valued fifth son of the king of Kiriath, a vivid kingdom that seems a bit like medieval England, with a bit of ancient Rome. Abramm is drawn to the religious life, but after eight years as a novitiate, he discovers that his spiritual leader is a fraud and that the true path to Eidon’s light lies elsewhere. But upon leaving the monastery, he finds himself in the middle of court intrigues, and his brothers sell him into slavery in a faraway, barbarous land. For a while, Hancock’s novel seems like a gladitorial epic, but then Eidon, or Jesus, makes his truths known. A great battle ensues, but victory is not complete and many questions remain. Readers will certainly return for the second installment.

Paperback: 432 pages Publisher: Bethany House (July 1, 2003) Language: English ISBN-10: 0764227947

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The Lost Hero: Rick Riordan

Okay, this book was awesome! I read the entire Percy Jackson series and although, yes, it was quite juvenile, I totally got into it (it gets less juvenile as the books progress in classic HP style). I’ve always had a soft spot for Greek Mythology and I just really enjoyed the series and the characters and was sad when after 5 books, the series concluded…

OR SO WE THOUGHT 🙂

Riordan seriously brought it in this book and also brought it as far as page count goes. This book isn’t one of the tiny ones he’s written earlier, it has some girth to it and I really appreciated that.

If you enjoyed the Percy Jackson series, you’re going to love this beginning to a new series. I just wish I would have found out about this book after the 2nd one was already out because I wish I could have started on it immediately!

5 stars and totally recommend!

Amazon Summary:
Readers longing for a return to Camp Half-Blood will get their wish in the first novel of the Heroes of Olympus series, which follows Riordan’s popular Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and includes some of the same characters in minor roles. The new cast features Jason, Piper, and Leo, teen demigods who are just coming to understand and use their unique abilities as they learn how much depends upon their wits, courage, and fast-developing friendship. Setting up the books to come, the backstory of a master plan to unseat the gods is complex but is doled out in manageable bits with a general air of foreboding. Meanwhile, the action scenes come frequently as the three heroic teens fight monstrous enemies in North American locales, including the Grand Canyon, Quebec City, Detroit, Chicago, Omaha, Pikes Peak, and Sonoma Valley. Flashes of humor lighten the mood at times, but a tone of urgency and imminent danger seems as integral to this series as the last. With appealing new characters within a familiar framework, this spin-off will satisfy the demand for more.

  • Hardcover: 576 pages
  • Publisher: Hyperion Book CH; 1st edition (October 12, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 9781423113393
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Ghost Country: Patrick Lee

After reading The Breach I was definitely interested in continuing the series as I got really into it.

Well this second book, in my opinion, is better than the first one! I really enjoyed it and was sad when it was over and the story concluded. I could have kept reading for ages.

Totally recommend this book (but you’ll need to read The Breach to understand) and give it 5 stars.

Amazon Summary:
At the start of Lee’s dramatic sequel to Breach, gun men hit the motorcade in which Paige Campbell, who has just met with the U.S. president, is riding through Washington, D.C., and kill everyone but her. Before she’s captured, Campbell uses her cellphone to get off a call for help to Bethany Stewart, her colleague in the shadowy outfit known as Tangent. Stewart, in turn, recruits Travis Chase, who was once briefly involved in a Tangent operation, and reveals to him the existence of an “entity” resembling a dark metal cylinder that opens a hole in time. Since the entity has shown a horrific future for humanity, Chase and Stewart, who suspects the president was behind the motorcade attack, must scramble to save their friend and forestall devastation in the years to come. Lee imaginatively blends a Baldacci-like political tale of betrayals and assassination with time travel in a thoughtful science-fictional thriller.

  • Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Harper; Original edition (December 28, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 9780061584442
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The Breach: Patrick Lee

Sometimes when I’m at a loss for what to read next, I go to this site. You can enter the ISBN number of a book you enjoy and it comes up with recommended reading.

In one of my searches, I came across this one, checked out the reviews and decided to give it a go even though the description seemed a bit, “bleh”.

Well I TOTALLY enjoyed this book! I really recommend it and give it 5 stars. It kept me on my toes the entire time and I really got into it. It has just enough scifi to keep me interested, but not going over the top.

It’s also one of those books that both men and women would get into.

Anyways, great book!

Amazon Summary:
Lee’s debut thriller pits ex-con ex-cop Travis Chase against increasingly dire odds as the action ratchets up like levels in a complex video game. Fresh out of prison, Travis sets out on a solo Alaskan trek, wanting nothing more than quiet time for introspection. Then he encounters a downed plane containing the dead bodies of the United States’s first lady and several others, plus hints about a mysterious missing item. Armed with superior firepower and the instincts and savvy of a good cop, Travis tracks down the murderers, who are torturing hostage Paige Campbell to get her father, Peter, to reveal another clue. Travis manages to rescue Paige just as Peter confesses the information and is killed. His last words send Paige and Travis into a dangerous world of secrets and conspiracies, where they slowly learn about the eponymous Breach and meet progressively more menacing foes. It’s all here: brilliantly devious enemies; nifty, innovative gadgets and weaponry; hang-on-to-your-hat action; and razor-sharp plot twists aplenty.

  • Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Harper; X edition (December 29, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 9780061584459