Pendragon: Before the War Book One

By: Carla Jablonski

I picked up Pendragon: Before the War Book One of the Travelers in excitement because I was drawn deep into the Pendragon series. I have to admit that I was kind of disappointed with this book. It was kind of pointless but I guess I can get that because there really is no point since it has nothing to with the main series because it’s just explaining the history of all the Travelers except for Bobby. Hopefully, Book Two will be better than this one.

This book explains the history of the first three Travelers: Kasha, Gunny Van Dyke, and Spader. There are the challenges that Kasha faced on Eelong with herself, the tangs, and a game called wippen. Vo Spader always seems to get in trouble with his risky adventures yet is at the top of his class and follow Gunny in his quest to find a murderer on First Earth in the 1930s.

Mouse

By: Jeff Stone

Mouse wasn’t the best book I had ever read but it was ok and I liked it. I forgot what my judgment about the five books before this one was so I can’t compare it with them. It seemed to be that you did not have to read the books before Mouse to get everything that was happening in the book. It would be best to if you want to get everything but I got everything pretty well even though I forgot most of what had happened in the last books.

Shao Shu is a street rat who is drawn to Hok and Ying, two survivors of the Cang Zhen temple. He is true to his namesake, the mouse, using his wits and ability to hide to survive. After he joins Hok and Ying, he learns that they are fugitives but that doesn’t stop him from becoming friends. Shao Shu then sneaks of to father information for his new friends but gets trapped on his enemies ship. He is soon found and must act as a harmless stowaway who might be useful to Tong Long, the leader of the ship. While on the boat, he learns that there is a power struggle but who is exactly using whom? Shao Shu must find out and get back to he friends before Tong Long and the other learn the truth about him.

Princess of the Midnight Ball

By: Jessica Day George

Amazing. The creativity that Jessica Day George has put in Princess of the Midnight Balls is astonishing. The ways that she took a well-known story and crafted it into her own unique story made me wonder about how much I actually knew about the Twelve Dancing Princesses. I would have finished this whole book without a break in between if not that it was almost midnight and my dad was pestering me to go to bed. The first thing I did the next day (today) was to finish this book.

Twelve innocent princesses have been forced to dace whether ill or well by the wicked King Under Stone in his palace deep within the earth. It has been a curse that had haunted them since birth and only death could set them free. Many have tried to find the cause of the princesses dancing at midnight but only to find nothing and the curse leads them to their deaths. Then comes Galen, a soldier-turned-gardener, who falls in love with the eldest princess, Rose, and vows to bring an end to the curse that haunted the twelve. If Galen does not succeed then the only path for him is death.

Tunnels of Blood

By: Darren Shan

Tunnels of Blood was great and just like the books before this one, it possessed a quality of some type that made you want to continue reading it even if it means staying up till 1 in the morning and not falling asleep until 2, freaking out about vampanezes and their lust for blood. Not that that had happened to me but I think I would have done that because it was such a good book and just cries, “READ ME” in such huge letters and in a bit smaller font “I know you want to” with a devilish smile. There are many twists and turns hidden in this book so you might want to pay close attention to the words and phrases (unlike me because I’m just that impatient) and maybe you won’t grip onto your seats as tightly as I did.

After working in the freak show, Cirque du Freak, for a while, Darren Shan is off to get a taste of the city when he takes a temporary leave, courtesy of his mentor, Mr. Crepsley, with, as I mentioned, Mr. Crepsley and Evra Von, the snake-boy. After a week of settling down in a hotel, the threesome got into a routine. Mr. Crepsly slept during the day and went off to who-knows-where at night while Darren and Evra get up every morning and enjoy the day. Later on, six corpses are found and drained of blood. All of the clues point to Mr. Crepsley. But why would he do that? Meanwhile, evil lurks beneath the streets, waiting for the best moment to strike. Who is the murderer?

The Vampire's Assistant

By: Darren Shan

Once I finished Cirque du Freak, I just had to start the second book, The Vampire’s Assistant, because I expected it to be as good as the first. It wasn’t as great as the first one in making me want to read it but it still had something that made me keep on wanting to read it though it wasn’t as strong as the first book. Even though ths attraction wasn’t that strong, this book was still a great book to read with the heart-pounding action and some gruesome descriptions that would make you ay disgusting. This book was a pretty quick read and the plot gave me a couple hours of fun and excitement.

Darren Shan is now a half-vampire and has traveled with his mentor, Mr. Crepsley, for a couple of months, learning the ways of a vampire. Though he is half-vampire, he still refuses to drink human blood and clings to his humanity even if it means getting weaker and weaker until he wastes away and dies. They, then, return to the freak show because Darren longs to make friends and to be accepted. There, Darren becomes friends with Evra Von, the snake-boy and meets a local, Sam Grest, who also becomes a friend. During a performance, the wolf-man escapes from his cage and goes after Sam. Darren, who witnesses this account, must capture it before it kills Sam and many more.

Cirque du Freak

By: Darren Shan

I started it. I read it. I finished it. I loved it. I picked it up thinking, “Oh… Its just another kind of short, horror, not very popular type of book." Funny I didn’t notice the New York Times Best Selling Series in relatively small letter on the top of the book cover. Anyways, I could have not been more wrong, I don’t know what attracted me to it but once I started it, my eyes never left those pages. I have this problem of not liking short books (250 pages or less). This book proved me wrong. It was amazing.

Darren Shan is a usual, ordinary boy who is fascinated with spiders and loves to be scared. One day, Darren’s friend, Alan Morris, showed him and his other friends a flyer, advertising about a freak show in town. All four of them want to go but only Steve Leonard, Darren’s best friend, and Darren got to go. The visit to the freak show pretty much just changed Darren’s life forever. Very soon, he is thrown into the dark world of vampires, where his only choice is to embrace and accept it.

The Last Olympian

By: Rick Riordan

I can’t believe that I’m done with the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series. I first started this series by reading over a friend’s shoulder back in November last year since she had to do a book report about it and I instantly got hooked to the book. This series has never disappointed me and had always made me laugh one way or another maybe about every few pages or so. Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating but here are some examples of the humor in The Last Olympian.
Though “peanut butter” is a strange battle cry. Pg 310
Fortunately he’d shrunk back to normal size, so his hug was like getting hit by a tractor, not the entire farm. Pg 344
Also, I like Riordan’s clever word choices. Here is an example. I’m trying not to give anything away so it might be hard to understand unless you already read the book.
“It wasn’t hard,” I said. “You Titans are about as bright as my gym socks.”
Hyperion snarled. “You want bright”
His body ignited in a column of light and heat. I looked away but I was still blinded. Pg 245

Percy Jackson is about to turn sixteen and the prophecy will take place. Meanwhile, before all of that comes, the half-bloods have been preparing for the battle that will take place very soon. The odds are against them since Kronos has been growing stronger and stronger as his army grows larger and larger. While Twelve Olympians are busy tackling Typhon, who is causing mass destruction across the U.S., Kronos is taking the advantage of the now undefended Mount Olympus to destroy it. Percy and the other demigods must stay together in the final stand to defeat Kronos, the Lord of Time.

The Bourne Supremacy

By: Robert Ludlum

Having dragged through the beginning and early middle part of this book, I am glad to be done with this book. The first 150 pages were great bu then it just started to drag and get boring. I have to admit that I had some major tests going on when I started this book which prevented me from reading the Bourne Supremacy and I welcomed it because there was just nothing that gave me the impulse to read it. Though after about 100 pages of boredom the book started to get better and had more action which game me a reason to read it because I was going to give up on this book.

Jason Bourne has finaly found his true identity and meaning of life only to be pulled back into the darkess from which we had just came from. The purpose of his life, the one woman he loves, gets torn away from his life like once before. The one way to get her back? Simple. Trap his own imposter and destroy a powerful leader's plan to rule the world. David Webb must once again become the one person he loathes to get back the person he loves.

An excerpt from Chapter 1

Here it is.

“Ellice,” Mr. Bloues said sternly. “You might want to heed my advice that I was giving to the rest of the class while you were daydreaming. It was good advice that would help you later on in your life.”
“Sorry,” she murmured and blushed because everyone was staring at her. She then focused her eyes on Mr. Bloues so it would appear that she was listening but she really was in deep thought. It was not until the bell rang that she snapped out her thoughts and stiffly put her stuff back into her backpack.
“Ellice and Rose,” Mr. Bloues called. “I would like to have a word with you two.”
Sighing, Ellice walked to the back of the room with Rose following and stood in front of his desk, waiting for him to speak.
Mr. Bloues made sure that everyone was out of the room until he said anything.
“I am very disappointed in you two,” he growled. “You both were not paying attention to my lecture and were daydreaming. I expect you guys to next time pay very close attention to what I say or else you will earn an automatic fail in this class. Understood?!”
Ellice was too shocked to say anything but was wise enough to nod while Rose did not show any emotion and just glared at Mr. Bloues with such hate that Ellice was surprised at the intensity of it.
“Well?”
Rose continued to glare at him and then turned around and walked out the door with such loathing that the air seemed to steam right behind her. Mr. Bloues’ and Ellice’s gaze both followed Rose until she was out the door and out of sight. They both seemed to be frozen in time.
“Wow,” Ellice thought while finally coming back to reality and going to her next class, “she sure can hate people.”
She first had to go to her locker to put away her International Studies binder and had to get her Chemistry binder out since she had Chemistry next. Because she had been held back by Mr. Bloues, she was almost late to her next class, too.
“Good morning class,” her chemistry teacher said, “as you all know, this year you will be learning… Her voice became softer and softer until Ellice could barely hear it as she lost her concentration. She did not surface from her thoughts until the bell rang that signified the end of second period.
The next two periods passed by the same way second period did. When the lunch bell startled Ellice out of her thoughts, she made her way to her locker to find Rose just walking away to the lunchroom with a book in hand and Kyle leaning against the locker door.
“I believe we have some talking to do,” Kyle said mockingly while pointing to the picture of Iron Man taped on the locker door.

Ice

I have not wrote a poem in so long so I have decided to write one. Because I haven't wrote one recently please excuse my rusty skills.

Sunlight reflects on the patches of ice

so bright yet so cold

sparkling many hues

Many stare at it with awe while others
older and wiser

know of the many risks

The insidious reflection of ice

so bright yet so cold
could cause with its own ways

Though the young ones don't know it the elders
whisper it to them
that ice is a danger

Who knew that an innocent patch of ice

so bright yet so cold

could kill with but one blow

An excerpt from our prolouge

My friend and I have decided to write a book or at least try and write one so I have decided to post an excerpt of our prolouge on our blog. Forgive me if there are grammer mistakes.

It was the year of 1916; near the end of the Mute war. This war had been going on for 2 years and by this time, blood soaked the ground as far as the eye could see. Creatures fought for their lives; Mutants, vampires, and undead.
Sr. Brian Slusher, head of the mutants at the time, fought amongst his people. It was desperate times, fighting for the rule of all kinds.
The vampires, fighting alone, had their strength, speed, and their special powers on their side. The Undead were using their enchantment of the dead. They rose the fallen and turned them against the others. The mutants had only their special, unique, supernatural powers to use against their enemies.
Brian, using all his strength, used his power of controlling nature. Enemies around him went down with a shriek as roots dragged them down. It was an equal fight, allying with the undead and crushing the fierce vampires.
All was going well and it seemed his people would win it all, when he saw her; the one and only feared Vampire Queen. Nothing had stopped her in the past. She was fast and ferocious. There was only one that could stop her now.
He slipped away from the battle and snuck around the unnaturally formed chasm. She was standing there, watching the scene in front of her. He was about to take his last step and pounce on her, strangling her with the power of nature.
She turned at that point and growled. It was a loud and unwelcoming snarl.
“You have chosen the wrong side Brian”
“Your people are weak these days I’m not afraid”
She glared at him with such deep and burning eyes that it was hard for him to concentrate.

Blood of the Fold

By: Terry Goodkind

Wow, that was such an amazing book. I was halfway through it when the book got more and more interesting that I just read it through. Before I did that I said to myself I would not finish it since it was getting really late but I went against that wish and finished the book. I have to admit though, I didn’t really expect the book to end the way it did because it didn’t seem like the way Goodkind would write an ending. I also thought that the Blood of the Fold was going to be longer than it was because the two books before it were really long but I guess I was wrong.

The barrier that has stood for so long between the Old World and the New World has been breached. Now terrible forces have been unleashed from the Old World to the New that could wipe of the New World. A group called the Blood of the Fold, the sworn enemies of magic, roams the New World, killing the people with the gift. Though they think they are doing the Creator’s work they really are pawns of the Keeper. To save their world from evil’s grasp, Richard Rahl and Kahlan Amnell must become one and rid the world of its evil.