Review: The Hero of Numbani by Nicky Drayden

Hey, gamers and action fans! Today's book is something just for you. This one originates from the ever-so-popular Overwatch game....and I'd heard it was actually very good. Yes, I'm a bit slow this time with this book. This one was released last year (Not an ARC???!!!!!). But hey, a good read is always a good read! Right?

 I loved the cover on this one, and I know video game books do catch middle graders' attentions, especially reluctant readers. Plus, as said, I do like the cover. Doesn't that girl scream attitude? Add that she builds robots and is into circuits and all that stuff...and well, yeah. This one definitely hit my 'must be reviewed' list. 

Extra Info:

After a tad bit of research, I've also discovered that the publisher, Scholastic, is releasing another Overwatch novel on June 1st, Deadlock Rebels. This one, however, isn't for the middle grade audience but steers toward young adults. So, older readers and fans, you might want to take a peek at that one, too.

Now, let's see if I enjoyed this one, and let you guys know what it's all about.

THE HERO OF NUMBANI

by Nicky Drayden

Scholastic

Middle Grade Science Fiction

304 pages

ages 8 to 12

In the technologically advanced African city of Numbani, in the not-so-distant future, humans live in harmony with humanoid robots known as omnics. But when a terrorist tries to shatter that unity, a hero named Efi Oladele rises!

Efi has been making robots since she was little-machines to better her community and improve people's lives. But after she witnesses Doomfist's catastrophic attack on the city's OR15 security bots, Efi feels the call to build something greater: a true guardian of Numbani.

While Doomfist sows discord between humans and omnics, Efi engineers an intelligent and compassionate robot, Orisa, named after the powerful spirits who guide her people. Orisa has a lot to learn before she's ready to defeat Doomfist, but Efi has some learning to do, too, especially when it comes to building-and being-a hero. With Doomfist rallying his forces, and the military powerless to stop him, can Efi mold Orisa into the hero of Numbani before it's too late?

This action-packed novel features the fan-favorite characters Efi, Orisa, Doomfist, and Lúcio in an all-new, original story straight from the minds of the Overwatch game team and critically acclaimed author Nicky Drayden!

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BOOK BLINK

                                       * written by award winning author

                                       * inspired by Overwatch video game

                                       * strong female character / engineering interests

                                       * action pure

                                       * set in futuristic version of Nigeria

MY TIDBITS

Firstly, I am not a fan of Overwatch and hadn't heard of it before reading this book. For some reason, it's not a game my kids have ever gotten into...don't get that wrong because they do have their games they love. But somehow, this one slipped through the cracks. (Go figure?) So, I went at this as a gamer-book fan but knowing nothing about this particular one.

I was really surprised how well this is written and have no doubt fans of the game will love every page.

The main character bounces off the pages right away with tons of personality, determination, and quirkiness. Her desire to get her robots right was already cute, but she's packed with fierce determination and a heart of gold. And she doesn't go the adventure alone. There are lots of sub-characters along the way, and these were just as fun and intriguing as she is. They made for a fun read.

The plot is engaging and keeps things rolling at a very fast pace. Some things are a bit predictable, but many are not. There's tension, danger, excitement, humor and everything needed to get lost in the pages. I have no idea how much is based on the real game...or whether it's not, but it was entertaining. There was also enough depth and background to allow the world to gain a bit of richness. So, I didn't need to know the game to enjoy it, either.

Then, there are the aspects which, obviously, seemed to hang on the game. While this did add a bit of clunkiness as a 'normal' read, knowing the origins kept it from becoming overly irritating. All in all, this is a fun read. If you don't know the game, you'll want to after reading this. And if you are an Overwatch fan, you'll want to pick this one up, anyway. It's fun and well-written for middle graders (and maybe, even those just a pinch older who love to pretend).

And here she is...

Nicky Drayden is a systems analyst who dabbles in prose when she’s not buried in code. She resides in Austin, Texas, where being weird is highly encouraged, if not required. Her award-winning novel The Prey of Gods is set in a futuristic South Africa brimming with demigods, robots, and hallucinogenic hijinks. See more of her work at nickydrayden.com or catch her on Twitter @nickydrayden.

Dark Reflections by Kelsey Ketch

 

Dark Reflections

by Kelsey Ketch

 April 15^th, 2019

NA Dark Fantasy

Being possessed by a vampire sucks!

Alana Jones’s world has been completely turned upside-down after being bitten by a vampire’s reflection in a cursed mirror. Now she’s forced to stay in an abandoned Victorian inn on an isolated island off the west coast of Florida, where Alana lives a double life: one as herself and one as a vicious murderer. Over the past year, she has spilt and drunk the blood of sixteen victims. The guilt of their deaths slowly eating away her sanity.

Sixteen dead . . .

However, things become even more complicated when Alana finds Cole, a surfer she felt a connection with the moment they met on the mainland, locked up in the island’s shed. Knowing his death is inevitable, she attempts to distant herself from him, continually reminding herself of the monster residing underneath her skin. Unfortunately, it’s a small island, and the more she interacts with Cole, the more her feelings grow for him.

Eventually, she has to make a decision. Either accept his fate or find a way to expel the vampire’s spirit from within herself before she murders him as well.

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And here she is...

Kelsey Ketch is a young-adult/new-adult author, who works as a Wildlife Biologist and Data Analysis. During her free time, she can often be found working on her latest work in progress. She also enjoys history, mythology, traveling, and reading.

For more information, please visit her site at kelseyketch.com.

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Review: A Dragonbird in the Fern by Laura Rueckert

Happy Monday, everyone! I've got an exciting fantasy for the young adult audience, today...and best yet...it's not a series. This one packs all those much loved elements found in three books and shoves it into one, single read. Sound to good to be true? Well, read on and see if it's all I'd hoped it to be. 

A DRAGONBIRD IN THE FERN

by Laura Rueckert

Flux

Young Adult Fantasy

352 pages

COMING...

AUGUST 3rd!!!

When an assassin kills Princess Jiara’s older sister Scilla, her vengeful ghost is doomed to walk their city of glittering canals, tormenting loved ones until the murderer is brought to justice. While the entire kingdom mourns, Scilla’s betrothed arrives and requests that seventeen-year-old Jiara take her sister’s place as his bride to confirm the alliance between their countries.

Marrying the young king intended for her sister and traveling to his distant home is distressing enough, but with dyslexia and years of scholarly struggles, Jiara abandoned any hope of learning other languages long ago. She’s terrified of life in a foreign land where she’ll be unable to communicate.

Then Jiara discovers evidence that her sister’s assassin comes from the king’s own country. If she marries the king, Jiara can hunt the murderer and release her family from Scilla’s ghost, whose thirst for blood mounts every day. To save her family, Jiara must find her sister’s killer . . . before he murders her too.

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BOOK BLINK

                                 

                                       * nations on the verge of war

                                       * royalty struggles

                                       * high-action

                                       * of gods and magic

                               

MY TIDBITS

Action and adventure mingle with intrigue, royalty, and arranged marriages, while ghosts and gods play their own games.

Princess Jiara's older sister, Scilla, was brutally murdered shortly before her marriage to a king, whose alliance would remove the increasing threat of war. Scilla, now a ghost known as an 'Earthwalker', will not rest in peace as long as her killer remains free. And the longer it takes to find the criminal, the more violent she grows. But with war still being an ever growing threat, Jiara's parents have little time to spare. Before the end of the mourning period, they agree to give the king Jiara's hand in marriage, and only a few days later, she finds herself as the queen of a country and people she knows little about. Her own dyslexia and language difficulties make things worse. But she has no time to concentrate on such problems as she begins to suspect there might be a tie between the country and her sister's death. If she doesn't figure out the weave of secrets soon, all those she loves will pay a deadly price.

This one was actually much better than I thought it might be. It has all the elements needed to make an exciting, young adult read for fantasy fans, who love series about clashing countries, magic, strong heroines, intrigue and a dash of romance, but this one manages to keep it bound into one, exciting book. Every page holds something new, and the weave of secrets is very well done. There are subplots, which all come together as they should at the end, and characters to root for...or hate. Princess Jiara isn't hard to connect with, and she isn't even one of those heroines, who makes silly choices. Rather, she has a good head on her shoulders and does well with what she has. Even the descriptions of the various countries and cultures are well done and draw the reader in. There's more richness than I hoped for, and it's well written, too.

Of course, it's impossible to pack the amazing goodness of what many authors use three books for into one without losing something. The romance wasn't extremely strong, and there was little chemistry on that end. But, in my opinion, that isn't really a problem. The marriage is arranged, and while there is attraction, it's not the main focus of this book. Jiara has enough on her plate, and any romance slides as a tiny nibble along the sidelines of the plot. The King seems nice but we don't really get to know him. So, romance fans aren't going to be swooning as much as they'd like, but action fans and secret intrigue supporters will get their fill. 

While logic held pretty well the entire way through, foundation and depth were missing from the 'Watcher' aspect and their involvement. It was hard to grasp what they really are or their greater meaning in anything. Because of this, there were several events, which happened too quickly and conveniently. This cheapened the ending a bit and skipped over some needed depth to really make the ending sit. But I enjoyed reading this one quite a bit and appreciated how the author got so much into one novel...and accomplished it in a way that works pretty well. It's an easy and exciting read, which is hard to put down. So, that makes it a good read in my book (no pun intended).

Cover Reveal: Haven Enduring by H.B. Reneau

 

Haven Enduring

by H.B. Reneau

The Legion of Pneumos, #2

YA Fantasy

COMING...

JULY 15th!!!

That which was undone may be reborn, but only at the price of chaos.

After losing the one person she could always depend on, Keira Altman has fled the Capital and its deadly dance of political intrigue, finding herself instead amidst the perilous jungles of the Southern Shield. Looking for respite and peace from the guilt that haunts her, Keira instead finds a world still on the verge of chaos. Try as she might to avoid the coming onslaught, her fate remains tied in service to Pneumos, a calling she can never truly escape.

Guarded against further heartbreak, Keira ventures back into the vipers’ den. But when long-held secrets come to a head, she discovers that the key to restoring order and reclaiming all that she has lost may be far closer than expected. With the help of some new and unexpected allies, Keira is determined to unravel the mysteries the Legion has buried deep over the centuries. Yet perhaps some questions are best left unanswered.

In this epic, action-packed sequel to the hit YA Fantasy Chaos Looming, Loren stands upon the edge of a knife, with paths diverging to order or chaos. Time will tell what fate has in store.

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Sequel to:

And here she is...

H.B. Reneau is an emerging author of YA fantasy and contemporary fiction. Author, medical student, and proud dog mom, H.B. Reneau is known for her character-driven, genre-crossing fiction that draws on her experiences in both medicine and the military. She has a particular love for strong female characters who face up to adversity and manage to subvert some expectations along the way. When not writing or at the hospital, she can be found hiking, drinking coffee to excess, and getting lost in new cities.

To learn more about her, head over to her website at www.hbreneau.com. There you'll find her books, blog, and fun extras. Or reach out directly! She loves connecting with readers through social media and email so be sure to follow her and sign up for the monthly newsletter to receive receive free gifts, awesome discounts, and updates on all her latest projects!

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Review: Summer Moonlight Concert by Han Han

 Today's review steps in a slightly different direction...and that's an awesome thing! The Secret Mountain publishers take picture books to the next level by adding another aspect, which reaches children (and adults) even deeper than the written or read word. That's music. Their books combine both to make a lovely combination. And it's one, I'm really taken with.

Well, just read further and find out.

SUMMER MOONLIGHT CONCERT

by Han Han

The Secret Mountain

Picture Book / Music

40 pages

ages 4 to 8

COMING...

MAY 1st!!!

It happened towards the end of the day while her parents were peacefully preparing dinner. As her father lit a candle, he suggested they take out their musical instruments and descend to the park to perform for their neighbors. He played the erhu and her mother the accordion while she danced. The songs made their way into each home and soon, everyone joined the concert, laughing and singing under the moonlight, celebrating the music that had brought them together. The picture book is accompanied with recordings of the narrated story and the theme song.

GOODREADS   /    THE SECRET MOUNTAIN   /    AMAZON    /   B&N

BOOK BLINK

                                              *  beautifully illustrated

                                              * Chinese culture

                                              * music included

                                              * easy to relate to tale

MY TIDBITS

Lovely illustrations, beautifully composed music, and a touch of foreign culture, while holding the needed sense of familiarity, too...yep, this one holds everything possible to make it a wonderful read.

Everyone heads home as the day slowly comes to an end with groceries and children in tow. Apartment lights come to life, and the usual routines set in. Until the electricity goes out and leaves everything in darkness. But this little girl and her parents have a wonderful idea on how to create an evening everyone will enjoy.

I honestly don't know where to start praising this one. The illustrations are well done and allow the watercolor to carry the necessary details while still leaving an airy effect, which fits so well to the overall atmosphere of the story. Then, there's the story itself. It describes a scene most young listeners can relate to, in one way or another, with a little girl, who is just like any other little girl a person might meet. The evening routine's description is calming and will connect with many young listeners, while still pulling them in. And then, the entire thing hits a wonderful scene, which will leave listeners wishing they could take part, too...and they can, in a way.

That's where the music comes in. This book also includes an audio narration with background music, and the 'summer concert' itself in pure musical form. The music can be heard while simply flipping through the pages (it's impossible not to notice the composition's connection directly with the tale) or even on it's own. The instruments and composition also hold true to the Chinese culture, expanding young readers/listeners awareness on that end as well.

In other words, I enjoyed this one quite a bit and find it an excellent combination for young readers in single as well as group settings, and can really recommend it.

And here she is...

Han Han is a graduate of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. She has illustrated several popular children’s books in China including Peng Yi’s “The Monster Daddy” and Yin Jianling’s “Dragonfly, Dragonfly”. She received the prestigious Golden Pinwheel Young Illustrators Award in 2015 for the original version of “Summer Moonshine Concert”.