Thursday, August 30, 2012

The Rise of Nine

Title: The Rise of Nine (Lorien Legacies #3)
Author: Pittacus Lore
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pub year: 2012
Genre: YA Sci-Fi

Rating: 4/5

Hay guys how's it going (awkward)... Anyway, as you may know, The Rise of Nine came out and I'm here to review it, so...yea.

This book features Four, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten as they all try to come together to defeat the Mog leader and go back to Lorien. They are the last of their kind, with only their chests to guide them and Ten's Cépan who holds an important secret—only one of the Garde is said to contain the power of Pittacus Lore and can defeat the Mog leader; the only problem: he doesn't know which one. Just when things couldn't get worse, Sarah returns and the Garde are found powerless when around the Mog leader. How will they survive? Will they ever go back home? Who will be the one to save earth?

Find out in the newest addition to the Lorien Legacies!!!

-Perri

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Beware...Jo is a DANGEROUS baby...

Title: The Order of Odd-Fish(Odd-Fish #1)
Author: James Kennedy
Publisher: Random House
Pub Year: 2009
Genre: YA fantasy/sci-fi

Rating: 5/5

Jo Larouche, a thirteen-year-old girl who lives in an ornate "palace" in a desert, has her world turned upside-down and inside-out when she is transported to quirky Eldritch City via fish. She soon meets Ian, a dashing young squire, and Aubrey, an idolized television star, and goes on the adventure of a lifetime when a rival group of squires threatens the name of Odd-Fish. Learn about the society of the Odd-Fish in this one-of-a-kind debut by James Kennedy!


So...where do I start? I had an opportunity to see James—and I did—, as well as interview him! You can see the interview here. This was a phenomenal debut, and when I got it, I was a little skeptical. Did I really want to read a book with a large fish puking on it? The answer was...No. For whoever said don't judge a book by its cover, they were SO WRONG! As soon as I saw it, I was weirded out, and I don't think I read it until about a week after, when I was cleaning out my desk in my room. After reading the first chapter (which describes a rambunctious party at a palace in the middle of nowhere), I was hooked! Kennedy couldn't have written if better if he had tried.

The price of the book is (US)$9.99, but only the paperback copy, at B&N.

Cam

Friday, August 24, 2012

Interview with author James Kennedy

I had the opportunity to interview James Kennedy(the one in the pic that is NOT Kermit the Frog), the author of The Order of Odd-Fish and—on sale soon—The Magnificent Moots! I asked him a variety of questions, and he gave me a variety of answers, so check it out!

Cam: So, I've heard that you're in band. What made you want to be in a band called 'Brilliant Pebbles'?

James Kennedy: It's true, I was in a band called Brilliant Pebbles! But we broke up in 2009. I believe our singer Monika is continuing to do solo stuff under the "Brilliant Pebbles" name out in Los Angeles, but I'm not part of it anymore. You can read my thoughts about being in the band here (and there are also plenty of wonderfully ludicrous pictures). As for the band name -- "Brilliant Pebbles" was the name of a failed 1980s space-based anti-missile program. Our band also sounded like something from the 1980s that failed. But on purpose!

C: To some people, your book is abnormal and strange, and that's just by looking at the cover. Did you ever plan on writing such a unique and different book?

JK: Absolutely! That was my intention from the beginning. I wanted to write something that I hoped was unlike anything you'd read before, while still being accessible enough that it wouldn't alienate everybody. I love fantasy and science fiction, but I had read too many books that seemed to follow a formula that was growing stale for me, and I wanted to break out of it.

C: Say you died right now. If you could come back to life as any of your characters from 'Odd-Fish', which one would you choose?

JK: Probably Ken Kiang, the Chinese millionaire. I put a lot of myself into that character. Not that I'm Chinese, or a millionaire, but you know what I mean. Writing Ken Kiang's chapters was always very easy and enjoyable for me. I like the guy.

C: If you had to pick between a trip to Aruba or to Eldritch City, would you pick Eldritch? Or would you totally be a traitor to Odd-Fish kind and pick the warm, sunny beaches of Aruba?

JK: Are you kidding? Eldritch City in a hot minute!

C: Do you plan on going back to Japan, wear a loincloth, and fight other men for a stick?

JK: Some folks might be confused by this question! A little background for your readers: I lived in Japan for about three years, and while I was there, I participated in a ritual called the Hadaka Matsuri, or “Naked Man Festival.” In this festival, which takes place on a cold night in February, thousands of men must take off their clothes, put on a “fundoshi” (like a Japanese thong), and then run down the streets, jump in a pool of cold water, run down some more streets, and then fight all the other men trying to get some holy sticks that will ensure supernatural manhood or something. It was an insane experience--I was pulled under the crowd, people were stomping on my face, I was certain I was going to die. I never got near any of the holy sticks, so I suppose my answer to your question is that I have unfinished business in Japan. Yes, I would like to go back to Japan someday and have another crack at the Hadaka Matsuri!

C: You've gotten varying reviews on Odd-Fish. How did you react to them?

JK: Most of the reviews have been pretty positive (you can find links to all of them here), but of course the book isn't for everybody. The first few times I found bad reviews, it stung, but now the book has been reviewed so many times, and the balance of good to bad is very much towards the good, so that the occasional odd bad review doesn't fluster me any more. Early on I decided, as an experiment, to invite a reviewer who didn't like Odd-Fish to interview me. I found it to be a lot of fun (you can read the review here), but ultimately exhausting, and probably my time would be better spent just writing another book!

C: Oona Looch is comically large, crude, and popular. Where did you get the inspiration for Oona?

JK: For those who haven't read the book, Oona Looch is the queen of the mafia in Eldritch City, the leader of the crime underworld. (You can see a fan art picture of her here.) The inspiration for Oona Looch came from wanting to write a "mafia-boss" character who was original, and it seemed the best way was to make her into a grotesque, whimsically violent, monstrously sized, queasily flirtatious, steely-tough, yet back-slappy old woman. The name came from out of nowhere in a scene I was doing back when I was taking classes in improv at the Second City, and it had always stuck with me, and so I'm glad I got a chance to use it! Oona Looch is one of my favorite characters in Odd-Fish, but I'm not sure I would ever want to meet her.

C: The Ruby Palace--why not Emerald or Sapphire?

JK: The ruby palace is the castle out in the middle of the California desert where notorious elderly ex-actress Lily Larouche lives, and where the story begins. As for why "ruby palace"--sometimes you just have to go with what feels right. Maybe "emerald palace" would be too much like The Wizard of Oz, and "sapphire palace" feels too chilly for a castle out in the middle of the desert? I guess red is just a more Lily Larouche-ish color. You wear red when you want attention.

C: Does Sefino have an ascot problem? Does Chatterbox have a mustard phobia?

JK: For the uninitiated, Sefino is the exquisitely well-dressed and exruciatingly vain giant cockroach butler in the book, and Chatterbox is his nemesis, a snarky gossip columnist. I think Sefino would be outraged at your insinuation that there could ever be a problem with his ascots, or indeed any element of his voluminous and yet severely tasteful wardrobe. As for Chatterbox's mustard phobia -- I'm supposing you refer to the scene in Chatterbox's office when Sefino inadvertently and humiliatingly drips mustard on his ascot. I believe, especially in this case, Chatterbox was not afraid of mustard, but found it satisfyingly amusing, and probably had a long giggle to himself after Sefino stormed out in near tears.

C: Explain the doughnuts for the squires. Did you ever have sucky doughnuts like that, or did you just want to make fun of people forced to eat rock-hard pastries?

JK: The squires, or knights-in-training, of the various orders of knights in Eldritch City must report weekly to the Municipal Squires' Authority to receive quests from the city. The Municipal Squires' Authority is run by Commissioner Olvershaw, a desiccated old man in a wheelchair whose only part of his body that works is his thumb. Olvershaw takes a certain glee in making life difficult for people. The Municipal Squires' Authority is run like a shabby government bureaucracy, and I wanted to give the place a cheap, dreary feeling. You may not yet have had the experience yet of waiting in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles or the post office, or grazing the "refreshments" table of some conference or convention in which the food has been sitting out all day and has become quite nasty, but if and when you do, that was the vibe I was trying to capture.



Thanks Mr. Kennedy! You can visit his website here

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

New books!!!

Oct. 2, 2012 is the day for new books. On that day the third book in the Heroes of Olympus series comes out! The Mark of Athena is where Percy, Leo, Piper, Hazel, Jason, and Frank meet up, but we still don't know who the last one of the prophecy is, AND they still have to destroy the earth goddess Gaea, not to mention find the ancient Doors of Death.

Also coming out Oct. 2 is C.C. Hunter's book Whispers at Moonrise. This is the third book in the Supernaturals series. These books follow Kylie Galen, a sixteen year-old girl who is furious when her mom sends her to a camp for troubled teens—only to realize when she gets there that the camp is filled with vampires, werewolves, witches, fairies, and shapeshifters. Kylie and everyone around knows she's one of them, the only problem... They don't know what she is. On top of that, Kylie has to deal with a mysterious ghost who says he knows her but she doesn't know him. Join Kylie on her quest to find out what she is, the identity of the ghost, and the most important one of all: who she will choose—the nice, sweet, kind fea (male fairy) Derek who she met this year and claims he loves her, or the dark, mysterious, hot werewolf Lucas who was her best friend when she was little and says he's always loved her. Find out the end of both October 2, 2012

Monday, August 20, 2012

Death Cab/Postal Service concert...sort-of.

Ben Gibbard, who is the singer/guitarist for indie/contemporary rock outfit Death Cab for Cutie and one half of the amazing duo The Postal Service is doing a concert at the Athenaeum Theatre in Chicago on November 2nd, at 7:30 PM. Advance Base is opening.

*This is an ALL-AGES event*

I really want to go, but alas, I cannot. Tickets went on sale last Friday, of you buy them now, you may get good seats...if it isn't already sold out!

Cam

Want to buy tickets? Click here!

Saturday, August 18, 2012


HAPPY BIRTHDAY PERCY JACKSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our Song of the Month