Book Review: Starters, By Lissa Price

Posted on by anninyn

[1. Review copy provided by Random House Childrens Books]

Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie’s only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man. He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie’s head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator’s grandson.

It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations’ plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined. . . .

Starters is a great YA. The story is complex (though not too complex) the characters believable and likeable, and the dystopia shown in the work is disturbing.

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Book Review: The Last Night, by Nico Rosso

Posted on by anninyn

[1. Review copy provided by Carina Press]

After a chain of earthquakes ravaged the globe, long-dormant viruses were released into the air, turning many humans into creatures with an appetite for human ashes. Erica and a group of survivors are barricaded in a half-destroyed hotel, and every day brings them closer to being devoured by the seemingly unstoppable ashers.

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Even though Erica is a fighter, she’s tired of just surviving…

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When a mysterious stranger rides into town, everything changes. Jake knows how to kill the ashers, and he’s the only man brave enough to leave the safety of the hotel in search of a better life. Erica and Jake make a deadly fighting team, with even hotter sparks flying between them. But Jake has survived this long because he rides alone. He doesn’t trust easily, especially in this harsh new reality. Can Erica convince Jake that living is more than just surviving to the next day?

I’ve tried to write post-apocalyptic erotic romance before. Despite the fact this is the second in the genre I’ve reviewed, there’s a huge gap there. I’d personally like to read more of it, and because I believe in writing what I’d like to read, I made the attempt.

I wasn’t very good at it. It turns out, I am not good at writing desire and sex. I am extraordinarily good at writing people having awkward romantic feelings for each other that sort-of maybe get kinda fulfilled towards the end, but I cannot write erotica. Because of that, I am always pleased to read the good stuff.

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Heart Land : Children surviving the Zombie Apocalypse

Posted on by anninyn

Here at ICoS we are SUPER LOOKING FORWARD to when Heart Land is made, after seeing the kickstarter funded trailer.

In a unique take on the genre, Heart Land has kids as the point of view characters. Here’s what the makers have to say about it:

HEART LAND is the brutal allegory of a group of children in Middle America struggling to survive in the wake of a zombie apocalypse.  Some have called it “Lord of the Flies” meets “28 Days Later” where the zombies themselves act as a backdrop to the conflict that unfolds as the children attempt to build a rudimentary society of their own making…

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Sounds bloody brilliant to me.

And below the cut is a video to whet your appetite.

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Book review: An A-to-Z Guide to Biblical Prophecy and the End Times

Posted on by char

Publisher’s blurb:[1. Review copy provided by Zondervan]

This dictionary is a comprehensive reference tool designed to assist everyday people in understanding biblical prophecy. Based on solid scholarship, it contains clear and readable entries on a broad sweep of topics relevant to biblical prophecy, providing insight to complicated subjects in a balanced fashion.

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It shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that I like the apocalypse. (Ha.) I research it, I read novels about it, I watch movies about it, I poke fun at conspiracies about it, blah blah blah. So it’s probably not surprising to learn that I’ve long been interested in Christian eschatology. After all, the Bible has some wicked imagery about the end of the world. (Seriously, those four horsemen?

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Awesome.)

Anyway. I came across this book on NetGalley, and being a book entirely about a topic I’m ridiculously interested in, I requested it. (And got it. Yay!)

When they say this book is a guide, they’re misleading you. No, this book isn’t a guide; it’s an encyclopedia. There’s nothing wrong with encyclopedias–I’ve been known to read them for fun.

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My point is, this book is one of the most comprehensive resources on biblical eschatology that I’ve ever come across.

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Book review: Resonance by AJ Scudiere

Posted on by char

Blurb:[1. Review copy provided by Griffyn Ink]

THE SHIFT IS COMING. SOON.

Dr. David Carter knows this. However, he’s a geologist, so ’soon’ means anywhere from tomorrow to a thousand years from now.

PEOPLE ARE DYING. NOW.

Drs. Jordan Abellard and Jillian Brookwood are standing at the edge of SuperAIDS.

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Or are they? They won’t be able to figure it out if they can’t get some authorization signed – and soon. But they’re peons and no one is paying attention. That means no one will notice a little forgery either, right?

WHOLE SPECIES DIED AT THE LAST POLAR SHIFT. 65 MILLION YEARS AGO.

Right now Dr. Becky Sorenson has some seriously mutated frogs in her lab. In L.A. Bees are making abnormal columns on the side of the freeways. In Georgia, birds are migrating out of season. It all makes a sick kind of sense when the doctors consider that the last magnetic shift is strangely coincidental to the dinosaur die-out. And the only similarity among the problems today is that each is occurring in a ‘hotspot’ – a pocket of reversed polarity that tells them all.

THE SHIFT IS ALREADY HERE.

I’ll come right out and say it: I really, really wanted to like this book. Regardless of whether or not a catastrophe of this magnitude could be caused by a pole shift, the concept is intriguing.

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I'd like my microchip now, please.

Posted on by tavia.

Mind control microchips are a fun thing to fear and speculate on. Well, for me. I’m kind of a scatterbrained-forgets-a-lot. I often mean to do things then hours (or seconds) pass and the thing is not only not done but also an annoying ghost of a memory. I lose all the scraps of paper I make notes on; I set reminders on my phone a leave it in another room; and, I have a dozen half finished projects I don’t know how to keep track of. I need a microchip. In my brain. Continue reading “I'd like my microchip now, please.”

Book Review: Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson

Posted on by anninyn

[1. Robopocalypse was provided for review by Simon & Schuster]

Twenty years from now, a high-level artificial intelligence known as Archos comes on-line…and murders its creator.

Humanity has no idea when it starts to silently take over our cars, power grids, aircraft guidance systems and computer networks.

In the early months, sporadic glitches are noticed by a handful of humans, but most of us are unaware of the growing rebellion until it is too late.

At a moment known later in history as Zero Hour, every mechanical device in our world rebels against us, setting off the Robot War that both decimates and – for the first time in history – unites humankind.

Something I’ve had to learn with my increasing review schedule is this: Just because a book is good doesn’t mean I’ll like it, and just because I like a book doesn’t mean it’s good.

I like this book a lot. But, objectively speaking, it’s not that good. It’s action-y brain candy, and there is nothing wrong with that.

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Some depressing truths.

Posted on by anninyn

The Apocalypse (hell, any massive disaster which you may need to survive) is not going to be fair. Books and Films and Comics give us the impression that, as long as we’re a ‘main character’ we’ll make it. Oh, there’ll be tragedy and horror along the way, and people will die almost as if it was designed to have an emotional impact, but we’re the leading characters. We’ll make it!

Most people see themselves as the leading characters in their own story. The fact is, this won’t be a story, and we can’t all make it.

Continue reading “Some depressing truths.”

Dealing with post-apocalyptic people you don't like

Posted on by char

There are always going to be people you don’t like. Sometimes it’s that annoying dude at work who always sucks up to the boss; sometimes it’s your annoying Great-aunt Edna. Sometimes it’s both. Regardless, they’re people who annoy you. Now, in the pre-apocalypse, it doesn’t matter; not in the grand scheme of things.

Oh sure, that suck-up is irritating and will probably get that promotion you’ve been aiming for, and sure Great-aunt Edna always gives you that annoying and embarrassing kiss that leaves the lipstick stain on your cheek. But ultimately, you don’t have to rely on either of them to survive.

Unfortunately, in the post-apocalypse, you will. You’re going to have to work with people who annoy you then just as you do now–only “work” will have a different connotation.

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3 Free Comic Previews – Post Apocalypse

Posted on by tavia.

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the saying, “if it’s free, it’s for me” doesn’t always ring true. See, on Comixology.com they’ve got more free comics than you’ll know what to do with. Literally, you’ll have so many options and so little time you might find yourself overwhelmed by the selection and possibilities. This is similar to the Kindle quandary: How do I know if this item is worth the time or dollar it takes to check it?

Never fear, I love apocalyptic comics, like trying new things, and don’t like wasting money. So, I’ll let you know which preview comics (not full-length issues) I checked out and if I think you should too – or if you should avoid them like the plague. Continue reading “3 Free Comic Previews – Post Apocalypse”