Review: Skyship Academy: The Pearl Wars by Nick James

Story Synopsis:

A devastated Earth's last hope is found in Pearls: small, mysterious orbs that fall from space and are capable of supplying enough energy to power entire cities. Battling to control the Pearls are the Skyship dwellers—political dissidents who live in massive ships in the Earth's stratosphere—and the corrupt Surface government.

Jesse Fisher, a Skyship slacker, and Cassius Stevenson, a young Surface operative, cross paths when they both venture into forbidden territory in pursuit of Pearls. Their chance encounter triggers an unexpected reaction, endowing each boy with remarkable—and dangerous—abilities that their respective governments would stop at nothing to possess.

Enemies thrust together with a common goal, Jesse and Cassius make their way to the ruins of Seattle to uncover the truth about their new powers, the past they didn't know they shared, and a shocking secret about the Pearls. (from Amazon.com)

My Review:

I love a good sci-fi. Give me a book brimming with crazy technology, imaginative ideas about outer space, wild physics, and spaceships. Tie it together with a compelling message about the real world, and you won't see me again until the book is done. But sci-fi has always been underrepresented in the YA market. With Curiosity landing and Kepler on overdrive, the time is ripe for some crazy sci-fi. So along comes Skyship Academy, blasting into the YA world like one of its own ubiquitous Pearls. It's a breath of fresh air. Which is ironic, since I don't think the characters get a single breath of fresh air over course of the entire book. Recirculated and processed air, if they're lucky.

Set 83 years in the future, James' comic-book inspired story envisions a world made bleak by terrorism and counter-terrorism. Earth is scorched beyond recognition. The only sanctuaries are the Chosen Cities on land or the Skyships above the clouds. It's a compelling yet terrifying vision of our future; one that makes you think twice about the paths we have chosen, or may very likely choose.

The story is told from two points of view - one in first-person present-tense, the other in third-person past-tense. Whether or not you like this will probably depend on your own personal taste. I admit I was a little disoriented by the first switch. But James' ability to write engagingly from both POVs is impressive. The style grew on me, likely in part because it's so unique. A side-effect was that I felt less connected to Cassius (3rd person) than to Jesse (1st person). Despite, or perhaps because of this, I ultimately found Cassius to be the more compelling character, and the one whose arc I'm most looking forward to reading in the sequel. Regardless of the POV, James' casual, engaging style pulls the reader in, and provides more than a few laughs - especially when we're seeing through the eyes of the quirky, relatable Jesse.

This book is thought-provoking and fun, packed with action and excellent world-building and complete with an ending I didn't see coming. The second book comes out on September 8th, so I only have to wait a month before finding out what happens next. It's going to be a long month.

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Rated by: Blair

Review: Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts

Story Synopsis:

Since the beginning of mankind, civilizations have fallen: the Romans, the Greeks, the Aztecs...and now us. Huge earthquakes rock the world. Cities are destroyed. But something even more awful is happening: An ancient evil has been unleashed, and it's turning everyday people into hunters, killers, and crazies. This is the world Mason, Aries, Clementine, and Michael are living in--or rather, trying to survive. Each is fleeing unspeakable horror, from murderous chaos to brutal natural disasters, and each is traveling the same road in a world gone mad. Amid the throes of the apocalypse and clinging to love and meaning wherever it can be found, these four teens are on a journey into the heart of darkness--and to find each other and a place of safety. (Goodreads.com)

My Review:

In the last few years, zombies have taken over pop culture like a bunch of, well, zombies. I love a good zombie romp, but they have gotten somewhat played out. Now along comes Jeyn Roberts’ apocalyptic novel, Dark Inside, breathing new life (or afterlife?) into the zombie genre. It turns out this book isn’t about zombies at all, at least, not in the classic you-bite-me-now-I-eat-braaaaaiiiinnnnnsssssss sort of way. Instead, Roberts alters the zombie mythos, using it to explore the not-quite-hidden malevolent side of human instinct and personality. The result is something far scarier than your standard zombie gore-fest. For that reason alone, you should read Dark Inside. As an added bonus, her writing is superb.

My only real problem with this book was that there were too many point-of-view characters – five. This works fine if you’re writing a 900+-page long book with densely packed prose (I’m thinking Game of Thrones here), but less well with a 300-page book with a YA typeset (bigger font and margins). The result is that none of the POV characters feels fully developed – there just isn’t enough space to develop in. I occasionally found myself confusing the two guys, they felt so similar. That said, with fewer POV characters, Roberts might have been unable to fully tell her story. So rather than cut characters, I would have liked a longer book, so each person could be more deeply explored. As long as I’m talking about characters, I have to point out a little personal bonus: Aries’ entire arc happens in a city where I lived for seven years. Fantastic. I’ve never read a book that had such a familiar setting. It added a whole extra level of awesome.

This book left me wanting more, and I love it when books do that. I wanted to know the characters better. I wanted to know what happened to the world. I wanted to understand what made people behave with such brutality. I wanted to sleep, because I read this book in a single, snack-filled night. Like most apocalyptic books, this one leaves more questions than it answers, and that’s okay. These questions, coupled with the fantastic writing, make it well worth the read.

Rating: 4 stars

Rated by: Blair